UK Handmade Winter Magazine 2016

WINTER 2016 ukhandmade

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The UK Handmade Members Gallery Come and join our growing Members Gallery! Founded on our successful online magazine, website and forum, our carefully curated directory brings together the best of UK Handmade and will allow viewers to search through our community of makers, designers and artists by location and creative discipline. An effective and professional platform to promote your talent, choose from either a Standard Directory Listing or Premium Portfolio. To find out more, visit: www.ukhandmade.co.uk/directory-application

Quercus Silver

Arati Devasher

Jane Paveley

Chrissie Freeth

Huiyi Tan

Pouch

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Contents...

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contributors: Winter 2016

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finds: Editor’s Picks 2016 has been an ‘interesting’ year for many of us, but as it draws to a close, we have time for reflection. We can plan for the new year ahead, say goodbye to the old and welcome the new. From extraordinary ceramics and a glass-engraving wordsmith, to small business advice and a wonderful new craft award, this issue has something for everyone. We also have our regular selection of fabulous finds, inspirational features, events and reviews to help you celebrate the season in style.

Bebe. x

Editor & Designer/Maker

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meet: Amy Cooper

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meet: Andy Poplar

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meet: Melanie Goemans

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meet: Chrissy Norman

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business: #Tweet Success

live: Our Daily Bread

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business: Buying Bespoke

live: Christmas Treats

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scene: The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize

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scene: Made in Clerkenwell

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scene: Top Drawer

review: Textile Collage

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review: Scandikitchen Fika & Hygge

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review: Cocktail Cookbook

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scene: MADE Brighton

FRONT COVER: www.vandbp.co.uk; BACK COVER: www.pixabay.com

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WINTER 2016

Contributors.. .

Lisa Margreet Payne Craft Educator & Writer www.lisamargreet.com

Heidi Burton

Small Business Mentor & Illustrator www.digibloom.co

Karen Jinks

Creative Director & Artist/Designer www.karenjinks.co.uk

Mich Yasue

Finance Director & Maker

Dawn Bevins

Deputy Editor & Designer/Maker www.dawnbevins.co.uk

Alex Vaughan

Micro-baker www.thecrowsrestbakehouse.co.uk

UK Handmade Magazine, info@ukhandmade.co.uk, www.ukhandmade.co.uk • Copyright © UK Handmade LTD 2016. All rights reserved.

Reproduction or redistribution in whole or in parts without written permission is strictly prohibited. The editor’s decision on all printed material is final. Unsolicited work is accepted but does not guarantee inclusion into the final edition. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of UK Handmade or the editor.

Creative Director: Karen Jinks info@ukhandmade.co.uk • Editor: Bebe Bradley editor@ukhandmade.co.uk • Design: Jo Askey design@ukhandmade.co.uk Deputy Editor: Dawn Bevins dawn@ukhandmade.co.uk • Advertising: advertising@ukhandmade.co.uk • PR: pr@ukhandmade.co.uk Events: events@ukhandmade.co.uk 4 | ukhandmade | Winter 2016

page

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Meet: Amy Cooper

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Winter finds

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FIONA DALY Nordic Lumber Collection, enquiries at www.fionadalytextiles.com

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CLARE L WILSON Cane Studies No.50, (left) enquiries at www.clarelwilsonglass.co.uk

EMILY COLLINS Granule Brooch, (right) enquiries at www.emilycollinsjewellery.co.uk Winter 2016 | ukhandmade |

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ALICE ROBSON Silver Micro Box Pendant with 18ct Gold Disc, enquiries at www.alicerobson.co.uk 10 | ukhandmade | Winter 2016

MATT DAVIS Hi Res & Low Res Vessels, enquiries at www.ceramicsx.co.uk

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JUDITH DAVIES Pale Touchstones, £95 each from www.judithdavies.com

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SCENE:

The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour has recently announced that the show will run a new Craft Prize, in association with the Crafts Council and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Presenters Jenni Murray and Jane Garvey announced the new prize in a special 70th anniversary edition of the programme.

The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize 2017 aims to find and celebrate the most innovative and exciting craft practitioner or designer/maker resident in the UK today, in the most comprehensive prize of its kind; applications for the prize opened on November 1st. The prize will be judged by experts in the craft field, with twelve finalists exhibiting their work at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and in a planned touring exhibition of the shortlisted work. The Crafts Council will organise successful entries into seven categories, consisting of ceramics, metals, textiles, jewellery, glass, wood and ‘other’ (including but not limited to paper, stone work, lettering and leatherwork).

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LUCY RIE’S STUDIO at the V&A Winter 2016 | ukhandmade |

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An overall winner will be chosen from the twelve exhibiting finalists and awarded a prize of £10,000 at a ceremony in November 2017. The prize will reward originality and excellence in concept, design and process. It will seek to recognise an outstanding craft practitioner or designer/ maker with a track record of public display or showcasing of their work, and who has demonstrably contributed to craft practice in the last five years.

For over the past 70 years, Woman’s Hour has championed and celebrated both the craft of listeners and of craft practitioners and in that tradition, the launch of the prize coincides with the celebrations for the anniversary year.

On air, Woman’s Hour will cover highlights of the crafting calendar, profile the history of the seven craft prize categories, interview the finalists and reflect the impact craft can have on health and innovation. Craft will also be celebrated on the programme through coverage of exhibitions, discussions, demonstrations and practitioners, hoping to inspire the audience to make and create.

Alice Feinstein, Woman’s Hour Editor, says, “As we enter our 70th year, Woman’s Hour is keen to spotlight the work of the exceptional craft makers who are leading their field; we plan to support innovation, explore the history and variety of crafting practices and, of course, to celebrate the everyday creativity of our listeners. We are delighted to be working with The Crafts Council and the V&A to run a prize in 2017.”

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Executive Director at the Crafts Council, Rosy Greenlees, says that, “The Crafts Council has been championing craft for over five decades through

The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize is open to British nationals and UK residents, aged 18 years or over on the submission deadline of the 6th of February,

our exhibitions, publications, developing the talent of makers and getting young people inspired by craft. Craft skills contribute £3.4 billion to the UK economy and our craftsmanship is revered around the world. It is incredibly timely to be launching this prestigious new Woman’s Hour Craft Prize to recognise the creativity and calibre of British craft.

And we are very proud to be doing so partnering with Woman’s Hour and the V&A.”

2017, and who are leading practitioners with at least five years’ experience in their particular field of craft in the United Kingdom.

Bill Sherman, Director of Collections and Research at the V&A, elaborates: “Craft has always been at the core of the V&A’s purpose and we engage with the whole spectrum of craft disciplines and materials from ceramics to metalwork, glass to jewellery and textiles to woodwork. We work closely with contemporary practitioners whose work we collect and present and for whom our collections are a major source of inspiration. There is currently an immense fascination with materiality and process in art which chimes with the values of craft and the idea of making holds huge popular appeal.

We are proud to be partnering with Woman’s Hour and the Crafts Council to celebrate the enormous contribution of women and men to contemporary and historic craft practice.”

The prize is open for applications from the beginning of November until the 6th of February, 2017. The twelve shortlisted applicants will be announced in April 2017, and their work will be exhibited at the V&A from September 2017 until the winner is announced in November 2017.

Applications and images showing relevant work can be submitted via the Crafts Council website: www.craftscouncil.org.uk Further information about the judging process and the terms and conditions, can be found on the Woman’s Hour website: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb You can also find out more about the Craft Prize at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) website: www.vam.ac.uk Images courtesy of BBC Radio 4 and the V&A

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MEET:

Amy Cooper by Bebe Bradley

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Amy Cooper has been designing and making beautiful and unique porcelain lighting for over thirteen years. Working from her home studio in Cornwall, she has supplied a number of prestigious retailers including The National Trust, House of Fraser and the V&A, as well as exhibiting extensively in both the UK and overseas. Inspired by the world under the sea, the world under the microscope and magical twilight landscapes, her translucent work addresses the fragility and transience of life and the natural world, through the transformative properties of light upon porcelain.

Who is Amy Cooper?

Born in Cornwall, I studied for a BTEC Foundation in Art and Design at Falmouth School of Art, before going on to the University of Wolverhampton where I gained a BA Hons (First Class) in Art and Design, specialising in Ceramics and Sculpture. I now live in Cornwall, with my husband (who is also my business partner) and our two children, and we work from our studio at home.

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Tell us about your background; how has your extraordinary porcelain lighting evolved from this?

a ‘multiples project’. I was making carved pebble forms out of mixed clay, including porcelain, and wondered what they would look like if they were lit

I grew up in beautiful Cornwall and was lucky enough to have the total freedom, more or less, to explore and roam. I lived moments from the beach and spent as much time as I could, peering into rock pools or looking for treasures on the tideline.

After leaving school, I knew that I wanted to make a living out of being creative, but experienced several years of bar work and travelling before I decided to go back to college in my mid-twenties. I wanted to learn new skills but even more so, wanted to develop the confidence to show people my work, which I had never achieved before.

from within. I think the light creates a sense of life force, energy and atmosphere, which is endlessly pleasing.

I had mainly been working in two dimensions until that point but during my foundation course at Falmouth, realised that I wanted to actually make ‘things’. After completing the foundation, I enrolled on a combined Ceramics and Sculpture degree at Wolverhampton, where I was charmed, not by the place, but by the creative energy of the staff and students.

