Interview with Niamh Faherty
Niamh Faherty is an animator and paper artist that graduated from Limerick School Of Art & Design in 2017 after studying Animation and Motion Design.
Designer Interview
22 April 2020
Ever since I was a child I remember loving art. If any of my friends were out of school I would be making gifts for them and every holiday I would get to paint all the windows in the school. Going on to college I studied art and design and majored in Animation & Motion Design. Throughout my course I always had a tendency to find new ways of creating animations without using the computer and it is for one of my animations I learned to create quilling art and ever since I have had a love for the technique.
The quilling I made of Archangel Michael is my favourite piece. I made it as a gift for my mother and it has so much meaning for myself and my family it will always be a very meaningful piece for me.
My favourite material would have to be paper. It is such a versatile medium and there are many different methods of working with it.
I live on Inis Mór, one of the Aran islands off the west coast of Ireland. We have a very strong culture here and growing up on the island definitely has had a huge impact on me. I find a lot of inspiration for my work from the irish folklore stories, landscapes and nature.
I first create a few sketches to work out the composition and the design. I will then do research and look into some references and colour studies. When I have a clear idea of the design. I make a detailed drawing with the chosen colours and create it to the scale to ensure it looks good before progressing. When working with paper It is important to have a clear idea of the desired piece before glueing anything onto the card because if there are any changes to be made after gluing the paper it can be hard to change it without damaging the backing card.
Many different types of Paper and card from 120-200gsm. I would use different weights of paper depending on what I am creating. I find that the heavier papers are easier to manipulate and work with. I also use a round pencil to curl the paper, Craft knife, cutting board, PVA Glue and tweezers.
It all depends on the piece, the level of detail and the overall size. Some can take a few days and others a few weeks. This technique is very time consuming and you can’t rush through any part of it. When I start a piece I get so excited to see it finished that even when it takes a few weeks the time flies by.
The main question I get asked when people see my work is “how do you have the patience to create that?” The designs I do are very time consuming but when I start working I am so focused I don’t even notice the hours going by.
Please feel free to send me an email to niamhfaherty.lsad@gmail.com