August Craft Month- Open Studio and more..

August Craft month has well and truly started and it seems like a good time to get caught up. My contribution this year is taking part in two group exhibitions, an artist talk and an open studio at the end of the month.
It’s been a strange old year as for most of it I’ve had a bit of creative exhaustion after pushing hard with work through the pandemic. Although I’ve still been making, painting and creating it’s been a bit of a struggle but now I’m feeling I’m getting back into the flow of things properly.

As part of this I’m having an open studio on Saturday the 27th of August, 12pm- 6pm at 69 Craigdarragh Road, Helens Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland . My studio is at my aunt and uncles house there and the studio is located at the old garages down the right hand side of the house. I’ll be showing jewellery, original paintings, silversmithing objects and my illustration work in prints and cards and be happy to talk about what I do and how I do it.

Last Thursday night Craft NI’s Craft Showcase exhibition opened, with guest curator Daniella Wells in attendance. I was delighted to have a set of pieces – Sprung Vessel and Spoon selected for inclusion and even more pleased to come away with a prize for Highly Commended work. Especially pleasing given the quality of maker I was showing beside. It’s an excellent show and I’d recommend a visit, there os also the chance to see Northern Ireland’s selected Craft Heroes as well with works by Michael McCrory, Seliena Coyle, Jack Doherty, Cara Murphy and Alison Lowry in the gallery.

Finally for now I also have a series of Hinterlands structures in Adornment at R-Space Gallery in Lisburn with the ACJSNI collective. It’s a jewellery based show investigating our connection and relationship with linen through material language, historic investigation and process. Nine makers from different backgrounds are showing with a really strong, broad range of work. Contact the gallery for further details as there are artists talks, and a workshop available.

I’ll be updating my online stores in the coming weeks and I’ll keep you up to date with further irregular news letters. Thanks for reading , Stu.
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Art Of Gathering

This September I’m taking part in the Art of Gathering exhibition at the New Craftsman Gallery, curated by Sarah Frangelton in St.Ives. A selection of my utensils, vessels and jewellery will be shown alongside the work of Joe Hogan, Forest & Found, Annemarie O’Sullivan, Patricia Shone, Michael Porter and Francesca Owen. The exhibition runs from the 14th of September to the 12th of October and I will be giving an artists talk as part of the St.Ives Festival on the 19th of September at 1pm in the St.Ives Art Club.
Further details can be found in the stunning online catalogue accompanying the exhibition which can be found here.
Current and upcoming Exhibitions.
I currently have work in a number of shows, with a few more confirmed in the months ahead.
Blackthorn Pouring Vessel features in the European Silversmiths Forum [HammerClub] exhibition Renewal in Dock Street Studios, Dundee until the 30th of June. It will then show at Elements: A Festival of Gold and Silver in Edinburgh in November 2019.
Appetites and Objects in The Baltimore Jewelry Center in the US has a series of my utensils, From The Other Place shown alongside work by Corey Ackelmire, Jackie Andrews, Hannah Brill, Kristy Bujanic, Jeffrey Clancy, David Clarke, David Harper Clemons, Erin Daily, Lucy Derickson, Anastasia Green, Kaminer Haislip, Nils Hint, Jessica Howerton, John Williams Huckins, Zouella Jarman, Rachel Kedinger, Elliot Keeley, Jaydan Moore, Alejandra Salinas, Amy Weiks & Gabriel Craig of Smith Shop, Brian Weissman, Adam Whitney, and Logan Woodle.
Exhibition dates: June 7 – July 12, 2019
A Last Sitting [for a Fisherman] has been selected for the Coast exhibition in An Talla Solais in Ullapool, Scotland. The exhibition has work by 20 artists, which will be shown 10 at a time, the exhibition rotating the works after two weeks.The show runs from 20th July, to 8th September.
Land[ed] opens in the Lavit Gallery, Cork for August Craft Month. A series of my vessels and utensils will show alongside Joe Hogan (basketry), Alan Meredith (woodwork), Mourne Textiles (wall hangings), and ceramics from Elaine Riordan and Simon Kidd.
Finally I will be showing vessels, utensils and jewellery at the New Craftsman Gallery in St.Ives for Gathering – an exhibition featuring Forest + Found, Joe Hogan, Annemarie O’Sullivan, Adam Buick and painter Michael Porter.
The exhibition will open on the 13th September, running throughout the St Ives Arts Festival from 14th – 28th September and then will be extended until 12th October.
This Other Place – an installation.

On Thursday the 2nd of August as part of Late Night Art and for August Craft Month I will be exhibiting the installation This Other Place in Pollen Studio, 37-39 Queen Street, Fl 1st, BT1 6EA Belfast.
This Other Place is an installation by Artist/Silversmith Stuart Cairns exploring the language of the landscape and materiality through domestic objects and space. A series of vessels and utensil type objects set in and around structures which echo both the natural landscape and the setting of the home. The installation uses precious, non precious metals, found objects and natural materials in combination to evoke a sense of being lived within the landscape.
The exhibition is open Thursday to Saturday 12.30-4pm and finishes on sat the 18th of August, hope you can make it.
Recent landscapes

Recently I’ve added new marks to my drawing/painting practice, really though reflection of what I was seeing while walking and what had been developing in the drawn landscapes. Looking at the drawings and looking at recent photographs, especially ones taken on recent trips to Donegal, I noticed the connection between swathes of grass, fence lines and fallen structures, paths and boundaries and areas of demarcation. These elements form interactions between human activity and the landscape, traces of the past presence of people.
So developing the work further I’m looking to emphasise these lines and add in more fluid shapes trying to capture the feel of some of these places and photographs. The intent then is to draw these structures into the objects and sculptural installations I’m working on in the making side of my artistic practice. Hopefully more physical forms will start appearing soon as I have a number of exhibitions coming up in the summer and beyond. More on those later..
Landscape drawings are available to buy here…
Winter walks, observations and finds.

Winter is my favourite time of the year with the landscape set out so raw, gently sleeping under the snow and the light so fresh and bright. I have had a few walks in between working at the studio soaking up the stark lines and contrasting tones in the bright winter daylight. The woods and the shore, still and slumbering, fire my imagination with hints of their deep dreaming.
Shoreline walks and observations.

Autumn has arrived and the mood of the landscape changes back and forth daily (or hourly !). I started October with a seaswim, an immersive and bracing experience in the environment! My regular walks appear on my Instagram feed but here are a few moments from recent walks. Wether I am collecting objects, rubbish or just inhaling the atmosphere of the day the landscape walks ground my art practice in all its forms. Consciously or unconsciously I always draw upon these experiences, sights and feelings as well as gaining the headspace to think abstractly around themes and ideas. The light and colours of autumn certainly have a sense of otherness to my thinking.. wonderful time of year.