Light has been an important part of my practice; from my black and white photography at A Level to my sculptural explorations. The porcelain itself became illuminated after some experiments with 20 | ukhandmade | Winter 2016

What drew you to ceramics, and to porcelain in particular?

My earliest experiences with clay, were of digging it out of a riverbank and making pinch pots when I was about 7. Clay always made sense in the hand to me; earth that can be made permanent by fire, what alchemy! I didn’t meet porcelain until much later and it wasn’t love at first sight (in fact, the complete opposite). However, the magic of transforming something with light appealed, and I found myself experimenting and using it more in my work. By the time I left university, I had come to know and love it as a material.

What aspects of the natural world do you most enjoy portraying in your work?

I love making something that looks ‘found’, not ‘made’, through my Original Collection. I love exploring minutiae and the everyday beauty of wilderness. I like trying to tell a story or catch a certain moment, through the illustrated work of my Imagery Collection.

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Tell us about the inspiration behind your work. Who or what is influencing you right now?

The accessibility of ceramics is an important element of my practice, although there is a tendency for contemporary craft to aspire to fine art. For me, the appeal is in the everyday beauty and rarity of a handmade thing that has a use. Things become more precious to us as we live with them and use them. I value being able to create an atmosphere in a room with my work.

What processes do you engage to create a new piece or body of work?

Walking, thinking, drawing and photography, but not necessarily in that order!

Tell us about your Brick Work ‘Community Seat’.

‘Community Seat’ is a life-sized, carved brick sofa. It was a labour of love created in my third year at Uni. It weighs approximately 3.5 tonnes and is composed of 194 ‘Staffordshire Blue’ bricks. It toured the country and had temporary homes in six locations, before finally being permanently sited at Broomhill Sculpture Park in North Devon. Carving this piece took four weeks, with the hollowing out of each brick taking an additional ten days. The firing process, which was a heavy reduction to 1100°C, took one week (cool to cool) in a gas-fired ‘crocodile’ kiln at Ibstock Brick’s Lodge Lane site in Staffordshire.

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The final siting, in 2004, involved the mortaring together of the pieces and took one week. I have since made an armchair to accompany it which is still waiting to find its final home. I dream of working with brick again when family life has mellowed a bit!

Are there specific tools that you cannot do without?

My decorating tools are like old friends, and a scalpel with a fresh blade is a joy to behold.

Tell us about your current work space.

The best thing about the studio is that it’s at home, which with a young family is vital. It’s the size of a garage over two floors, with all the kit and machinery at road level upstairs (largely my husband’s domain) and my quieter working area downstairs in the garden. It’s not the most picturesque studio but it’s a good workspace and I love it, despite the occasional flood and rodent visitation. It’s only to be expected when living on a riverbank!

What are the most rewarding and most frustrating aspects of what you do?

One of the most rewarding things is lighting up a piece for the first time, when it has worked. It’s still exciting nearly 15 years on from the very first time! I also love people’s reaction to my work; it’s something very special and why I think it’s important to take part in selling shows like MADE and Art in Clay, where you spend the weekend with your work, talking to the public.

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What do you do to take time out and relax?

My favourite way to escape my busy mind is with exercise; I practice yoga and trapeze, and go

flair and decorative quality of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts artists, such as Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley and William Morris. I’m moved by the strength,

running regularly.

power and tenderness of Jacob Epstein’s sculptures and Eric Gill’s woodcuts, and I’ve been inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and Peter Randall Page all my life. British contemporary ceramics provides an enormously rich field for inspiration; I love Eddie Curtis’s work, Peter Beard’s surfaces are perfection and Yo Thom’s tableware is quiet and thoughtful.

Margaret O’Rorke makes fantastic light pieces and I love Paul Young’s contemporary take on traditional earthenware. I could go on and on!

Have you seen a change in the perception of ‘craft’ in the UK? Ironically it seems that as courses around the country close down, the interest in and appetite for contemporary craft grows. Perhaps the routes into a craft career will move out of university and back into apprenticeship style training. The courses that survive seem to be very general and it’s difficult to specialize at degree level. I think skills are in danger of being lost just as the demand blossoms.

Who are your favourite artists, designers and makers?

My stencils are made of paper and almost all handcut, so I’m particularly in awe of some of the fantastic contemporary paper cutters. I love the humour and character of Rob Ryan’s pieces, the intricacy and movement of Bovey Lee’s work, while Hari and Deepti’s 3-D papercuts have a magic of their own.

Not to forget the astounding work of Lotte Reiniger, a forerunner to all contemporary papercutting.

I’m generally inspired by an eclectic mix of artists, ceramicists, printmakers and sculptors. I love the 26 | ukhandmade | Winter 2016

What does it mean to you, to own a handmade or hand-finished object?

I have quite a lot of ceramics that I have collected over the last 15 years, and they give me daily joy. Many are functional and I love the ritual of connecting the vessel with the food or drink. I enjoy the provenance and integrity, as well as the balance in the hand, that is achieved so often with a handmade object. I have lots of mugs, different mugs for different beverages. There is an image (on page 33) showing my coffee cup which was made

by Pim van Huisseling, a Dutch potter whom I met through Art in Clay. I use it every day and enjoy my coffee more because of it.

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You exhibit in galleries both nationally and internationally. Does this have an impact on the work that you produce?

Working with different galleries both in the UK and abroad can offer the opportunity and challenge of thinking laterally and creatively.

What advice would you give to someone who is just ‘starting out’, and who wants to have their work shown?

Give as much time and energy as you can, be with your work and talk about it with the passion you feel. Engage with the public and address each opportunity as it comes your way.

What’s the best piece of advice someone has ever given you?

Learn to delegate! I used to try to do everything in-house, between myself and my husband. I met a small business advisor when I lived in Brighton, and she told me to make a list of everything we did to make the business work, and divide it up into columns. The first column listed things that anyone could do, like cleaning and packing orders.

The next listed those that another professional could do better and quicker for me, like web design and mould-making, whilst the third listed those that I need to do myself, like designing, making, decorating and glazing.

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By finding other people to help, it allows you more time to focus on what is really important. I don’t always manage to live by this but it was very good advice and I do try to keep it in mind.

If you had the opportunity to learn or employ a new creative skill, what would it be?

I’d like to do some more throwing again. I did it at university and loved it, but then went down a different path. Printmaking appeals to me very much.

I’ve been meaning to get my head around crochet.

Maybe this winter … there is never enough time!

What’s next for Amy Cooper; do you have any new projects or exhibitions planned?

I’m about to launch my long-awaited pendant shade and I’m very excited as I’ve been meaning to add this one to the collection for a very long time. I’ll be exhibiting at Art in Clay in Farnham on the 19th and 20th of November, and hope to have one or two pendants to take with me.

You can also find me at the Etsy Makers Cornwall Christmas Fair on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of December.

This is a new show which promises to be a cool, contemporary handmade fair, right in the centre of St Ives. It’s supported by Etsy Made Local, a national weekend of fantastic handmade shopping direct from modern makers.

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And finally, I’ll be once again finishing the year at Fowey Christmas Market on the 9th, 10th and 11th of December. You can also find my work featured at The Artichoke Gallery’s exhibition, ‘In the Landscape’, at Ticehurst in Sussex, until December 24th.

Where can we see and discover more about your work?

Please visit my website for information on regular stockists and upcoming exhibitions and shows.

For more information, visit: www.amycooperceramics.co.uk www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AmyCooperCeramics To follow Amy on Facebook and Instagram, visit: www.facebook.com/AmyCooperCeramics www.instagram.com/amycooperceramics Images courtesy of Amy Cooper Product photography by Paul Mounsey Process photography by Katie Goff

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SCENE:

Made in Clerkenell Winter Made in Clerkenwell is a bi-annual celebration of Craft Central’s resident designer/makers and Network members. For the first time, visitors are welcomed to FOUR Clerkenwell venues, filled with over 150 designer/makers selling quality handmade fashion, jewellery, ceramics, stationary, home accessories and prints; everything you could possibly need for Christmas!

At the cutting edge of craft for over 40 years, Craft Central is a charity which actively supports high standards in craft and design, and nurtures an appreciation of fine craftsmanship in members of the public. It provides affordable studio spaces, galleries, promotion opportunities, business support and other valuable opportunities for designer/makers at any stage of their career. Craft Central has a national member network of designer/makers, in addition to those who are resident in the studios in Clerkenwell’s two Victorian buildings.

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KREIS DESIGN

PIPET DESIGN

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Throughout Craft Central, The Goldsmiths’ Centre, St John’s Square and Clerkenwell Green, you’ll be welcomed to discover, meet, purchase and commission from some of the UK’s most notable designer/makers in their own private studios, and find a truly special gift for Christmas! New for 2016, you can visit the Priory at The Order of St John where thirty designer/makers will be presented within this magnificent church. The Priory’s secret sculpture garden will also feature work by one of the designer/makers.

Working with Bezalel Workshops, for the second time this year visitors are offered the chance to sample specialist crafts, from calligraphy to paper cutting master classes. A full programme will be released soon with the option for visitors to pre-book on the Craft Central website. Visitors will also have the opportunity to discover Clerkenwell’s fascinating history as a centre for crafts and manufacture, alongside its own contemporary creative scene, with a walking tour led by a qualified Clerkenwell guide from Lansdown’s London.

