Connemara marble was so uncool

Once upon a time, I thought Connemara marble was so uncool and old fashioned. As a twenty-one- year-old living away in Spain, this stone symbolised to me everything that was twee and kitsch about little ol' Ireland, in there with leprechauns and green pints of Guinness on Paddy's Day. 

close up of Connemara marble pendant available from Handmade by Amo'r

Ok, ok, I hear ya - nothing wrong with a few harmless little leprechauns. But don't anyone dare mess with my Guinness! Being a student of history and literature with a strong background in the tourism industry, I am very proud of Irish heritage, but there is often a shaky line between culture and naff. A peek into many a souvenir store the world over should prove my point. Even the best of them have to have their share of tackorama. That's not always a bad thing. My besties and I have a long-running game trying to outdo each other with the most spectacular piece of tack we can find on our travels.

Connemara marble comes in so many shades of green

My ignorant young self was, however, so wrong about Connemara marble. Working with this beautiful, ancient stone I've come to understand and appreciate its rarity, its beauty and its heritage value. The Irish green stuff is as iconic as the black stuff - and every bit as smooth. Indeed, it takes a lovely polish. The marble is our very own, 6 million-year-old natural resource that comes in a wide array of beautiful shades from a creamy white-wash to the darkest forest green. The yellower shades have a high content of the mineral, serpentine. Some pieces feature dots of shiny quartz. No matter how big or small, no two pieces are exactly the same and there are usually several tones within even the smallest of beads.

An increased number of Irish jewellery artists, homeware designers and sculptors are currently producing exciting work using Connemara marble or other traditional  materials such as Kilkenny marble, bog oak, wool, copper and wood. These materials are as relevant today as they ever were and lend themselves to interesting modern design.  I've picked out four of my favourites from Etsy.  

Sheepskin & Irish bog oak stool, MayFly Etsy shop

Natural edge mortar & Pestle,  MBWoodturning

Copper wall clock, Guilded Hound

Felt painting, Mairead Ryan Textiles. 

There is often a  nod to tradition found in my  own, contemporary  jewellery designs.   Irish    marble beads are not so easy to come by, but Galway and Mayo  have  some quality,  artisan masons     who provide me with suitable cuts. Connemara marble also matches very well with materials from abroad such as Swarovski crystal, Italian onyx and American amethyst.

Afternoon Tea, Connemara marble teapot pendant, Handmade by Amo'r

What's more Irish than a cuppa tae and a bun? This super cute pendant combines modern, whimsical design with a reference to Ireland's other traditional beverage.

Connemara marble and Swarovski crystal, Handmade by Amo'r

Classic, hand-cut Connemara marble meets modern, precision-cut Austrian crystal in an elegant pair of gala earrings.

Wild Heather, earrings. Connemara marble & amethyst

Purple amethyst complements the cooler shades of Connemara marble. While Ireland does have its own, virtually untapped, resource of amethyst seams, most famously on Achill Island, county Mayo, our gemstone industry remains underdeveloped. Beads like these have to be imported. Commonly, amethyst beads on sale in Ireland come from North America and the UK.

      

Kilkenny marble earrings    


Irish seaglass and copper wire pendant

Want to know more about the materials I use? Click HERE (or click the Materials button on the menu bar at the top of the page) to learn more.

A Snippet About Kilkenny Marble

Kilkenny marble heart pendant, Dubh Linn

Irish, Kilkenny marble is a black, carboniferous limestone laced with ancient fossils. Indigenous to Ireland, this stone has been mined in the midlands for centuries. Most commonly, it is used as a building material, but also for carving statues, mantle pieces, rosary beads, candlesticks etc, and today, a limited amount is used in Irish jewellery. It takes a high polish but is equally lovely left in a matte state.

 

Historically, there were several marble quarries in the Kilkenny region including Gallows Hill, Archers Grove, Black Quarry Hill and Butlers Grove outside Gowran. The latter is the only working quarry in the area that is mining Kilkenny black marble. A pure black version of the stone is found further West around Galway.

Kilkenny is known as The Marble City as many of the pavements (sidewalks), curbs and public buildings of the town feature this locally sourced, dark stone.  When it rains, the black footpaths glisten and reflect the street lights beautifully.

Daniel O'Connell's Monument

 In Dublin, it is famously incorporated into the burial site at Glasnevin cemetery of Daniel O'Connell, champion for Catholic rights,

Kilkenny marble earrings

I'm proud to include this Irish marble in my jewellery whenever I can get my hands on the rare beads. 

