Greenmantle Arts

Personal facebook page of Lynn Kirkham: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009514233385

Hello and welcome to Greenmantle Arts Studio, the home and workplace of Artist and Basketmaker Lynn Kirkham. Here I grow, harvest and process natural materials for my creative basketwork and I design and make Sculptures and Art to Commission. I run Workshops and group visits, host Volunteers from around the world and offer Artistic retreat to other creators. The studio is situated close to the village of Killea near Templemore, Co. Tipperary Ireland.

I am a basket maker by trade and have evolved to making sculpture and public art with some landmark pieces now in place around Ireland. Over the years I have developed my skills as a basket maker in a variety of materials and later in response to a demand for more permanent public work I began making sculpture in steel and bronze. There is a natural progression in my work that can clearly be seen from early willow pieces that were made with great energy but minimal skills to sophisticated permanent pieces in wood and metal like my most recent sculpture of cows for Teagasc.

I studied basket making at the London Guildhall University and began developing my creative work through some early commissions, exhibitions and Artists Residencies. I moved to Ireland from the UK in 1995. and started Greenmantle with Paul Finch just a few months later. At the time Greenmantle was just a derelict cottage on a small acre of hilly ground, no windows or doors, cattle living in the kitchen, rotting old mattresses upstairs and mouldy silage bales in the parlour. The roof was sound however so after the first big clean up we were able to start making things straight away. We received fantastic help and support from The Crafts Council of Ireland and the North Tipperary Arts Office who admired our totally unique and creative approach to basketry and our commitment to community involvement. Teaching and sharing arts and craft skills and motivating people to achieve their own creative potential has always been fundamental in my work.

We were soon ready to invite groups and visitors to share the project. We held regular courses and classes in basket making, willow sculpture and garden structures. We also hosted School groups, visitors with special needs from local day care Centres, St. Cronan's and St. Annes and we worked with the Elderly.

We worked with hundreds of children locally, through the North Tipperary Artist in Schools Scheme and Art in the Park which ran for seven consecutive years and we carried out projects all over Ireland, sharing skills and ideas with people of all ages and abilities.
We also made basketry and artwork for commission and were invited to exhibit at festivals and events around the country. With time, Paul moved on and set up a new project and I continued to work from the Greenmantle studio, while also running a volunteer based permaculture and arts project in West Cork. During this time I was awarded some major Public Arts Commissions including "Fionn McCumhaille and his Hounds" and "Ghost Horses from the Bog" for Kildare Co Co and "Nest of Lace" for Kerry Co Co.


Greenmantle Arts Studio Project
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I am currently living and working full time again at Greenmantle. I have just completed a commission for Teagasc, I am organising events and workshops over the coming months and I am making a new body work for sale with the help of young volunteers.

I am making a commitment to this project and to continuing to make art and share skills and knowledge. Through the volunteer programme, artists retreats, workshops and group projects, I aim to make Greenmantle even more accessible and diverse.

It is a perfect place for developing ideas in a peaceful setting, there is workshop space and inspiring scenery. I hope to invite musicians to write, rehearse and record, writers to study, visual artists to develop their own projects or work with my support on realising their own ideas.

I am inviting commissions from both the public and private sector and working on a new schools programme, being determined to use my hands and my creative mind to preserve my home and what I believe is a worthwhile and meaningful creative venture.

Check out the gallery for pics of my work.


Volunteering at Greenmantle
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Since the beginning we have hosted volunteers. These are young people from around the world who come through schemes such as Wwoof or Workaway, maybe on a gap year or after college or just traveling. They come to learn not just creative methods but also how to grow food and willow organically, harvest and process natural materials and fundamental life skills like baking bread or gathering and processing firewood. They bring life to the project, valued and necessary help and often music and craic to the kitchen. We share simple living space and work together as a community exchanging ideas and developing cultural awareness.

Music is important at Greenmantle and many young people have taken up an instrument for the first time, or learned songs and new music during their stay. I follow Irish traditional music, play tin whistle and a bit of guitar and I love songs and singing. I bring the young people to local music sessions, pubs and events.


About Greenmantle
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Greenmantle is a small and very ancient traditional Irish cottage that has been creatively restored by artists over a number of years. The stone walls are over two feet thick and this is possible one of the oldest houses in the area. A visiting Christian Brother and local historian suspected that this was the original site of a monastic cell and there is a building marked here on the earliest maps of the area.

When we came here the house had been empty for fifteen years following the death of Mickey Shelley, an infamous local character. This had been the Shelley family home for several generations. It was full of junk and cows were living on site. A side roof had collapsed into a cow byre full of rotting household rubbish and ancient manure, the haggard walls and banks were destroyed by cattle.

During renovations many original features were revealed including stone walls, lintels and giant old beams. We added mosaics to the walls, reclaimed roof slates on the floors, crystals and pebbles in the pointing. We made the cow byre into a crazy bathroom, the house had never before had running water or a toilet. In the beginning we drew water from the stream and used a shovel in the back field.

Gradually we turned the cottage into a cosy home and quiet place of retreat for our many visitors. We added workshops and a sunroom making a compact and economical living and working environment and the gardens provide further scope for meditation and solace.