Burren inspires Clare creations

Ahead of St Patrick’s Day, Nicola Corless speaks to two Clare designers about their work, inspiration and craft

ELVIE Miller grew up in a small rural town in New Hampshire on the east coast of the United States. She first came to Clare to learn traditional music but has lived here ever since. The experienced textile designer and handweaver started Burren Seol Handwoven Designs last year and makes scarves, shawls, home and fashion accessories from her workshop in Drumsallagh, Crusheen.
“I have been passionate about making things since I was a little girl and have always loved fibre arts. I started weaving with floor looms when I was 18 and did a course in textile arts at a folk school in Norway. I apprenticed with a weaver in New England and then set up my own studio,” she explains.
Elvie’s main product is scarves and she says they are her most popular pieces.
“From my very first experiences of hand weaving, scarves provided a fantastic way to explore colour, texture and design. I started making them as gifts and was thrilled with how chic and popular they were. Scarves and shawls are incredibly versatile accessories and I have always loved complimenting my own outfits with a splash of colour. They are perfect for a chilly night out, when you want to look nice but feel warm,” she believes.
The colour palette of her work is inspired by her surroundings on the edge of one of Europe’s most distinct landscapes.
“The colours and patterns in nature inspire me and all my pieces are named for wild flowers and plants of County Clare and the Burren. I enjoy working with natural fibres, especially Tencel, a lovely eco-fibre that is both soft and durable. I believe in making products that will last, with materials and methods that have a minimal impact on the environment. I have been inspired by the recent spring weather to make a scarf called Butterfly Orchid in a collection of scarves in pastel spring colours,” she explains.
Elvie describes her customers as “stylish but earthy women who enjoy accessorising with one-of-a-kind, handmade art”.
Ennistymon woman Christina Brosnan also set up her own fashion business recently, only returning to jewellery design in early 2010.
“I developed an interest in jewellery design as a child. My mum’s background is in the craft area so throughout my childhood in Clare, it is such a hot bed of craft that every one we visited would be a spinner, weaver, artist or sculpture. I discovered beads as a start and made jewellery throughout my teens,” she recalls.
Christina then pursued a number of other careers in the creative industry, working for more than 10 years in theatre and film, before starting a creative agency and ending up in upscale interior design.
“I went back in 2010 with the background of being a self-taught jeweller. I knew at that time the market place was very competitive. The edge I was going to have was something different in the design side and the market place. I spent the first year making prototypes and designs and pushing boundaries and trying to stretch my imagination. Then last year I did my first showcase at the craft council’s annual trade fair, so that catapulted me into the world of retailers,” she outlines.
Christina works primarily in luxury materials, including 14 carat gold or sterling silver, as well as semi-precious gemstones.
“In terms of design, a huge influence is architecture so quite a lot of pieces can look quite sculptural. The natural world is a big influence too and with my Contour collection, a big influence is 3D puzzles. I would use a combined inspiration board for all this. Sometimes an idea will lead you too, so you sit down and play with combinations. You get into a trance-like state and you go in with an idea of creating one thing but then the materials push you in a different direction. You get lots of surprises,” she says.
Christina’s next collection involves geometric patterns, uses graduated beadwork and experiments with different size stones. The North Clare woman also works on pieces that are reversible.
“Some of the pieces have detail on the reverse so either necklaces are reversible or there would be a simple pendant which is designed to be worn on the front or on the back. These pieces are ideal for backless dresses,” she explains.
Christina’s favourite medium at the moment celebrates her love for the organic and through it she channels a little bit of Africa and the Burren in each piece.
“At the moment I love bone. I just find that because it is natural there is something tribal or ethnic that you can tap back into it. It would have been used in ceremonies and all that historically and there is a lovely echo that comes with working with that substance. This is influenced by the Dinka tribe on the East African coast. They would have used ivory but there is a huge scope in their adornment for using animal byproducts. I also always use semi-precious gemstones and because each one is individual, I sometimes let people pick their own for bespoke pieces. I think that adds some of their own personality to the design,” she reveals.
“Clare has had a huge influence on me in every way. I would have spent a lot of time in the Burren as a child, so in that way we would have found bits of bones from wild goats and bits of horns and so on. So that wilderness is in me from growing up in Clare, as is the freedom of expression that is everywhere. There are just so many influences from the craft world that exist there. Clare really attracted that in the global sense. I remember meeting a woman who had studied with native American bead weavers in the United States when I was eight or nine and it was just amazing,” Christina adds.
Her pieces are for a woman “who has a sense of adventure and will bring her own personality and style to it; someone looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.
“That is what I find my customer would like. I like to have a bit of humour about my pieces too, whereby someone might ask ‘how would I even put that on? Or ‘what way should I wear this?’” she concludes.
Christina’s work has been handpicked by TheDesignBasket.com to sell on its website, which aims to bring contemporary Irish design to the international market.