Louisa Pacifico, Chief Executive of Craft Central, says, “We are excited to be putting on the biggest Made in Clerkenwell Winter to date. Spread across four iconic Clerkenwell venues, with over a 150 designer/makers selling, it’s set to be a real destination for the craft lover this Christmas.”

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SATO HISAO

Venues: 21 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC14 0DX 33-35 St John’s Square, London, EC1M 4DS 42 Britton St, London, EC1M 5AD St John’s Gate, St John’s Lane, London, EC1M 4DS Opening times: 17.00 - 20.00 Thursday 24th November 12.00 - 20.00 Friday 25th November 12.00 - 17.00 Saturday 26th November 12.00 - 17.00 Sunday 27th November (Sunday at Craft Central venues only) Standard Admission: £5; £3 for pre-registered ticket holders.

Register HERE For more information, visit: www.craftcentral.org.uk www.goldsmiths-centre.org www.lansdowns.london www.museumstjohn.org.uk Images courtesy of CRAFT CENTRAL

LEE BORTHWICK Winter 2016 | ukhandmade |

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BUSINESS: #TweetSuccess by Heidi Burton

There are quick and simple actions you can take, as part of your small business marketing strategy, that can prove more than worth your while. Being pro-active about promoting your brand via social media is one of them, but rather than posting into the ether, think about your goals and how to achieve them.

Sadly, opportunities won’t always find you whilst you sit there and wait, so it’s important to plan and take action. Here’s one simple yet effective strategy for your business to-do list; to use Twitter to find opportunities to have your products featured by blogs and press.

1. Research upcoming events and occasions, such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, etc., and forecasted merchandising trends such as, for example, copper homewares, Hygge style or rustic weddings. Make a list or use a calendar to plot any that are relevant to your brand.

2. Use Twitter’s search box to hunt for terms like ‘Valentine’s gift guide’. No hashtag is needed as a list of tweets containing that phrase will appear. Bloggers and editors usually request submissions for their editorial, etc., ahead of time and sometimes months ahead for long-lead press (with a few lastminute requests), so plan ahead according to your calendar.

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The search will default to a list of the ‘top’ tweets, and I suggest clicking on the ‘latest’ tab to get the most recent tweets first. You can save the search by using the ‘more options’ drop down list and selecting ‘save this search’ so that next time you click in the search box, it will appear in a list of your saved searches.

3. Scan the list of tweets for possible opportunities, for example, “unique Valentine products”, and then contact the editor or blogger via direct message or email with a short, friendly message about your product and why it would fit well with their blog/ website/magazine. See what happens and don’t be put off if they don’t respond as it’s likely they are very busy! Just keep at it.

4. Be aware that some blogs may be offering paid showcases but might only mention this once you contact them, so be sure to research as to whether or not it’s a free opportunity. If it’s a paid showcase, is it worth it? Is it a quality, juried gift guide or just a quick way of making money for the publisher which won’t obtain you much in the way of engagement?

Some bloggers may also request samples of your work to review. if you are interested in this, be certain that their photography and reviews are of a high standard in advance or it could do your brand more damage than good.

5. Try searching for opportunities on Twitter using the hashtags like #journorequest and #prrequest.

Journalists and blog editors tweet requests all year round; some are from small blogs and, occasionally, well-known magazines or tabloid press. I recently saw a Sunday Times Home editor requesting advent calendars with #journorequest.

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When promoting your products via Twitter posts, these are my recommendations:

# It might seem obvious but remember to include a

#

#

#

Use your imagination and tell a story within a few words. Be positive, be fun, be cheeky. Describe your product and make an emotional connection.

What are the benefits? What are the features? Most importantly, why do we need it in our lives?

Include an image of your product. Tweets with images receive much higher engagement. If you’re auto-posting from Instagram and it shows as a cutoff sentence with a link to Instagram and no image, you’ve wasted an opportunity. Post directly, or tweet your Instagram images as native photos on Twitter using IFTTT. Use one or two hashtags. Think carefully about which hashtags to use; you’re using them to further your reach to potential shoppers and people that may feature your products. What hashtags might your target audience be searching? Are your products relevant to any trending topics? For example, is it Monday and does your product ooze motivation? #Mondaymotivation.

# Don’t make every single post about your products.

Post about your business by all means, but show sketches, studio space, workshop, packages ready to be posted, what’s on your desk and behind the scenes. Retweet customer appreciation tweets and, most importantly, be a good listener too. Comment and favourite tweets from others, engage with them and build relationships.

link to your product.

Do tell your audience what’s interesting about your product. The majority of people are tweeting, “my product is perfect for ... “, or just adding a link alongside an image. This only really works for MUST-HAVE products!

Digibloom is run by Heidi Burton, small business mentor and illustrator.

For more information, visit: www.digibloom.co www.digibloom.co/blog To follow Heidi on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, visit: www.facebook.com/digibloom.co www.instagram.com/digibloom www.twitter.com/thedigibloom Images courtesy of Heidi Burton and Pixabay Winter 2016 | ukhandmade |

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MEET:

Andy Poplar by Bebe Bradley

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An award-winning advertising creative, Andy Poplar decided to quit his job because he needed to do something different with his life.

Eventually, he came up with the idea of etching glass. All of his items are individually etched in his studios in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and you may know him as [vinegar & brown paper].

Who is Andy Poplar?

I had been working as a creative in the advertising industry for just over a decade, when I arrived at a point where I couldn’t carry on doing the job, because it was making me deeply unhappy and ill. One day - I think it was a particularly bad Tuesday - I just walked out. The next day, I was diagnosed with depression and ended up handing in my resignation. I had no plans and no desire to do anything ‘creative’ ever again. I just wanted it all to stop.

After two years of slowly trying to get myself back together, in which time I became a father and began enjoying my new role as a ‘stay-at-home-dad’, I started writing (incredibly short stories) and playing around with some new ideas, for no other reason than fun really. One day, whilst I was pushing my daughter around Harrogate in her pram, I had an idea about etching words onto glass. It took me another six months of false starts and practice to teach myself how to actually do it.

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What’s the inspiration behind your brand name?

The name itself came from the nursery rhyme Jack & Jill, in which the titular hero Jack falls down, then gets up and sets off to mend his head ... with vinegar & brown paper. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing ever since.

Tell us about your background and training. How has your etched wordsmithery evolved from this?

I have no training whatsoever with regards to glass or etching, but the work I do today can be directly traced through my career in advertising. In many respects, my time as a copywriter taught me the craft of how to execute an idea succinctly. Aside from that though, the ideas themselves are more to do with just the way that my head has always worked and how I see the world.

Your work is witty, distinctive and instantly recognisable. Who or what influences and motivates you? Tell us about the ethos and inspiration behind your work.

Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say. One of the key things for me has always been to reach a point where people can spot a piece of [vinegar & brown paper] when they see it. From the very beginning, it’s always been about my ideas and what happens inside my head. It’s never been about money or business, it’s only really ever been a way of creating things that make me smile on the inside, and hopefully other people too. As inspiration goes, mine is twofold. On one hand, it’s the connections, the myriad of correlations, juxtapositions, tiny nuances and little asides that the English language whispers if you lean in and listen closely enough. On the other hand, it’s the patina, proportion and inexplicable beauty of a well-made thing.

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What steps do you take to create a new piece and what comes first, the object or the words?

Ha ha! Well, it happens in three different ways actually.

Sometimes the idea comes first and then I’ll find the item to etch the words on. A lot of the time, I’ll see an object and it will kind of speak to me. I’ll buy it and it will sit around the house for months. The best example of this is the Work/Life balance piece. This literally sat in my studio for over a year before it dawned on me what I should etch on it. Thirdly - and this happens mostly with commission work - I’ll set myself the task of coming up with a piece that answers a brief from a client, which is pretty similar to how I used to work in my past career. However, the key thing with each of these ways of working is to know when the idea is right.

I get a lot of people at shows who remark how simple the ideas are. To me this is a compliment, because the point when I know an idea is good, is the point when it simply couldn’t be anything else.

The objects you choose to etch are eclectic and often vintage or antique. What draws you to a certain item?

How do you source them and is this an important part of your creative process?

From the age of fifteen, I’ve hung around antique shops and car boots searching for things that, for some reason, speak to me. As I’ve already mentioned, a lot of the time I have no idea what the piece will eventually be. I just know that it’s a beautiful thing (for example, a 46 | ukhandmade | Winter 2016

vintage fuel gauge), it has a glass surface I can etch upon and if I wait long enough, then the perfect idea may just come along. And if it doesn’t, I get to keep the beautiful thing anyway.

Is there a specific tool that you cannot do without?

I have a beautiful old canvas tool roll - actually a scientific dissection kit - that holds several items I just couldn’t do without. Amongst these items are a tailor’s measure, two scalpels and a chinagraph pencil. I keep this beautiful old canvas tool roll in an even more beautiful and old railway guard’s satchel, which has perfect sections for everything else I need - including a little galvanised steel clip on the side that is the perfect size for a Rhodia No. 11 notebook.

What are the most rewarding and the most frustrating aspects of your work?

