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A love affair with pottery
Sean Keane speaks to Rosemarie Durr and her husband Andy about their love affair which blossomed thanks to a missing wallet and about the creation of powder blue and jade sets of tableware that have become such a huge success
ROSEMARIE Durr epitomises all that is best about the Irish craft industry. While staying true to her designs and love of making exquisite pottery. she has combined this with a well honed sense of the commercial.
She and her husband Andy Ludick (a real love story) have created something striking at their workshop in the Castlecomer Estate Yard which has taken over as the epi-centre of the craft industry in Kilkenny from the Design Centre in the Castle Yard, Kilkenny. There are now 13 tenants in the units in the yard, next to the Castlecomer Discovery Park and as word spreads so is the success of what has become (hugely creative space and a must see spot for tourists.
What makes Rosemarie stand out from her peers is that she makes her own glazes which gives life to her work and provides it with its individuality. It requires a knowledge of chemistry and the ingredients of the glaze include nepheline cynadite. A canny , lovable and utterly devoted Roscommon woman, she is not overly eager to share what else goes into the "recipe" in case anyone thinks of copying it. The mixture helps to give her tableware its distinctive powder blue colour for which she is famous. The other main colour she works in is jade (light green) and again, once you see it, you automatically know it is made by Rosemarie and that is thanks to her own unique recipe..
She also produces a more formal range of porcelain tableware, elegant and simple in design, fine and upstanding which might make a lasting and treasured wedding present.The two are compatible yet different.
She hopes the colours are uplifting and it is easy for an outsider to see they are just a reflection of her personality.
As we speak about her dishwasher friendly, oven safe and microwavable pieces a local woman, Nicola Comerford and her little son Craig arrive in and pick out a few pieces. On hearing I am from the Kilkenny People she lavishes praise on the pottery. Rosemarie could not have asked for a better and more heartfelt endorsement.
It is indicative of the community spirit engendered by the estate yard and of how highly it is regarded by the people of the area.
Rosemarie blushed when asked about how she met her rather tall American husband from a little town called Russell near Cleveland, Ohio. So how did a woman from Rathcrogan, near Tulsk, Co Roscommon meet the art graduate who majored in fine art, painting and drawing.
He was backpacking through Ireland and landed in Kilkenny for the Kilkenny Arts Festival. The year was 2001. Rosemarie was exhibiting in the Methodist Hall, William Street with a number of others and Andy was staying in the hostel next door. Because he lost his camouflage coloured wallet while sitting on a park bench at the Castle Park, he was forced to stay in the city longer than he had planned. As an aside, the wallet was found by a Kilkenny woman who returned it with the contents untouched. Her name escapes Andy. While broke and down on his luck, he started to investigate the city and wandered into the hall where it was love at first sight for him. Not so for Rosemarie. it took her a few weeks before she was hooked.
As we speak, he is patiently working on a piece of pottery which he is pinching (thumbing) into shape. Later after it is fired he will decorate it before firing it a second time. He works in "hand-built ceramics where the vases are extruded through what looks like a mincing machine
They are comfortable together. She is the communicator and he looks on while she explains very demonstratively what she is doing and how she comes up with the finished product.
It has not been easy and four years ago, with Andy by her side, she took a huge chance by leaving the Design Centre in the city and moving to Castlecomer. It has paid off in terms of quality of life and quality of product. Her orders have mushroomed and it is the art of balancing the creative side of things with the actual business of making money.
As well as her retail side, she produces pottery for around 20 different shops and galleries around the country. Because there is lower profit margin in this work and she has to make sure that she can make simple, clean pieces which pass the strict Rosemarie Durr quality control checks.
It has been a long process to get to where she is now and it meant lot of experimenting with different glazes and raw materials before coming up with what she wanted and which she thought would sell and showcase her talents best.
Like many of our best arts and crafts people, she started her career in the Grennan Mill School where she did the arts and crafts course., she then graduated and went next door to specialise in pottery.
She has had to work hard to get where she is and it only now that she can take time off and learn to enjoy the new house that she and Andy built a few miles away at Skehana on the Ballinakill-Abbeyleix road.
This is the first time in years that she has been able to take at least one day a week off and often two days in a week. That gives her time to "potter" around the garden which she loves.
Andy and Rosemarie are relaxed with themselves and what they do and this is easy to see in the way they interact and complement each other.
Rosemarie describes her unit as a lifestyle shop and sells other gift ranges as well as her own and Andy's creations.
And there is a real sense of camaraderie between Rosemarie and the other crafts people at the estate Yard. "If we have to go out for 10 minutes or go for a cup of coffee, one of the other crafts people here will cover for you without being asked to do it," Rosemarie said.
So leaving the city for Castlecomer was an inspired choice for the Roscommon woman and the Ohio man.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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