Springmount Studio is located in the hills between Dromara and Dromore, just inside the LCCC area. It is a ground floor space, built into a farm shed and surrounded by a community of different trades, services and visitors.

There is nearly always someone about, from Gareth, Beresford Kitchens, Joy, Wagtail Barn, T3 Gym at the corner and the gorgeous Springmount Air B’n’b’s.

Springmount Studio

It has taken some time to find a space that suits my practice and collection of tools. After college I was invited to join Pollen Studios and Gallery. Pollen is artist led, the studio space was communal and we had a lovely galley space. I couldn’t have fallen into a better team after big school. We had a fabulous gallery space that was filled with life, music and art. When I had a successful ACNI funding application for ceramic equipment there wasn’t room in the studio space to even store it. I was working at R-Space gallery at the time and managed to make an arrangement to use one of the spaces in the yard, Brenda’s. This used to be a hair salon and was very quirky, until we started to worry about the chimney collapsing so I moved up to the 3rd floor of the building (1 plug socket, no water and a large hole in the floor).

A cluttered garage with construction materials, furniture, and various tools. The upper level has chairs and a small table, while the lower level has a workbench, a cabinet, and a tractor tire. The walls are made of corrugated metal, and the ceiling has exposed wooden beams.
A cluttered workshop or storage room with various tools, boxes, and materials, including a red scaffold, wooden panels, and cardboard boxes, with fluorescent lights on the ceiling and a concrete floor.
Green leafy plant in multiple flower pots placed on a table with sunlight casting shadows of the leaves, an old building and hills in the background under a clear blue sky.
Sequence of four photos showing buildings and an indoor workspace. First photo: a small building with stone and wood exterior, a sliding door, and potted plants outside. Second photo: a garage with a black metal roof, a small window, and a parked gray car. Third photo: view of a building with a garage door, a small window, potted plants, and artwork on the wall. Fourth photo: interior of a workspace with tables, shelves, and various art supplies and objects.
Construction room with a concrete floor, white walls, and a ceiling with fluorescent lights. There are various construction materials, a small wooden table, cardboard boxes, and a workbench with pipes and tools.

What started as an alliterative joke, if there was a Springmount Barn, Springmount Stable, there should be a Springmount Studio, then started to feel like a great idea. Within 6 months John had started the build and by the summer of 2023 I was completely moved in. Bertie, the cat, checks in from time to time.

A hallway under construction with a white wall on the right, a yellow door on the left, and construction materials scattered on the floor. There is a window at the end of the hallway letting in natural light.
Interior of a room with shelves, curtains, and furniture, leading to a workspace or another room beyond.
A cluttered art studio with shelves holding various art supplies and decorations, a table with clay and tools, a computer, and artwork on the walls.

Springmount Studio is now a welcoming space where sometimes I work alone, sometimes with other artists and sometime folk come to try their hand at being creative.

The first thing I bought (apart from new shelves) was a pottery wheel as I am now on the ground floor. This has proved fairly popular.

I grow a lemon geranium, gifted from Alice from Pollen Studios. Gertie the lemon geranium is very content at the window and has produced a series of offspring that have been gifted around Northern Ireland to other artists, with plants at Ballycastle with Brian Connolly, Belfast with Sinéad O’Donnell, Flax Studio with Stuart Calvin (ex Pollen member), Tony Hill, Rainer Pagel and many more. This gifting stems from the recognition, recollection and connection pillars of my practice.

I have inherited a tendency to collecting tools, and have been gifted a range of hand and power tools, and am unable to leave a hardware shop with making a purchase.

My studio hours are not set, so give me a shout if you are planning a visit.

Potted plants on a windowsill, with a laptop and a pair of pliers on the table, and a garden outside the window.