 

To read about Connemara marble Click HERE 
To read a snippet on Cork Red marble Click HERE

I is for Iolite, Iron Ore, Irish Materials etc ABC of Jewellery

I've reached the letter I in my ABC of jewellery. This  is a rough guide to jewellery materials and techniques I use as well as designs and inspirations. I is for Iolite, Iron ore, Inspiration and Irish materials.

 

Iolite gemstone is a form of cordierite. It is a transparent, most often indigo or deep sapphire blue stone that can be confused with amethyst. However, if you hold it to the light you can see it is a cold blue and sometimes a bluish violet, unlike the warmer purples of amethyst. The name derives from the Greek 'ios' meaning 'violet.' Specimens in the deeper shades of blue can look like tanzanite. Some rare varieties are a yellowish gray or brown. On occasion, like these stones here, a blue version can have a hidden, golden-grey flash that appears unexpectedly like a rainbow in a puddle.

Iolite teardrop earrings, Indigo Sky

Iolite is not very common and though it was popular in the 18th century, it can be hard to find contemporary iolite jewellery. These beautiful little teardrops make a pretty pair of earrings. Typically, they will change colour with the light and as the wearer moves about, from deep indigo to paler blue to a very transparent golden-gray.

Metaphysically, iolite is the stone for vision and creativity. Healers believe it treats ailments of the eye as well as insomnia and failing memory. It is sometimes used in meditation and hypnosis to help travel back to one's roots and find that inner self.

 

I is also for Inspiration. Craft artists garner much inspiration from what we see around us. Like many fellow artisans, I find nature, in particularly the sea, generates creativity and ideas. You will find evidence of this in previous posts under the tag 'Inspiration'.  Or why not pop into the blog section 'Inspiring Walks'  if you are in Ireland (especially Dublin) or planning a trip and want to get inspired by our lush countryside too.

 

Though I buy some stones and findings from the UK and beyond, Irish materials feature prominently in my jewellery. The most well known is Connemara marble but our other rare marbles, such as Cork Red and the fossilised Kilkenny black are just as ancient and special. 

I also use sea glass and sea pottery plucked from local shores. Though these may sometimes have originated as imported bottles, vases, crockery, tile etc, generally speaking, sea glass and pottery usually would have fallen into the sea locally or within a short radius. Rarely do these pieces travel across the ocean from distant shores. 

 

As well as Irish glass and pottery we do find a lot of English china and European terracotta quite simply because these would have been commonly found in households of a busy port like Dublin. The English specimen on the left was found on the same Dublin beach as the Irish, Arklow Pottery shard on the right. As they have been buffed for decades by the Irish sea and were found right here, in my heart they are both local materials.

Iron ore, also known as hematite

Iron ore is also known as Hematite. This mineral was already covered under the letter H.

If you'd like to read more in this series, please see the links below

Previous posts in this series

A  B  C  (plus C for Crimping ) D E F  (plus F for Findings) G1 and G2, H

All of this series: ABC

Beach Combing. Arklow Pottery Mark

Recently I got to go beach combing again for the first time in a few months. As we hadn't had many storms in Dublin, with unusually sunny weather, there wasn't much treasure washed up on the shore but I did get a few beauts.

Irish sea glass and sea pottery, Dublin 2014

The big piece may say 'Riverview' but as it is not that buffed by the sea, it is not the most interesting shard to me. The blue and white, flowery triangle is perfect for a pendant but I will  have to work out a very light wire wrapping design so as not to cover too much of the pattern. The old and gnarled green sea glass at the top is screaming out to made into a rustic keychain. 

However, the creme de la creme is the white piece of pottery near the front with the trademark on it.

Arklow Pottery ironstone mark on sea pottery 

This is clearly an Arklow Pottery mark.  You  can just about make out the words 'Made in Republic of Ireland. Ironstone.' Founded in 1934, Arklow Pottery is very well known here. Most of us grew up eating off Arklow pottery crockery and milking our tea from Arklow pottery jugs. Sadly, the company was eventually taken over by Noritake only to cease production in 1999. But Arklow is still an old staple in many an Irish kitchen. If you've got a few of the older pieces, hold on to them as they are becoming collectors' items.

Ironstone was a type of hardy ceramic that was developed for mass production in the early 1800s in Staffordshire, Uk. What was different about it was its iron slag content. The first potter to coin the term 'ironstone' was Englishman, Charles James Mason, but he was not the only manufacturer to produce this type of delph.

I'm off to research a little into Arklow Pottery trademarks to see can I find out more about this piece. 

In the meantime, if I've sparked an interest in beach combing for sea pottery, you might like to learn a little about it so here are a few older posts to help:

A Little About Sea Pottery.

How to Clean Sea Glass and Sea Pottery.

And please click here for some sea pottery jewellery.

'Sea bird' Irish sea pottery pendant, blue &white

Who Says White Seaglass is Boring?

