The Art Workers’ Guild
The Art Workers’ Guild
Maiko Tsutsumi
Caroline Swash
Romilly Saumarez Smith
Bridget Bailey will be showing all sorts of flora & fauna alongside work from 20 other makers at Clockwork Studios, 38 Southwell Road SE59PG as part of their Christmas Open Weekend on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December, from 11am to 6pm.
Find more details here.
Interior designer and historic design consultant Aliénor Cros has just launched Artfully Crafted, a YouTube channel focused on championing decorative arts and craftsmanship.
Each short film will showcase the skills and meet the makers behind a broad and diverse range of disciplines through a combination of thoughtful conversation, studio visits and practical demonstrations. New videos will be published weekly. The first instalment focuses on Vicki Ambery-Smith and can be watched here.
Upcoming videos include Guild members Bridget Bailey, Simon Smith and Chris Keenan as well as Creative Connections participant Joanne Lamb.
Subscribe here!
Monica Grose Hodge has been featured in the latest issue of House and Garden - speaking about her home, career and artistic practice (as well as the Guild and it’s members!)
You can read the article here and see Monica’s work in the Master’s room for the rest of December.
Tim Mainstone of Mainstone Press, Joe Pearson of Design for Today and The Gentle Author are hosting the annual BLOOMSBURY JAMBOREE, a festival of books and print, illustration, talks and seasonal merriment this Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 December from 10:30am until 4:30pm at the Guild.
There will be book-signings and a programme of ticketed lectures and readings plus there will be many exhibiters, including print and paper makers, small press publishers, toy makers, potters, craft workers and importers for food by small producers. Book your tickets here.
Jinny Blom’s book What Makes a Garden has been shortlisted as book of the year by Garden Media Guild. Congratulations Jinny!
You can purchase Jinny’s books here.
Bridget Bailey will be exhibiting from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 November at the Chelsea Physic Garden Christmas Fair (66 Royal Hospital Road) so do pop along if you can!
Tickets can be booked here, although you can also pay on the door.
Carolyn Gowdy has had her work selected for the International Original Print Exhibition 2024 at the Royal Society of Painter - Printmakers. You can see the exhibition at Bankside Gallery until Sunday 17 November. For more information click this link.
James Hart Dyke’s new exhibition Yosemite will be showing at John Mitchell Fine Paintings from Thursday 21 November until Thursday 12 December. It’s open weekdays, 10am - 5pm. Find more information here.
Shawn Williamson has played a key role in finding a new home for Mr Valiant for Truth, a sculpture he helped to complete with Josefina De Vasconcellos whilst he was an apprentice for her. The sculpture has now been installed in the Lake District at one of English Lake Hotels’ premises. Read more here.
Chris Keenan, Maiko Tsutsumi and Creative Connections participant Marie Tricaud will be showing their work as part of Vanguard Court Open Studios from Friday 29 November to Sunday 1 December from 11am to 5 pm. Find more information here.
Cockpit’s Winter Open Studios will feature several Guild members this year, including Tessa Eastman, Richard McVetis, Katharine Coleman, Charlotte Grierson, Catherine Mannheim and Creative Connections participants Kendall Clarke, Oliver Snelling and Caitlin Maxwell Hughan.
Not only can you source one-of-a-kind gifts from over 175 of London’s most talented artist makers, you will also have the chance to visit their studios and hear the stories behind each incredible object.
There are two locations (Bloomsbury 21 - 24 November & Deptford 29 November - 1 December). For more information visit the website.
Michael Petry’s exhibition In League with Devils is open until Saturday 7 December, Wednesday to Saturday from12-5pm at Vane Gateshead.
The main body of the exhibition consists of bronze sculptures from the last decade supplemented by more recent works including a new series of Heaven paintings. All the works deal with historic and current belief systems. Click here for more information.
Luci Eyers will be exhibiting Ceramic Animals & Drawn Dioramas, a joint project with Mirja Hartwig, at Eye to Pencil studio. The exhibition is open on the weekend of Saturday 16 - Sunday 17 November from 12 - 6pm, with a PV from 6 - 9pm on Saturday 16. Find more information here.
Chris Keenan has an exhibition of New Ceramics at Beaux Arts, Bath with a private view from 12 - 5pm on Saturday 16 November. The exhibition runs until Monday 23 December. Do visit if you can!
On Thursday 31 October the Guild will be hosting a private view for The Art of Brahma: Stencils, an exhibition which will remain in the Master’s room until Thursday 7 November. The exhibition will explore the processes Brahma uses to develop the geometric paintings he is known for. Brahma was a close friend of PM Assheton Gorton.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s largest ever exhibition, Spectacular Diversions, is now open at Compton Verney until Sunday 26 January 2025.
Featuring mainly new and recent works which have not been exhibited before, this is a unique opportunity to experience Chila’s creativity and inventiveness. An installation of neons will light up the façade of Compton Verney, where Hindu deities and mythological creatures will mingle with animals and ice creams in a glowing display.
Ex Honorary Architect Simon Hurst has his first exhibition of work as an artist coming up from Monday 4 to Sunday 10 of November at The Tabernacle Gallery, Notting Hill, W11 2AY from noon to 6pm daily.
He is exhibiting paintings, drawings and etchings, along with three other artists he has met at classes at The Royal Drawing School. All four artists will be hosting Private Views on the evenings of Tuesday 5 and Thursday 7 November from 6pm to 9pm, and Sunday 12 to 4pm. There will be free drinks and nibbles at both evening events!
Designer Craft at Bankside opens next month at Bankside Gallery. The exhibition showcases the work of over 70 member-makers, including Guild member Sean Evelegh. There will be a Private View on Tuesday 19 November, 6.30-8.30pm. The exhibition is open from Wednesday 20 November - Sunday 1 December, 11am-6pm daily. Admission is free. For more information click here.
Saturday 9 November - Thursday 5 December
The Art Workers’ Guild
Monica Grose-Hodge will be holding her first exhibition of rag-rugging pieces this winter at the Guild. 25 years after finishing her surface pattern degree, Monica learned the traditional rag-rugging technique during lockdown, inspired by her good friend Rachael Matthews.
Monica’s three dimensional and tactile art pieces are inspired by plants, medieval crewel work and black embroidery work and are made from unfinished sewing projects, clothing that could no longer be used and fabrics that people have donated over the years. Monica will also be exhibiting unfinished work, sketchbooks and other projects that led up to this exhibition so that you can see what goes on behind the finished works.
Details about the private view will follow.
Bridget Bailey will be showing at Made-London Marylebone, from Friday 24 - Sunday 26 October.
Made-London is a show organised by Tutton and Young, full of wonderful makers. From swallows and snails to seed-heads Bridget has been making collections of new flora and fauna to exhibit.
Made-London is at One Marylebone Rd, London NW1 4AQ and you’ll find Bridget on stand 67 near the back on the ground floor.
You can buy tickets here.
Ceramic artist Felicity Aylieff brings a major solo exhibition of her monumental ceramics to Kew.
Expressions in Blue will encompass a selection of pottery works, including incredible 5 meter tall vases, all hand-thrown and hand-painted with cobalt oxides in a modern take on the qīng-huā style. The exhibition will run from Saturday 26 October 2024 to Sunday 23 March 2025.
Each year Goldsmiths’ Fair invites the Lady Mayoress Designate to choose a piece of jewellery as their ‘City Jewel’ to wear during their year of office, promoting contemporary British studio jewellery, and the Company’s commitment to supporting craft skills in the UK.
This year, Florence King chose Vicki Ambery-Smith’s ‘Venetian’ ring as her City Jewel. Hand-crafted in sterling silver, with red and yellow gold details, it depicts the church in the Cannaregio district of Venice, Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Congratulations Vicki!
Join us for the closing event of the Creative Connections exhibition on Saturday 26 October - we are open to the public from 11am - 4pm so do bring along friends and family before the exhibition ends.
Wednesday 23 October, 5.30 - 9.30pm (arrive anytime)
Rachel Warr and the Outreach committee invite you to help us celebrate marionettes.
Join us for an evening of displays, talks, demonstrations and short performances with marionettes. There will even be a chance to have a go at operating a marionette puppet.
We will be exploring topics such as:
Contributors include:
Alicia Britt & Anna Smith, Charlotte Cory, Sue Dacre, Michael Dixon & The National Puppet Archive, Keith Frederick, Roger Lade, Ronnie Le Drew, Laura Matthews, Quanimals Theatre Productions, Tatwood Puppets, Tony Sinnett, Jan Zalud and Soledad Zárate.
Book your place here.
Entry is free, but booking is essential as places are limited.
Displays/demonstrations open from 5.30pm.
Creative Connections participant, Suvrita Kothari has launched a new brand. Her collections of hand crafted home accessories are available from her website.
Susan Aldworth will be exhibiting her work in BELONGINGS at The Arcade, Bush House, WC2B 4PJ from Saturday 2 October - Friday 8 November.
Storytelling is at the heart of this exhibition - unravelling the story of a young woman in 1924 migrating from Bardi in Northern Italy to London. Thirty-five individual antique clothes, are hand-embroidered with family photographs, stories and recipes. Suspended in mid-air, they highlight the transitory and emotional nature of an uprooted life.
Angela Barrett has been in touch to let us know that Fisher London antiques on Gray’s Inn Road will be offering their premises to rent between late October 2024 and early Spring 2025. The shop will be available for two week occupations at a time, as a pop-up retail premises. For more information about cost and layout etc. click here. Contact details can also be provided by emailing Gemma.
Ross Harrison has been making a film about the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop in Cambridge, for the past two years. The film is called The Alphabeticians - you can watch the teaser video here. Ross is currently fundraising for production costs in order to finish this labour of love. There is also a competition to win a full set of lettering chisels which you can find more information about here.
Ray Ward is exhibiting as part of Drawing the Unspeakable at TOWNER Eastbourne. The exhibition is open from 5 October to 27 April, you can book your tickets via the TOWNER website.
Sally Scott and Gil Whyman are taking part in Putney Open Studios on the weekends of 5 - 6 October and 12 - 13 October, showing their work at Sally’s studio - The Cottage, Cambalt Road, SW15 6EW from 11am to 6pm or by appointment (call 07768454127). Jeweller Christine Savage will also be exhibiting.
Ivy Smith’s large painting The Golden Wedding is currently on show in the exhibition HOLDING SPACE in the Timothy Gurney Gallery at Norwich Castle. The exhibition shows nearly 50 works from Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery’s Modern and Contemporary Art Collection. It continues until February 2025.
An article featuring Joe Armitage and the reissued Classic Armitage Lamp has been published in the current issue of Wallpaper magazine. You can read the article by Cristina Piotti here.
Geedon Gallery have a new exhibition open from Saturday 12 until Sunday 27 October. The Mixed Autumn Exhibition will feature Guild members A Lincoln Taber, Anne Hickmott, Georgy Metichian, Graham Rust, Simon Smith and Sophie MacCarthy alonside many other artists working in various mediums. Find more information here.
Agalis Manessi recently celebrated the recent publication of her book A Journey Painted in Clay at a special reception held at the National Gallery Annex, Corfu. For more information about the book and to order your own copy - click here.
Tessa Eastman and Julie Arkell are exhibiting as part of Contemporary Nostalgia, a new exhibition at CAA Gallery featuring seven artists working in glass, paper, textiles and ceramic. Seeking inspiration both from the natural world and their own inner one, each maker’s work is an exuberant expression of the playfulness and experimentation in the British crafts scene.
The exhibition runs from Tuesday 3 to Saturday 21 September at 6 Paddington Street, W1U 5QG.
Monica Boxley would like to invite Guild members to an exhibition which runs from Friday 4 to Sunday 13 October at Redlees Gallery, TW7 6DW.
Jezima Mohamed, renowned batik artist, is coming to London from Sri Lanka for the first time to exhibit her highly acclaimed textile pieces. She has been creating and teaching batik in Matara, Sri Lanka for over forty years. The exhibition will include wearable pieces and home ware, including wall hangings, bed spreads, cushion cov-
ers, table cloths and serviettes. All items will be for sale.
For further information please contact Monica Boxley
Congratulations to Tracey Sheppard who has received the Guild of Glass Engravers Award at the International Festival of Glass Biennale 2024 for her piece, "Nothing is so beautiful ".
The Biennale is on at The Glasshouse Centre, Amblecote, Stourbridge until Saturday 28 September. You can find out more here. Do visit if you can.
On Thursday 12 September, members are invited to view the recently installed exhibition of traditional and classical paintings at Fulham Palace, organised by Alastair Dunstan. The reception starts at 5pm.
The exhibition is open until Sunday 29 September, for more information visit the website here.
We are very happy to announce that the Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for 2024. This inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect will take place on Saturday 12 October, 11am - 5pm.
We are now calling for submissions from anyone who would like to exhibit their own tabletop museum. The only limitation is that your museum must fit on a table top (roughly 150cm x 60cm). You will find details on how to apply below:
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How to take part:
To exhibit your museum, please answer the following questions and submit your entry to leigh@artworkersguild.org.
The deadline for submissions is Monday 16 September, 6pm.
- Your Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection
40 words maximum (for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
Please note that there is a very limited number of museum spaces available, and submissions will be selected on the basis of the narrative, explanations and classification provided, as well as the quality, quirkiness or interest of the collection itself.
We look forward to hearing from you!
A new edition of James Stevens Curl’s Classical Architecture will be published soon by John Hudson Publishing. If you order directly from the publisher, you can become a supporting subscriber and receive a personalised copy signed by the author.
The original 1992 edition was described in Architectural Review as ‘the clearest and most accessible account of the history and use of the language which has produced most of the great masterpieces of Western architecture.’ Like that edition, and the subsequent one of 2001, the new book describes the fundamental principles and various aspects of Classical architecture in a series of concise chapters, in clear and straightforward language.
Lida Kindersley has recently partnered with Geologist Steve Garrett to write a new book, a Suitable Stone. It is being published in September.
A Suitable Stone brings together the worlds of Steve, a geologist, and Lida, a stone carver and letter cutter, to discuss how geology has shaped the British stones used for letter cutting and fine carving. Through dialogue they explore the properties and qualities of several categories of British rocks and stones, looking at their colouration, density, and response to a chisel. Working alongside their teams, both share a belief in protecting our precious planet. You can order the book here.
Anne Desmet has been featured in the summer issue of Pressing Matters printmaking magazine, with a a 6-page feature about her work and her Guildhall Art Exhibition which runs until Sunday 8 September.
Anne has a very busy summer with many exhibitions coming up - visit her website or Instagram for updates.
Alan Kitching has designed a mural dedicated to Mary Quant - “Fashion is not frivolous, it is part of being alive today”. Originally created using letterpress, it was then translated into paint on a 40ft wall on Duke of York Square by William Impey and commissioned by Cadogan Estates Ltd for the opening of Kensington & Chelsea Art Week 2024.
Brothers Lester Capon, Angela James, Flora Ginn and Mark Cockram would like to announce that they are participating in the Designer Bookbinders UNIQUE exhibition.
UNIQUE, an exhibition by Designer Bookbinders, features new work from the very finest UK based binders and artists from one of the world’s foremost bookbinding societies.
The exhibition will take place at the Benjamin Spademan Gallery, 14 Masons Yard, London SW1Y 6BU. It is free and open to the public 5 - 13 July. Opening hours 11.00am - 5.00pm. For more details please visit the website here.
