19 January 2013

South Midlands Branch Meetings: New Date and Venue

The South Midlands Branch have a change of day and venue for their monthly meetings

Their branch meetings will now be held on the 1st Wednesday of each month (Sept - June) at 7.30pm

Venue: St. Mary's Day-care Centre (large blue door) which is located behind the cinema in Walkin Street, Kilkenny.


13 January 2013

RDS National Crafts Competition and Exhibition 2013



Main Competition Dates & Information

The RDS supported by the Crafts Council of Ireland is delighted to announce the 2013 RDS National Crafts Competition and Exhibition.  The Competition is open to any craft worker resident in Ireland or Irish craft workers based abroad and has a prize fund in excess of €28,000. An online application process will be available from early March 2013.

The outline of the main competition dates for 2013 is as follows:

·         Launch of online application form                                           Early March 2013
·         Deadline for initial photo submissions (online):                    Tuesday, 30 April
·         Exhibition of winners at Dublin Horse Show:                                  7- 11 August
·         A selection of work will be selected for the RDS Travelling Craft Exhibition which will go to two venues in Northern Ireland in 2013 (mid-Antrim Museum, Ballymena and the Strule Arts Centre, Omagh) and will return to the RDS in December 2013.

Please take note of the following information relating to submissions:

·         All entrants are required to submit their entries online at www.rds.ie/crafts.  The online entry requires a completed online application form, payment online of the entry fee and upload of digital photo/s submission. Specifications for the digital image/s are detailed on the website. Completed entries must be received online before 5pm on Tuesday, 30 April, 2013.
·         It is vital that the digital photo submissions are of high quality as the judges selection will be based on them. Poor image quality may lead to work not being short-listed for the second round of judging. Digital files sent by email will not be accepted.
·         It is important that the scale, size of work and a full description of the piece should be given; including materials used, design source and function, as this information will be given to the judges. If the piece is not complete, JPEG images/drawings may be submitted as a ‘work in progress’ to illustrate the design. Specifications for images are detailed on the website. 
·         Online entry confirmation numbers will be sent by email to the email address provided. The entry fee is €15 and €10 for students and apprentices with written evidence of their status. An entry is defined as one piece of work or a matching set. Online application forms will be available at www.rds.ie/crafts

The RDS National Crafts Competition and Exhibition is an RDS Foundation initiative.

For further information please contact:
Dara O’Leary, Arts Programme Executive, RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Tel: 01 240 7255    Email: arts@rds.ie

02 January 2013

Edwina Mackinnon Workshop Mid-West Branch


UK tutor Edwina Mackinnon will be the guest speaker in February at the Mid-West Branch. All members are invited to attend her talk "Colour Stories" on February 8th.
The February meeting starts at 8pm in the Baptist Church, Old Cratloe Road, Limerick.


Edwina will be giving her "Cut and Come Again" workshop on Saturday 9th February in the Greenhills Hotel, Limerick. There are a few places left for this workshop, so if any IPS members are interested in attending, please contact Mid-West Branch for further details.
Cost of the workshop is €55.