Alison Fitzgerald
Alison Fitzgerald makes hand-woven baskets using sustainable methods and materials. She works with locally grown willow and natural bark colours, and without the use of fossil fuels or electricity. She was first drawn to the medium after moving to Northern Ireland in 1980. Noticing the long, slender, brightly coloured willow stems on the shores of Lough Neagh – once a flourishing centre of basketry – she was inspired by their lightness, beauty and pliability.
Fitzgerald’s work is influenced by her background in botany. Working with several varieties of willow, she experiments with shape and pattern, while retaining a robust, tactile functionality in all her pieces. She specialises in frame baskets such as the sciathóg or potato basket, emphasising the ribbing and playing with subtle gradations of colour.
Fitzgerald established Greenwood Baskets in 1985. She lives and works in Co. Tyrone.
Collections
Farmleigh House, Dublin
Ulster Museum
National Museum of Scotland
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
Glenarme Castle, Co. Antrim
National Museum of Ireland
Museum of Country Life, Turlough Park, Co. Mayo
Private collections nationally and internationally
Selected Awards
Selected Exhibitions
2011
Thirty, Flowerfield Arts Centre, Co. Derry, The Art of Craft, Marketplace Theatre, Armagh
2010
Inspired By, SpaceCRAFT Gallery, Belfast
2009
White Christmas, Naughton Gallery, QUB, Belfast, Gifted, Wexford Arts Centre
2008
European Baskets, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Willow Weaving, Model House Craft and Design Centre, Llantrisant, Wales
2007
Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington, USA
2006
Islas Festival, Lugo, Spain
Gallery Representation
Doghouse Gallery, Comber, Co. Down
Blue Egg Gallery, Wexford
Contact Details:
Alison Fitzgerald
18 Bloomhill Road
Kilmore
Co. Armagh
BT61 8NZ
Northern Ireland
T. +44 28 38891486
E. alison@
greenwoodbaskets.co.uk
www.greenwoodbaskets.co.uk