Cara Turner was born in London in 1969, but has lived in Castlecove,
Co. Kerry, Ireland since 1970.
Both her parents are potters, so she had the scope to develop an
interest in her particular branch of ceramic sculpture at an early
age.
She was educated at Caherdaniel National School and Midleton College,
Co. Cork.
After four years spent working in the craft business and studying
for an Arts degree (English Literature and Spanish) in Dublin, she
returned to Kerry and set about turning her childhood hobby into
a business.
She initially retailed her work through her mother's craft shop,
and in late 1990, began to supply other shops and galleries around
Ireland. Her work is still only available for sale within the country,
as she works alone and all her pieces are entirely handmade, so
levels of production are relatively small.
In 2003, her workshop and gallery near Castlevcove, on the Ring
of Kerry, will be open to the public for the first time. The pieces
displayed here will be largely 'one-off', as her standard range
of designs is available in shops nearby.
Cara's ceramics are made entirely by hand, first modelled in
a white clay (Earthstone), brush painted with a mixture of underglaze
colour and transparent glaze and finally fired to a temperature
of 1280deg centigrade, in an electric kiln.
After the firing, finishing touches are applied using a variety
of materials such as electrical wire, fishing line, metallic paints
etc. In some of her larger work, Cara incorporates natural materials
like moss, wood, stones and leaves.
The finished ceramics pieces are very strong due to the high firing
temperature, so the piece will not chip of break easily.
They are also completely weatherproof so are often used as garden
ornaments.
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