Artisans in Italy and Ireland
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Matt’s shabby chic: thrift store shirt, €3. Charity shop jacket, €5. Cargo pants, $10 (purchased 15 years earlier).
We are not big shoppers. Our kitchen isn’t exactly adorned with Waterford crystal and Williams-Sonoma; we don’t wear or carry Gucci or Prada; and the entire combined cost of our wardrobe between the two of us probably barely breaks three digits.
But when we travel, one of our favorite things to do is discover artisan shops. Some of our most treasured possessions are purchases from artist’s studios – leather workers, ceramic artists, weavers and knitters – that we’ve either sought out or stumbled upon in our travels. Besides being good for the local economy, buying from these artisans lets us feel connected to the places we’ve visited. Especially when they’re in out-of-the-way places (as they tend to be, given our “Little Roads” style of travel), we often have the chance to chat with and get to know the artists, right there in their work studio.
In some cases, we’ve become friends with the artists over the years, having returned to them again and again. For example: We were drawn back again and again to one ceramic artist in Tuscany, long before we moved to Italy – our first visit was probably 2010 or earlier. Each time we visited, we brought back a few small pieces (e.g., a soap dispenser, a couple of little plates and bowls, a and a handful of other little pieces.), including a couple of square tiles with interesting designs. Gradually we accumulated a large array of these matching tiles, which we put up in our kitchen as a backsplash behind the stove top. After mounting all of them, we found that we had an odd measure of space between them. Since we had developed a relationship with the artist, we contacted her and sent her the measurements, and commissioned a customized piece to fit the space. (The design of this piece is a funny story in itself, which we related in the prologue to our Tuscany guidebook.)
[This became a new and unique feature of our Itinerary Service, for clients who were traveling to or near her area: Given enough advance notice, she would create a customized piece for them, painted with perhaps a family name or other personalization. They could then retrieve it from her studio when they visited the town.]
Of course, when it came to moving to Italy in 2019, these tiles (and the rest of our pieces from this ceramic artist) were among the very few possessions that we kept and brought to Italy – and now they’re again our kitchen backsplash!
Other treasured artisan works in our home include copper kitchen pieces, various leather goods (multiple keychains, a handbag, belts, and a wallet that is still in perfect shape after 15 years), a few wool sweaters, and more knit scarves than we can even count. They are the best kinds of memories of so many wonderful trips – the kind you can use!
If you find an artist whose work interests you, it is absolutely worth the price and the effort to support them in their work. Our travelers on Little Roads itineraries already know where to start looking – we make a point of directing them to our favorite studios, as well as to places where they might discover their own special artisans.
This goes for artisans in both Italy and Ireland – we have many ceramic pieces from Irish artists, as well as woolen gloves and hats and scarves. (In fact, one of the most important aspects of shopping for Irish wool goods is finding the places where they use actual Irish wool… There aren’t as many as you think! But we know where they are.)
There are other types of artists as well, that we haven’t covered here but that we love and seek out: food artisans. Beer and cider and liquori, meats & cheeses, honeys & jams, baked goods, specialty cooking ingredients, and more… but we will save those artisan edibles for another article.
