IMAGINED,DESIGNED MADE IN DONEGAL, IRELAND.

Fiona Herbst lives with her husband and her menagerie of animals in the townland of Portlean. A picturesque rural location in Donegal, Ireland. She has 4 children.

Art and creativity has always been part of Fiona’s life. Both her parents and grandparents were collectors of fine art. Fiona states that ‘although I always wanted to go to art college but was directed towards choosing a more ‘sensible’ choice of career and ended up studying her second interest, social work’.

But art was never put aside. In college she discovered polymer clay. ‘Creativity was my form of relaxation. I would knit, sketch, paint, write and then I discovered polymer clay. At first I started making brooches and earrings for friends and family and this led me to selling from a billboard on the streets of Belfast. My sales contributed to my much needed entertainment expenses during the hard times of student life’.

When starting her career as a social worker Fiona retired from making jewellery to sell. It was only approximately 8 years ago when Fiona was asked to contribute something for a school fair that she remembered her old box of polymer clay. ‘At this moment i rediscovered my love for working with clay’, with the fair being a resounding success , her children all older Fiona decided the time had come to commit and try a change of career. ‘Life throws opportunity in your path and its up to you to pick it up. ‘

‘I call myself a polymer clay artist although I specialize in jewellery. I see each piece I create as a work of art. My work is all about colour. The creation and exploration of colour’. ‘ I believe colour creates moods, can give expression to something, it lets you make a statement and allows you to communicate to your audience ’ says Fiona.

Fiona attends workshops by world renowned artists annually to keep herself updated and learn new techniques in polymer clay. She is a member of the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland, the Irish Polymer Clay Guild and the the International Polymer Clay Association .

‘What I love most in working with polymer clay is its great flexibility. You can literally do anything. I often start with one intention and end up with something quite different, and more often different is even better than what was intended’