"Orla is a Visual Artist based in Cork and is best known for her unique ‘Words in Porcelain’ offering. Despite always having a love of art, she commenced studying art as a mature student in 2010, studying part time at night in the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin, while working on Construction projects in Dublin Airport during the day.
Orla believes that words are immensely personal to those who consume them, and her love of words is very evident in her work. Her offering is an emotive one, aiming to stir the senses through meaningful words, forever immortalised in porcelain".
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I've always been an arty type, vividly remembering my love of drawing and painting and creating from a very young age. Receiving crafty Christmas presents was always the best. Throughout school, Art was a definite favourite, however I decided to go down the Business route in College. I graduated from the University of Limerick with a Hons. Degree in Business, specialising in Marketing in 2003. From here I obtained an MSc distinction in Strategic Project Planning, which led me to developing a career in Construction Programme Management to 2015. Throughout this time I always had that creative side of me wanting to break free, so I decided to start studying Art at night, while working in Construction during the day. I began part time studies at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, in 2010, finishing in 2014. From here there was no stopping me creatively, and so this was the beginning of my artistic adventure!
OrlaO VisualArt - My Artistic Adventure
I'm Orla from Orla O Visual Art. The creator of 'Words in Porcelain ' and other ceramic frivolities. I'm a Cork onion...(that was to read Corkonion.... But now I feel the need to leave it as Cork onion). I recently moved back from Dublin, where I lived for approx. 10 years, and here is where I have lunged, gung ho, into my creative world, setting up studio in the old hen house (or as I like to call it, my 'Palais du Poulet') on the family farm in North Cork. I'm a mum to a 2 year old toddler boy called Jonah, and I absolutely love the fact that he is living out my childhood now on the farm I grew up in. Since having Jonah , I have turned my world upside down (in the best way possible) to do what I have always wanted to do, and feel like I am living my dream. Only a couple of years ago, I went to work wearing a hard hat, steel capped boots and a hi vis vest, to oversee construction sites. This is now a distant memory, where my daily work day involves retreating to the farm, listening to birds singing, and getting to hang out with my parents! I love what I do, and this in turn means that I will put all that I possibly can into it.
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I am a lover of words. Words are immensely personal to those who consume them. I like to ensure that what I make reflects what people are looking for. Each piece I make is so unique and will never be recreated! Due to each piece being handmade by me, it will never resemble the next. Porcelain is my ceramic of choice, traditionally perceived as pristine, smooth and glazed. My works however, defies this traditional observation, whereby a rugged Porcelain landscape is the canvas to each work of art. Rough to the touch, these pieces in my eyes reflect a rawness which is sometimes difficult to appreciate. I like to view it as perfection within imperfection.
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Welcome to my World.
