Siobhán Burke & Mairead Burke at Healy & Burke Textile Art

Based in Dublin, Ireland, Mairéad Burke and Siobhán Healy began designing their original fine art felt pieces some years ago and as the demand for their inspirational pieces has grown, so too has their committment to this beautiful artform.

Siobhán Healy

Felt making is addictive. For me it is creative, vibrant, fun, and challenging. The impact of colour has interested me since my Art College days.   Since graduating from National College of Art and Design, Dublin in the late 1980’s, I have worked in printed textiles, stained glass, and felted textiles. Art education also remains an integral part of my life. My intention as an artist is to create beautiful things, both decorative and practical, and as a teacher, to inspire and encourage others to do the same. I currently concentrate on Felt making, an ancient textile art, which is also a fabulous contemporary art form that has many practical and modern applications.  I explore its pictorial potential, using fibres, natural and found, as a medium of artistic expression.

I love felt because it is so versatile.  I love natural fibres, particularly wool and silk and the interplay of light in the fabrics and textures. My themes and concepts are embedded in nature and landscape, which change from day to day and I try to be very flexible in my approach.  I am also exploring more fully the processes of natural dyeing.

All the pieces are unique.  I aim to represent the beauty and memories of nature  that I see and feel around me in each piece. The vibrant colours and textures of the natural fibres and fabrics I use are also inspiration in themselves.

I work closely with my colleague Mairead, formulating the design concept and during the art process. As we work to commission, the client’s wishes are the essential third element in the work, making our Felted Art,  both  personal and unique to  its owner.

I hope you enjoy our work,

Siobhan

Mairead Burke

Threads hold an interest for me, and used creatively, can lead the eye to images and conceits to ponder, pursue, and above all enjoy. Using this art form to complement the colours of nature so deftly created in felt by my colleague Siobhán, is at once a joy and a challenge, that I relish. Choosing the threads, the colours, the motifs, and deciding how prominent or understated they should figure in the design of each of our felt pieces is the delicate line for me to tread (no pun intended!).

Threads provide connections, and links to reveal the inspiration in our pieces and to the possibilities in the mind of the beholder. I hope that viewers of our work will enjoy the combination of colours and inlay in each of our creations that will provide enjoyment, contentment, and pleasure as well as prompting and provoking their own creative insights.

I hope you enjoy our work.

Mairéad