From crystal to pure silver. . . . . . . .

Whilst spending several days in Dublin, we decided to be 'day trippers' on two of them,

taking train rides, one to Kilkenny and the other to Waterford, to view the countryside

and have a few hours to explore those towns. BTW, train travel in Ireland is really good

making it easy to get about in reasonably priced comfort.

Knowing that the majority of famous Waterford crystal is no longer manufactured in its

 original Irish home - but in Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany - and with

time limitations, we decided to skip the 'factory/gift shop' tour and spend our time just

viewing the town. On a quick stop into the tourist office for a walking map, we were also

 given a heads up about the local design studio where several of the makers were

former Waterford Crystal employees. Being Sunday, although open, there was only

one artist working . . . . . . . a former designer at Waterford who has moved on from 

glass to silver. I was hooked before even arriving at the attractive creative space.

KITE DESIGN STUDIOS, Waterford on another showery day, but by then we were 

used to walking in the "soft Irish rain" as they call it!

Gene O'Shea makes beautiful pure silver jewelry in patterns I love. 

No longer buying useless souvenirs from places I visit, I do have a penchant

 for locally made jewelry, knowing I will enjoy wearing it, recalling the place

 where it came from, and often will have met the artist who created it making

it even more special.

Gene was delightful to chat with. He polished the silver ring I was wearing (made

 for me years ago by a friend) which was so kind, and then gave me time to look

 at his display case full of beautiful pendants and earrings. It didn't take me long to

 choose a favorite from his Heritage Collection, this lovely necklace full of texture

 and with a story of Celtic origins.

I'm always enthralled by the work spaces of creative people, jewelers being my favorite

 as over the years I've had several friends who have done similar work.

I'm going to really enjoy my pendant to which Gene added a 20" chain.

This photo above is of Gene - for the interesting story of his creative journey

 from crystal to silver, go here to GENE O'SHEA Irish Silver Design

So, a visit to Waterford didn't see me really looking at crystal - though we did stop at a huge 

gift shop in town where there was enough extremely high-priced glass to amaze one, and

thoughts of dropping a piece with those price tags was scary!

................heading back on the train to Dublin after a lovely day exploring another interesting Irish town and finding a local treasure to bring home.