Creative Places Tuam is delighted to present the Tuam Artist Spotlight, a rolling programme celebrating the artists, makers, musicians, performers, writers, filmmakers, creatives and cultural contributors living and working in Tuam and its surrounding areas.
The Tuam Artist Spotlight features a two-week public display in the windows of Connaughtons on Shop Street, an online Artist Spotlight profile shared across Creative Places Tuam’s website and social media channels, and a fun and informative artist interview, which you can read below.
Artist Spotlight: Keith Barrie
Instagram: @kbarriewoodcraft
Facebook: Keith Barrie Woodcraft
Email: kbarriewoodcraft@gmail.com
You can contact Keith at any of the channels above for commissions or to purchase his work.
Get to know Keith
I am a furniture maker specialising in handcrafted pieces rooted in Irish vernacular tradition. My work draws on historic rural forms such as creepie stools, stick chairs, and Gibson chairs, reinterpreted with a contemporary sensibility and a high standard of finish. Each piece is made by hand, using quality materials and traditional joinery methods, with a focus on craftsmanship and connection to place.
My designs are very much for the everyday and the pieces, like the cottage furniture of the preceding centuries that inspires them, will only improve with the patina of use and time.
My hope is that my work might inspire the sharing of memories and a conversation on the inherent value and beauty of the simple, reliable utilitarian items that recall the heritage of rural Ireland.
What is your connection to Tuam?
I moved to Dunmore 4 years ago.
Any current projects or ambitions?
I am currently working on a bespoke dining set (four chairs and a table) for a 1930s cottage in Mayo.
Quick-fire Questions with Keith
Describe your creative practice in three words.
Measuring, Researching, Reimagining.
What is one thing you can’t work without?
My shed.
If your creative work had a soundtrack, what would be playing?
Yacht Rock.
What’s the most underrated thing about Tuam?
Niche Burgers.
If you could put one piece of art anywhere in town, where would it go?
A chair in front of the stove at the Man of Aran.
What is your completely useless talent?
I cut my own hair (I don’t know if that is a talent!)
What food could you eat every day?
Turkey hoagies.
What song are you currently obsessed with?
The Fruits of Conquest by The Strokes.
What does success look like to you?
Getting electricity in my shed!
What talent would you most like to have?
I’d love to make my own clothes.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Listen to yourself more.
What do you wish people understood about artists?
We’re always thinking about our next project
If your art practice was an animal, what would it be?
A woodlouse (I carve them into some of my work!)
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
You don’t have to keep up with the Joneses.