We are delighted to announce that Helen Whittaker has been awarded an MBE for ’services to the creation and conservation of stained and architectural glass art’ in the King’s Birthday Honours List.
Helen said ’to have the opportunity to do something you love, protecting the past and creating a future, is a joy in itself. To receive this MBE from King Charles, a great advocate for traditional art and craft skills throughout the U.K, is truly an honour. I am grateful to all of the people who have put me forward for this award and to the wonderful team at Barley Studio for their support over the past 25 years.’
Juliet Jonson is taking part in Brockley open Studios 2024 alongside more than 50 local artists who will open their homes and studios to the general public to showcase their work on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 July, 1pm - 6pm.
Find more information here.
Richard McVetis is running online stitch workshops on Saturday 6 July and Saturday 20 July, from 9am - 11.30am. You can book via this link and get 10% off with code STITCH10 when you book both workshops.
The millinery creations of Creative Connections participant, Rebecca Gray, are currently being worn by artists from Giffords Circus for their show Avalon. The show is currently on at Chiswick House and Gardens until Sunday 23 June. Find more information about Rebecca here and book tickets for Giffords here.
Photography by Rachel Louise Brown.
Alice Kettle will be speaking at Society of Designer Craftsmen’s New Designers 2024 on Friday 28 June, 2pm. She’ll be in conversation with ceramicist Kayley Holderness discussing how to establish a career in the craft and design world. Book tickets here.
Tessa Eastman recently took part in a careers event for schools and wanted to share this video as a resource for members. The event focused on how craftspeople discover their craft and go about pursuing it as a career. Delivered in collaboration with Cockpit, the event featured three makers based in their studios, who shared insight into their career journeys, their disciplines and showed some of their work and processes.
Congratulations to Tony Wills who’s company Buttonfix Limited has won the King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
Monica Boxley would like to invite you to Redlees Studios on 15 July and the 12 and 26 August to create, chat and share skills. Bring anything you want to work on, sew, draw, paint, write etc. There is no teaching, just being together to share skills, ideas and creativity. The sessions will run from 12 - 3pm.
The Salon of Doubt is back! A space where we can talk about and listen to each others thoughts on our current work and projects. An evening when we can share our excitement and enthusiasm, our fears, our uncertainties, anxieties and misgivings; the Salon will reveal the passion we have for our work and the love we hold for its creativity.
The salon will start at 6.30pm on Tuesday 11 June at the Art Workers’ Guild. Entry is free, but booking is essential and there will be a paying bar.
Congratulations to Creative Connections participant Kendall Clarke who has been awarded a Theo Moorman Trust Grant!
Kendall aims to use the grant to create a new body of work building on paper yarn making skills learned during her Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) scholarship in Japan at the end of last year.
Creative Connections participant Liaqat Rasul has co-designed a bag with Ally Capellino and will be hosting a showcase event on Sunday 2 June from 2 - 4pm at the store in Shoreditch. Find more information here.
Tessa Eastman has taken part in a podcast with Nic Torres called Shaping Your Pottery where she shares her experiences transitioning from pottery to sculpture, the significance of teaching, and the influences in her work. You can listen to the episode here.
Several of our members will be taking part in the Cockpit Summer Open Studios 2024.
The event is split across two sites this year. Katharine Coleman,Tessa Eastman, Catherine Mannheim and Richard McVetis will be in Bloomsbury where you can visit 14 - 16 June. Charlotte Grierson will be in Deptford which is open 21 - 23 June. You can book tickets here and get a 10% discount using the code: SUMMERATCOCKPIT.
The Committee meeting on the 24 April saw the election of four new members to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Alison White
Textiles Artist and Designer
www.alisonwhitescarves.co.uk/
Proposer - Sally Pollitzer
Seconder - Rachael Matthews
Bridget Harvey
Ceramics and Textiles - Repairing
www.bridgetharvey.co.uk
Proposer - Maiko Tsutsumi
Seconder - Rachael Matthews
Chris Dyson
Architect
www.chrisdyson.co.uk
Proposer - Richard Griffiths
Seconder - Simon Henley and Eric Parry
Emily Jo Gibbs
Textiles Artist
www.emilyjogibbs.co.uk/
Proposer - Bridget Bailey
Seconder - Richard McVetis
Creative Connections participant Joanne Lamb is taking part in Future Icons Selects at The Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London.
The exhibition will take place during London Craft Week, until Sunday 19 May.
Creative Connections participant Kendall Clarke is exhibiting her work as part of stillness at Gallery 57 in Arundel, West Sussex. The exhibition runs until Saturday 6 July and you can find more information here.
Tim Ward was recently commissioned to produce a Queen Elizabeth II Memorial in Hendon Park. Last week the memorial was unveiled in an opening ceremony and can be viewed in the park at any time!
Georgy Metichian will be exhibiting as part of London Craft Week at the Austrian Embassy London as part of Meisterstrasse In Residence until 19 May. Find more information here.
Clive Aslet’s new book Sir Edwin Lutyens: Britain’s Greatest Architect? has now been published. The short biography is a major new study incorporating fresh research which shows the architect in a new light.
You can order the book here.
Andrian Melka is running a three-day portrait sculpture workshop at the The Old School Hall, York. The workshop will run from Friday 28 - Sunday 30 June, you can book here.
Creative Connections participant Isabel Fletcher is taking part in 20 Years of Cavaliero Finn at Stockwell Studio, SW9 0AB.
The exhibition will take place during London Craft Week, from Saturday 11 - Saturday 18 May.
A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger will be open until Sunday 4 August.
Presented by the Joanna Bird Gallery at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, the exhibition includes modern ceramics and glass from established artists including Prue Cooper and Tom Perkins.
Michael Petry is exhibiting a new work in Mirror, Mirror at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. The exhibition is co-curated by Soheila Sokhanvari and shows work which explores the symbolism of mirrors. Visit the exhibiton near Tower Bridge until Saturday 25 May.
Cathryn Shilling, Katharine Coleman MBE, Peter Layton, Tracey Sheppard have had their work selected for the British Glass Biennale 2024 alongside almost 120 other artists who have been selected to present the most interesting, diverse and outstanding glass art made in the UK.
Carolyn Trant and Ruth Martin will be showing their Book Art at Ink Paper & Print, the print and illustration fair, on Saturday 25 May.
Ink Paper & Print is run by Design for Today and, this year, is held at Lewes Town Hall (only an hour by train from Victoria). There will be 40 stands showing a great variety of work from 10.30am - 4.30pm.
Chris Keenan is Guest Artist at Grove Vale Ceramics in East Dulwich from Thursday 25 April until Sunday 2 June. The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday 10am - 6pm and Sunday 10am - 3pm.
A selection of Jacqueline Taber’s paintings will feature in an exhibition with members of The Small Paintings Group, at Mandell’s Gallery, Norwich. Find more information here.
The work of David Houchin (1935 - 2023) will be on display in the FACE exhibition at The Garrison Chapel, SW1W 8BG. The exhibition is open until Sunday 28 April.
Joe Armitage has been commissioned by Nina Yashar, the founder of Nilufar, to design a new collection of lamps as part of her exhibition Time Traveler - for Milan Design Week 2024. The collection will be available exclusively at Nilufar, Milan’s top design gallery.
The Financial Times have published an article about Bonfield Block-Printers, co-owned by Guild member Cameron Short. Read the article here.
Marthe Armitage Prints’ Brentford Studio is open from 10am - 6pm on Friday 3 May and Saturday 4 May for open studio days.
They will be showing how the press works and talking about the repeat design process and the history of the company.
Simon Hurst has been featured in the May edition of Homes & Antiques, with a 9 page spread about his house and collecting, with photographs by James Balston. You can read the article by downloading it here.
Tracey Sheppard is raising money for St Bart’s Church in Winchester with three lectures by Guild members Simon Smith (18 April), Helen Whittaker (16 May) and Prue Cooper (13 June). Tickets are £12 per lecture or £32 for the whole series. You can learn more and book here. You can also donate to the church here.
Sarah P Corbett has a new book coming out called The Craftivist Collective Handbook: Projects, stories and methods for your gentle protests. Full of strategic, compassionate and visually intriguing activism using handicrafts as a tool. You will recognise Bro. Rachael Matthews in the pages! Since its creation in 2009, the award-winning global Craftivist Collective has helped change laws, policies, hearts and minds around the world as well as expand the view of what activism can be. Available in all good bookshops and libraries from Thursday 2 May.
Anne Desmet currently has a major solo exhibition open at Guildhall Art Gallery (Guildhall Yard, EC2V 5AE) until Sunday 8 September. The show is titled Anne Desmet: Kaleidoscope/London and is comprised of 150 of Anne’s wood engravings, linocuts, printed collages, stone lithographs and more. Find more information here.
Robert Adam will endow a new three-month scholarship for residence at the British School at Rome starting in the academic year 2024-2025, open to British and Commonwealth applicants. The scholar will be selected to study the tradition and evolution of classical architecture in Rome and Italy. Applications are open now. Click here for more information and to apply.
Guild member Jerry Cinamon sadly passed away earlier this year. His family have shared his obituary with us - you can read it here.
Aesthetic Collection , organised by Alienor Cros, is an art fair to be held on Sunday 12 May at The University Women’s Club. Guild members Vicki Ambery-Smith, Andrew Jamieson and Flora Roberts will be showing and selling their work alongside other craftspeople from various disciplines. Book your ticket here.
Agalis Manessi and Jeremy Nichols will be showing at Ceramic Art London 2024 from Friday 19 - Sunday 21 April at Kensington Olympia West. Book tickets here.
Hugh Petter’s monograph, Living Tradition, has been shortlisted for the Architectural Book Awards 2024.
The awards honour excellence in architectural publishing, recognising ground breaking additions to our understanding of the architectural profession’s achievements.
Congratulations to Nina Bilbey who has been awarded The Master Craft Certificate by the Lord Mayor of the City of London!
Nina is an architectural sculptor who has been carving stone for over 30 years and has produced fantastic work including two statues of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh for the West front of Canterbury Cathedral.
Sara Rawlinson is exhibiting her abstract photography at Montsalvat in Melbourne Australia. Sara’s photographs have an ephemeral, intimate, painterly aesthetic.
The exhibition runs from 3-28 April. Entry is free. See more information here or here.
Illustrated by Angie Lewin and designed by Simon Lewin, The Book of Wild Flowers is a celebration of British wild flowers and their unique place in our landscape. It explores the history and science of the nation’s wild flowers, offering up unusual insights into a range of British flowering plants alongside guidance on where to find them and tips for cultivation.
Vicki Ambery-Smith will be exhibiting at Collect with Contemporary Applied Arts from 29 February to 3 March. She will also be in conversation with design writer Corinne Julius on Friday 1 March at 1pm. Visit the website for more information.
Guild members Lester Capon, Mark Cockram and Angela James will be showing work in the Designer Bookbinders and Society of Scribes & Illuminators joint exhibition titled Covered. Discovered.
The exhibition will be at Crafts Council Gallery from 13 March to 13 April 2024. The gallery is open Wednesday - Saturday from 11am to 5pm apart from on Bank Holidays.
From 12 May - 29 September, Magdalene Odundo will present an exhibition at Houghton Hall in Norfolk.
The group of new works will be presented in the great Stone Hall, while early works have been selected to create dialogues with the William Kent-designed interiors. The exhibition will also include a new commission created during Odundo’s recent residency at Wedgwood, reflecting on the history of the company, Josiah Wedgwood’s role in the abolitionist movement and the continued fight for racial equality.
Joanna Bird is delighted to be presenting a selection of compelling new work in ceramics and glass at Collect 2024 - visit Stand S9 between Friday 1 March - Sunday 3 March.
Phil Abel has been interviewed by Zach Harney for The Collectible Book Vault.
Read the interview about his craft and career as a letterpress printer, and about his passion for producing fine-art books, here.
As part of Plates with Purpose Agalis Manessi will be showing Woman from Ukraine at Messums West from 2 March - 29 April. The plate will then be for sale in support of two valuable charities - David Nott Foundation and Hope and Homes for Children.
Rachael Matthews is launching her new book Rug Manifesto on Friday 15 March.
The book is an anarchic and creative look at recycling in response to the overwhelming amount of textile waste. It includes the history of rag rugs and an introduction to rag-making techniques, including how to decide what to cut up and how to do it. You can buy it here!
On Saturday 2 March we will be continuing efforts to reorganise and digitise our library catalogue.
Please join us for some alphabetisation and data input, and help us modernise our wonderful library. In return we can promise you plentiful tea and biscuits, and a wealth of fascinating books to discover!
You can view a sample of what we’ve achieved so far here.
If you’d like to get involved, please contact Guild Librarian Rachael Matthews on rachael@prickyourfinger.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
On February 14, Students from UCA and UAL spent a day at the Guild making connections and learning new skills from our members, at Useful Parallels.
Useful Parallels is a day of cross disciplinary workshops, demonstrations and discussions led by the Guild’s Outreach committee, exploring disciplines such as stone-carving, bookbinding, calligraphy, weaving, millinery and jewellery making, to name but a few.
’The story of modern British art history told through the stories of its women.’
Carolyn Trant’s paperback British Women Artists: From Suffrage to the Sixties is coming out on 7 March 2024 - find more details on the Thames and Hudson website or buy in bookshops.
Late last year it was announced by the government that it was going to ratify the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in June 2024, after consultation until March 2024.
’By ratifying the Convention, the UK Government will be able to recognise our most important crafts and traditions in the same way as we have considered our physical heritage sites such as the Giant’s Causeway, Fountains Abbey, and the Tower of London.’ - Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay.
If you’d like to know more read Patricia Lovett’s blog here.
Charlotte Grierson will be teaching two-day Supplementary Weaves workshops in March, held at Cockpit in Deptford. These workshops are suitable for early stage weavers through to intermediate level. The aim will be to build your understanding and confidence so that you can go on to use supplementary weaves in may ways in your weaving.
For more details and to book - click here.
The following OGM’s have swapped dates and will now take place on:
Thursday 24 October
Jazmine Miles-Long
Death and Maker
Thursday 7 November
Alison Cooke and Claire Partington
London Clay
Download the updated programme here.
Opening on Saturday 11 May, Our Ocean at Rachel Bebb Contemporary will show work by artists interpreting their thoughts about the beauty of our oceans, whilst addressing the threat posed to them by human activity.
The exhibition, which closes on World Ocean Day on 8 June, will explore the beauty of the natural world and encourage people to value, protect and nurture it. There will also be a ticketed event with a talk from glassmakers Roberta Mason and Neil Wilkin and food prepared by chef Dominique Göltinger to mark World Ocean Day and the last day of the exhibition.
Vicky Ambery-Smith, Ian Archie Beck, James Birch, Martin Bowers, Jill Carr, Prue Cooper, Jane Cox, James Hart Dyke, Anne Hickmott, Simon Hurst, Richard Foster, Rebecca Jewell, Juliet Johnson, Robert O’Rorke, Lara Platman, Sally Pollitzer, lan Powers, Penny Price, Graham Rust, Sally Scott, Tracey Shephard, Ron Sims (1944-2014), Ivy Smith, Simon Smith, Richard Sorrell, Philip Surey, Jacqueline Taber, A Lincoln Taber, John Whittall and Georgy Metichian will be showing work in a Spring exhibition at Geedon Gallery from 23 March to 7 April 2024.
