Introducing Mullan Ceramics - Our New Brand of Ceramic Products Handmade in Mullan Village

We're excited to launch our new brand, Mullan Ceramics. Established towards the end of 2020, Mullan Ceramics sustains the centuries-old tradition of Mullan as a village of makers.

Steeped in heritage and inspiring countryside environment, Mullan Ceramics aims to produce beautiful, sustainable products that reflect the surrounding habitat.

A local pottery business, Busy Bee Ceramics, resided in the quaint pottery studio in Mullan Village for a number of years and instilled a great sense of creativity throughout Mullan. After the business relocated to the nearby village of Glaslough, we were inspired to maintain this tradition in Mullan Village and established our own ceramic brand.

Mike Treanor, Director of Design and Operations at Mullan Lighting, has always had a great interest in ceramics, enjoying the versatility of textures and materials involved in the creation of ceramic products. With a keen eye for detail, Mike spotted an opportunity to expand Mullan Lighting by introducing a new ceramics brand.

Key to the success of any new business is appointing the right personnel. Mike approached a local, skilled ceramicist Stephen Kieran. Stephen is very innovative, full of ideas and has the skills to bring unique and experimental lighting collections to life.

The vision behind the new ceramic lighting collection is to reflect light in certain ways, creating warm, homely aesthetics blended with earthy, natural tones and materials.

Speaking about the launch of Mullan Ceramics, Mike Treanor commented;

"Introducing the new ceramic brand with a lighting collection was an obvious and somewhat safe choice as this is an area where we excel in.

We hope to expand our ceramic product range into tableware, vases and occasional items in the near future. You can expect to see a uniqueness in these products as we hope to push our designs to the limit and mark our own style twist on these items".

Describing the ceramic lighting style, our ceramicist Stephen shares his design vision for Mullan Ceramics;

"Rustic and unique. It truly embraces what clay is. The crackle, although not often seen in nature, is still a natural effect.

We achieve the effect in much the same way the sun dries and crackles earth. The crackle is chaotic. Similarly in the way that no two snowflakes are the same, neither is the crackle in the clay. This is why each piece is special".

The lighting collection offers a sense of belonging, instilling an appreciation for warmth and homely charm. Rich in character, the somewhat rustic designs are reflective of the historic nature that makes up Mullan Village. The incredibly unique tailored light fixtures are adaptable to a variety of interior aesthetics, suitable in modern industrial spaces as well as more traditional vintage settings.

The ceramic products are a mixture of natural and sustainable materials. By simply mixing clay and water, these organic ingredients can be transformative and create stunning, rare pieces.

To achieve different colour finishes, natural elements found in the earth such as iron oxide or more commonly known as rust are used. Utilising recycled brass, we incorporate these two materials to produce beautiful, eco-friendly, organic products.

No two ceramic products are the same. Each item is crafted differently and requires its own special production process. Our ceramicist Stephen briefly highlights the typical process involved in developing a ceramic product;

"From the moment clay is taken from the bag it starts to dry and shrink. Timing is crucial. Some items can be made right away, others need to be left to dry until the clay is the perfect temperature. Trimming and cutting holes is better when the clay in harder, almost like leather.

Once the item is made, it is left to dry for one week. We use a traditional kiln oven to fire the products at over 1,000° degrees Celsius. It is first fired, then more colour is added.

At this stage the clay will glow red, yellow then white. The products are generally left for a day to cool and then they are complete".

A timely, yet captivating process, each ceramic product is handcrafted, ensuring the finished product is full of character.

In keeping with Mullan Lighting's tradition of producing all items to order, Mullan Ceramics follows the same practice, ensuring a high level of quality is always achieved. Each ceramic product is moulded by hand and individually painted, creating one-of-a-kind products.

With strong design capabilities, we look forward to extending our product range and continuing to experiment with unique manufacturing techniques.

The ceramic craft is versatile and can be used to achieve an abundance of different styles. Our goal with Mullan Ceramics is to add a diverse range of handmade products to the ceramic market.

We hope you enjoy our new ceramic lighting collection.

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