The most rewarding thing for me is having little bits of [vinegar & brown paper] sitting on bookshelves all around the world. That is such an amazing feeling and one I don’t think I could ever tire of.

The most frustrating aspect is plagiarism. This seems to have been a recurrent theme this year for a lot of fellow makers and something that actually upsets me. This is mainly because I can’t understand why anyone who claims to be ‘creative’ would want to make something that is a poor copy of something that already exists. I mean, where’s the fun in that?

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Describe your work spaces.

In my work studio: typewriters on the walls and lamps hanging from wherever they will hang.

Glass of all shapes and sizes, literally everywhere you look. In my design studio: bookcases from floor to ceiling and dark green walls. An Ercol butterfly chair, 1950s desk and a Paul Smith Anglepoise lamp.

Have you seen a change in the perception of ‘craft’ in the UK, and what it means to own a handmade or hand-finished object? What does ‘handmade’ mean to you?

For me, handmade is about authenticity and a relationship with the maker who created the piece.

Before I found myself in the maker world, which at the time I knew very little of, I remember buying a clock from a designer called Polly Westergaard.

I bought it via her website and was dealing with her directly by email; I’d never really purchased anything that way before. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind signing the back of the clock for me, which she duly did. I had this amazing clock, signed in Sharpie on the back by the very person who came up with the idea and made it. This was new to me and it’s an excitement that I still feel when I buy handmade work today.

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You undertake commissions; what has been the most interesting so far?

From sweet jars for rock stars and apothecary bottles for a garden at RHS Chelsea, to ink bottles for authors, poets and journalists, and decanters for special occasions; there’s been so many interesting requests, I lose track. I always feel that it’s a bit of a shame nobody else gets to see them, as they are all ‘one-offs’ and specific to each customer’s brief.

One that does stick in my mind though, is the American woman who got in touch about helping her propose to her British boyfriend via an etched pint glass. This led to an etching down the side of the glass that read, “Tim, when you finish this pint I’m going to ask you a question”. When Tim had finished drinking the pint, the bottom of the glass read, “Will you marry me?” Fortunately, it worked and Tim said yes.

Your work is currently on show at Liberty of London, courtesy of the Rockett St George pop-up on the 4th floor. What effect has the experience had on you and your business?

Well. I wasn’t planning on doing so, but I did go down and see it in situ with my wife and daughter when it was first installed. It really was the weirdest of half hours; wandering around the fourth floor of Liberty, seeing all these pieces of [vinegar & brown paper] beautifully displayed by Rockett St George with Liberty price tags on, whilst struggling to stop my 7 year-old loudly proclaiming to any customer she passed that, “MY DAD MADE THOSE!”.

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It’s been immensely good for confidence, as I think all makers are prone to ‘imposter syndrome’, and also the best possible way to celebrate the fifth year anniversary of [vinegar & brown paper]. Funnily enough, in my previous career in advertising, I worked in Soho for a while and used to walk past Liberty on the way to work every morning.

As you can imagine, that’s a pretty nice reflection for me on my past.

What advice would you give to someone who is starting out on their own creative venture?

My favourite makers are always the ones that create a world that you can step into and inhabit, a world that is unmistakably their own. If you’re starting out, do that.

Find your own style and let it flourish. Oh and if you make anything fragile - say for example, something which is glass - don’t leave a box full of it on top of your car roof when unloading your car, and then drive off without remembering you put it there.

Who are your favourite artists, designers and makers?

Oh, impossible … Mister Finch, Samantha Bryan and Jennifer Collier.

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If you had the opportunity to learn or employ a new creative skill, what would it be?

Pyrography. I have one specific piece I’ve been wanting to do for years.

Where can we purchase and find out more about your work?

I’m really looking forward to being part of the Art of Science exhibition, from the 12th of January at the wonderful Unit Twelve gallery in Stafford. And you can always buy online from my website or from stockists across the UK. What’s next for [vinegar & brown paper]; do you have any new projects in the pipeline and what are your goals for the future?

I have a couple of really exciting things that are happening in 2017, that I’m afraid I can’t talk about.

The main challenge next year though, is the challenge that I face (which I’ve been putting off for the last two years) of how to employ staff and increase production.

It’s a problem I think a lot of makers find themselves in at some point and hopefully I can find a way to make it work, whilst retaining all the things I love about [vinegar & brown paper].

I don’t really go in for goals as such, but as long as I carry on enjoying what I’m doing, I still have a notebook of ideas waiting to be etched and a head that’s on its way to being mended.

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For more information, visit: www.vandbp.co.uk To follow Andy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, visit: www.facebook.com/mendyourhead www.instagram.com/mendyourhead www.twitter.com/mendyourhead Images courtesy of Andy Poplar

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SCENE:

Adventures in Craft at TOP DRAWER With more exquisite makers than ever at its Spring/Summer 17 edition, Top Drawer’s ‘Craft’ is the style destination of choice for creative retailers who are embarking on an exploration of the finest original, handmade work.

Craft presents an inspiring and expertly curated selection of one-off pieces across ceramics, glass, jewellery, fashion, textiles and mixed media, from over 150 hand-picked international makers including Ali Tomlin Ceramics, BTU Studio, Gilly Langton Jewellery, Moth and Mirror, Suzanne Breakwell, ren London and Catriona Faulkner. Look out for live demos, maker workshops and an exciting collaboration with online design portal In The Window.

Craft is one of four exclusively curated worlds at Top Drawer, which also includes Home, Fashion and Gift. Top Drawer’s newest global edit presents an exclusively curated pick of around 1,000 UK and international brands across the entire lifestyle landscape. Created to inspire buying from innovative retailers looking for design-led, commercially appealing and original products, it reflects key trends, showcasing the most directional European and global lifestyle brands, Britain’s best-loved labels and exciting new talent too.

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LIBBY BALLARD

LISA ELLUL

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New talent is the lifeblood of innovative retailers and explains why Spotted, curated by Charlotte Abrahams and featuring 40 budding brands showcasing innovative market-ready designs, is the favourite hunting ground of style scouts with an eye for the most dynamic rising stars.

Academy Live also returns, bringing expert voices to the live stage. The S/S17 programme, promising a provocative, inspiring and informative series of talks, will be announced soon. The popular product trails are back too, guiding visitors through the halls in search of specific categories.

Men Only highlights original gifts and accessories for him, while the UK Debut trail introduces buyers to new international brands showing for the first time in the UK. The Product GB and Eco trails are always in demand, helping visitors pinpoint products with a particular story about provenance and production.

Top Drawer is a trade only show, which means that you need to be able to prove you are a part of the retail trade. Exhibitors have a ‘minimum order’ policy and will not sell to members of the public. If you are in the process of setting up your own retail business, or are a student within the retail industry then you are more than welcome to attend. Registration details are included in the admission information opposite.

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Venue: Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, Kensington, London, W14 8UX Opening times: 09.30- 18.00 Sunday 15th January 09.30 - 18.00 Monday 16th January 09.30 - 17.00 Tuesday 17th January Standard Admission: ÂŁ20 on the door; FREE for pre-registered ticket holders. Register HERE For more information, visit: www.topdrawer.co.uk Images courtesy of TOP DRAWER

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BUSINESS: Buying Bespoke by Mich Yasue

‘In a machine age, dressmaking is one of the last refuges of the human, the personal, the inimitable.’ Christian Dior Buying bespoke or buying a garment specially tailored to your requirements to flatter your form in your favoured fabric, is a true luxury.

It’s the opposite of fast disposable fashion; it’s sustainable fashion, clothing with lasting qualities and distinctive detail. It’s not about being branded with a designer label but about working with someone who combines craftsmanship and quality, design and fit, to create something personal to you.

The process itself is labour intensive since the couture designer is involved with the inception of the design, sourcing the fabric, creating the pattern and then executing a carefully interlined, fitted to perfection, garment. These customised designs are not available for mass production. Much of the work is done by hand and requires a great deal of skill.

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However, thanks to designer/makers such as Coral Turner of Coral Turner Couture, buying bespoke is becoming more accessible. Here Coral, who is featured in the UK Handmade Makers Directory, gives an insight into what’s involved.

“There’s a common misconception that having a bespoke garment made, is for special occasions such as a wedding. However, the bespoke clients that I have worked with, value bespoke garments because of the additional benefits, personalised fit, choice of fabrics, colour and weight of fabric, to

name but a few. Commissioning a bespoke dress with me is a process. I will arrange to meet the client at my studio for a consultation; we discuss the occasion, styles, silhouettes and their body shape, the ‘look’ they want to achieve. I also take into account how they will be accessorising their dress. This consultation has a one-off fee at the time of meeting. When the client decides to proceed, I present them with a contract which we both sign; this covers my working practice, the cancellation process and their co-operation for completion of the dress.

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Bespoke is a process of the taking of your measurements, having a toile made (which is a sample of your dress before working in the main fabric); having fittings first in the toile, and then in the main fabric of your choosing. I also suggest to clients that they bring with them the accessories they plan to wear, something as simple as the height of a heel can change a look. Another factor is undergarments; for example, a well fitted bra can enhance the overall look of a dress, and all of these factors have to be taken into consideration.