To coincide with the recent publication of her book A Journey Painted in Clay, Agalis Manessi will be showing a collection of ceramics and watercolours in the window of Bloomsbury Design until 17 March.
Bloomsbury Design is a window gallery, open for sales on weekdays during office hours and open to view 24 hours a day from the street - see more information here.
Maiko Tsutsumi is showing work in a solo exhibition at Corvi-Mora, 1a Kempsford Road, London, SE11 4NU from 6 March - 19 April 2024.
Find more details here.
Suvrita Kothari will be exhibiting her work at The Holy Art Gallery’s ARCHES exhibit until Sunday 18 February. At this new group exhibition, the Holy Art presents a diverse range of mediums, from video art to 2D and 3D dimensional works.
Tickets are free and can be booked through this link.
Ruth Martin will be showing work in Edge: An Exhibition of Artist Books by ABTuesday at London Centre for Book Arts Britannia Works, 56 Dace Road, London, E3 2NQ.
ABTuesday are a group of experienced Book Artists who have been meeting regularly at LCBA, since early 2023, to discuss their work and this will be their first exhibition together.
The exhibition is open from Thursday 22 February until Thursday 7 March (closed Mondays and Sundays.)
The Committee meeting on the 24 January saw the election of two new members to the Guild. We wish them both a very warm welcome!
Ray Ward -
www.artward.co.uk
Proposer - Rob Ryan
Seconder - Fred Baier
Lucy Dickens -
www.lucydickens.co.uk
Proposer - Joe Whitlock Blundell
Seconder - Peter Cormack MBE
Richard McVetis’ work A Happening of Things has been shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize.
A touring exhibition of shortlisted works will be open from Thursday 1 February to Tuesday 16 April at The Gallery, Arts University Bournemouth.
For more information visit the website.
Ceramicist Gareth Mason’s exhibition Seeing Things is open until 7 April at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Paris in collaboration with Jason Jacques Gallery.
For this exhibition, Gareth has crafted significant new large sculptural works in dark clay and iron. Click here for more information.
Vicki Ambery-Smith will be taking part in a symposium at King’s College London on Wednesday 7 February from 3 - 5 pm.
Vicki will explore the power of miniaturising, discussing the fascination, allure and magic that it provokes.
Maiko Tsutsumi is showing work at Neither until 28 February 2024 as part of a group show titled Corvi-Mora at Neither.
Visit the gallery at 2 Wincott Parade, London, SE11 6SR.
Charlotte Cory will be holding a Grand Visitoria Theatrical afternoon at the Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop in Covent Garden on Tuesday 6 February (from 2-4pm) to launch her book of poems and woodcuts Footsteps in the Ginger.
There will be all kinds of toy theatre goodies available - and biscuits!
Opening on Thursday 21 March, Watts Contemporary Gallery presents a solo exhibition of watercolours, prints, textiles and wallpapers by Angie Lewin.
Patterns of Nature features over 40 works reflecting Angie’s strong connection to the natural world – including illustrations from her new book, The Book of Wild Flowers. For more details visit the website.
Francesca Miotti, an artist and weaver, who is part of our Creative Connections programme, is showing work at The Gallery at Green & Stone as part of Works on Paper 2024 which runs until Thursday 8 February 2024.
Cross Lane Projects will be presenting works from nine contemporary artists including Guild member Michael Petry, at the London Art Fair 2024. Visit Stand G3 at the Business Design Centre, Islington until Sunday 21 January. Learn more and book tickets here.
Curated by Chris Brown and featuring work by many other Guild members, Edward Bawden & Me is opening on Saturday 17 February 2024.
Some of the biggest names in British art, illustration, ceramics and textiles come together in an eclectic exhibition at The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum Bedford to celebrate the work of printmaker, illustrator, watercolourist and designer Edward Bawden (1903–89). Find more details here.
Our latest exhibition at the Guild, Crafting Circularity, explores sustainability through the use of material and process.
It features an eclectic mix of work for sale by members of the Art Workers’ Guild, featuring painters, illustrators, jewellers, sculptors, architects, furniture makers, textile artists and many more. You can find a full list of exhibitors below:
Vicki Ambery-Smith
Prue Bramwell-Davis
Philippa Brock
Hannah Coulson
Tessa Eastman
Sean Evelegh
Monica Grose-Hodge
Daniel Heath
Nicholas Hughes
Janice Lawrence
Rachael Matthews
Tom Samuel
Jane Smith
Lincoln Taber
Maiko Tsutsumi
Anne Thorne
Julie Westbury
Private View:
You are invited to attend the private view on Monday 18 December, 4pm - 7.30pm.
Please RSVP to leigh@artworkersguild.org.
Public open day:
The exhibition is open to the public on Saturday 13 January, 12pm - 4.30pm.
The exhibition can be viewed by appointment at all other times.
Please email leigh@artworkersguild.org or call 020 7713 0966 to book.
Chris Keenan will be holding a winter open studio with Carina Ciscato at his studio, Unit 7C Vanguard Court, SE5 8QT until Sunday 3 December.
Alan Powers and his fellow trustees of Pollocks Toy Museum have a pop up shop and mini museum display in the colourful Victorian Leadenhall Market up to Christmas. Lots of special and unusual cards, wrapping paper, and toys for young and old. Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11-4.
For more information, please see the website.
PM Tracey Sheppard has a featured interview on the Contemporary Glass Society’s website. Read it here.
Jinny Blom’s new book What makes a garden - a considered approach to garden design was published by Quarto on Thursday 19 October. You can read more here.
A new edition of James Stevens Curl’s Classical Architecture will be published in 2024 by John Hudson Publishing. There is an opportunity to order a copy signed by the author and with your name included in the book as a supporting subscriber. For more information, please see here.
Christopher Brown’s exhibition Harlequins, Matelots & Others 1978 – 2023 runs from Saturday 25 November to Sunday 17 December at Gallery 286.
For more information please see the website.
Agalis Manessi’s A Journey Painted in Clay has just been published. She is holding a book launch event this weekend Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 November, 11am - 4 pm, at Ken artspace (16 Windmill Row, London, SE11 5DW).
The book celebrates her ceramic work through its various forms of expression over a career spanning fifty years. Find out more here.
Bridget Bailey will be showing her work at the Chelsea Physic Garden Christmas Fair, from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 November.
For more information and tickets, please see the website.
Stephen Richards is holding a joint show of his drawings, prints, collage and book designs in Paris with fellow artist Jacques Muray. The exhibition, Dessins/Drawings, opens on Thursday 30 November at Le Bonheur Est Dans L’Instant gallery at 72 Rue Amelot, Bastille, and runs until Sunday 3 December.
For more information please see Stephen’s Instagram.
Julie Westbury’s exhibition Out Walking opens at Projects Kavel Rafferty on Thursday 30 November and runs until Monday 4 December. For more information please see the website.
The Bloomsbury Jamboree will be returning to The Art Workers’ Guild on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 December from 10.30 am - 4.30 pm. This popular, two-day festive fair will feature a wonderful group of artists, printmakers, publishers, jewellers, ceramicists, fairtrade food sellers and more.
The following exhibitors will be selling their work: Alan Powers, Thuyha Nguyha, Jonny Hannah, Design for Today, The Gentle Author, The Mainstone Press, Clare Dales, Frank and Lusia, Herb Lester City Guides, Mandy Doubt, Marion Eliott, Robson Cezar, Sail Cargo London, Bex Shaw Ceramics, Elizabeth Harbour, Matilda Moreton, Anna Lovell Jewellery, Penfold Press, Diana Parkin, Chris Brown, Starch Green, Yes Paper Goods, Becky Baur, Simon Turner.
Lots of potential Christmas gifts on sale! Also mulled wine and mice pies! In addition, they have a series of illustrated lectures taking place in the Gradidge Room.
For more information and tickets: www.tinyurl.com/BloJam
We are now looking for a full time Deputy Secretary. If you know anyone that would be perfect for the role, please share these details with them. For the job description and details on how to apply, please click here.
The Master Carvers Association are holding an exhibition to celebrate the tercentenary of Sir Christopher Wren. The overall theme of the exhibition is collaboration between designers and craftsmen. It’s taking place in a Wren church, St. Mary at hill, in Cheapside, City of London on 27 and 28 of October (private view 26 Oct). It will feature the work of members PM Tracey Sheppard, Geoffrey Preston, Philip Surey and Simon Smith as well as many skilled master carvers. For more information, please see the website here or speak to Simon Smith.
Gareth Mason has a solo exhibition, Seeing Things, at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery, in their new space in Notting Hill, running until Friday 22 December. For more information please see the website.
Marianne Fox Ockinga’s solo exhibition Kings Cross - All Change takes place at the Highgate Gallery from Friday 17 until Thursday 30 November. For more information please see the website.
Bridget Bailey has been making collections of new flora and fauna to exhibit at Made London: The Design and Craft Fair at ‘The Block’ at Angel Islington from Friday 3 – Sunday 5 November.
For more information and tickets please see the website here.
Rachel Bebb Contemporary’s latest exhibition, Transfigured, is now open and runs until Saturday 4 November.
It is held in partnership with the Lettering Arts Trust, and celebrates letter carving, whilst drawing attention to the most prescient warning of our time - the depletion of the planet’s resources and climate change.
For more information, please see the website.
Image: Matt Loughlin - Waste Not Want Not (reclaimed marble)
This occasion marked Victor’s death a year ago in 2022, and comes 50 years after the ground-breaking exhibition The Craftsman’s Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum and first publication of Crafts magazine.
It is particularly hoped that those attending will include many makers who knew Victor and his initiatives during his years at the Crafts Council.
Guests were welcomed by Fred Baier, Master of the Art Workers’ Guild, and followed by an Introduction by Professor Sir Christopher Frayling.
There were makers’ contributions from:
Followed by questions, audience contribution and discussion.
You can read the transcript of Sir Christopher’s address here.
Guild Curator Neil Jennings has put together an exhibition of drawings by a selection of the Guild’s Architect members, now on show in the Gallery until spring 2024.
The exhibition will be available to view at all Guild meetings and can be viewed by appointment at all other times, please email leigh@artworkersguild.org.
Image: Aerial view and the four perspective views of plans for the new village of Little Impney on the historic Impney Estate, north of Droitwich Spa by Proctor & Matthews Architects.
The Salon of Doubt is a meeting place where we can talk about and listen to each others thoughts on our current work and projects. An evening when we can share our excitement and enthusiasm, our fears, our uncertainties, anxieties and misgivings.
The evening will consist of a curated program of people talking about their creative work and it is open to all. Already signed up to speak are Guild members Charlotte Cory, Simon Hurst, Nicholas Hughes, Sarah Corbett and Roger Kneebone.
There are four ways you can be a part of the Salon:
As a contributor
The salon will be a curated evening so that it runs smoothly. If you would like to share your thoughts, please let me know by emailing rob@robryanstudio.com
As an attendee - book your place here
As a helper
The Salon intends to be a special evening, please feel invited to be a part in making it as special as possible. If you’d like to help please email me on rob@robryanstudio.com.
By spreading the word, especially if you know someone who could possibly be a future contributor.
For more information see the website here.
Yours doubtfully,
Rob Ryan, Master Elect
Eleanor Crow’s exhibition Everyday opens this weekend at Town House Spitalfields and runs until Sunday 22 October. For more information see the website here.
Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections will be open for Frieze week from Monday 9 - Tuesday 17 October, 8am - 9pm. Viewings by appointment only.
Find out more here.
Image Specimen Cabinet - Steffen Dam
Cardozo Kindersley Editions have published a new book, A Shell in Time.
It is the memoir of two artists who first met as schoolgirls in Delft. Their paths converged and diverged as they grew up and followed their individual vocations, as ceramicist and letter cutter. What brings them back in touch is the coincidence of cancer: that both are diagnosed in the same year, but are then able to support each other through the trials of chemo treatment on opposite sides of the channel. They choose to convalesce on the bleak coast of Suffolk, and there create a natural artwork which has moved and motivated visitors from across the world: the shell line of Shingle Street.
Find our more here.
Rachael Matthews and Richard McVetis both have work in a group show, House Guests, featuring 8 textile artists at David Parr House in Cambridge until Friday 27 October.
Richard is holding a workshop, The art of hand embroidery, this Saturday 7 October, 10am - 3pm, and Rachael is doing a rag rug weaving workshop on Saturday 28 October, 10am - 4pm.
The David Parr house is a new, independent and growing museum, with a different take on the arts and Crafts Movement. The house is very small so you have to book a ticket. For those who can’t make the exhibition, you can do a tour of the house on-line. Find out more here.
Will Hill’s book Space as Language: the properties of typographic space is published by Cambridge University Press under their ‘Elements’ imprint, for which he is also editor for the typography ‘thread’, within the series ‘Publishing and Book Culture’.
Details can be found online here.
Over 80 of the UK’s leading ceramic artists, including Guild members, Regina Heinz, Chris Keenan, Felicity Aylieff, Agalis Manessi, Peter Hayes, Sophie MacCarthy, and Tessa Eastman, have donated work to a charity auction for FiredUp4 in partnership with OnSide, raising funds to place clay into the hands of young people via studios in a network of Youth Zones across the UK. The proceeds of the sale will go towards the installation of clay studios in Manchester, Croydon and Blackburn & Darwen.
The auction will take place at Adam Partridge Auctioneers in Macclesfield on Thursday 19 October at 7pm. Find out more here.
Lesley Strickland will be showing her work at Waller & Wood (One Two Five, Box Road, Bath BA1 7LR) as part of the Batheaston Art Trail on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October from 11 am - 5 pm. She will be exhibiting alongside Carole Waller, Joanne Rutter, Annie Beardsley and Beata Høst .
For more information, please see the website here.
Carolyn Gowdy won the St Cuthberts Mill award at the opening of the International Original Print exhibition at the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers, celebrating the best in contemporary printmaking.
Aliénor Cros and her husband Max have just had their home featured in The World of Interiors. Read it here.
Sally Scott will be opening her studio over two weekends in October (7 + 8, 14 + 15) from 11am - 6pm, showing many paintings, new and old, prints, cards, calendars... and sharing the space with Christine Savage and her beautiful jewellery. Gilbert Whyman will adorn the garden with his witty and inventive metal sculptures.
Tim Ward has created three vertical planters as part of the redevelopment of New Street in the centre of Huddersfield. The overall landscaping and paving scheme will be completed in Spring ’24. Read more here.
Annabel Maunsell - Gunby
Brigid Edwards and Annabel Maunsell are holding an exhibition of their Mezzotints, drawings and photographs at the Guild from Monday 23 to Saturday 28 October.
There will be a private view on Wednesday 25 October from 6pm - 8pm, and an open day with the artists on Saturday 28 October from 2pm - 5.30pm.
The exhibition can be viewed by appointment at all other times, please email leigh@artworkersguild.org to book, or for more information.
Brigid Edwards - Grasshopper
Peter Kindersley has made a film for the Garden Museum about the Lambeth Country Fair Vegetable sculpture competition. You can view it here.
Stone carver and sculptor Tim Crawley has been awarded the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal for outstanding lifetime achievement in stonemasonry. Read more here.
