Art in Reading

A great opportunity for Reading and for Reading artists:

October 28, 2009

Empty shop windows in Reading town centre will transform into art exhibitions as part of an ‘Art Windows’ scheme this winter.

Arts organisation jelly, teamed with Reading UK Community Interest Company (CIC), will fill vacant buildings with temporary displays featuring pieces by Reading artists.

Suzanne Stallard jelly owner and a former Pride of Reading award winner, said: “When jelly first started we used lots of empty spaces and filled them with beautiful images – it’s how it originated really.

“We are going to exhibit work by local artists and people who have a connection with Reading.

“Anyone who wants to display should get in touch with us.”

As part of the programme jelly will re-vamp the unit, clearing debris, giving it a lick of paint and making it more attractive for passers-by.

In return the groups are asking for free use of the unit and free lighting and power.

Business Improvement District manager at Reading UK CIC, Guy Douglas, said: “Empty shops don’t look good and they are not the nicest neighbours for the businesses next to them.

“This is a really appealing proposition to estate agents and it is great publicity for the artists.

“It is a positive, warm and interesting street-scape.”

The exhibitions, which can be vacated within 48 hours, will be focused around Market Place and the groups hope to have them set up by Christmas.

Interested parties should contact Suzanne Stallard at suzanne@jelly.org.uk or Guy Douglas at bid@livingreading.co.uk.

bowl

It's the super busy time of year - I'm preparing for the Crowthorne Craft in Focus craft fair, which starts this Friday! I hope to see some of you there :-) I did have time yesterday, though, to squeeze in a quick lesson on how to make a bowl. I only started my bowl, so it's just in the beginning phase! I'm making it with copper and I blocked it a bit yesterday and did just a bit of raising. The blocking went naturally and seemed to get into a rhythm quickly, the raising was a bit harder. In any case, hopefully I'll make this into a very nice little bowl:

Reveal in Henley

Click on this photo for a closer look at the gorgeous flyer for the Reveal show in Henley or have a look at the Reveal website:

Craft in Focus

I shall be exhibiting next at

Wellington College, Crowthorne, 30 Oct - 1 Nov.

I hope to see you there where you will be able to view my latest designs

For further details of the show see below or log onto www.craftinfocus.com

The event displays only the highest standard of exhibitor that visitors to Craft in Focus have come to expect. We hope that you will visit us and look forward to seeing you at the show, as rarely is such a wealth of top quality work seen together at a single event.

Due to a strict vetting and selection procedure Craft in Focus has earned an enviable reputation for presenting events of the highest quality, and over the years, reports in the national media have often placed Craft in Focus above all others in the UK. We hope you will continue to visit our events around the country, and do keep an eye on our website for future developments and other shows in your area - www.craftinfocus.com

Yours sincerely

Craft in Focus

photo of stand

Hm, I was in a bit of a hurry when I took the photo of the stand, so it's not that sharp. But I have another 6 fairs to take a good photo, so that's ok! Here's a photo to give an idea, in any case:

Craft fairs!

So the first craft fair of the autumn is over! The Festival of Crafts in Farnham went very well! There were moments of loads of people flooding in and moments of quiet, but overall not too shabby for the first one of the season! I did better than I was aiming for, so no complaints here! Farnham is a lovely town with a beautiful drive into the center and I'm glad that I'll be back there on the 15th of December for the Farnham Maltings Christmas Market. This market is ideal for anyone who leaves their present-buying until the last little bit before the holiday!
I do have a photo of my stand, which I'll probably post tomorrow after I've sorted out all the stuff I didn't do over the weekend because I was away. Until tomorrow....

craft fairs, ahoy!

Festival of Crafts, Farnham Maltings:

£2.50, under 15s free
17^th & 18^th October 2009
10am – 5pm

Farnham Maltings is pleased to continue celebrating the creative traditions of the town of Farnham with the 13th annual Festival of Crafts in October 2009.

Festival of Crafts brings together over 80 designer makers and offers a unique opportunity for visitors to buy bespoke craft pieces, gain inspiration & a greater knowledge from skilled professional makers.