White Seaglass

White or clear is the most common colour of natural seaglass found. That doesn't mean it's never of interest.  Recently I found several cool pieces in fabulous shapes. They were of the clean-looking, pearly white variety. The odd-shaped nugget on the left is destined for a keychain methinks. The others may end up as pendants or Christmas ornaments...I will know when I go to wrap them in silver.

 All of them are heavily frosted, so must be several decades old. Frosting occurs when the soda and lime are leached naturally from the glass by the sea. This is a very long process and it can take a 100 years or so to produce a really 'crusty-looking' piece.

Found on a Dublin shore, this fan-like, sun-ray design is stunning. I would hazard a guess that this piece is from a bowl or decorative dish of some sort. It reminds me of some of my Mum's Irish crystal. Wrapping it in silver wire will be a challenge as I don't want to cover up the pattern, but rather, work with it. I am half tempted to use this as a paperweight (though I have to admit, paperweights are surplus to my needs and I'm not a big fan of shelf brick a brack.)

This shell-like piece reminds me of a certain potato crisp (chip to you in the USA.) It will make a pretty pendant as it is the perfect size and shape.

frosted seaglass bottle stopper

 I was thrilled to find this bottle top. It's especially rare to find one of these on the Irish coast.

 

Unfortunately, it's not completely intact but it is nonetheless, a very special find. Again, I may keep this one but if I decide to wrap it, it will present an interesting challenge.

White seaglass may not be so rare, but you can make lots of beautiful things with it. Here are some of the items I've made from white seaglass:

Fairy Bookmark and white, unisex seaglass pendant

(fairy ornament, sold)

To learn about shades of BLUE seaglass click: HERE

To learn about shades of GREEN seaglass click: HERE

To see PALE (SEAFOAM ETC) shades of seaglass  click HERE

To find out how to clean seaglass and sea pottery click HERE

More Interesting Sea Glass

Here's another interesting piece of old seaglass I recently found on a shore near Dublin. I haven't quite worked out yet what it is and what is on it. It looks like part of some sort of crest with writing around the edges perhaps. That may be a motif of a shield on the right. I need to study it in different lights and with a magnifying glass to work it out. If I find anything of interest I will share it here. Or indeed, if anyone can shed some light on it, please do.

Click here to learn: How to clean Seaglass
Click here to see my seaglass jewelry and gifts for sale on Etsy

Bright Connemara Marble

bright Connemara marble earrings

Connemara marble, our native stone of Ireland, really does come in the so-called 'forty shades of green.' Having used this stunning stone in my jewellery for a few years now,  a colourful array of tones have passed through my hands. I find each variation as wondrous as the next.

dark forest green Connemara marble pendant

 I have seen samples of this rare stone so pale they were almost white and such dark shades of forest green that they were almost black.

In between lies a wide range of natural greens in tones of grey, browny green, yellow, bright lime, olive, sage, leaf and kale to name a few. This Irish marble is famed for being heavily variegated. You will often find several contrasting shades within one small stone. These 'serpentine streaks' are what make this indigenous resource so exotic.

This pale, citric, shade is quite uncommon. It takes a wonderful sheen when polished. Due to their rarity, the pale lime shades are highly prized and are much sought after by aficionados of this gorgeous, Irish stone.  I have not often had such spectacular specimens in my collection.

sterling silver flower with bright Connemara marble charm

For more information about this Irish stone please see my previous blog post:
 'A Little About Connemara Marble.'

To view Connemara marble jewellery for sale please click HERE

Crafty Co-operation

They've arrived! 

I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of some new handmade supplies: 18 inch, cotton crochet chains to hang my seaglass and sea pottery pendants. 

 Last month I mentioned I was experimenting with samples my Etsy colleague and friend, Mo of Huggle Knits had made up for me. I wore one of the chains with various pendants for a couple of weeks to see how it felt and if it would stretch. It is really comfortable and lightweight and has kept its shape, though I have only tried it on seaglass and also button pendants, not heavier gemstones.

I used one of the samples to hang this pretty, teal seaglass pendant. The seaglass necklace sold very quickly to a lovely lady in the USA. 

 

The samples worked well so I decided to order a bunch of brown and black in hypoallergenic cotton. They arrived on Tuesday, all wrapped up in a little red crochet rose. Thanks Mo!

Each has its own cute mini button, easy to use and very secure.

I found the button sits snugly on the nape of my neck. I forgot it was there in fact.

Irish Sea Pottery Necklace

I used one of the chocolate brown chains to hang this sea pottery pendant, 'Storm in a Teacup,' which I listed in my Etsy Store today. I hope it finds a happy home somewhere.

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