Simon Hurst’s pencil perspective of the interior of St Paul’s Cathedral is on display at the Guildhall Art Gallery until 15 October. It is part of the Wren 300 celebrations in an exhibition called Wren at Work, featuring drawings from several architects and artists.
Jinny Blom’s new book What makes a garden - a considered approach to garden design will be published by Quarto on Thursday 19 October. You can read more here.
Joe and Marthe Armitage feature in the Financial Times HTSI magazine, in an article written by Kate Finnegan and featuring photography by Tom Jamieson. The piece is a journey through the rich artistic history of the Armitage family, revealing a dedication to creative expression that spans four generations. Read it here.
Ceramics in the City opens this weekend, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September, at the Museum of the Home. It is curated by Guild member, Karen Bunting and features work by other Guild members, Sophie MacCarthy, Penny Fowler, Jane Cox and Jeremy Nichols.
For more information please see the website here.
Mark L’Argent is holding an open studios this weekend, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 September at Parndon Mill, Harlow. For more information please see the website here.
Bridget Bailey is one of nine artists in The Secret Life of Hedgerows exhibition at the Inspired by… gallery at the Danby Lodge National Park visitors Centre, Whitby, until Monday 6 November.
The exhibition aims to draw closer attention to the vitality and importance of these iconic natural features of the British landscape. Find out more here.
James Hart-Dyke has a new exhibition Mont Blanc - The Summit Paintings showing at Cromwell Place from Wednesday 27 September to Sunday 8 October.
On the 8 July 2022 James, accompanied by a team of climbers led by the world renowned climber Christophe Profit, summited Mont Blanc, in honour of the artist Gabriel Loppé, who painted from the summit in 1873. For over an hour James painted the shadow of Mont Blanc and the sunset.
For more information about the exhibition please see the website here.
Sarah McMenemy has been working with an animator on several sequences in the new documentary Coco Chanel: Unbuttoned which aired on BBC2 last week to coincide with the Chanel exhibition at the V&A. You can watch it here.
Living Tradition The Architecture and Urbanism of Hugh Petter is published on Thursday 5 October. Written by Clive Aslet, with a foreword by HRH The Former Prince of Wales, it features over 200 photographs and site plans. Published by Triglyph Books, you can read more here.
You can also discover Hugh’s go-to contacts including master stone-carvers, a young blacksmith and imaginative planning and heritage consultants in this recently published article in the RIBA journal. Read it here.
Vicki Ambery-Smith will be exhibiting at the Goldsmith’s Fair in Week 1 from Tuesday 26 September - Sunday 1 October. She will be showing this little silver box inspired by Vermeer’s 1661 painting of Delft. Find out more here.
Agalis Manessi’s A Journey Painted in Clay is published on Wednesday 11 October. It celebrates her ceramic work through its various forms of expression over a career spanning fifty years. With a foreword from Jenni Lomax, curator and former director of Camden Arts Centre, and contributions from Megan Brooks, Tanya Harrod, Mina Holland, Marina Papasotiriou, Michael Petry and Liz Rideal. Find our more here.
PM Anne Thorne recently appeared on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour talking about her CoHousing project at Cannock Mill, Colchester. Listen here.
Sally Scott will be opening her studio over two weekends in October (7 + 8, 14 + 15) from 11am - 6pm, showing many paintings, new and old, prints, cards, calendars... and sharing the space with Christine Savage and her beautiful jewellery. Gilbert Whyman will adorn the garden with his witty and inventive metal sculptures.
Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery opens it’s autumn exhibition, Artists of Today & Tomorrow, on Saturday 14 October. Open daily 11am-5.30pm until Sunday 29 October, and then by appointment to Friday 15 December. It features work by Guild members such as Simon Hurst, Lincoln Taber, Vicki Ambery-Smith, Simon Smith and Georgy Metichian. For more information see the website.
Rebecca Jewell and Sandy Ross Sykes will be running an art workshop at Fishbourne Roman Palace on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October. The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust backed research on animal feeding. Find more details here.
Image: Annet Stirling - Roman Inscription
Rachel Bebb Contemporary opens it’s autumn exhibition Transfigured on Saturday 7 October. The exhibition will celebrate letter carving and exhibitors are being encouraged to use offcuts, in the spirit of recycle, reuse and reduce. The exhibition features work by Guild members Eric Marland and Tom Perkin. Find out more on the website here.
We are very happy to announce that the Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for 2023, in conjunction with Open House weekend.
This inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect will take place on Saturday 16 September, 11am - 5pm.
Come and delight in an exhibition of 30 installations, curated by Guild members and others, featuring museums of measurement, mercies, mudlarking and much, much, more! View the full programme here.
As part of Open House Weekend, we will also hold two tours of the building given by our Honorary Architect, Simon Hurst.
The tours will take place at 11.30am and 2pm and booking is essential. For details on how to book to click here.
We will be open to the public for one day only on Saturday 16 September, 11 am – 5 pm. Refreshments will be available throughout the day.
Venue :
The Art Workers’ Guild
6 Queen Square
London
WC1N 3AT
For more information contact Leigh Milsom Fowler on info@artworkersguild.org
020 7713 0966
We look forward to seeing you there!
Sally Kindberg - Museum of dust
We will hold a screening of No Ordinary Passion, a film about Rory Young’s life and work on Thursday 21 September in the Hall. The film was made by Marianne Suhr and her son Max Varvill who spent many hours recording Rory’s life story following the diagnosis of his terminal illness. It contains captivating insights into his childhood, his work and influences and the design and evolution of his house.
Marianne will join us to introduce the film and give a Q&A afterwards with PM Alan Powers.
The event starts at 6.30pm and the screening will begin at 7pm.
Entry is free, no need to book. Family and friends are very welcome.
There will be a paying bar.
Please pass this on to anyone who you think might be interested in applying
The Art Workers’ Guild is excited to announce the launch of Creative Connections, a year-long program for creative people at the start of their careers, where you can meet and connect with Guild members, build supportive networks with each other and develop your professional practice.
Join us for Hands-on workshops, talks, discussions and social events, providing opportunities to share insights and ideas, encourage each other and navigate the challenges of sustaining a career.
For more information visit the website here.
We are looking for nominations for Master Elect Elect in 2026. If there is anyone you think would make a great Master, please email your suggestions to Catherine on
catherine@artworkersguild.org by Monday 20 November.
Maiko Tsutsumi features in the latest episode of Roger Kneebone’s podcast, Countercurrent.
Listen Here!
London Fields East, Mezzotint by Charlotte Knox, currently on display in Room VII at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.
For more information, see the website.
Congratulations to Tanya Harrod who has been appointed MBE for services to the crafts in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Michael Petry is holding a book signing for his new book In League with Devils at Hatchards Piccadilly on Saturday 8 July, 2- 4 pm.
The new hard back book documents the last ten years of his prolific output across sculpture, painting and performance.
To book tickets and for more information, please see here.
The Gloucestershire Guild of Crafts will present the 3rd Crafts Alive festival, ‘In The Maker’s Hands - The Tools of our Trade’ from 13 to 17 September at Rodmarton Manor near Cirencester.
Original work will be for sale, alongside guest exhibitors, demonstrations, workshops, talks, theatrical performances and delicious locally made food and drinks.
Of special interest will be a display in memory of Rory Young, 1954-2023, including his ¾ size maquettes for the seven martyrs carved in stone for the medieval niches in the nave screen at St Alban’s Cathedral.
The architect of the Rodmarton between 1909-26 was the Arts and Crafts architect-maker Ernest Barnsley; he and his brother Sidney also designed much of the furniture. Both men had joined the Art Workers’ Guild early on and the house also contains pieces by other Guild brothers and members of the Women’s Guild of Arts.
For more information and tickets see the website.
Following the success of last years pilot Schools project, over recent months the Outreach committee has been running a second Schools project at the Sir John Heron’s Primary School in Newham, in which three Guild members ran sessions for children from Years 4 and 6 teaching them craft.
Our teachers were Julie Arkell (papier mache), Paul Jakeman (stone carving) and Bobbie Kociejowski (weaving). The scheme was managed on behalf of the Outreach Committee by Sonia Tuttiett and Jeremy Nichols.
The children’s work will be exhibited at the Guild in the Master’s Room until the end of July and the school children will be making a trip to see the exhibition.
The exhibition will be available to view at the Guild meeting on Thursday 6 July. Other times by appointment, please email Leigh info@artworkersguild.org.
Join us for the fifth in a series of panel discussions held by our Mentoring Committee, exploring the ins and outs of working as a professional artist-craftsperson. The series will give you thought-provoking insights into a successful career as an art worker.
This discussion will focus on graphic design, a term which is generally understood, but which has fractured into many parts as a contemporary discipline. This panel discussion brings together a group of distinguished and experienced graphic practitioners who will discuss issues they see confronting the field of graphics today.
The discussion will be followed by a Q&A .
Entry is free and the evening will be run as a hybrid in-person and online via Zoom event. To reserve your place, please register via our Eventbrite page for either in person or online attendance. More details can be found below.
After working in several design studios in Birmingham and London, in 1970 Richard responded to a classified ad in Oz magazine and was offered work on the spot, designing the upcoming issue of Oz, The Yippie Issue, and promptly ‘dropped out’! In the years that followed he designed and illustrated many of the underground magazines of the time: Ink, International Times (IT), Frendz, Time Out, Gay News, and others.
He first met the writer Heathcote Williams in the early 70s. His was arguably among the most radical voices of the period, a playwright, poet, squatter and activist of wild, outlandish proportions. They clicked, and in 1975 formed an anarchist publishing partnership called Open Head Press.
In 1982, Richard went on to form AdCo Associates, with Nigel Coke, a designer and photographer. Their work was rooted in the arts and publishing, fringe theatre and music; designing posters and publicity, programmes, illustrated books, poetry, record covers.
Former Trickett & Webb director Brian Webb founded Webb & Webb over 15 years ago. They focus on design for communication and branding across a full spectrum, including identity, print, packaging, exhibitions, websites and digital experience design for government bodies, major charities and national galleries and international organisations.
Brian’s work has won hundreds of awards around the world, including New York Art Directors; Museum of Toyama, Japan; Red Dot, Germany; and D&AD. His work is in many permanent collections, including the V&A and MoMA, he is Past-President of the Chartered Society of Designers, a former committee and jury member of D&AD, a Visiting Professor at University of the Arts and has also judged the Prince Philip Designers Prize.
Llewellyn specialises in wood-engraving; his work is very much in the English tradition, with subject matter including landscape and weather, interior and exterior, through illustration and printmaking.
www.instagram.com/llewellynthomasartist
Former Production Director of The Folio Society, Joe has extensive experience of fine book design and typography. He is also a photographer with several one-man shows and books to his name. He now practices both activities through his company Blundell Studios.
Entry is free and the evening will be run as a hybrid in-person and online via Zoom event. To reserve your place, please register via our Eventbrite page for either in person or online attendance.
The address for attending in person is:
The Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AT
If attending online, a Zoom link will be sent to you shortly before the event.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Richard Adams at work
Creative Connections is a new year-long programme which the Art Workers’ Guild is launching for creative people who are beginning to establish themselves professionally. It will provide them with the opportunity to meet and connect with Guild members, build supportive networks with each other and develop their professional practice.
There will be hands-on workshops, talks, discussions and social events - all opportunities to connect with other creative people to share insights and ideas, encourage each other and navigate the challenges of sustaining a career.
Events will be led and hosted by Guild members including: wallpaper designer Nicholas Hughes; paper cutter and printmaker Rob Ryan; Co founder and Creative Director of Tatty Devine Harriet Vine; artist Tessa Eastman; Head of School and Chief Executive of the London School of Architecture Dr Neal Shasore; architect Anne Thorne; textiles artist Rachael Matthews.
The programme is for any creative person who has:
and who is:
There is no age threshold or limit. Students nearing the end of their studies are welcome to apply to join the programme in September 2023 after they have graduated.
Submission deadline is midnight on Sunday 16 July.
Maiko Tsutsumi and Chris Keenan will both be holding a summer open studios this weekend, Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 June, at Vanguard Court studios (rear of 36-38 Peckham Road, SE5 8QT), 11am - 5pm.
www.vanguardcourt.org
Friday 23 - Saturday 24 June
12-6pm
This summer, Cockpit invites you to meet some of the world’s most celebrated craftspeople (including Guild members, Katharine Coleman, Tessa Eastman, Charlotte Grierson, Catherine Mannheim, and Richard McVetis) in their studios. Surrounded by their tools, materials and work-in-progress, this is a rare glimpse behind the scenes and a chance to hear first-hand about their inspiration, process and the often meandering journeys they’ve been on to get here.
For more information please see the website.
Silvia MacRae Brown regularly holds life drawing classes on the first Tuesday of every month, 10am - 4pm, at the spacious Hay Barn at Charleston, Firle, near Lewes. £55 for the day.
Open to all levels of experience. A variety of poses, long and short, with an excellent life model, often a dancer. Enjoy the freedom of exploring life drawing, looking at shape, light & movement. Supportive tuition for those who would like it!
To book, please email
silviamacraebrown@btinternet.com
Monica Boxley and PM Phil Abel are taking part in the E8 Art and Craft Trail on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June. Visit them at 57 Colvestone Crescent, London E8 2LJ to see their hand-printed textiles and clothing and limited edition books between 11 am and 5 pm.
Details of the other open houses and studios are at
www.e8artandcrafttrail.co.uk
Joanna Bird opens her latest exhibition, Rites of Passage, from Thursday 8 June to Wednesday 19 July.
The exhibition brings a critical insight into the evolution of ceramics and glass in the British tradition, exhibiting contemporary artists such as Emmanuel Boos and Akiko Hirai alongside twentieth-century masters such as Bernard Leach and Richard Batterham.
For more information please see the website.
Lesley Strickland will be exhibiting at the Site Festival 2023, just outside Stroud on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June, and Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 June, 11am - 6 pm. Lesley will be located ay Frogmarsh Mill, South Woodchester, GL5 5ET.
For for information see the website here.
Creative Connections is a new year-long programme which the Art Workers’ Guild is launching for creative people who are beginning to establish themselves professionally. It will provide them with the opportunity to meet and connect with Guild members, build supportive networks with each other and develop their professional practice.
There will be hands-on workshops, talks, discussions and social events - all opportunities to connect with other creative people to share insights and ideas, encourage each other and navigate the challenges of sustaining a career.
Events will be led and hosted by Guild members including: wallpaper designer Nicholas Hughes; paper cutter and printmaker Rob Ryan; Co founder and Creative Director of Tatty Devine Harriet Vine; artist Tessa Eastman; Head of School and Chief Executive of the London School of Architecture Dr Neal Shasore; architect Anne Thorne; textiles artist Rachael Matthews.
The programme is for any creative person who has:
and who is:
There is no age threshold or limit. Students nearing the end of their studies are welcome to apply to join the programme in September 2023 after they have graduated.
Submission deadline is midnight on Sunday 16 July.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman has a solo exhibition of her neon artworks at Rich Mix, Bethnal Green (of which she is a founding member) until Wednesday 7 June.
You can find more information on the website here.
Aliénor Cros and her husband Maximilian A Shapiro have launched a range of colourful, maximalist and historically inspired cards to bring something new to the stationery market. For more information, please see their website.
Please join us on Friday 12 May to celebrate the opening of The Art of Making at the Art Workers’ Guild, in partnership with London Craft Week 2023.
