How does your partnership work in practice?
We have different roles depending on our skill set, whether it is sourcing materials, material preparation, accounting, organising shipping, or marketing. But the core of what we do is design and making, and these are truly collaborative and done together.
Why is education and teaching important to you?
If a craft stands still then it becomes lost to history. To keep a craft alive, it must always evolve while building on its traditional roots. Education is so much a part of constant development, and it’s a passing on of skills and enthusiasm from us to our students.
© Ambrose & Brid O'Halloran
What is special about your chosen material?
As far as possible, we use native Irish woods. Wood is organic, it is a living material. It is warm and tactile. You are seeking to bring out the inherent beauty of the material. You must work with the natural properties of the wood and not fight against it.
What does “well made” mean to you?
Form is everything for us. You do not have to have knowledge of a craft to be able to judge if an object has pleasing flowing lines. Well made means you have a beautiful flowing piece where all the technicality of how it was made is hidden.