Wild Goose co-founder and chief designer for more than 30 years, Kathleen Smyth was responsible for many of the Studio’s best-loved and enduring pieces. Largely self-taught and often working at her kitchen table, Kathleen developed her own distinctive style of modelling and sculpting which was very much in tune with the ancient Celtic and Irish carvings which inspired her designs.
Originally from Poland, Adam had been working at the Studio for a few years before we discovered his artistic talents.
Since then, amongst others, he has carved all the pieces in the Scríobh range of Irish words, worked with Kathleen Smyth on Claddagh: Love, Loyalty Friendship and designed and made our beautiful Nativity. Kathleen recently gave Adam the carving and sculpting tools she collected during her 30 years as the Studio’s chief designer.
Nadia Corridan is a Fine Art Painter with a BA Honours from Limerick School of Art & Design. Originally from Cork, growing up near Kinsale, she now works in her studio in Wexford. Her work can be seen in The Civic Theatre Dublin, The Boathouse Gallery Kinsale and in private collections worldwide.
“The collection is loosely inspired by the Eight Pillars of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. Each piece of art within the collection reveals a secret of the human soul’s search for joy. I hope these pieces will open dialogues that allow us to reflect both privately and openly on moments in our lives and bring healing.”
Liz worked at the Studio before training and working as a sculptor in Ireland and the USA. Her designs include the Celtic Cross of Commitment, the Sailing Cross and Irish Roots.
Tom Little comes from a line of stone masons and is a founding member of the Letter Carvers Guild Ireland. He has completed stone carving commissions throughout Ireland and is active in training the next generation of stone workers.
Among the many pieces he has carved for Wild Goose are: Sláinte, Seize the Day, Make me an Instrument of your Peace and Céad Míle Fáilte.
Cork-based Irish sculptor and stone carver, Ken Thompson is well-known for his memorial to the Air India crash at Ahakista in West Cork and his statue of St Patrick at Lough Derg.
Ken has designed several pieces for the Studio including Bidden or not bidden, God is present and its Latin equivalent, Vocatus atque non vocatus, deus aderit.
Artist in residence at the Kilkenny Design Centre from 1966, OisÍn Kelly trained as a sculptor under Henry Moore and designed The Children of Lir in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, as well as the statue of Jim Larkin on O’Connell Street and Two Working Men outside County Hall in Cork.
For the Studio, Kelly carved relief portraits of James Joyce and W.B. Yeats and devised a beautiful Gaelic script for the wall plaque: Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin
Grandson of Oisín, Edward Kelly is a trained calligrapher and has designed lettering for the Studio which was used in many pieces, including Friendship is a sheltering tree, Go Confidently and Two Souls.
