Athlone craft artist to showcase new work at event in RDS
A craft artist from Coosan is preparing to showcase two new collections of her work at a national art fair in Dublin's RDS this weekend.
Jane Walsh, the creator of the colourful Button Studio craft business, is exhibiting at Art Source - which is described as "Ireland's biggest and best art fair" - in the RDS this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (November 11-13).
This will be Jane's second time exhibiting at Art Source, but it will be her first time taking part in a public show since the pandemic.
"I will be launching two new collections for this show and I am excited to see the reaction," she told the Westmeath Independent.
"My work is an expression of colour and memories using reclaimed pieces like buttons to reclaim memories of our childhood in a fun and beautiful way.
"Using fun and innovative techniques, and the tricky medium of resin, my work catches the light and the hearts of its viewers.
"Each piece is unique and I also do a lot of commissions from clients creating art pieces to complement room colour themes."
The two new collections she will be displaying in the RDS are based around themes of bees and sweets.
The bee collections involves handmade resin bees set among hundreds of handmade resin and button flowers. These pieces are set in a round translucent frame, so when hung in front of a window the sun will shine through and it will look equally good from front and back.
"This type of art piece and framing has never been done before, so I am really looking forward to bringing it to the show," said Jane.
She added that the second new collection, on the theme of sweets, was a nod to childhood moments.
"I have made hundreds of handmade button and resin m&m sweets, and again they are mounted in a round frame in a beautiful progression of colour.
"There are also lollipops and ice pops all made from resin and buttons and they all look good enough to eat!"
Jane has a limited number of free tickets for this weekend's Art Source show in the RDS. She advised people to contact her through the Button Studio's website (buttonstudio.ie), or its social media channels, if they are interested in coming along.