My London art week

This last week I have been treated to some beautiful art that has visually nourished and stimulated the very bones of me! I was first at the opening of 'And then there was....' at Salon Vert near Regents park to see five wonderful artists show their work, some lit up the room, some were stuck onto the side of the room (see brown tape cityscape above) , some painted onto the actual room and some brought the room to a standstill when it was knocked over with the loudest thunderous bang...not once but THREE times! and I am glad to say I wasn't responsible for any! A beautiful show, in a beautiful house by beautiful people!

I was then drawn to the opposite end of the London world, to a disused office block in Elephant and Castle, taken over by ASC and rented out to lots and lots of AMAZING makers, designers and artists. I went to see the work of Chris Eales a friend and very talented illustrator and animator, and was drawn in to many more open studios among the nine floors of creative space. Moving sculptures, depressed hamsters, felt tip drawings, pleating mania and nap corners, all made me warm with an enriched view of my home town. Thanks.x

Crafts Council Hothouse Collective Exhibition.

Here's some sneaky peeks at the delights of contemporary British craft exhibited at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham. Myself and nine other makers are exhibiting here for one more week to show off our range of talents, obsessions, philosophies and skills. The preview evening last week was a lovely evening of mutual appreciation, story telling and too much wine. We plan to exhibit as a group like this again in the future so I will post details on the blog when we know more!

Details of the cohort:

Heidi Parsons ceramics

Helene Uffren glass

Leon Lewis wood

Rosanna Martin ceramics

Gillian Royal textiles

Claire Baker ceramics

Stella Harding basketry

Jo Lovelock textiles

Katherine May textiles

Holly Berry textiles

Gold Peg and Mighty Mo!

"Who are gold peg and monkey"? I ask myself whilst on many a London tube and train, who are these graffiti artists that have so magnificently re-appropriated this simple clothesline adornment and re branded our brick walls with their delicate pastilles and menacing monkey faces??? It seems this is the work of Gold peg and Mighty Mo, part of the Burning Candy clan of roof hoppers and alley dwellers... risking their jeans to lumber up walls and decorate our 'staring out of the train window on the way to work' moments. It's just what October is made for...I love Autumn, and this just makes it even better!! I know a wall in New Cross that is calling out for such adornment! MINE! I doubt this is the sort of thing that can be commissioned, but if a peg suddenly appears anywhere near 106 New Cross Rd, I will be a very happy lady indeed!

Knit and stitch 2010

I was pleasantly surprised to see these innovative and contemporary pieces of work by recent graduates at this years Knit and stitch show at Alexandra palace this week.

Full of lovely makers and hobby-ists, it is sometimes a worry how this area will grow and evolve in the future, so it was great to see new techniques, colours and aesthetics breaking through all that traditional style, ans made for a good balance between old and new. Also exciting was the work of Barley Massey in the 'swishing' area and the contemporary patchwork workshops of Katherine May! A good exhibition and worth fighting my way through the coach fulls of British hand makers and collectors, phew!!

E.X.H.I.B.I.T.I.O.N.

Sooooo looking forward to gathering with the other 'Hotties' tomorrow for the start of our exhibition: Crafts Council Hothouse collective 2010. Expecting a lovely crowd and a family vibe with flowing wine and cuddles!

New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham.

Crative haze

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I am tuned into the loom at the moment, designing and sampling by sun and moonshine, and inspiration is following me around..I keep seeing piles of boxes, stacks of chairs and heaps of colourful crates, just waiting to be turned into woven designs! There's something beautiful about these forgotten and unseen man made finds, they draw me in and transform my landscape into possibilities, pattern and colour.

I don't expect to surface from this creative haze until spring!

Exhibition news!!

I am showing two new pieces of colourful work inspired by my original Morse-code design, hand woven on my beautiful loom, at the Hothouse Collectives first group exhibition!

I have been lucky enough to be part of the first Crafts Council's Hothouse development programme, we are having an exciting exhibition of all of our work at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham from the 9th to the 23rd October, opening next Friday!

I am so proud and excited to be part of this wonderful and supportive collective of makers including ceramicists, textiles, wood, basketry and glass makers and artists and can't wait to see all of our work together in this amazing gallery space. We have been on a journey together, developing our practices and ideas, and supporting each other to achieve our ambitions, with specialist help and support from the Crafts Council.

We would love it if you could come and see us at the exhibition, and keep watching, as we are planning another show for 2011 too!

The many marks of man...

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Us humans are always being reprimanded for the marks that we are leaving on the earth; rain forest destruction, pollution, land fill, building sites, litter...it goes on and on endlessly making us feel guilt for our own existence. But what people fail to remember and celebrate, are the beautiful marks we leave, not just the architecture, art works and literature that for most are unobtainable and nothing to do with them, but the marks and 'imperfections' we leave all around us, memories, notes, little shapes and compositions. I love these things that prove our existence our work and our expression. Graffiti, notes of love on toilet doors, discarded shopping lists in supermarket trolleys and layers of paint, tape and paper that uncover the past. These things inspire me and tell a story.

If life imitates art then why can't the everyday human create their own masterpiece with sellotape, Biro and a bit of dirt. It proves we are alive, that we're existing and engaging with our surroundings. A pristine white box is no evidence of life or living. It's the little things that count.

Eco Factory at London Design week.

It was a pleasure to see responsible and beautiful design featuring so prominently during the London Design festival this year, in particular the Annie Sherburne curated an inspirational exhibition which explores sustainable design and 'co designing' at the gallery in the OXO tower.

knitters and installation artists Eco Factory was founded by Annie Sherburne in 2010, following 18 years of research, and includes the following London based design groups: Barley Massey's Fabrications, guerrillaKnitty Gritty, clothes based charity Traid (who will be conducting sew good workshops), Osian Batyka-Williams' sculpted metal chairs, Out Of Bounds music, performance artists Sarah McPhee (human lace making) and Kate Morris (human decoration), sitting in this prestigious gallery space, opposite the heaving 'Designers Block' event (in which I incidentally bumped into the lovely Mr Wayne Hemingway).

This event proves that responsible design that is beautiful, sometimes provocative and always meaningful is finding it's place amongst the big players of London design; a design capital of the world. Good work guys!