"Jane Jermyn's sense of form and approach to surface is engaging and magnetic"

From catalogue essay for 'transFORM' Ceramics exhibition 2011 by Elaine Olafson Henry; Editor/Publisher Ceramics: Art and Perception/Ceramics TECHNICAL

  "Jermyn makes beautifully judged organic forms categorised under two headings, Pods and Standing.  They resemble, without illustrating, various plant shapes and textures, though they are related to non-organic processes that generate the intricate patterns of the natural world.  So her work spans the geological and the organic in its range of reference, without being a depiction of any single aspect of that continuum.  There is something elemental and fundamental about her pieces, though, a feeling of rightness and inevitability.  She is exceptionally attentive to nuances of tone, colour and texture as well as shape, and seems to have an unerring instinct for sculptural form. .........her Pods enclose spaces in a gentle, caressing way, imbuing them with a sense of generative potential."

Artists' Statement

“Tradition is the living hand of the dead; traditionalism is the dead hand of the living”

           Toshiko Takaezu, Japanese-American Ceramic Artist

I feel very strongly that skill, technique and tradition are the wellsprings from which ideas flow – this can lead to innovation as our vision is extended beyond that which we know.  I want to ‘know’ and understand my materials and tools as well as I can; continued experimentation is important to me. I do not plan my work as such, except in the broadest sense – evaluation of previous work leads on to new ideas – decisions are intuitive and I enjoy the spontaneity of working in this way.  The outcome can only be controlled so far.  The end result depends on the ‘serendipity’ of the combination of clay, oxides and the firing process. The inspiration for my work comes from the natural world – geological formations, strata and textures

NCVEA in Crafts, Grennan Mill Craft School (1996).

Pottery Skills Course, Crafts Council of Ireland (1997).

Higher National Diploma (2000) & Honours Degree, Carmarthenshire College of Technology & Art, Wales (2001).

Masters Degree, National College of Art and Design, Dublin (2009)

(More details on Career Page)

(Close up of Standing Form)

Since 2004 I have been living in the lovely award-wining town of Lismore, Co. Waterford, in the SE of Ireland.  Lismore Castle has turned the old Long Gallery into ''Lismore Castle Arts''.

 (Lismore Castle & River Blackwater, more images on the "Lismore" page) 

I love clay as a material and would hate to be restricted to only using it in one way - therefore I  like to vary what I do with it usually working through a series in any one method.

My latest body of work is hand-built using a mainly pinching technique. 

An example of my work for my Masters which I just completed in June  2009 and I received my Degree on 2nd November 2009