One of my favourite commissions was a bespoke evening dress made in silk devorÊ. The fabric was beautiful and challenging when it came to structure for support, and this is where silk organza became my best friend as an interfacing. Watching a dress take shape over a period of weeks - the intricate inner details of hand-sewing, varying seam finishes, to completion - is all part of what makes bespoke such a pleasure for me. I particularly love the final fitting, when the client sees herself in the mirror, wearing her dress and she smiles.�

For information on joining the Makers Directory, visit: www.ukhandmade.co.uk/makers-directory For more information on the maker featured, visit: www.coralturner.com Images courtesy of Coral Turner Winter 2016 | ukhandmade |

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MEET:

Melanie Goemans by Bebe Bradley

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Melanie Goemans studied Florentine Renaissance Art at the Courtauld Institute in London, and Fine Art at the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Art. She taught at Cheltenham College before taking up ‘artist in residence’ posts in Devon and then in London, relocating to Cambridgeshire in 2010.

Melanie has exhibited in group and solo shows across the UK; her work is held in corporate and private collections both in the UK and overseas, and she was recently selected for the National Open Art Competition 2016.

Who is Melanie Goemans?

I hope my answers will help you find out!

Tell us about your background and how your work has been borne out of this.

In my early twenties, I studied History of Art for 4 years, specialising in Florentine 15th century painting and spending a lot of time in Italy.

The visual experience of this has been the foundation for my own work. That early 15th century enquiry into the natural world; the emphasis on drawing and experimenting with naturalism; the materials used; these things are with me all the time when I’m working.

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What drew you to painting and printmaking, and do you have a preference for one over the other?

Drawing came first, and I remember at school really

What processes do you engage to create a new piece or body of work?

A lot of prevarication … I can never begin something

struggling with how to paint. I couldn’t work out how to develop a drawing into a painting. It didn’t feel like a natural development. Later I realised that painting can be drawing, and that rules such as ‘big surface, big brush’ are there to be broken!

Printmaking came much later, 2012 to be precise, when I took an etching course at the Curwen Print Study Centre. The small scale of etching allows me to explore subject matter of my painting in a different way.

new without going through my diary, my inbox, my sketchbook, clearing my space or making another coffee. Then, once I have started, I can’t stop working or thinking about the work. Working out the ideas through my sketchbook, walking and photographing, takes a lot of time and is probably the most important part of the process.

Tell us about the inspiration behind your prints and paintings. Who or what is your main influence right now?

This is a difficult question to answer because there isn’t one strong influence. I work with an awareness of the history of art and will look up images as and when they come into my head. Looking around my studio now, I see a postcard of a tree by Giacometti, a catalogue of Botticelli drawings and a book on Per Kirkeby. The connection is more random than deliberate.

Are there specific tools that you just cannot do without?

At least two; sketchbook and camera.

Once this is all worked out, the painting can sometimes ‘fly off the brush’. Other times, there are lots of false starts and layers which might then become the underpainting of a more successful painting later on.

Your work possesses an almost ethereal quality and you clearly have a love for the botanical.

What aspects of the natural world do you most enjoy portraying in your work?

My family’s business was horticulture and I grew up alongside glasshouses of freesia, alstromeria and gladioli. I love the lines and unexpected intriguing forms of the natural world. I’m particularly interested in the incidental and overgrown, drawing attention to things that might be overlooked.

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Tell us about your outreach work. Do you find teaching workshops, etc., an important addition to your creative life?

In the recent past I’ve taught History of Art and Fine Art to adults in community education. There, I met some highly motivated, intelligent and creative people and found it a real privilege to work with them, and to pass on and share the studies that I feel so fortunate to have had.

You undertake commissions; what has been the most interesting so far?

That would be the commission I’m working on currently. This is for a couple who got engaged along the Roman Road at Wandlebury. I am planning a diptych of the tall beech trees there, like a cathedral nave, interweaving at the top, like two halves of the engagement.

Tell us about your current work space.

We converted the garage of our current house. It has a huge north facing window and two east facing ones, and is peacefully separate from the house.

What do you find are the most rewarding and most frustrating aspects of what you do?

To be able to prioritise the visual, to paint, to plan and develop ideas; to exhibit, to interact with other artists and supporters of the arts ‌ the list of rewarding aspects could go on. The only frustrating thing I can think of is lack of time.

There never seems to be quite enough!

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What do you do to take ‘time out’?

I enjoy riding my bike to clear my head, but mostly ‘time out’ is spent with my children (aged seven, nine and twelve), helping them do all the things that they do, and being with our family and friends.

Do you think that there has been a change in the perception of ‘craft’? What does it mean to you, to own a handmade or handfinished object?

With the rise of ‘new media’ and ‘virtual’ everything, I think there has been a reactive national yearning for the handmade and the original, to get back in touch with ‘old’ materials and products of time and craftsmanship. To me, a handmade object is very special and feels significant and beautiful, particularly in the current global political context where one feels very small and powerless.

Who are your favourite artists?

We own two small paintings by Aliisa Hyslop that we treasure, as well as a small collection of prints by friends who are artists.

What advice would you give to someone who is just ‘starting out’, who wants to have their work shown?

Work hard, be reflective, be sincere. Never make anything because you think it might sell or be popular. Take up every opportunity.

Go to art fairs, make introductions. Be kind and supportive to fellow artists.

What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received?

From my mother, “To thine own self be true”.

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Your work is represented in galleries and held in collections both nationally and internationally. What impact does this have on the work that you produce?

Apart from being careful to use materials - stretchers, canvas, frames, gesso, paints - that are professionally made and best quality, I am careful not to allow this to influence the work I produce. My paintings are MY paintings for a short time, in my studio, where I live with them and work on them until the point at which they are ready to dry, frame, photograph, wrap and ship. Beyond this, the work finds its own identity and takes on new meanings according to where it is placed and who is looking at it. I enjoy being surprised by the work when I see it in a group exhibition.

What’s next for Melanie Goemans?

Currently, I have my piece, ‘Wayside I (Queen Anne’s Lace)’ exhibited as part of the 20th National Open Art Exhibition at the Mercer’s Hall, London. I’m preparing for seasonal exhibitions locally - at the Ely Cathedral Christmas Fair and Cornucopia at the Shipyard Studios - as well as working on the commissioned diptych that will be bound for the USA in early 2017. I’m also looking forward to some interesting group exhibitions next year, and my solo show at Cornwall Contemporary in 2018.

Where can we see and find out more about your work?

Please visit my website.

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For more information, visit: www.melaniegoemans.com To follow Melanie on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, visit: www.facebook.com/melaniegoemansartist www.instagram.com/melaniegoemansartist www.twitter.com/melaniegoemans Images courtesy of Melanie Goemans and David Owens Photography (p. 65) Images copyright Š Melanie Goemans

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SCENE:

MADE Brighton at St Bartholomew’s Sixty-five designer/makers, from across all media disciplines, will be selling their handcrafted work direct to the public on Saturday, 10th December.

Ideal for those late Christmas shoppers, MADE Brighton at St Bartholomew’s will offer unique, original and beautiful ceramics, jewellery, homewares, glass, woodwork, textiles, screen-prints and more, with a full range of prices to ensure that there is something for everyone.

Tutton and Young’s latest venture is a new show that aims to do something a little different.

Whilst still showcasing the best contemporary designer/makers in the country, the fair at St Bartholomew’s will be a down to earth ‘village hall’ style, table-top selling event, with the main body of the church housing the makers.

This one-day craft and design fair is just a 5-minute walk from Brighton Station.

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JUDIT ESZTERGOMI A stunning late Victorian, Byzantine-inspired building, St Bartholomew’s Church is known to some as the Noah’s Ark Church, because of the local legend that it was built to the same dimensions as the Ark. An awe-inspiring space, it’s also the tallest parish church in Europe!

Tutton and Young have a new home at Atelier 51, a converted Victorian warehouse which you will find

directly opposite St Bartholomew’s Church. Here, four studios have been created, housing Silvia K Ceramics, Elaine Bolt, Rhoda K Baker and Sarah Young. A shop opens this November at Atelier 51, displaying the work of the resident artists, makers from the MADE shows and other featured designer/ makers. If you visit the show at St Bartholomew’s, pop in and visit the four studios which will be open to the public alongside the shop.

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Venue: St Bartholomew’s Church, Ann Street, Brighton, BN1 4GP Opening times: 10.30 - 18.00 Saturday 10th December Standard admission: £4.50 on the door and in advance Buy tickets online HERE For more information, visit: www.madebrighton.co.uk www.tuttonandyoung.co.uk For a full list of exhibitors, visit: www.madebrighton.co.uk/artists Images courtesy of MADE Brighton

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REVIEW:

Textile Collage by Lisa Margreet Payne Textile Collage, by Mandy Pattullo, reads more like a set of workshops than a craft project book. There is a definite focus on creating meaningful and personal pieces of art, with plenty of advice, support and creative inspiration on how to do this.

The book opens with a section on Materials; where to find them, how to take them apart for repurposing, transforming them by dyeing and how to store and care for them. For the author, sourcing fabrics and deciding which to use in collage is a highly personal process. She doesn’t buy new materials, preferring instead to use materials which are inherited, gifted or bought second-hand. She has built up a collection of antique and ethnic textiles, particularly old quilts, and uses them in her practice by cutting, tearing and unpicking them, and then mixing them up into new compositions. Selective about the fabrics used, she wants them to, “tell a story which is mine and not someone else’s”.