Come and enjoy a preview of the exhibition, with drinks and nibbles.
Friends, family, customers and clients all welcome.
RSVP
Lydia Beanland is showing a collection of her painted and hand made paper flowers at Blossom out of Darkness, a window exhibition at Bloomsbury Design, 61B Judd St, London, WC1H. On show until Monday 5 June.
For more information, please see here.
The Royal Mail have issued a new set of stamps for the King’s Coronation, featuring newly commissioned wood engravings by Andrew Davidson.
For more information please see here.
Michael Petry has a solo exhibition, In League with Devils at the Luce Center for the Arts & Religion, open until Monday 21 August.
For more information, please see here and here.
Rachel Bebb’s gallery opens its Spring Exhibition, Leaning into the Light, on Friday 12 May. The exhibition features work by artists interpreting their thoughts about trees, fungi and lichen through a range of media.
For more information, please see the website.
Ahead of the King’s Coronation tomorrow, Luke Hughes looks back to 2010 when he was commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey to design and make new clergy seating to be used on the newly restored Cosmati Pavement, one of the most important medieval floors in Europe, incorporating symbolic patterns and innumerable semi-precious stones.
The furniture was first used for the Pope’s visit, then for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate, and has since featured in a number of official and state occasions, including the Queen’s funeral.
Pete Malone’s recent commissioned landscape painting of Cress Cottage, a house and garden in the Cotswolds.
PM Tracey Sheppard is giving a talk as a part of Art@St Bart’s, raising funds for and awareness of the Giving for Living Appeal for St Bartholomew’s, Hyde, Winchester.
For more information, please see here, tickets can be purchased at www.threesaints.org.uk/arts.
Joe Armitage has unveiled a new special edition chandelier at Nilufar Gallery for Milan Design Week 2023. The Noveconi chandelier is on display as part of an exhibition entitled: The Bright Side of Design until 23 April. It is curated by Nina Yashar and includes iconic pieces of design by Carlo Scarpa, Ettore Sottsass and Gio Ponti which are arranged to complement the new piece by Joe.
Joe Whitlock Blundell was born and brought up near Liverpool and lives in London. His working life has been in book design and production, and he was director of art and design at The Folio Society for over thirty years. Meanwhile he travelled extensively, accompanied by a Nikon FE loaded with monochrome film, and exhibited the results at the Judd Street Gallery and The Royal Photographic Society, among others. He has also published a number of photographic books, one of which, Westminster Abbey: the Monuments, was generously described by Richard Ollard as ’Surely one of the best art books ever produced.’ After countless hours in the darkroom, in 2010 he noticed that the sky was blue (sometimes) and began taking digital colour photos, a selection of which are presented here.
Joe will be in the galleries on the following days:
Other times by appointment with either Joe joewhitlockblundell@gmail.com or Leigh info@artworkersguild.org.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of furniture designer and maker, and much loved member of the Guild, Martin Grierson.
We will stand for a minute’s silence in his memory at our next meeting and we know that many of you will have tributes, memories and images of Martin that you may like to share so please do send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to circulate.
Luke Hughes, who proposed Martin for Guild membership in 2005, has written words of tribute here.
Guild member and heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator, Andrew Jamieson has designed the invitation for the Coronation of their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla. You can read more here.
Regina Heinz’s large-scale site specific artwork for the foyer of the cultural centre
’Rhein-Sieg-Forum’ in Siegburg, Germany, opened in June 2021.
Guild member Regina Heinz and Mimi Young will be holding an exhibition Rule Breaking: reflecting pasts - imagining futures at the Stadtmuseum Siegburg from Saturday 8 July to Sunday 27 August. For more information please see the website here.
Michael Sangster is currently exhibiting in the Chaiya Art Awards, Awe and Wonder 2023, at the Oxo and Bargehouse Galleries. The exhibition runs until 16 April and is open 11-6 (last day 11-4).
https://chaiyaartawards.co.uk/exhibitions/awe-and-wonder/
During London Craft Week we will showcase the wide range of craft disciplines represented by our members with a series of talks, demonstrations and an exhibition.
Visit us to gain insights into the specialist skills involved in brush lettering, textiles, stonecarving, ceramics, fine press and artist books, jewellery and much more. The exhibition, which is free to enter, includes over sixteen artists and makers, who will be showing, demonstrating and selling their work.
The many talks - all given by our members - will take place over the two days and are £5 each. Book here.
Join the architectural historian Alan Powers and the Guild’s Hon. Architect Simon Hurst for a tour of the Grade ll* Georgian townhouse which is home to the Art Workers’ Guild. Tours are £5 and booking is essential. Book here.
Click here to explore the programme of exhibitors, talks and tours, and to book your place.
Shawn Williamson will be taking part in Josefina de Vasconcellos: ’from remembrance to reconciliation’ alongside Dr Melanie Veasey, as part of the Discovering Women Sculptors series of online talks organised by the Public Statues and Sculpture Association.
Tickets are £3.50 and the talk begins at 6.30pm. For more information and to book, please see here.
Chris Keenan’s pots will be part of a two-person exhibition, Dual Function, alongside the work of Terry Bell-Hughes, at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre on Great Russell Street - just round a couple of corners from the Guild - from Thursday 30 March to Saturday 22 April. There is an exhibition preview on Wednesday 29 March from 6-8pm if you’re in the area.
He will also be exhibiting in a group ceramics show, Living Traditions, at Watts Contemporary Gallery, from Thursday 30 March - Sunday 18 June.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s ‘Bengal Tiger Van’ (pictured) has been chosen by PM Rishi Sunak for his No. 10 flat from the Government Art Collection.
Lucinda Dymoke White is holding an exhibition of her paintings at the Guild.
’At the age of 22 I was in my last year studying for a BA In design studies at London Guildhall University. As a pedestrian I was struck by a car whilst crossing the road. I spent six weeks unconscious (GCS 4) and nine months in hospital – relearning to walk, talk and think - to live an independent life. Art has always been a passion which is apparent as I taught my left hand to draw, sculpt and paint. With great tenacity - now I am 48 and pleased to exhibit work for my 2nd exhibition. Enjoy!’
There will be a private view on Saturday 1 April from 6pm - 9pm.
The exhibition can be viewed by appointment at all other times, please email leigh@artworkersguild.org to book, or for more information.
Image: Maiko’s studio 2022. Image - Valeria Armeni
Maiko Tsutsumi is holding an exhibition, Catalogue of Time, at Ken Artspace (a gallery run by Guild member Agalis Manessi and Rob Kesseler) from Saturday 4 March - Saturday 1 April (opening times Thursday and Friday 11am - 5pm, Saturday 11am - 4pm). There will an opening with the artist present on Saturday 4 March, 11am - 4pm.
For more information, please see the website.
Vicki Ambery- Smith’s work features in the Power of Ten exhibition at the Weiss Gallery from Friday 10 to Saturday 18 March (opening hours: Friday 10 March, 2 – 6pm, all other days 11am – 6pm (closed Sunday)).
Vicki will be giving a presentation about her design process and signing copies of her new book, along with sketchbooks by the other exhibitors on Tuesday 14 March from 5.30 - 7.30pm
For more information, please see the website.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman recently appeared on Radio 4’s Front Row talking about her show Merseyside Burman Empire at FACT in Liverpool, which references her MBE for services to visual art, awarded last year in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and her experiences growing up in Bootle as the daughter of Punjabi-Hindu parents. You can listen here.
Plumed Horse- Christopher Brown
Join us for the fourth in a series of panel discussions held by our Mentoring Committee, exploring the ins and outs of working as a professional artist-craftsperson. The series will give you thought-provoking insights into a successful career as an art worker.
This discussion will focus on working with the market; engaging with existing markets, and finding or creating new ones. Our panel will share their experience and stories of individual successes and failures with you.
Christopher Brown attended the Royal College of Art where he was introduced to, and eventually assisted, Edward Bawden, the master of the linocut. It was Bawden who encouraged him to explore this medium.
He has exhibited regularly for Michael Parkin Fine Art , St. Judes, The Fry Gallery, The Fine Arts Society, The V&A, The Royal Academy and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Neil specialises in British 20th century prints and drawings. He also publishes original prints by contemporary artists.
www.instagram.com/neiljenningsfineart
Simon Smith is an artist who designs, models and carves for commissions. His work ranges from historic ornament and figurative carving to contemporary sculpture and memorials. Recent clients include Liverpool City Council, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, The National Trust and Westminster Abbey, as well as private clients.
He is a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Master Carvers Association.
www.simonsmithstonecarving.com
Llewellyn specialises in wood-engraving; his work is very much in the English tradition, with subject matter including landscape and weather, interior and exterior, through illustration and printmaking.
www.instagram.com/llewellynthomasartist
Entry is free and the evening will be run as a hybrid in-person and online via Zoom event. To reserve your place, please register via our Eventbrite page for either in person or online attendance.
The address for attending in person is:
The Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AT
If attending online, a Zoom link will be sent to you shortly before the event.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Llewellyn Thomas
Chair of the Mentoring Committee
Prue Cooper is holding a selling exhibition of her early and current slipware dishes at the Guild.
Monday 6 March: 11am - 4.30pm
Tuesday 7 March: 11am - 4.30pm
Wednesday 8 March: 11am - 4.30pm
Saturday 11 March: 11am - 4.30pm
The exhibition can be viewed by appointment at all other times.
Please email info@pruecooper.com or call 0208 874 6869 or 07963 129756 to book or for more information.
Bridget Bailey is making an installation for the international fair Collect 2023 at Somerset House. Her project is part of Collect Open, the fair’s platform for pioneering and thought-provoking craft installations by individual artists.
‘Garden of Making’ is inspired by Bridget Bailey’s encounters with plants and insects on her allotment. From textiles to fly-tying, found feathers to cat whiskers, velvet to millinery, this immersive installation grows from the creative compost of her making life, bringing these elements together with a new level of scale and curating.
For more information and tickets please see the website.
Angie Lewin at the 85th Society of Wood Engravers Annual Exhibition
Angie Lewin is exhibiting as part of the 85th Annual Exhibition by members of the Society of Wood Engravers at The Bankside Gallery until Sunday 26 February. She is delighted to be this year’s featured artist, showing a selection of her prints in a variety of printmaking processes and watercolours.
For more information please see the website.
Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery will hold an exhibition by the Small Paintings group this Spring, featuring work by many Guild members including PM Prue Cooper, Anne Hickmott, PM Sophie MacCarthy, Georgy Metichian, Graham Rust, Simon Smith, Richard Sorrell and Jacqueline Taber.
Open 11am to 5.30pm daily. Then by appointment until 15 May.
For more information please see the website.
Martin Andrews will be discussing Rena Gardiner’s work in his illustrated talk, Rena Gardiner: author, illustrator and auto-lithographer. She was the most remarkable woman, self-publishing a series of beautifully lithographed books, initially for friends, and then for the National Trust.
The evening will also see the launch of Portrait of Dorset, her 1960 masterpiece of 190 pages, originally issued in an edition of just 30 copies, and now reissued in a collectors edition by Design For Today.
For more information and tickets, please see here.
Image: Enid Marx, Y is for Yaffles (Green Woodpecker) from ‘Marco Animal Alphabet’ n.d. (1984), Linocut on paper
Carolyn Trant’s work is featured in the new exhibition at Pallant House ’Birds and Beasts: The Wild Escape’ on show until Sunday 30 April.
As part of the exhibition, on Thursday 13 April, Carolyn will be giving a talk with poet James Simpson about their collaborative work. For more information, please see the website.
Chila Burman’s new neon installation Liberty and Light is featured at the Can Framis Museum as part of the LLUM BCN light arts festival in Barcelona from the 3 - 5 February.
For more information, click here.
Bennett Bacon is the lead author of a paper published by Cambridge University Press exploring a major breakthrough he has made in understanding some of the mathematical and writing systems used in the European Upper Palaeolithic.
You can read more here and here.
Steven Sheasby, senior gilding conservator for the Royal Collection, has been awarded Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the 2023 New Year Honours.
Image: Steve Sheasby refreshes two 18th century side chairs in the Marlborough House Workshops. Photo - Royal Collection Trust
Peter Burman, is holding a series of four online readings on the theme of ’Ruskin & the Crafts’ for the Guild of St George, embracing the following themes: architecture, carving and sculpture, textiles, mixed media, including ceramics, plasterwork & silversmithing, and craftspeople of Venice.
The first reading features Guild member, Rory Young, and the third will feature our recent Past Master, Tracey Sheppard. You can find more information, and watch the recordings here.
Luke Hughes created the bespoke furniture for the new dining hall at the University of Cambridge’s Homerton College, designed by Feilden Fowles.
The project has just won the Gold Award of the Wood Awards 2022. Read more here.
For any members interested in geometry and maths, a new paper on the D-Form geometry Tony Wills discovered has just been published by Bath University. He is one of the authors. You can read the paper here.
Elspeth, our beloved Guild Steward, will be leaving Queen Square at the end of this week (Sunday 29 January) after an extraordinary 43 years of stupendous service.
It goes without saying that Elspeth is completely irreplaceable, but the Guild is now looking for a full-time House Manager to run our busy room hiring business and to manage our beautiful building. If you know anyone who might fit the bill and could be interested in applying, please share the details with them or put them in touch with Catherine on catherine@artworkersguild.org.
You can find the job description and details of how to apply here.
The Guild Chest is a contingency fund to help art workers deal with the unexpected. Stuff happens! If you are in the throes of an unpredictable moment, talk to us in complete confidence.
We can help with anything that affects your career as a craftsman – a project that has fallen through, ill health or bereavement, equipment you can’t afford to upgrade, or even a steep heating bill. We can’t help fund exhibitions, but try one of us and we’ll see what can be done.
Bro. Angela Barrett (Chair): abarrett316@btinternet.com 020 7833 3262
Bro. Jane Dorner: jane@editor.net 020 8883 2602
Bro. Simon Smith: info@simonsmithstonecarving.com 020 7277 7488
In addition to the collection made at Master’s Night this week, this year we have also set up a Just Giving page, to enable members to make contributions to the Chest virtually.
The link to the JustGiving page is here and can also be found on the Guild website.
Any amount, however small, will be most welcome. Gifts can be given anonymously.
With thanks and best wishes,
The Trustees of the Guild Chest
Angela Barrett (Chair)
Jane Dorner
Simon Smith
Elspeth, our beloved Guild Steward, is retiring after an extraordinary 43 years of stupendous service. She will be leaving Queen Square at the end of January and we shall miss her more than words can say. Her smiley presence and boundless energy – not to mention her egg sandwiches – will be sorely missed by all of us. We are enormously grateful for all she has done to make the Guild a home from home.
We marked this event at the Guild’s AGM and we have also set up a Just Giving page for those of you who would like to contribute to Elspeth’s retirement fund. If you would like to donate click here.
I am sure you will join us in wishing Elspeth all the very best as she embarks on the next stage in her life.
With very best wishes,
Phil Abel Tracey Sheppard
Chairman Master
There is currently an exhibition of Elspeth’s personal collection of Guild member’s work on show in the Gradidge room.
Cardozo Kindersley Editions are publishing a new book, Words Made Stone. Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley is a renowned letter cutter and Marcus Waithe teaches English at the University of Cambridge. This book brings their worlds and their words into dialogue: a free exchange between a thinking maker and a making thinker. Among other things, they discuss a shared interest in lasting letters, and their creation, the fruitful interplay between the mind and the hand, and the human benefits of doing things well.
