Drogheda couple delight with response from Showcase event
LOUISE and Andy Shaw from Celtic Valley Ceramics are delighted with the orders which they received as a result of the exposure at Showcase.
‘We are a husband and wife team,’ says Louise, ‘ My husband’s grandfather is from Drogheda, Co Louth and his mother from Belfast and we always wanted to live in Ireland.’
The couple had been living in Hong Kong, where Louise worked as an art teacher, as they decided it was time to leave ‘ to be closer to our family and realise our dream of starting a craft based business.’
They bought a cottage in Louth Village which is now the home for their growing business, with Lousie, who studied textile design at university, designing their range of tiles, while Andy, who has a background in engineering, looks after the production.
‘Our Celtic Collection includes intricately carved art tiles which can be used as feature tiles in kitchens and bathrooms or mounted as decorative plaques, hand crafted bowls and plates, clocks, trinket boxes and our ever-popular house numbers and name plaques,’ says Louise.
She draws inspiration from Celtic designs such as interlocking knots as well as the legends of the Tain Bo Cuilgne and the Children of Lir.
‘We also offer a Oriental range inspired by our time spent living in Asia. Its rich and ancient culture with it mythical beasts and stories of bold warriors are not so different than the stories of the ancient Celts.’
‘We have a kiln in a barn outside but I’m usually found working at the kitchen table as we have four children, so I’m a busy mum as well.’
They sell their products through their Etsy store and website and get a lot of orders from the United States, as well as Ireland, England and Scotland.
‘We are also getting our stock into craft shops around the country, including Letterkenny and Waterford,’ says Louise.
They were delighted with the response which they got at Showcase and are now looking forward to showing their work at the Home Event in the RDS later this spring.
‘We want to showcase our tiles to interior designers as special one off pieces which are extra special.’
‘Hopefully over time, we will be able to employ people to help us expand the business,’ she says.