Brian and I felt that giving our girls the opportunity to engage with their creativity on a regular basis was important. As artists this was fairly easy to do as a portion of our living spaces has always been devoted to making things, whether it be sculpture, paintings, drawings or dresses.

Both our daughters are active creatively. Ite showed a talent early on for working with natural and found materials, combining them to produce small sculptures. Her interest in 3-dimensional exploration continued as she got older with fabric, preferring hand-sewing to machine and an extraordinary collection of bow ties came into being made from my collection of vintage fabrics. She then moved onto metal--there is truth that apple does not fall far from the tree--and taught herself how to make rings. She made a ring for my 50th birthday from a 1964 quarter, the year of my birth. I rarely take it off! 

Saoirse is adept in both 2 and 3-dimensional expression. Her paintings and drawings have a lovely line quality and an equally strong sense of color. She has been working 3-dimensionally for a few years in clay studying with Stella Moulinos of Stilclay Studio at 67 West Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Stella is a brilliant ceramicist and a natural teacher. The trajectory of Saoirse's ability with and love for the medium was fed by Stella's inspiring, warm nature and her deep love of the material.

Stella offers classes for children at Stilclay aged 11 and up with no experience necessary. Book a 6-week course online.