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Pattullo respects the history of these textiles which are worn and torn, displaying the proof that they have been used and loved, and views this as part of the fabric’s story. She encourages you to build up your own personal collection of materials, to enable you to develop a “signature style”, and offers you many different options to do so.

The next section, Make, focuses on putting your artwork together and covers composition, stitches, and techniques such as applique and patchwork.

Pattullo works instinctively with the fabrics in her collection, but also gives suggestions for those who are less confident in this type of approach.

She encourages a sense of play; for example, in the section on colour, she says that, “If you are too organised, you won’t be able to find the unexpected colour combinations that are revealed through having a jumbled mess rather than tidy piles”. She also suggests that you can find inspiration and good colour combinations by tearing out pages from lifestyle magazines, where the stylist will already have assessed which colours work best together. Once you have created and embellished your collage, Pattullo provides practical advice on finishing your piece, with options for backing, mounting and framing your work.

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As well as abstract compositions, fabric collage can be used for creating portraits of people, animals and birds. Portray describes techniques for drawing inspiration from the natural world and in this, the author’s ‘Enchanted Forest’ series was my favourite, portraying a series of wild animals stitched onto pieced work and layered with different textiles. Her portraits of a stag, wolf and fox (as detailed in the cover image) were particularly appealing.

Worn takes you through the processes of upcycling your fabrics to customise your clothes, including jackets and quilted garments, and the creation of “wearable art”. By repurposing rescued garments and accessories, she encourages you to use them as a blank canvas onto which you can, “assemble a collage using different fabrics, stitches and trimmings”. The final section, Books, shows you how to make a range of fabric books, and includes the use of old leather wallets as covers for colour story books.

Throughout Textile Collage, you are introduced to the work of other textile artists. Amongst them is Claire Wellesley-Smith, whose book Slow Stitch I reviewed for UK Handmade’s Winter 2015 magazine. There are distinct similarities between Textile Collage and Slow Stitch; both Pattullo and Wellesley-Smith have an appreciation of hand-stitching as a way to build up a relationship with a fabric.

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The process of creating a textile collage itself is a form of slow stitching and this fits with the mind-set of taking the time and consideration to think about your art form and, in this case, the placement of your fabric pieces. The process of creating a textile collage encourages an appreciation of vintage textiles and finds a way to give them a new lease of life.

Pattullo revels in the transformation that occurs when you unpick and re-piece old fabrics. She is interested in it as a medium because of its relationship to, “the thrift and ‘make do and mend’ culture of past times, in particular utility patchworks and quilts made by women in domestic settings”. She enjoys the freedom of the form, describing fabric collage as a, “kind of patchwork but without having to follow a pattern and a kind of applique without the templates”. Through textile collage, you can produce pictures, wall hangings, books, garments and accessories. This book provides both the inspiration and practical techniques to help you begin creating your own textile collages.

Textile Collage by Mandy Patullo, is published by Batsford at £22.50 and is available from all good bookshops.

Images courtesy of Batsford Photography by Michael Wicks ISBN-10: 1849943745 ISBN-13: 978-1849943741

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MEET:

Chrissy Norman by Karen Jinks

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Born in Suffolk, Chrissy Norman knows its landscape well and constantly turns to it for inspiration. A watercolour artist for several years, she is now best known for etchings reflecting her passion for trees and the beautiful East Anglian coastline. Although primarily a colourist, she also enjoys the contrasts that black and white studies can produce; always looking for design in nature, she will often revisit a familiar subject matter to capture it in a different light or season.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I have always been creative and started off my artistic career by painting oils on the kitchen table. Unfortunately, my grammar school didn’t encourage art so I didn’t pursue it after leaving school and found myself working in the local tax office. Not the most creative place to work, I hear you say, but I did find an outlet in making stuffed toys at home and selling them to my work colleagues! Shortly afterwards, I left work to have a family (that’s what you did in those days!) and started a knitting business, followed by a sandwich business.

You started off as a painter, so why or how did you turn to etching?

Throughout this period, I maintained a sketchbook.

I finally decided that the time had come to be a professional artist in 1995, after we gave up the sandwich business. I began with watercolours but didn’t want to go into the market of painting local scenes and was looking for something different.

At that time, there was a good choice of adult education and I signed up for a printmaking course at Suffolk College. I tried etching and was hooked; it suited my love of drawing and I had found something that I really enjoyed.

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From there, I went on to learn more about etching from courses at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury and Central St Martins in London. I am currently a member of Sudbourne Park Printmakers, a co-operative of 30 artists working from a well-equipped studio near Orford on the Suffolk coast.

What aspects do you love about what you do, and what do you find frustrating?

Etching requires a lot of patience and perseverance.

First of all, you have to learn the techniques involved and some of these haven’t changed since Rembrandt’s day. If you forget to do something, or even if you don’t, your etching will probably not come out the way you planned because acid and chemicals are involved. This can be frustrating but can also lead to pleasant surprises!

What is your favourite subject matter?

I am constantly inspired by trees and the way that light falls on the landscape. Also the patterns that form in nature, often looking at branches, twigs and shadows.

Who or what inspires your work?

A great inspiration for me has been Norman Ackroyd RA and I have one of his large etchings above my mantelpiece. He produces beautiful aquatints which require accurate timings and control in the acid.

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Tell us about your workspace.

I make up my etching plates at the Sudbourne Park Printmakers workshop and print them at home where I have my own studio and a small press in a loft conversion. I use either copper or zinc to make the etching plate and it takes several hours of work before I am happy with it. I will then apply the ink and if it is in colour, blend the colours on the plate before it is printed using an etching press. Editions are small and are usually limited to 60 or 70.

Do you ever experience creative blocks and what do you do to clear them?

If I ever have a creative block, it always helps to go to Sudbourne and be with other artists. I would then probably embark on a very detailed small plate using my favourite etching needle and become absorbed in the drawing.

Describe your ‘perfect day’ for us.

My ideal day would be trying out colours on a new etching plate, with my dog Meg under the desk and the Archers Omnibus on the radio! Printmaking is a messy business and very little in the studio escapes inky fingerprints.

Where can we find your work?

Apart from printing days, a lot of my time is taken up with getting work framed and ready to go to galleries which are mainly in East Anglia. I exhibit with the co-operative at least twice a year and often with the Norwich Print Fair in September.

Unframed work can be purchased from my own website.

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What does ‘handmade’ mean to you?

Handmade things are important to me; I love the processes and using the best materials. This also applies to knitting and dressmaking which I am very keen to do in my spare time. I endeavour to be the very best at what I do so etching, knitting and dressmaking will always keep me challenged and interested.

If you could learn a new craft, what would it be?

No time for another craft!

What are your goals or ambitions for the next few years?

I have been etching now since 1999 and I’m still learning and excited by its possibilities so hope to continue.

For more information, visit: www.chrissynorman.co.uk www.sudbourneprintmakers.com Images courtesy of Chrissy Norman

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REVIEW:

Scandikitchen Fika & Hygge by Dawn Bevins As I write this, the temperature outside has started to drop, the nights have begun to draw in, and I’m filled with a sense of happy anticipation. It’s my favourite time of year. I’ll be the first to dig out my woolly jumpers and scarves, to draw the curtains, light candles and snuggle up with my nearest and dearest, with mugs of mulled wine.

I’m sure that we’re all familiar with the word ‘hygge’ by now; it’s the word of the moment and it refers to that cosy content state of just ‘being’. However, until I reviewed Scandikitchen Fika & Hygge, I wasn’t aware of the Swedish word ‘fika’. It means to meet up for coffee or tea and something sweet to eat. Swedes traditionally stop twice a day to fika and I feel that this is a tradition I could happily adopt. But if I’m going to be stopping for all these sweet morsels, I will need to start baking. With the title demystified, I’ll review the rest of the book!

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Scandikitchen Fika & Hygge is Brontë Aurell’s second book and, while Scandikitchen featured both savoury and sweet recipes, this book focuses purely on the sweet and what a treat it is!

Bronte begins her book with the usual welcome, followed by an introduction to Scandi baking.

The most popular ingredients are summarised and we are given some basic recipes that are used again and again throughout the book, including Layer Cake Base, Danish Pastry and Pastry Cream. The main part of the book is divided into six sections: Biscuits & Cookies, Traybakes & No Bakes, Everyday Fika, Little Fancy Cakes, Celebration Cakes and Breads & Batters.

Each chapter also includes a feature-spread on Scandinavian lifestyle or its baking history, and the pages are occasionally broken up by lovely Scandinavian landscape photography (imagine lakes, snow and log cabins). It’s a beautiful book. The writing is warm and friendly, and I’m in love with the styling and Peter Cassidy’s photography. There is a full page image for each recipe, with cool light, whites, greys, blues and rustic textures all working together to display the baked goods perfectly.