Words Made Stone, £25, available from www.kindersleyworkshop.co.uk/shop (Publication date: 17 February 2023). Please contact Eve Whistler at kindersley.books@gmail.com or call The Cardozo Kindersley Workshop on 01223 362170 for more information.
Helen Whittaker has created the stained glass windows at ’Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel’, Filinvest City, Alambang, Philippines. Her designs cover six soaring windows each 20m high. This three countries project between the Philippines, Japan and UK was commissioned by Filinvest, Philippines. The design effort was led by Japan based architect Hiroshi Nakamura. The windows by Helen, which were then constructed and installed by Kraut Art Glass, Philippines, using glass supplied by Lamberts, Germany.
Helen’s designs incorporate Marian symbols, in an abstracted form, at the centre of each window. The symbols are inspired by the Marian Apparitions experienced by Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes. The geometry used in the designs, forming the backdrop to the symbols, is inspired by the form of the lily flower. The six windows use colours arranged in a rainbow sequence around the Chapel, to remind us of God’s covenant of grace.
Watch Silvia MacRae Brown’s fifteen minute documentary film A sculptural journey, about her sculpture in the recent exhibition she had at Charleston Manor in Sussex.
Listen to Past Master Alan Powers discussing the Bauhaus on Radio 4’s In our time here.
Renee Spierdijk has four paintings on show at the 169th Annual Open Exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, on show until Sunday 8 January. Pictured is Renee with her paintings, and her husband, fellow Guild member, Eric Marland.
For more information, please see the website here.
Peter Kindersley has made a film for the Garden Museum about the cyclamen plant murals painted by Lucian Freud at both Chatsworth House and Priory Coombe (the house he bought with his first wife, Caroline Blackwood).
Part of the Garden Museum’s online exhibition, Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits.
until Sunday 14 December 2022
Presented by the Lettering Arts Trust at the Robert Cripps Gallery of the New Library at Magdalene College
Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College, Will Carter OBE (1977), was a master craftsman - printer, typographer, calligrapher, carver of wood and slate - for whom good design was ’a matter of seeing the simplest way of doing something, which is usually the best’.
The exhibition, co-curated by lettering artist and Guild member, Eric Marland, shows examples of Carter’s skill as a printer, typographer and font designer; hand-cut letters rendered in stone and wood; book jacket designer, and the well-worn tools he used to create signs, plaques and more personal artefacts.
Exhibition opening hours are Monday to Thursday, 10am - 12pm, and 2pm - 4pm.
For more information, please see the website.
Our latest exhibition at the Guild is by artist wood carver and cabinet maker, Georgy Metichian, and friends. Come and explore an eclectic mix of work for sale by members of the Art Workers’ Guild, featuring painters, illustrators, silversmiths, sculptors, furniture makers, textile designers and many more. You can find a full list of exhibitors below.
You are invited to attend the private view on Tuesday 6 December, 5pm - 9pm.
Please RSVP to georgylevan@gmail.com.
The exhibition is open to the public from Monday 12 - Sunday 18 December, 10.30am - 4.30pm.
Join us for tea and cake with the artists on Saturday 17 December, 11am - 5pm.
The exhibition can be viewed by appointment at all other times. Please email georgylevan@gmail.com or call 07838 185437 to book.
Over the Summer this year the Outreach committee ran a pilot project at the Sir John Heron’s Primary School in Newham in which four Guild members ran sessions for children from Years 5 and 6 teaching them craft. The aims were to help the children develop their motor skills, introduce them and their families to the idea that careers in the arts are viable options for their futures, and, through the activity of making, help with their general social and emotional development.
Our teachers were Julie Arkell (papier mache), Paul Jakeman (stone carving), Bobbie Kociejowski (weaving) and Renee Spierdijk (portraiture). The scheme was managed on behalf of the Outreach Committee by Sonia Tuttiett and Jeremy Nichols.
The children’s work will be exhibited at the Guild in the Master’s Room from Tuesday 8 – Friday 11 November and fifteen of the children will be visiting to see it on the 11.
PM Phil Abel has just launched his latest publication, A Far Away Country by Ruth Boswell, his late mother. The book is set in Czechoslovakia in 1938-9 and tells the story of nine year old Anna and the effect of the German invasion on the country and on her family. It is based on Ruth Boswell’s own early life. It has been designed by PM Brian Webb and illustrated by Bro. Angela Barrett.
New member of the Guild Rachel Bebb’s new gallery, Rachel Bebb Contemporary is celebrating the International Year of Glass in their Autumn Exhibition, featuring several talented artists exhibiting glass sculpture and engraved glass, including Master Tracey Sheppard.
The gallery is open by appointment for the rest of the year.
Kenneth Powell has just published a book on the life and work of architect, and Past Master of the Guild, Donald Buttress.
You can order the book for £25 from Shaun Tyas, 1 High Street, Donington, Lincolnshire PE11 4TA,
shaun@shauntyas.myzen.co.uk or phone 01775 821 542.
Watch the V&A’s film of Katharine Coleman creating her glass engraving for their series How Was It Made?
You can view the full series of films, featuring lots of interesting crafts, here.
We are looking for nominations for Master Elect Elect in 2025. If there is anyone you think would make a great Master, please email your suggestions to Catherine on catherine@artworkersguild.org by Wednesday 9 November.
To celebrate the publication of her new book Jewellery & Silverware Inspired by Architecture, Vicki Ambery-Smith is holding an exhibition of her work at the Guild. Explore the story of forty years of making architecturally-based silverware, from small domes and columns on stud earrings to larger bespoke presentation pieces.
Private View:
Guild members are invited to attend the private view and book launch this Tuesday 11 October, 6pm - 8pm. Please RSVP to vickias@btinternet.com.
During the evening Vicki will give a presentation about her design process, followed by a discussion with Jane Dorner about their collaboration on the book.
Nick Carter
Join us for the third in a series of panel discussions held by our Mentoring Committee, exploring the ins and outs of working as a professional artist-craftsperson. The series will give you thought-provoking insights into a successful career as an art worker.
This discussion will focus on moments of change. Adapting our creative energies and ideas to ever changing markets and fluctuating demand for our output is essential to survive.
The discussion will be followed by a Q&A .
Our Panel
Nick Carter - Photographer
Luci Eyers - Painter
Taslim Martin - Public art,sculptor, designer
Fleur Oakes - Textile artist, embroiderer
Book your place
Entry is free and the evening will be run as a hybrid in-person and online via Zoom event. To reserve your place, please register via our Eventbrite page for either in person or online attendance.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Llewellyn Thomas
Chair of the Mentoring Committee
Master Tracey Sheppard has work on show in Infinite Beauty exhibition at the Arc Winchester. The exhibition runs until Wednesday 16 November. For more information, please see the website.
Roger Kneebone will be giving a public lecture ‘Becoming expert: why it matters to us all’ at the V&A on the evening of Wednesday 19 October.
The lecture will be followed by a reception at the V&A. The event is free, but you need to book a ticket online here.
Image: Tom Perkins
Joanna Bird’s latest exhibition Point of Balance, opens next Tuesday 11 October and runs until Friday 16 December.
The private view is Tuesday 11 October, 6-8pm. Those wishing to attend, please RSVP by emailing info@joannabird.com.
More information can be found here.
Michael Petry’s The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) presents Nature Morte - Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still Life Tradition until Thursday 3 November at Rowe Arts Gallery
University of North Carolina. For more information please see the website.
Image: Lara Platman - On Pendine Sands Vintage Car rally
Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery is holding an Autumn exhibition Photographs,Pieces & Pots from 8 - 23 October 2022, 11am - 5.30pm daily (then by appointment until December 15).
For more information, please see the website.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of architect and Guild member, Diane Haigh.
We will stand for a minute’s silence in her memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Diane, please contact leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share these at the meeting and on the website.
Here is an obituary for Diane in the Guardian.
Flora Roberts has a pop up at Pentreath & Hall showing paintings, prints and wallpapers until Saturday 17 September, 10am - 2pm (open any other time by appointment). Lydia Beanland’s paper flowers are also on show.
For more information, please see here.
Rachael Matthew’s new work, ’Shoulder Boulder’ is on show in the newly opened The experimental weave lab exhibition ’Flux’, a culmination of a 6 month woven textile season of artist and designer residencies, talks, open days, research, outreach work in the city of London, brilliantly curated by Phillipa Brock and Elizabeth Ashdown. 12 innovative weavers have experimented, developed new work processes and new works, pushing the boundaries of their practices.
Find the exhibition at St Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane, London, EC3R 7LQ.
Open 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23 September, 12-6pm.
Jane Dorner and Simon Hurst have won the Unique/Unexpected category of the Shed-of-the-Year competition 2022 with the folly they designed for Jane’s garden.
It was featured on the ITV London news and you can watch the clip here.
Vicki Ambery-Smith’s new book Jewellery & Silverware Inspired by Architecture has just been published.
This is the story of forty years of making architecturally-based silverware, from small domes and columns on stud earrings to larger bespoke presentation pieces.
Vicki says ’It is quite a Guild production - Jane Dorner got me started and helped ENORMOUSLY. Alan Powers suggested I talk to Mark Eastman about publishers which lead to Unicorn Press who coincidently published the book on Guild members about 15 years ago. 😊’
For more information see here.
Sally Scott is holding an Open Studio in early October, featuring her paintings, prints and glass. There will also be sculptures on show by fellow member Gil Whyman, plus jewellery by Christine Savage, and prints by Kate Guy.
Open Saturday 1, Sunday 2, Saturday 8, Sunday 9, 11am - 6pm at The Cottage, Cambalt Road, Putney SW15 6EW.
An exhibition of watercolours, coloured pencil drawings and lithographs by Past Master of the Guild Glynn Boyd Harte.
Copies of the new book on Glynn’s life and work will be available for purchase throughout the exhibition.
There will be book signings by Ian Archie Beck, the author and managing editor, on Saturday 1 October, 11am - 2pm, and on Saturday 8 October, 2pm - 4.30pm.
Exhibition opening hours:
Monday 26 September – Saturday 8 October, 10.30am – 4.30pm
(not open Sunday 2 October)
For further information, please contact Neil Jennings on neiljennings20@gmail.com, or instagram at neiljenningsfineart
The Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for 2022, in conjunction with Open House weekend.
This inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect will take place on Sunday 18 September and is organised by Guild member, Stephen Fowler.
Come and delight in an exhibition of 30 installations, curated by Guild members and others, featuring museums of dust, petals, passementerie, alpenstocks, crazed creatures and the Loch Ness Monster, to name but a few. View the full programme here.
As part of Open House Weekend, we will also hold two tours of the building given by our Honorary Architect, Simon Hurst.
The tours will take place at 12pm and 2pm and booking is essential.
Please book your place via the Open House website.
Clare Fletcher - Perfect Stones
We will be open to the public for one day only on Sunday 18 September, 11 am – 5 pm. Cake and refreshments will be available throughout the day.
Venue :
The Art Workers’ Guild
6 Queen Square
London
WC1N 3AT
For more information contact Leigh Milsom Fowler on info@artworkersguild.org
020 7713 0966
We look forward to seeing you there!
Objects of Desire - Mandy Prowse
’There are many kinder words than mistake, like test, or trial, or experiment, but the word mistake suggests something it’s tempting to hide away, when these are often the experiments that can reveal the most. What’s missing when something doesn’t work can help to show what’s really needed.’
This week on the blog, Bridget Bailey reflects on making mistakes and the freedom of experimentation it affords; read more here.
Isabella Kocum’s exhibition Sculpture in wood and ceramic, at Bloomsbury Design (61B Judd Street) finishes this Sunday 31 July.
For more information, please see here.
Fleur Oakes and Rachel Warr have been nominated as finalists in the Falling Walls science breakthrough of the year. The joint nomination is for SomeBody, a new textile medical model made by Fleur and brought to life by Rachel. It was commissioned by Imperial College London as part of their anti-knife crime initiative, led by Prof. Roger Kneebone. To read more about the project check out Fleur’s Thread Management blog here.
Silvia MacRae Brown is holding a day of life drawing on Tuesday 2 August, 10am - 4pm, in the spacious hay barn at Charleston Farmhouse (and on the first Tuesday of every month).
A variety of poses long and short with an excellent life model, often a dancer, £55 for the day. Bring a packed lunch to enjoy in the barn yard.
To book, please email silviamacraebrown@btinternet.com
We are very happy to announce that the Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for 2022, in conjunction with Open House weekend. This inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect will take place on Sunday 18 September.
We are now calling for table top museum submissions from members of the Guild and their friends and family who would like to exhibit their museums, be they large or small.
To exhibit your museum, please answer the following questions and submit your entry to leigh@artworkersguild.org.
The deadline for submissions is Monday 8 August, 6pm.
- Your Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection 40 words maximum (for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
There is a limited number of museum spaces available, and submissions will be selected on the basis of the classification, narrative and explanations provided, as well as the quality, quirkiness or interest of the collection itself.
The Museum forms part of the Open House Festival, and will feature on their website and catalogue.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Best wishes,
Stephen Fowler
Further reading... article from the Fortean Times.
Works by Karen Bunting and Tom Perkins feature in Joanna Bird’s Summer Exhibition ’The Sunlight on the Garden’ at the Chiswick Gallery until 26 July, Tues - Sat 10am - 5pm. For more information, please see the website.
PM Alan Powers has been working on the Pollock’s Toy Museum exhibition ‘Cardboard Gothic: Damsels, Demons and Heroes’ at Strawberry Hill House and Garden, open until Wednesday 14 September.
Silvia MacRae Brown currently has a joint exhibition with India Jane Birley, showing garden sculpture, paintings and works on paper. The exhibition runs until Sunday 18 September at Charleston Manor (NOT farmhouse!). Viewing is by appointment, please email charlestonmanorexhibition@gmail.com.
For more information please see here.
Michael Petry’s large glass installation Kali was first shown at the Josh Pazda Hiram Butler Gallery, and the Mary Wilfred Moffett museum space. It is now in the permanent collection of the Leslie Lohman Museum in New York.
Kali is the Hindu goddess known as the destroyer or the bringer of death. In Hindu creation myths she is the goddess who beheads humans. The four or ten armed images of her holding weapons usually show her wearing necklaces of 51 or 108 human skulls, important numbers in Hinduism. In beheading she slays the ego, allowing believers to be reincarnated with the hope of a better life. Each of the 13 glass beads that form Petry’s work is the size of his head.
During London Hat Week, Bridget Bailey will be holding an online talk, ’Making History’ on Tuesday 2 August and in person masterclasses throughout the week of 1 - 7 August. You can book tickets for the talk here, and here for the Masterclass.
Rory Young’s polystyrene and plaster model of a masked medic is up for auction, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Unit at Cheltenham General Hospital.
The model was created by Rory to enable him to carve a masked medic grotesque for Christchurch Priory, Dorset. It is painted to look identical to the stone carving and is easy to handle.
Bids must be submitted to rory.carpediem@gmail.com and the timed auction closes at 2pm on Saturday 9 July. The estimate is £4,000-6,000
For more information please see here.
