Some new work and a craft fair review…

Lately I’ve been making jugs…

…lots and lots of jugs!

I’ve also gone a bit brooch mad. You see, I’ve got a couple of sales this month and I really needed lots and lots of work in case people wanted to buy things!

The first sale was last Saturday and was for Rural Arts at the courthouse in Thirsk and I’ve been so busy getting ready for it I haven’t had time to post about it on here!

Sadly the sale was a bit of a washout with no-one really making many sales so it was a complete waste of my time. It seems that the organisers didn’t do much marketing for the event – there were only posters outside the venue for instance but none in the surrounding area to point people in our direction.

Needless to say I won’t be doing a sale at that venue again!

Anyway, I’m doing another one this Saturday but this is a much better venue – The National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford, Lincolnshire! You can visit their website here or their Facebook page here. There will be food and live music at this one as well as the lovely handmade goodies, so lots to see and do!

If you happen to be nearby pop in and say hello – go on, step out of internetland and join me for a mulled wine!

Beccy

The Festival of Thrift

Last weekend we visited the Festival of Thrift, a brand new festival for this year, which celebrates all things thrifty, handmade, recycled and repurposed. It was free entry and luckily for us was held here in the North an hour away in Darlington at Lingfield Point, an old industrial site which itself has been repurposed into beautiful offices and studios. In fact part of it used to be Patons the yarn people.

The map has exactly the feel of the whole festival, a sort of 50’s/60’s kitschy pastel vintage vibe.

I don’t know why but it looks much smaller and less sunny than it actually was! This is the alternative village fete, which had hula hooping, a vintage hairdresser in a caravan, Oxfam vintage, a swop shop and loads of stalls selling handmade stuff and supplies.

There was also a DJ playing vinyl (you could choose from a selection of vintage greats!) and a dancefloor where they had hula-hoop dancing in the afternoon. There was also the Podium of Non-Judgementalism if you fancied a solo dance!

There were street performers roaming around – that chap at the top is wearing a suit made from growing cress and has persuaded that lady to wear a breakfast hat with real boiled egg, juice and soldier glasses. The blokes on the contraption above just travelled around squeakily. They were only wearing pants for most of the day but in the afternoon it got a bit chilly so they chose to accessorise with clear bin bags.

There were loads of food and drink stalls, this one had lots of yummy cordials.

Around the festival there were loads of jumble sale type stalls (fill a bag for a fiver!), vintage stalls, free crafts tables, cooking demos, even building with pallets! The whole feeling wasn’t preachy (recycle! If you don’t you’re killing the planet!!!) it was fun and relaxed – like a large group of people sharing ideas really.

Mum trying on a hat at the Oxfam vintage stall. She said, “if it was the 60’s, I would actually be wearing one of these!” I think she should anyway.

Sixty-three tickle me!

The huge posters and paintings on the walls are permanently at Lingfield Point where the festival was held.

As is the ‘Home’ house. I have no idea why it is the way it is but isn’t it great?

And finally not the best photo, but you can see the giant picture on the wall. It is a lamb being bottle fed in an office, and why not? I think I’d like to work at Lingfield Point, they have a sense of humour!

It was a great day out and we will definitely go next year. We maybe didn’t come back with as many thrifty ideas as we had hoped (although I saw some beehives, I want bees!) but to spend a relaxed day surrounded by like-minded people was wonderful.

Beccy

Working like a demon…

I’ve been working very hard to make things for York Open Studios – I’ve pretty much got everything made and fired (bar a few stragglers!) but I still have to do all the decoration.

Once my work has been bisq and glaze fired, there is one final step – adding the decals. Decals are water-slide transfers that fire on to the glazed ceramic and become a permanent feature. The decals that I use are all reproductions of vintage images – I’ve even seen some of them on original vintage plates! – that I buy from a family company that has been producing them for a long, long time.

They come in a large sheet which you cut up then soak in water to release the decal from the backing paper. Then you slide it onto the glazed area and fire it in the kiln. Aren’t they beautiful? I must admit I can’t resist buying them.

I realised yesterday that I had about forty things to decal!

Half of them need the vintage decals and those little pots in the foreground will have custom decals that I’m waiting for (shouldn’t really have ordered them during the Week Of Bank Holidays!)

Well, I’ve managed to get the vintage ones done this morning. Tomorrow I’m going to make some little wheels for my little houses and as soon as the custom decals arrive, I’ll be applying them like mad! Then it’s all fire, fire, fire.

I got some gorgeous packaging delivered this morning so I need to brand that too.

It’s all go round my house!

Beccy

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Last week, our boss decided to take us on a daytrip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This is a place we normally take the students at least once a year, so it was a bit of a busman’s holiday. On the other hand, it was nice to actually get to see the sculptures rather than spending all day herding the students out of the cafe and towards the art!

It has rained non-stop for weeks now so it was a pleasant surprise to have nice weather for a change.

There are two huge galleries (showing Miro and Anish Kapoor at the moment) and the park is so big you have a choice of a trek or a shuttle bus from one gallery to the other. It’s a nice walk though with lots of huge sculptures on the way.

It’s a shame you can’t take photo’s in the galleries, but the nice staff will inform you that you can’t take photo’s in the park either (but that no-one will actually stop you!)

In case you were wondering, here’s how you clean a Miro sculpture – with a sweeping brush and a bucket of water. We normals aren’t even allowed to touch this one.

The park stretches right over to the other side of the valley.

They were erecting a life-sized inflatable replica of Stonehenge that morning. It’s a bouncy castle made by Jeremy Deller and titled Sacrilege but we didn’t get a go on it. Boo.

A short video of them trying to get it up *chortle*

If you find yourself anywhere near Wakefield, it’s definitely worth a visit (although give yourself four or five hours!).

Beccy

It’s a wonderful town…

Did I tell you I have an exhibition in New York? Ok, it’s not my exhibition, but there is a piece of my work in it. It’s ‘Night Scented Stock’ at Marianne Boesky on E64th street – check out that artist list! I’m in awe. It runs until the 22nd of this month if you’d like to see it.

I’m an extra bit excited because we’re going to New York just to see the exhibition – is that crazy? Is it normal to travel 3400 miles to see something you already own?

I feel pretty ok about spending all that money though because we haven’t had a holiday since 2006 and if you average it out it’s not so bad. We’re going to be there for a few days, so what I want to ask you lovely, thrifty people is: Where are the best thrift shops in New York? If there happen to be any near some major landmarks that would be handy because we only have four days and my Rough Guide already has more bookmarks than I have time! It’s going to take some careful planning.

So, let me know where to go, and I’ll report back on my findings!

Beccy

Ceramicy business…

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the workshop lately, because I’ve been accepted for York Open Studios! Open Studios is a country-wide initiative where selected makers open their studios for a couple of weekends in April, allowing people to see where the work is made, meet the artist and possibly buy work direct. Some of the plates above will eventually look like this:

But I am also working on some exciting (I think!) new designs for the event.

If you happen to be in or around York on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 8th, 9th, 10th April, please stop by to say hello! There will be lots of work to see (and workshops to nosy around) all over York on those two weekends – ceramics, textiles, wood, jewellery, sculpture, painting, drawing, mixed media…… Pretty much everything handmade in an arty fashion.

It’s always very relaxed, with no pressure to buy, and as a bonus it’s a great chance to meet the artists you have always admired and see their work outside of a gallery setting.

This will be the first time I will be participating so it’s a little bit scary and I’ll miss visiting all the artists but it’ll be a great experience.

Right, got to go fill the kiln again – April is only round the corner!

Beccy