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I was half expecting to see recipes familiar to those you would find in other baking books. I wondered how different we could really be from our Scandi neighbours, but I was heartened to find lots of interesting recipes. Sure, we are familiar with Danish Pastries, but the clue is in the name and you couldn’t not include them. There were also surprises and I was unaware of how partial the Scandinavians are to liquorice and meringue, with Nothing Biscuits, Chocolate Cake with Liquorice Ganache and Liquorice Meringue Kisses. Most of the ingredients are standard and the only unusual ones I spotted were baker’s ammonia, liquorice syrup and powder, Lingon berries and Cloudberries. However, none of these feature heavily and Brontë does include alternative berry suggestions. Scandikitchen also has an online shop where some of the more irregular ingredients - and an astonishing number of liquorice-based Haribo products - can be purchased.

I’m not sure I’d want to make everything in this book as there are over 60 recipes and I fear it would take me too long. I think it’d be quicker to take a Scandinavian tour, stuffing my face as I go, but until I can afford to do that, I’ll have to prioritise. I’ll start with Small Raspberry Treats/ Hallongrottor (I love how Scandinavian words are dropped into the text) because they look so darn cute, followed by the Brunswick Bun/ Brunsviger (a bread-like open cinnamon bun cake) and Sticky White Chocolate Cake/Kladdkaka, and then finally (for now) the World’s Best Cake/Verdens Beste Kake/Kvæfjord Cake. I’ve seen pictures of these on Pinterest and I’m desperate to try it.

I missed out on reviewing the first Scandikitchen book, but if it has the power to make me feel as hungry and giddy with excitement as Scandikitchen Fika & Hygge, I will definitely be getting myself a copy.

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Scandikitchen Fika & Hygge by Brontë Aurell is published by Ryland Peters & Small at £16.99. Available from all good bookshops.

Images courtesy of Frances Lincoln.

ISBN-10: 0711238286 ISBN-13: 978-0711238282

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LIVE:

Our Daily Bread by Alex Vaughan Bread. By its definition, it’s a very simple-sounding food stuff, made of flour, water and salt, and fermented through the action of yeast. However, there is something in a warm loaf of bread that talks to our senses and awakens feelings of home, family and community.

I grew up in Portugal, a country where bread is a constant at the table, slathered with a hearty amount of butter or soaked in a warming stew.

When I moved to London in 2006, the reality of bread in the British Isles was probably the greatest cultural shock, and one that led me from my love of good bread to an immersive passion for its craft.

The UK Bread Landscape Over these last ten years, considerable changes have taken place in the UK bread ‘landscape’. In 2008 the Real Bread Campaign was born, an organization under the umbrella of the charity Sustain, co-founded by Andrew Whitley. Its aim is to seek, find and share ways to make bread better for us, our communities and the planet.

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ALEX VAUGHAN

Recent industry figures show that industrial loaf sales are decreasing whilst the number of artisan bakeries increase, coinciding with a growing demand for sourdough and other bread varieties.

The number of keen home bakers also seems to be on the rise, as attested by the number of bread workshops available. Some of these home bakers go on to run micro-bakeries, usually meeting the market’s demand at a local level, delivering on foot, by bike or arranging collection points.

The Micro-bakers Having quite accidentally become a micro-baker myself, I was curious to understand what makes people follow the demanding - and sometimes downright exhausting - path of the craft baker, all from a setup within their homes. I set out to speak to three micro-bakers to try and learn what it is about bread that gets people out of their bed before the cock crows.

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John Townshend, Kennington Bakery, London John had never actually baked bread until the end of 2013, when he started making his own, and soon found himself caught by the ‘bread bug’.

In March 2015 he was setting up, from home, the Kennington Bakery. He approached different local business with the purpose of arranging collection points for direct customers and in this way, a local café became his first wholesale customer. “They immediately ordered one loaf a day, seven days a week. As I wanted to establish the business, I agreed to deliver to them daily.” His bakery took flight and today encompasses direct customers, wholesale and collection points, with John delivering everywhere on his bike. Working 7 days a week, with an ever growing customer base, Townshend started 2016 with a revised plan to develop the business in a more sustainable way.

However, before he’d started to implement this, he found himself with more customers signed up and a quadrupled business. On Fridays and Saturdays, he was spending 4 hours baking for just 3 customers on top of all the other orders. Working 18-20 hours a day, baking and delivering on his bike, he found that, “the skin on my hands started to suffer and my health in general was failing as I was too tired.

I ended up buying a new oven so I could meet the demand with less hours of work”.

JOHN TOWNSHEND

I was quite intrigued as to what would make someone get up at 1am to work 20 hours’ days and learned that at the core of the Kennington Bakery lies a very strong social conscience. John explains, “If someone tries a slice of my white loaf, compares it to the white loaf from the supermarket and notices the difference in quality and taste, that might lead them to think about the other things they eat too and question them equally, driving them towards a healthier lifestyle”.

Following our conversation, John sent me a small email: “I visited a cafe afterwards to check on feedback, etc. The chap said one of the loaves could just be eaten on its own; this is what I aspire to.

Stand-alone bread!”

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Alison McTaggart, Bread on a Bike, Cambridge Alison McTaggart’s greater interest in bread flourished in 2011, fuelled by a Baking for

a day, with orders coming from an email list of over 700 people. What began as a learning process has, coupled with people’s appreciation and feedback,

Community course run by Andrew Whitley. The making of sourdough bread began to fill all the spare time available around a full time job in nutrition research.

become a flowing business, and has woven Alison into the fabric of her community. She says, “I had never felt as much a part of this community before.

Nowadays people will recognise me and say, “There goes the bread lady!”

Intrigued by the story of Ben MacKinnon at E5 Bakehouse, she contacted him in July 2011 and spent the next 18 months travelling to Hackney every Saturday, gaining loads of experience in all aspects of bread making and running a bakery. In September 2012, she was able to work a month’s internship at the Handmade Bakery in Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, the first community supported bakery in the UK. By then Alison knew she would be made redundant from her job at the end of the year. She wasn’t thinking of starting a baking business but, as she told me, “My colleagues started asking to try my bread. Up until this moment I was just baking for myself or as presents for friends and family. I started taking bread into work and the bread business just happened naturally. Other friends and contacts heard about it, wanted some and the demand grew and grew.”

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The intense work schedule of baking and delivering did take its toll. By the summer of 2015, Alison found herself working over one hundred hours a week.

“My body ceased up, forcing me to have a break and look at what I was doing. Giving up on bread was never an option. I had to rethink my schedules and stopped delivering for the time being. I started looking for commercial premises to open a bakery but after a few false starts, I am reconsidering keeping it in the house and further adapting my kitchen to fit the demands of the business.”

And what drives Alison forward? “I want to carry on learning about bread and baking for my community. When I am baking, something about the magic of the process takes over. I guess it’s a kind of obsession: for each loaf you make there is the opportunity to achieve the perfect loaf, for myself and for my customers.”

ALISON McTAGGART

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Jane Mason, Virtuous Bread and Bread Angels, London, UK and Monterrey, Mexico Jane Mason founded Virtuous Bread in 2010, with the goal of effecting positive social change through bread. As Jane explained to me, this was not something she could achieve on her own, so, “setting up a network of like-minded people seemed an excellent way to change the world through bread.”

This line of thought led her to create Bread Angels, where people learn how to bake bread but can also train to establish a micro-bakery and enjoy the support of other bakers in the network. She had started out as a micro-baker and I was keen on learning what the greatest challenges she encountered were. Surprisingly, not at all what I had expected! “Keeping up with demand. Working from home, your capacity constraint is your home oven. The truth of the matter is that it’s hard work to set up a business. If you work at home, your office never closes. You have to impose some boundaries to keep being creative, to remember that you love it and to rest.”

Jane’s love for bread comes through strongly in her words. She says, “I like to see how dough has transformed overnight all on its own and how it continues to transform during the final baking 106 | ukhandmade | Winter 2016

process with only a little help from me. It’s different every day.

Every day is a challenge. Some days the bread is beautiful, perfect. Other days, I wonder what on earth happened. Changes in temperature and humidity impact the dough and every time you change the bag of flour, the dough changes.”

Asking her about the UK bread landscape over the last 6 years, Jane mentioned the greater number of artisan bread at farmers’ markets, the development of customers’ taste for new flavours and textures, and a growing interest in connecting with friends over good food. So are micro-bakeries still on the rise? “I believe they are still rising simply because there is such a demand for good bread and there are so many people looking to do something they love to supplement their income. We naturally seek to live our lives with purpose. Baking bread, selling it to happy customers, playing a role in building relationships and communities; these are things that provide many people with a sense of purpose.”

Bakers dream of bread Having chosen the bakers that I spoke to for this article quite by chance, I gradually realised that, coincidence or not, all three share more than a love for bread. They all bring to the table a deep sense of social and community conscience; they seem to be propelled by a need to positively impact and be part of their society. Their pursuit of a perfect loaf brought to mind the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi and made me realise that we can also dream of bread and use it as the cornerstone for social change. May all our bread be good bread, for ourselves and for our communities.

JANE MASON

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Make and bake your own bread with Alex’s Basic White Loaf recipe!

• The dough will be ready for fermentation when

A quick note on bread dough: sticky is good! Refrain from adding more flour and just go with it. As you continue with the kneading, the flour will absorb the water, the gluten will develop and your piece of dough will become tacky and supple.

(known as the window pane test).