Michael Petry’s solo exhibition The Landscape of the Gods has been extended. He will be giving a tour on Tuesday 28 June at 6pm, booking is essential - please email on ART@hsbc.com
Chila Kumari Singh Burman has been awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022 for services to Visual Art, particularly during Covid-19.
James Hart Dyke has an exhibition, Recent Works, at John Mitchell Fine Paintings, until Friday 15 July.
For more information, please see the website.
PM Sophie MacCarthy is holding an open studio on Sunday 3 July at the Chocolate factory, N16 7SX, from 11am - 6pm.
PM David Birch has a new film made about his work, ’London Pottery - The Home of the Great British Teapot’.
Watch Neal Shasore share his research and insights into the creation and architectural inspirations for RIBA’s headquarters at 66 Portland Place.
PM Prue Cooper will be showing her work as part of a group ceramics exhibition, Let it Slip, at the Contemporary Ceramics Gallery, alongside Hannah McAndrew and Sean Miller.
There will be a private view on Wednesday 25 May, 6 - 8pm. The exhibition runs from Thursday 26 May until Saturday 18 June.
During London Craft Week we will showcase the wide range of craft disciplines represented by our members with a series of talks, demonstrations and an exhibition.
Visit us to gain insights into the specialist skills involved in print-making, leatherwork, intricate small-scale textiles, ceramics, jewellery and much more. The exhibition, which is free to enter, includes over fifteen artists and makers, who will be showing, demonstrating and selling their work.
The many talks - all given by our members - will take place over the two days and are £5 each.
Join the architectural historian Alan Powers for a tour of the Grade ll* Georgian townhouse which is home to the Art Workers’ Guild. Tours are £5 and booking is essential.
Download the programme here, or click here to see the programme of exhibitors, talks and tours, and to book your place.
East London Textile Arts have an exhibition ’Kalila wa Dimna: Ancient tales for troubled times’ at the P21 Gallery until Saturday 11 June.
For more information, please see the website.
Stephen Rose has a self portrait exhibited at the Royal Society of portrait painters at the Mall Galleries, until 14 May 2022.
For more information please see the website.
Sally Scott is having a display and sale of her early sandblasted paintings on steel from the 1970s. There will also be glass samples, trials and exhibition pieces from her career in architectural glass. This will take place in her studio in Putney on Friday 3, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June, or by appointment (please phone 07768454127). For more information see the website here.
PM Sally Pollitzer will be showing her latest paintings, prints and glasswork as part of the annual Bear Flat Open Studios in Bath, Somerset. She will be open for viewing on Sunday 22 May, 11am - 6pm at 31, Bloomfield Road, Bath BA22AD. For more information please see the website.
Should Guild members find themselves in the Bath area they would be welcomed with tea and cake as a bonus!
until Sunday 15 May 2022
Lettering Arts Centre, Snape Maltings
Co-curated by lettering artist Eric Marland and John Gray, with significant contributions from Will Carter’s son Sebastian Carter, this exhibition is a comprehensive retrospective of one Britain’s most accomplished letter carvers and founder of the Rampant Lions Press, arguably the finest private press of the post war period in the UK.
For more information, please see the website.
Renee Spierdijk was recently chosen by the BSJW trust artist committee for a residency at Anchor Studio in Newlyn, Cornwall. She spent January and February 2022 creating new work and was able to experiment on a bigger scale.
Anchor Studio was newly restored to its former glory by Bro. Rolfe Kentish - for which he received an award for the renovation of the Grade 2 listed building.
Mulvany & Rogers are currently exhibiting as part of the ‘Small is Beautiful’ exhibition in London until Friday 15 July.
Working at 1:12 scale, they use both modern and traditional techniques and materials to capture in minute detail the look and feel of buildings and their interiors. Trained art historians, they have struck a balance between pure historic reconstruction and their personal artistic statement to take their creations to the highest levels of quality and design.
Monday 9 - Saturday 21 May 2022
An exhibition of recent watercolour paintings by Ian Archie Beck at the Guild.
Opening Hours:
Monday 9 to Thursday 12 May 10.30 - 4.30
Monday 16 to Saturday 21 May 10.30 - 4.30
There will be an illustrated talk by Ian Archie Beck on Saturday 21 May, 12pm. Booking is essential - to book, please email neiljennings20@gmail.com
Jeremy Nicholls
During London Craft Week we will showcase the wide range of craft disciplines represented by our members with a series of talks, demonstrations and an exhibition.
Visit us to gain insights into the specialist skills involved in print-making, leatherwork, intricate small-scale textiles, ceramics, jewellery and much more. The exhibition, which is free to enter, includes over fifteen artists and makers, who will be showing, demonstrating and selling their work.
The many talks - all given by our members - will take place over the two days and are £5 each.
Join the architectural historian Alan Powers for a tour of the Grade ll* Georgian townhouse which is home to the Art Workers’ Guild. Tours are £5 and booking is essential.
Download the programme here, or click here to see the programme of exhibitors, talks and tours, and to book your place.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of Brother, and ceramicist, John Leach. We will stand for a minute’s silence in his memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of John, please send them to catherine@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them at the meeting and on the website.
Jane Dorner gave a talk to the Folly Fellowship in March about her folly, designed by Hon. Arch. Simon Hurst. It is delivered from within the folly itself, celebrates eccentricity and outlines how it came about, the construction and future ideas for interior decoration. Included are words of architectural wisdom from Bro Nicholas Cooper and a rendition of the folly in silver by Bro Vicki Ambery-Smith. You can watch it here.(it lasts 33 minutes (without the discussion afterwards)).
Agalis Manessi has an exhibition at Messums Wiltshire from Saturday 9 April to Sunday 1 May. She will be showing a selection of dishes and vessels in the foyer of the Long Gallery. For more information, please see the website.
Luke Hughes, celebrating 40 years in the business, has recently created new banquet chairs for the Guildhall’s great hall.
Thorley Manor - a new aerial view painting by Peter Malone, depicting his agent’s house and garden in the Isle of Wight.
Ceramic tiles - Regina Heinz
Join us for the second in a series of panel discussions held by our Mentoring Committee, exploring the ins and outs of working as a professional artist-craftsperson. The series will give you thought-provoking insights into a successful career as an art worker.
This discussion will focus on design for manufacture, exploring the many aspects and opportunities for artists to make work in volume whilst keeping their own vision and uniqueness. Designing with volume production in mind is an important way for creatives to ensure a living income, and harnessing new technologies allows artists ever greater scope in accessing wider audiences through manufacturing.
The discussion will be followed by a Q&A.
Fred Baier - Furniture artist
Regina Heinz - Architectural ceramic art
Michael Petry - Installation artist
Flora Roberts - Decorative painting and design
Llewellyn Thomas - Panel Chair
Entry is free and the evening will be run as a hybrid in-person and online via Zoom event. To reserve your place, please register via our Eventbrite page for either in person or online attendance.
The address for attending in person is: The Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AT
If attending online, a Zoom link will be sent to you shortly before the event.
Wall mural - Flora Roberts
Vaikuntha - Michael Petry
Barley Roscoe will be giving a talk at seminar Marketing Design and Craft in Post-war Britain on Saturday 5 March at the Arnolfini, Bristol. The day is organised by Arnolfini and Ken Stradling Collection and the Twentieth Century Society. For more information, please see the website.
Recent episodes of Roger Kneebone’s Countercurrent podcast feature Guild members PM Alan Powers and Edwina Ibbotson. Listen here.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman has a solo show Neon Drama and Pearl Drops at the Mansard Gallery at Heal’s until late March 2022. Please see the Heal’s website for more information
Ha Nguyen has created a life size tiger for the Lunar New Year celebration at The Royal Museums Greenwich. For more information and to see her process, click here.
Our speaker on Thursday 7 April, Jo Sealy, currently has work on show in the Crafts Council’s We Gather exhibition. Jo is showing a selection of portraits from her photographic project The Black Artisans that celebrates Black artisans in traditional sectors of UK heritage crafts and gives visibility to making practices derived from African and Caribbean cultural heritage, including steel pan making and calabash art.
The exhibition runs until Saturday 12 March. For more information, please see the website.
Jeremy Nichols’ work is featured in the exhibition Mugs: What’s Your Cup of Tea? at the Leach Pottery Entrance Gallery until Saturday 23 April.
For more information, please see the website.
PM Anne Thorne’s Cannock Mill Passive House cohousing scheme in Colchester is featured in Passive House Plus (Sustainable building) issue 40. Read the article here.
Detail of The Poem Stone by Charles Smith, a 15 ton block of Blaxter sandstone from Northumberland, carved in situ at Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire in 2020. The poem carved is WALL, by Pat Scott and it is part of the drystone wall maze under construction by Mark Ellis and colleagues. When completed, it will be the largest of its kind in Europe.
Congratulations to Master Tracey Sheppard, who has won Maker of the year at the Heritage Craft Awards! Read more here.
Master Tracey Sheppard at work - Image Michael Butters
The Makers Directory was launched by Corina Fletcher and Charlotte Parsons at the end of last winter’s lock-down, and is now celebrating its first anniversary.
Its mission is simply to encourage people to support, value and buy from their local makers and artists, specifically around Lewes and Eastbourne, East Sussex. This not-for-profit project was fuelled by Corina and Charlotte’s keenness to connect buyers directly with the makers in their area, so they decided to build a much-needed searchable website to provide a comprehensive directory of local makers and artists.
This week on the blog, Caroline Swash pays tribute to Patrick Reyntiens OBE, who died in October last year. She shares her observations of his life and work in stained glass, his collaborations with John Piper, and the joy and inspiration he brought to all who knew him.
To find out more, read Caroline’s blog post here.
Death of Orpheus - Patrick Reyntiens, stained glass panel, 1984.
Image - Reyntiens Trust
Bro. James Birch’s new book Bacon in Moscow, with Michael Hodges, will be published by CHEERIO, in collaboration with Profile Books, on Thursday 27 January. For more information, read the press release here.
Bro. Tanya Harrod’s Guardian obituary for Bro. Patrick Reyntiens is now up online and available to read here.
PM Julian Bicknell’s new book Bernardo Vittone: Architect of the Transcendental has now been published. For more information and to order, click here.
Glass by Josephine Harris. Image by Nick Carter
And then the Heav’n Espy - Josephine Harris
Engraved glass, paintings, drawings and prints
Kalila Wa Dimna - East London Textile Arts
Costumes and Embroidery
We are happy to announce that the current exhibitions for PM Josephine Harris and East London Textile Arts have been extended until February. Viewing is by appointment only, please email elspeth@artworkersguild.org.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of Brother, and graphic and architectural designer, David Pocknell.
We will stand for a minute’s silence in his memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of David, please send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them at the meeting and on the website.
Bro. Alan Kitching’s exhibition, New Letterpress Prints, runs until this Friday 14 January at the Coningsby Gallery. For more information, please see the website.
Join us for the first in a series of panel discussions exploring the ins and outs of working as a professional artist-craftsperson. The series will give you thought-provoking insights into a successful career as an art worker.
This discussion will centre around the subject of collaboration. Our panel will share stories, experiences and opportunities for collaboration within their varied creative practices.
The discussion will be followed by a Q&A led by the panel chair, Llewellyn Thomas.
Rob Ryan’s intricate papercut work adapts itself readily to many other mediums including ceramics, textiles, homewares and even jewellery. Over the years, he has collaborated with the likes of Paul Smith, Liberty of London, Tatty Devine and Vogue.
Jane Smith designs and makes hats for film and theatre. She works in felt, straw, buckram, plastic, fabrics and also makes up particular designs for commercials and re-enactors, cocked hats for mayors and civic dignitaries of all kinds.
Harriet Vine MBE is an Artist, Creative Director and Co-founder of Tatty Devine. Her work continuously pushes the boundaries of materials, especially laser cut acrylic. She has collaborated with artists and creative institutions around the globe.
Mark Winstanley is a bookbinder. He founded The Wyvern Bindery in 1990, which is still going strong.
Llewellyn specialises in wood-engraving; his work is very much in the English tradition, with subject matter including landscape and weather, interior and exterior, through illustration and printmaking.
www.instagram.com/llewellynthomasartist
Entry is free and the evening will be run as a hybrid in-person and online via Zoom event. To reserve your place, please email leigh@artworkersguild.org stating whether you’d like to attend in person or on Zoom.
The address for attending in person is:
The Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AT
If attending online, a Zoom link will be sent to you shortly before the event.
We’ll hope you’ll join us for this inaugural event.
This week on the blog, Will Houstoun talks about his work with Breathe Magic, an innovative form of therapy that combines the expertise of occupational therapists, magicians and arts-health experts to help children with hemiplegia, a condition similar to a stroke that results in varying degrees of weakness and lack of control on one side of the body.
Over the course of sixty hours, the children learn specially developed magic tricks that incorporate important, but challenging, actions, which help to improve their psychological and physical experience.
To find out more, read Will’s blog post here.
One of the children demonstrating the cups and balls magic trick. Image by Richard Eaton, courtesy of Breathe Arts Health Research
Bridget Bailey’s collaborative exhibition, Companion Planting, with sculptor Margaret Proudfoot, runs until Sunday 28 November (weekends only - 11 am to 6 pm). For more info, please see the website.
James Hart Dyke’s exhibition, South Downs, runs until Thursday 2 December (Mon to Fri, 10am to 5pm) at John Mitchell Fine Painting.
Agalis Manessi is showing her work at Maiolica: Exhibition of tin glazed ceramics at the Wink Gallery, Salisbury, together with two other contemporary makers, who use this ancient technique. The exhibition runs until Saturday 27 November.
Cockpit Makers’ Market, where Bros Charlotte Grierson, Katharine Coleman and Tessa Eastman all have studios, takes place over two weekends, 26 – 28 November in Holborn, and 3 – 5 December in Deptford. A unique opportunity to meet and buy direct from the makers’ own studios and source one-of-a-kind gifts that are truly locally-produced. For more information please see the website.
Eleanor Crow’s exhibition A Step Inside: An exhibition of oil paintings of interiors and still lifes runs from Saturday 30 November to Sunday 5 December at the Town House Gallery, Spitalfields. For more information, please see the website.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of Brother and stained glass artist Patrick Reyntiens OBE.
We will stand for a minute’s silence in his memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Patrick, please send them to catherine@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them at the meeting and on the website.
Reyntiens in front of Coventry Cathedral’s baptistery window
Image: Lee Busby/Coventry Telegraph Archive/Mirrorpix
Featuring an introduction by Paul Hills and contributions from Alan Dodd, Patrick and Erica Fairfax-Lucy, Paddy Kitchen, Alan Powers, Richard Sorrell and Nicholas Watkins.
Featuring an introduction by Tracey Sheppard and photography by Nick Carter. It is designed by Phil Abel at Hand & Eye Editions.
Bro. Jinny Blom has been made House & Garden Designer of the Year 2021 and has also won the NHS Forest award for a garden she created for Chelsea & Westminster Hospital where she is Artist in Residence.
Brigid Edwards - ’Piel de Sapo’, watercolour on vellum
Bro. Brigid Edwards’ exhibition, New Works on Vellum, opens at Thomas Gibson Fine Art on Tuesday 2 November, and runs until Tuesday 7 December.
Bro. Alan Kitching has an exhibition of rare prints, Alan Kitching at 80, on display at Advanced Graphics London to celebrate the occasion of his 80th birthday. On show until Friday 29 October.
