Oh, hi there!

I’m Brioni Connolly, an artist based in Beara, West Cork who is currently focusing on illustrative ceramics. I am a graduate of the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin where I studied Fine Art Painting, graduating in 2009. My practice includes both functional and sculptural works, utilising bright colours and playful imagery painted onto clay.

I got deeply into pottery after a pretty eye-opening retreat in the Netherlands in 2022 (long story) and I have been working away at my unique pieces ever since, in between looking after my pretty cool little children.

Most of my ceramic art pieces are slab built in a style that’s a bit of a throwback to the Renaissance era, but with a contemporary, Irish take. The images that are painted on my little art pots and plates are heavily inspired by Irish mythology and lore but I also take from all aspects of contemporary life including popular programmes, great books, funny stories and beautiful nudes. I don’t try to question too deeply why I choose to paint the things I do but understand that it means something that my imagination was captured by them in the first place.

The pieces I create are individual pieces of art; wonky, beautiful, perfectly imperfect.