Jill Kelly

 I have always loved teaching pottery and after twenty years in Adult Education I am now teaching small classes in my studio Ardgillan Castle. I love to create a special memory for adults and children where they can experience a class of calm and relaxation while learning to throw on the potter’s wheel and hand build a pre-made clay animal.

 Throwing on the potter’s wheel is above all my main aera of interest and I like to create a variety of one off pieces for the shop in the castle and have done a few commissions also.

 During my Diploma in NCAD I had the privilege to work for potter Michael Roche in Kiltrea Bridge pottery in Enniscorthy where he taught me repetition throwing and sales in his shop.

 I then went to work for Mel Bradley in the Design Craft Tower Pearse Street where I helped produce hand painted silk for John Rocha and Louise Kennedy.

 I have incorporated silk organza into my paintings as it is a beautiful translucent fabric and have also created my own silk scarves since I worked for Mel. I love photography and use photomontage in my paintings which are semi abstract with botanical themes mostly. I have been in a few solo exhibitions in Cork city and The Mater Private hospital which have been a great success selling my paintings.

 I returned to NCAD to complete my Post Grad Dip in Art And Design Education and I have been a Special Needs Assistant in a secondary school for the past fourteen years.

 I am job sharing now and want to have more time to enjoy my studio and for it to be a space of creativity and inspiration for me and for those who attend my classes.