Click here for the event programme and list of exhibitors

Contemporary crafts on show include ceramics, textiles, glass, metal, jewellery and wood. Established craft practitioners will show alongside new exhibitors, with many offering demonstrations to engage and encourage both ‘craft connoisseurs’ and new audiences.

Demonstrations will offer a more interactive experience for visitors to the festival and encourage involvement in and a greater appreciation of the processes behind the work exhibited. Open Studios in the East Wing will also allow visitors to meet the Maltings resident artists and companies and learn more about the creative businesses that are based here.

As well as over 80 craft makers exhibiting and selling work, an exhibition will be held in the East Wing Gallery of new works resulting from collaboration between artist Anne Kelly and Cas Holmes – an ongoing project, 'Resonant Textiles'. Farnham Maltings will be the first venue in the UK that will exhibit their new work, before it tours in 2010...

more gloomy weather

It's rainy and gloomy and the garden looks soggy. My first craft fair of the season is around the corner (Festival of Crafts at the lovely Farnham Maltings!). Things may be cooling down outside, but they are heating up in the studio. Last night my second class teaching silversmithing/jewellery over at South Hill Park arts centre went very well. It went smoothly and everyone was happily working away at their projects. Lovely to see the bangles, rings, etc forming over the course of the class. Today I did lots of phoning - sorting out where to order a sheet of copper at a reasonable price without massive delivery costs. I also phoned for the...hm, I've lost count how many times...nth time to try to get some little post earring display do-dads. I have several of these thingies already and they are perfect for displaying small post earrings. But it's a battle...the supplier still hasn't received stock. It would be so great if I could get some of these things before all the craft fairs are over!!!! Right, now I'm off to paint the last little bit of my backdrop structure. I've done the base coat of paint and now I just need to paint it black and then it'll finally be finished! Hurrah!

random wishlist

There are approximately 10,202,395,385,103,204 different types of skills in silversmithing/jewellery making. As soon as I learn one, I find another two I'd like to learn. Some are more appealing than others, and some I'm happy to get an expert to do, since they are their own specialised fields. Many types of stone setting, for example, I feel are better left to the experts. They are going to do a better job and a good job straight away because they do it all the time. However, there are things that I'm just interested in and someday I'm going to get around to getting some lessons or demos, or at very least some videos! I'm not counting bezel setting as stone setting, for some reason, probably because I can do that and it usually involves quite large stones (or stones that aren't faceted, anyway).

Here's a random wish list of skills I'd like to learn:
1. engraving (see previous post about drooling over hand engraver's course)
2. granulation (this intrigues me and luckily I know a jeweller who knows a thing or two about this, so it's not a pipe dream to learn more)
3. stone setting (yes yes I said I'd rather leave to the experts, but I'd like to be better at doing gypsy settings and possibly roman settings. I like the flush style of setting as opposed to prong settings.)
4. enamelling (I'm sort of interested in this because of the colour options, but then sort of not because of all the extra tools I would need)

Anyway....that is what's on my mind at the moment.

happy october!

It's October already! There's a chill in the air and I'm looking forward to a possible halloween party and cosy evenings near a fireplace. Well, ok, it's only quite mild out, so maybe the fireplaces will have to wait a bit longer! Also, I have to admit I really like my winter coat, so I prefer wearing that to my summer/autumn light jacket.
Anyway, enough of that. I've had a flurry of posting on Etsy & Folksy. Lots of earrings (see photos of some below) - since I retrieved a bunch of items from Slough (since they're in the process of finding a new curator) I have lots of little earrings. I've added some of those, more to come. I've also got a bunch of rings which I'm going to polish, photograph, and put up on Etsy & Folksy at reduced prices.
Yesterday I organised a whole bunch of boxes and items and I'm definitely getting into craft fair mode! The first one of the autumn is a mere 16 days away - 17-18 October Festival of Crafts in Farnham ! I have a mere FOUR tickets left for free entry. They are actual paper, so I can only post them to you if you're interested. Just send me your address if you are...