A marriage of complements

Louis Mulcahy, a potter, and wife Lisbeth, a weaver, take inspiration from land and sea. (Hilary Nangle for the boston globe)

BALLYFERRITER, Ireland - Potter Louis Mulcahy and his wife, Lisbeth, a weaver, are a double find on Ireland's Dingle Peninsula. Although they maintain separate artistic identities, their work is complementary. Lisbeth's weavings provide subtle yet stunning backdrops in Louis's showrooms in the Irish-speaking village of Ballyferriter, near the peninsula's tip. His pottery accents the displays in her shop in the seaport town of Dingle. Scenic Slea Head Drive not only links their shops, but also provides inspiration for their designs.

The glazes on Louis's porcelain pottery and masks reflect the colors of the seascape and landscape: deep and luminous browns, greens, blues, and recently red. He is renowned for an almost ethereal variegated-navy-with-brushed-oxide-decoration glaze that mirrors the Irish Sea. Bronzes, blacks, and other colors shimmer in the inky glaze, like fish, seaweed, and rocks in the ocean. Many of his pieces are creative in their functionality. His teapot incorporates a loop handle for the opposing index finger, which lets the user balance the pot when pouring.

Lisbeth, too, takes inspiration from nature, but she likes to play with reality. Although her weavings range from scarves to tapestries, the latter are her current love, as these allow her to make pictures with color and shape. She usually balances a dominant image with soft hues to create abstract interpretations of the Blasket Islands, Mount Brandon, and other familiar scenes. Purchasing one of Louis's pots or Lisbeth's weavings lets a traveler bring Dingle home.

Louis Mulcahy Pottery, Slea Head Drive, Clogher Beach, Ballyferriter, Ireland, 011-353-66-9156229 (9156429), louismulcahy.com. Lisbeth Mulcahy The Weavers Shop, Green Street, Dingle, Ireland, 011-353-66-9151688, lisbethmulcahy.com.