2021 Exhibitors
The exhibition has now finished for another year.
PLEASE JOIN US AT THE DACRE HALL LANERCOST PRIORY NR BRAMPTON CUMBRIA CA8 2HQ IN AUGUST 2022
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place...I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” (Elliot Erwitt)
This quote just about sums up the way I feel about photography. For me it’s all about capturing the essence of the moment without getting too bound up in reality. I have found my camera to be less of an instrument with which to record what I see in front of me, but more of a tool which allows me to present the scene in a personal way.
Photography, like life itself, is what you make it.
'Carol Nunan is an Irish artist printmaker who lives and works in Northumberland. Her studio - a converted barn on the edge of Hexham - is the place where she creates her original handmade prints.
Carol’s inspiration is wild places - the iconic ancient landmarks and wildlife of her adopted county but also the wild seascapes of the Hebrides and Scotland’s west coast. The hallmark of her work is colour, pattern and texture. Carol also offers visitors a selection of affordable, high quality gifts."
https://www.instagram.com/carolnunanprint/
Contemporary sterling silver and mixed metal jewellery, handcrafted by designer/maker Clare Edwin from her studio at The Forge in Allendale.
Working with traditional silversmithing tools and techniques, Clare loves to explore texture and form, deriving great satisfaction in turning an unassuming piece of metal into unique, wearable art. Clare takes inspiration from texture and patterns in nature, and the Northumberland landscape. She seeks to use reclaimed materials in her work wherever possible. The signature combinations of silver, copper and brass used within the LollaMac collection result in a range of jewellery that can easily be mixed and matched for any occasion.
Julia Neubauer - Chameleon knitwear designer
Julia Neubauer is a knitwear designer based at The Brewhouse Studios, by the river in Alston, Cumbria. Each item is hand framed in British spun pure wool from a Yorkshire woollen mill
Designs include wrist warmers in plain, stripe and colour blocks, hats, headbands and neckwarmers with stripes, jacquard or felt embellishments, scarves and fine lambswool wraps.
Julia finds inspiration for colours and patterns from many sources, including the natural world and research into the history of decorative arts, folk art being a particular favourite.
www.numonday.com/shop/chameleon
Immersed in the Arts and Crafts tradition, for over thirty years Nicholas has been designing and making furniture for churches and private homes nationwide. His portfolio includes tiny jewellery boxes and kitchen ware through to dining suites and furnishings for Cathedral chapels, with commissions for much else between. Enquiries welcome for furniture, lectures and demonstrations.
Carolyn is a ceramic artist whose work ranges from hold-in the-hand sculptures to unique wheel-thrown lamps, bottles and lidded jars.
With simple forms as her starting point, she likes to use a variety surface treatments as well as a wide range of clays, slips and glazes. To add a dash of local colour, Carolyn uses locally-found materials, such as river grit and beach sand.
Carolyn is based in Brampton, Northeast Cumbria, and exhibits widely in the North of England and Scotland, this year including Potfest in the Pens, Potfest Scotland, and Hepworth Contemporary Ceramics Fair. She is a member of Northern Potters Association and Bensham Grove Pottery.
https://www.instagram.com/carolyn.marr.ceramics/
Ruth creates beautiful silk scarves and accessories.
Every piece is individually hand dyed, making each one both impressive and unique.
https://www.ruthstrongtextiles.co.uk
David Stephenson is an artist blacksmith using traditional hand forging techniques to produce a range of works, both functional and sculptural, at his forge at Lockton on the North York Moors. He is inspired by the beautiful scenery and natural forms around him, often simplifying designs to represent the essence of his inspiration.
Much of his time is now spent in teaching his skills to others on day- and longer blacksmithing courses.
Denise is an artist printmaker and wildlife watcher, inspired by the wild world and wild places.
With a background in stitched textiles, she lived for many years in the English Lake District, where she lectured and exhibited nationally and further afield.
Drawn to the wilder Hebridean landscape and a switch to printmaking, Denise now lives and works from her tiny studio/gallery in a small historic croft house overlooking the sea on the Isle of Skye.
Her work blends textural printmaking elements reflecting her textile background and crisp graphic screenprinting . . often in the same piece.
The inspiration for my art comes from the emotional energies I experience in my daily existence. My work reflects my endless fascination for the contours and rhythms of the natural and man-made landscape around me. I create stratified, highly textural, mixed media contemporary abstract artworks by fusing discarded and recycled materials with a variety of mixed media using self- developed techniques. My objective is to convey alternative perspectives of figurative imagery which resonate with the observer but often only emerge when viewed repeatedly over time.
Stimulus comes from everyday observations of objects and structures, such as the pattern created by a woodpile, the furrows in a ploughed field or the repeated symmetry within an architectural feature, seascape or landscape. My love of old maps, satellite imagery, facades, favelas and archaeological records all serve to inspire me and the movement of crowds, flocks, herds and shoals within delineated spaces can also be found in my art.
My work contains a multitude of discarded materials and found objects collected over time. Each component carries a fragment of memory from its original owner, imprinted and forever embedded within its structure. Like holding a shell to an ear to sense the sea, being open to what lies beneath the surfaces of my works has the potential to reveal harmonics to resonate with the viewer's own inner vibrational field.
Mary Kennedy is an artist who paints landscapes and domestic scenes, and translates her imagery onto wooden boxes and trays etc.
Her painting is full of detail, light and colour, as well as humour.
Kirsten Gilder is a screen printer and textile designer based in Cumbria. She creates abstract surface patterns, hand printed textile pieces and more recently has expanded her practice to include screen printed artwork.
Kirsten is inspired by natural forms and materials from her everyday life often in linear or structural representations. Her printed textures and bold monochromatic shapes create a minimalist and modern approach to both her hand-crafted textiles and original hand-pulled screen prints.
‘Richard Kennedy is a furniture maker and woodcarver with a great love of medieval carving.
He designs and makes cupboards, desks, tables etc, often carved, and also a range of unusual jewellery boxes.
Most of my work is influenced by the natural world, particularly the sea. One of the challenges of working with clay is how to capture and convey the sense of constant movement and energy of the sea. My response has been a series of exuberant wave bowls made using thrown slabs of clay which I stretch and distort before making into wave sculptures and large bowls or creels. I have also made a new edition of small porcelain bowls which are reminiscent of rockpools at the seaside and are meant to remind us of summer days spent at the beach.
My most recent work, the Kilim series, was made in response to the traditional designs and colours of Kilim rugs and other hand-woven fabrics. I am particularly fascinated by Kuba cloth which is a raffia-based fabric painstakingly woven and dyed by the Kuba people of central Africa. The cloth is further decorated and embellished with geometric shapes and traditional patterns which are so typical of central African art and make Kuba cloth so highly sort after.
Striking a three pronged attack, the group combine their skills and styles to present a diverse range of baskets. The three prongs are:
Penton Willows
Kath and James have been making baskets for the past 18 years and have explored traditional basket technics in their work. Their work draws from their varied experiences, Kath from her Fine Art background and James from his environmental willow projects, such as river revetment and light willow structures .
Jean Tinsley
Jean took early retirement and studied at Newcastle University gaining a BA Hons degree in Fine Art in 2014. After graduating Jean was introduced to willow weaving and never looked back adding a modern twist to a more traditional craft.
Jackie Carnell
Jackie is based at her home village of Nenthead, high up in the Pennine Hills, where she weaves her baskets in her workshop overlooking the beautiful fells. Her aim is to share the skills she has learnt on the journey of willow weaving to others, so that the amazing craft can carry on and grow.