For an 800g loaf: 500g strong/bread white wheat flour 320g water (room temperature is fine) 10g fresh yeast or 5g active yeast 10g salt 15g good olive oil (optional) Method:

you can gently stretch a small piece of dough between your fingers without it breaking or tearing

• Shape your dough into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover with a clean shower cap or some cling film. Leave it in a warm, draft-free place (inside the cold oven is a good option) for about 1 hour.

• Take the dough out of the bowl, shape it into a tight ball and place it on a baking tray lined with baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Cover loosely again with some cling film or a damp cloth, and allow to prove for some 45-60min. The dough will have increased by double its original size when it’s ready to bake.

• Weigh the flour into a large bowl. If using active yeast, make a well in the centre of the flour, add the yeast and cover with 100g of the water. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so to activate the yeast. Add the rest of the water and the other ingredients. If you are using fresh yeast, add all of the ingredients straight into the bowl. Mix them together until there is no dry flour and it all comes together in a big lump.

• Whilst the dough proves, preheat your oven to

• Knead the dough on a clean surface for 10 to

240°C/475°F/Gas 9. Once the bread dough has fully risen, place the baking tray on the middle shelf of your oven. Bake for 10 minutes at this temperature and then drop the temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and bake for another 20 minutes. When the bread is fully baked, a probe should measure 98°C at its core. It should be golden brown and sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

15 minutes. Try not to add any flour at this stage, because as you knead it, it will all come together.

Allow to cool fully before sharing over a nice meal.

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Alex has been running The Crow’s Rest Bakehouse from a one bedroom flat in Camberwell, London, since March 2016. Bread is baked to order and delivered by her husband, on a bicycle, on Saturday mornings.

She teaches beginner’s bread baking workshops from her small kitchen, usually two Sundays a month.

For more information on the bakeries featured, visit: www.thecrowsrestbakehouse.co.uk www.kenningtonbakery.co.uk www.breadonabike.wordpress.com www.virtuousbread.com www.breadangels.com Images courtesy of the featured bakers.

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REVIEW:

Cocktail Cookbook by Bebe Bradley In Cocktail Cookbook, Oskar Kinberg presents 75 cocktails that he hopes will change the way you drink. The master barman shows you simple recipes for homemade bar ingredients such as nettle cordial and olive oil-infused gin, and then incorporates them into original cocktails, all invented and tested in his London drinking den, Oskar’s Bar. Alongside the usual recognisable cocktail ingredients, such as herbs and cucumber, you’ll find more adventurous and unusual additions, like pea shoots and tonka beans. This book is not only aimed at the curious and creative cocktail-maker, but at the adventurous cook too.

In his introduction to Cocktail Cookbook, where we ‘Meet the Maker’, Oskar explains how he came to be working as a barman in London.

Originally hailing from Sweden, he arrived in the capital with money in his pocket paid by the Swedish government for his national service in the army. He wanted to do something fun and having seen Cocktail at the cinema, decided to go on a bartender course. The rest, you could say, is cocktail-making history.

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Following this introduction, there are five short and pretty much self-explanatory sections precursing the recipes: Base, Assemble, Shake, Serve and, interestingly, Disclaimer. Base gives us the sugar syrup recipe that all the book’s cocktails are built on, whilst Assemble is a list of the equipment that you will require. Shake is Oskar’s advice on technique and the best type of shaker to use, and Serve contains pointers for garnishes and glassware. In Disclaimer, Oskar explains that the recipes in his books are just guidelines because, “They are balanced to how I like them to taste. I realise that people have different tastes”. He elaborates further on his ‘products’ of choice, explaining that he aims to use items that are good value for money but that whilst “some are interchangeable, others are not”, and he recommends that in some instances you should follow his recipe to the letter because they can, “make an ordinary drink into something extraordinary”.

There are a further twenty-five sections, each focussing on a specific ingredient and containing three cocktail recipes. In Rhubarb, for example, you can choose from Disco Rhubarb, Ikea Sours or Conan the Rhubarbarian, whilst in Coconut, you can choose from Whiskey Business, Tropic Thunder or Rice, Rice Baby. There are also twenty-four Larder recipes listed for the various syrups and flavours required for the cocktails, ranging from Kiwi Avocado Syrup and Green Tea Syrup, to Gooseberry Jam and Coconut Water Infused with Rice.

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This book is packed with interesting and unusual recipes, interspersed with stylish, uncomplicated images of cocktails. As Oskar himself points out, “Some of the drinks will take some time in the kitchen to prepare and some are straightforward.

What they all have in common, apart from being tasty, is that they are not technically difficult to make”.

The Cocktail Cookbook is a great reference book for any keen cocktail maker, looking to make their “house party or Saturday night a very memorable and special one”, and I would recommend it to any cook, looking to introduce a new range of flavours to their repertoire.

Cocktail Cookbook by Oskar Kinberg is published

by Frances Lincoln at £18. Available from all good bookshops.

Images courtesy of Frances Lincoln Photography by Joakim Blockström ISBN-10: 0711238286 ISBN-13: 978-0711238282

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Seasonal Treats

by Karen Jinks

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Pistachio & Almond Burfi There are many ways to make this scrummy Indian fudge-style treat, but this is a simple version that’s made with sweetened condensed milk.

Serves 6.

Ingredients 1 tin of sweetened condensed milk 60g of ground almonds 60g of pistachio kernels 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom powder (or the seeds of 3 green cardamom pods, ground in a pestle and mortar) 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter 2-3 drops of green food colouring (optional) Flaked almonds and chopped pistachios

a medium/low heat, and then add the condensed milk and ground nuts.

4. Stir continuously for about 5 minutes; if you are using food colouring, add it now and mix well to combine (the images shown are without the food colouring). Once the mixture starts to thicken and leaves the sides of the pan, turn off the heat.

5. Pour the mixture into the lined tin or dish, and spread to a thickness of 1-3cm. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds and chopped pistachios, and press them gently into the top of the mixture.

6. Let the Burfi cool at room temperature for a few hours, and then cut into the desired shapes.

Stored in an air tight container, it will keep for 3-5 days.

You will also need a shallow dish or baking tin lined with greaseproof paper.

METHOD 1. Lightly toast the pistachios on a low heat for about 3-4 minutes, and then set aside to cool.

When cool, use a blender or pestle and mortar to grind the nuts to a coarse powder.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds, pistachios and cardamom. Set aside until required.

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White Christmas Rocky Road A festive take on this popular no-bake cake.

Makes 24 pieces.

Ingredients 400g of white chocolate 150g of pink and white marshmallows 50g of macadamia nuts, toasted 50g of pistachio kernels, toasted 100g of dried cranberries 4 shortbread fingers, chopped You will also need a shallow dish or a loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper.

METHOD 1. Break the chocolate into a bowl and set carefully over a small pan of hot water. Melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth, and then remove from the heat.

2. Chop the marshmallows, nuts and shortbread into small pieces, and place in a large bowl along with the cranberries.

3. Pour the melted chocolate over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

4. Transfer the mixture into the tin and smooth out with the back of a spoon or spatula. Chill for a few hours until set.

6. Turn the Rocky Road out onto a chopping board and cut into squares or slices with a sharp knife.

Stored in an air tight container, it will keep for 3-5 days.

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Chocolate Orange Profiteroles

4. Remove from the heat and beat the mixture

A festive alternative for those who don’t like

vigorously until a smooth paste is formed. Once the mixture comes away from the side of the pan,

Christmas pudding.

Makes 20.

Ingredients 200ml of cold water 4 teaspoons of caster sugar 85g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 115g of plain flour a pinch of salt 3 medium free-range eggs, beaten 600ml of double or whipping cream For the chocolate orange sauce: 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter 55g plain chocolate, broken 4 tablespoons of golden syrup The zest of 1 orange METHOD 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Place a small roasting tin in the bottom of the oven to heat.

2. For the choux pastry, place the water, sugar and butter into a large saucepan. Heat gently until the butter has melted.

3. Turn up the heat, and then quickly pour in the flour - with a pinch of salt - all in one go.

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transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.

5. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until the mixture is smooth, glossy and has a soft dropping consistency.

6. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. Using a piping bag and plain 1cm nozzle, pipe the mixture into small balls, spaced evenly across the baking sheet. Gently dab the top of each ball with a wet finger; this helps to make a crisper top.

7. Place the profiteroles in the oven. Before closing

9. For the filling, lightly whip the cream until soft

the oven door, pour half a cup of water into the roasting tin at the bottom of the oven, and then

peaks form. When the profiteroles are cold, use a piping bag to pipe the cream into the profiteroles.

quickly shut the door. This helps to create more steam in the oven and make the choux pastry rise better. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until goldenbrown (if the profiteroles are too pale, they will become soggy when cool).

8. Remove the profiteroles from the oven and turn the oven off. Pierce a hole in the base of each profiterole with a skewer. Place them back onto the baking sheet with the hole in the base facing upwards and return to the oven for five minutes.

The warm air from the oven will help to dry out the middle of the profiteroles. Set aside to cool.

10. To make the chocolate orange sauce, place the ingredients in a bowl and set over a pan of simmering water until it has melted, mixing well to combine.

11. To serve, place the stuffed profiteroles into a large serving dish and pour or drizzle over the chocolate orange sauce. Serve hot or cold.

Best served within a day or so of making.

Images courtesy of Kamal Masih

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See you in the SPRING

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