Bro. Michael Petry has a new glass sculpture - You could always twist me around - in the Reflection exhibition curated by Alexander Hinks at the Cello Factory, 33 Cornwall Road, London SE1 8TJ.
Bro. Shawn Williamson’s carved Portland stone portrait of Piloto Luis Pardo was unveiled at the International Maritime Organisation at Albert Embankment on Saturday 23 November. For more information, read the press release here.
It was with great sadness that we informed you in September 2020 of the passing of fellow Brother and letter-carver Caroline Webb. Bro. Luke Hughes shares his tribute to Caroline and her work here.
PM Ian Archie Beck’s exhibition, Light in Suburbia runs until Saturday 20 November at Picture London Framing. He will be showing paintings on canvas and watercolours from the book The Light in Suburbia which is being published by Unbound in early 2022.
The Golden Thread Project, including Bro. Geoffrey Coupland and Bro. Stephen Fowler, will host an evening of music and fun at Cecil Sharp House, celebrating England’s original All Hallows Eve calendar custom – Punkie Night!
This will be accompanied by an afternoon of art workshops, making punkie-lanterns, printing and Mexican day-of-the-dead papel picado bunting.
For more information, and tickets, please see the website here.
Bro. Richard Adams is publishing a series of literary portraits of people Heathcote Williams either knew or admired including: William Burroughs, Harold Pinter, Dylan Thomas, Christopher Marlowe, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Christopher Smart, Alan Turing, William Blake and others. With an introduction by PM Prue Cooper. Published in a limited, numbered edition of 500 copies.
Not available in bookshops. Available for pre-order. Published 15 November 2021
For further details and ordering see the attached form or www.openheadpress.co.uk
Skull - A Lincoln Taber
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery is holding a 20th Anniversary Exhibition until Sunday 24 October. It features work by Brothers of the Guild, Anne Hickmott, Rebecca Jewell, Sophie MacCarthy, Georgy Metichian, Graham Rust, Simon Smith and A Lincoln Taber. Open 11am - 5.30pm daily, and then by appointment until 15 December.
For more information please see the website.
Michaelmas - Graham Sutherland
Bro. Neil Jennings is holding an exhibition of ’Works on Paper’ at the Guild, opening Monday 27 September - Saturday 2 October.
Opening hours are as follows:
Monday – Saturday 10.30 am – 4.30 pm
We hope to see you there.
Venetian ring by Vicki Ambery-Smith
During London Craft Week we will showcase the wide range of craft disciplines represented by our members with a series of talks, demonstrations and an exhibition.
Visit us to gain insights into the specialist skills involved in glass engraving, print-making, millinery, wax carving, intricate small-scale textiles, ceramics, and much more. The exhibition, which is free to enter, includes over twenty five artists and makers, who will be showing, demonstrating and selling their work.
The many talks - all given by our members - will take place over the four days and are £12 each.
The Guild’s Honorary Architect, Simon Hurst, will also be giving tours of the Grade ll* Georgian townhouse which is home to the Art Workers’ Guild.
Download the programme here or click here to see the full programme of exhibitors and talks and to book your place.
’Avenue, mid-Winter’, oil on board, 2018 - Edmund Fairfax-Lucy
Tradescant Trust engraved glass bowl - Josephine Harris
Turtle Jacket embroidered by ELTA participants, designed and made by Sonia Tuttiett
Photographed by Frederic Landes
The exhibitions are open to the public:
Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 September, 12pm - 6pm
Sunday 24 October, 12pm - 6pm
Otherwise the exhibitions can be viewed by appointment:
Email elspeth@artworkersguild.org or phone 020 7278 3009
The Art Workers’ Guild resumes its exhibition programme post-pandemic with three contrasting displays representing different aspects of this organisation of arts and crafts practitioners, based in Bloomsbury and now over 135 years old.
Edmund Fairfax-Lucy (1945-2020) was a dedicated painter in oils with a faithful following of collectors and Master of the Art Workers’ Guild in 2012. He lived at Charlecote, near Stratford-upon-Avon, an ancestral home belonging to the National Trust, and its atmospheric interiors with subtly-coloured textiles and crowded rooms provided him with many subjects. But his real subject was light and colour, which he captured with intense looking and searching. The exhibition is titled ‘The End of Lunch’ after one of his paintings.
His friend, the art historian Paul Hills, has written for the exhibition catalogue, ‘Although living through a period when the tradition of oil painting and the vision and sympathy that it sustained was forgotten or rejected, Fairfax-Lucy held to his faith. Contemplating his later paintings, attending to the flow of the image, we may realize that they are indeed a journey into light.’
Josephine Harris (1931-2020) was inspired by an exhibition of engraved glass to learn this craft, at which she excelled, creating decorative and humorous pieces, that convey strong messages about things she valued in life. In her turn, she inspired and taught another generation of glass engravers. It is rare to be able to see work of this kind and quality, and the exhibition, called ‘And then the heav’n espy’ from George Herbert’s poem about glass as a metaphor for seeing deeply into things, also includes examples of her watercolours, drawings and prints.
East London Textile Arts is an independent arts organisation based in East London, with strong connections to the Art Workers‘ Guild, where their latest exhibition Kalila Wa Dimna Costumes and Embroidery runs concurrently with the other shows. ELTA works with people of all faiths and ethnicities, making community textiles to exhibit and illustrate books, papers and printed fabrics. Projects are run by local people and aim to create textiles that reflect the cultural diversity of the area. They have no paid staff and their projects focus on social, health and environmental issues, as well as any others affecting local communities.
This year for the Open House Festival, the Guild will be offering tours of our Georgian building at 6 Queen Square, led by the Guild’s Honorary Architect, Simon Hurst. Master Alan Powers will also give a short talk on the history and legacy of the Guild and its founders.
This is a free event and timed tours will take place at 11am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4pm.
Booking is essential. Please see the Open House London website for more details and to book tickets.
Bro. Peter Kindersley has directed a film for the Garden Museum celebrating the gardens of the Excalibur Estate in Catford, South London, presented by Matthew Wilson, garden designer, and writer.
The Excalibur Estate is an estate of prefab bungalows begun in 1946 for families bombed out of their homes. For many it was a chance to make a garden; seventy years later, the Excalibur Estate is as rich in horticulture and biodiversity as any hectare of London. But the Excalibur is being demolished and the gardens vanishing.
Watch the video here.
Bro. Oliver Budd’s latest commission is a memorial mosaic for William Clarke, installed within St Matthews church, Bayswater.
The work was made in his Kent studio to a design by Roger Wagner, made using the full range of gold-leafed mosaics and fine Smalti mosaic from the Angelo Orsoni furnace (factory) in Venice.
Bro. Karen Bunting features in The Garden of Earthly Delights exhibition at Joanna Bird Contemporary collections until 18 September.
Bro. Fred Baier’s exhibition Form Swallows Function exhibition has now moved to London and can be viewed at The Room at Turnbull & Asser until August.
To book a viewing please email theroom@turnbullandasser.co.uk
The Princess Diana statue at Kensington Palace, sculpted by Bro. Ian Rank-Broadley, was unveiled in a private ceremony on Thursday 1 July by Prince William and Prince Harry.
Bro. Silvia MacRae Brown will be holding life drawing on Tuesday 20 July, Saturday 24 July and Saturday 21 August at Pond Barn in East Sussex. All classes are £65 and run 10am-4pm.
Easels, boards and clips are available, & paper will be for sale. There is plenty of space and fresh air in the barn, with easels positioned 2m apart. All levels are welcome.
For more information and to book, please contact Silvia by email on silviamacraebrown@btinternet.com or Tel: 01323 422137
Bro Vicki Ambery-Smith will be in conversation online with Canadian architect Brad Lynch, speaking on design, craft, buildings and what they have in common. Or not.
Event takes place Wednesday 7 July, 6pm - for more information and tickets please see the website.
Bro. Tessa Eastman and Bro. Catherine Shilling are both exhibiting at Artefact, a new contemporary craft fair, highlights British craft and visual arts. On until Tuesday 29 June 2021 at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, London SW10 0XE.
For more information see the website.
Bro. Peter Layton’s The London Glassblowing Summer Show features an eclectic array of works by artists they have represented over the past decade.
The show is on until Saturday 17 July, for more information please see the website.
Bro. Shawn Williamson has carved a portrait of Piloto Luis Pardo in Portland stone for the Chilean embassy in London. Pardo commanded the steam tug Yelcho to rescue the 22 stranded crewmen of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance.
Self portrait Pembroke Studios - Bro. Eileen Hogan
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Bro. Eileen Hogan both have self portraits in the Ruth Borchard Collection Self Portrait Prize 2021 at Coventry Cathedral, as part of the Coventry UK City of Culture, until Tuesday 29 June. Entry is free but booking is recommended - please see the website.
Bro. Chris Keenan’s exhibition For Use and Decoration at the New Craftsman Gallery in St Ives opens this Saturday 29 May 2021 and runs until Saturday 26 June. You can also view the exhibition online.
The Court of Memory boundary wall: hand dressed stones laid in lime mortar
In his AWG talk on 20 May, Bro. Rory Young showed the wall he recently built to enclose The Court of Memory he is planning to create in a newly acquired space behind his house in Cirencester. The building process was filmed by Fred Hanbury, a young self-taught film maker, who shows the process of construction up to the triumphant insertion of the final stone. You can watch From Dust to Stone here. Presented without a spoken commentary, the film adds to our understanding of the hours of work and years of experience needed to carry out this apparently simple task, as explained by Rory in greater depth and detail in the lecture, available for Guild members to watch online.
This week on the blog Bro. Nicholas Hughes explains his design process for a bespoke hand block printed wallpaper for a bathroom on Cleveland Square in Westminster. He takes us through each step, from sketchbook, to sampling, to the final installation; sharing problems to be solved along the way and his celebration of the splodge.
To find out more, read Nicholas’s blog post here.
PM Brian Webb’s Webb & Webb have created an exclusive reproduction of an Eric Ravilious design for ’A Child’s Handkerchief’, to raise funds for the Fry Art Gallery building fund. To find out more and to order, please see their website.
William Morris: Art and Life is published by the Art Workers’ Guild in memory of its author, and member of the Guild, Fiona MacCarthy, and as a tribute to our most famous Past Master William Morris.
The text is from our archive and formed the basis of a lecture Fiona gave at the Art Workers’ Guild in 1996.
The book features an introduction by Frances Spalding, is designed by Brian Webb and printed by Phil Abel at Hand & Eye Editions.
One of the greatest of the private presses was the Doves Press, and this little book has been designed to echo its work. The margins follow the golden ratio often used in mediæval books and much admired by the private presses. The type is Adobe Jenson, a modern recutting of the first roman type, first used in Venice in the 1470s and a favourite of Morris’s.
Price £15 + £2 p&p (within UK)
For more information and to place your order, click here.
Friday 11 June - Sunday 20 June 2021
We are holding an online auction of members’ work to help raise funds for the AWG’s exciting Outreach Programme. Featuring textiles, stone carving, ceramics, prints, paintings and much more, this will be a fantastic opportunity to buy beautiful artwork made by the UK’s leading Master Craftspeople.
Bidding goes live on Friday 11 June at 10am.
Lots can now be previewed in advance.
Sophie MacCarthy - Blue birds, pomegranates and acanthus leaves ceramic dish
You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram using #auctionawg2021
Find out more here.
This week on the blog, Bro. Stephen Richards focuses on his work as a landscape architect and his fascination at the positive power of nature on an increasingly dense urban existence, especially now as we emerge from our own global conflict.
To find out more, read Stephen’s blog post here.
Monet in his studio in 1920, image ’Mad Enchantment’ by Ross King. Published by Bloomsbury
The virtual Committee meeting on the 5 May saw the election of 6 new Brothers to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Joe Armitage - Architect and Lighting and Product designer
Proposer: Marthe Armitage
Seconder: Monica Grose-Hodge
www.joearmitage.com
Lester Capon - Bookbinder
Proposer: Mark Winstanley
Seconder: Mark Cockram
Robert Cox - Architect
Proposer: Robert Adam
Seconder: George Saumarez Smith
https://adamarchitecture.com
Eleanor Crow - Design Illustration and Painting
Proposer: Phil Abel
Seconder: Joe Whitlock Blundell
www.eleanorcrow.com
www.eleanorcrow.org
Richard Griffiths - Architect
Proposer: Alan Powers
Seconder: Bobbie Kociejowski
www.rgarchitects.com
Diana Springall - Embroiderer
Proposer: Sonia Tuttiett
Seconder: Celia Ward
https://dianaspringallcollection.co.uk
UK citizens are the worst consumers in Europe for buying single-use, irreparable goods. Material scientist, and Brother of the Guild Professor Mark Miodownik explores how we got to this unsustainable state in Dare to Repair, currently airing on Radio 4. You can listen here.
This week on the blog PM Prue Cooper considers the slow, generous thoughtfulness of finding pen, paper, envelope and stamp, exploring the therapeutic and creative delights of letter writing.
To find out more, read Prue’s blog post here.
PM Brian Webb’s Webb & Webb were commissioned by Royal Mail to design a set of six stamps to celebrate British science fiction authors to mark the 75th anniversary of the death of H.G. Wells and the 70th anniversary of the publication of The Day of the Triffids. The set was launched on the 12 April.
They asked Mick Brownfield (Triffids), Thomas Danthony (Brave New World), Francisco Rodriguez (The Time Machine), Sabina Sinko (Frankenstein) and Sarah Jones (Shikasta) to draw the illustrations.
The York Normandy Veterans window by Bro. Helen Whittaker and the Barley Studio team was installed in St Lawrence’s Church in York ahead of Remembrance Day in November 2020. The window, and the process involved in creating it, was featured on Made in Britain (15 April 2021) on ITV4. You can watch it here.
Sisters (after Seydou Keita) - Renee Spierdijk
Bro. Renee Spierdijk’s painting Sisters (after Seydou Keita) will be exhibited at the Royal West of England Academy’s (RWA) 168 Annual Open Exhibition from Saturday 17 April to Sunday 9 May 2021. You can book a slot to visit in person or view the exhibition online.
Renee’s painting was featured in an article on the RWA blog, read it here.
Tool to place you in the Here and Now - Fred Baier, 2015
(designed 2005)
Master Elect Elect Fred Baier’s exhibition Form swallows function has been extended until Monday 3 May at the New Art Centre. You can also view the e-catalogue online.
Redington Doll’s House front
Master Alan Powers has organised a series of lectures for Pollocks Toy Museum. For further details and how to book, see the website.
Bro. Monica Grose-Hodge is raising money for NHS Charities Together by walking the London Loop - she is currently on stage 17 of 24. Please support her to hit her £1000 target by donating if you can on her Just Giving page.
In a time when we need a connection with others more than ever, join Bro. Will Houstoun for an exclusive online interactive show, via Zoom. More information and tickets on the website.
On this week’s blog, Bro. Joe Whitlock Blundell takes us back to his childhood school days, where he learnt the rudiments of woodcarving from his carpentry master, Mr Grailey. Revisiting a carved wooden fruit bowl, he reflects on the lessons instilled that he still draws on today.
To find out more, read Joe’s blog post here.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of two of our fellow Brothers, Architect Alan Irvine, and painter and printmaker Ann Le Bas.
Alan Irvine was both architect, designer and perfectionist as well as an irrepressable enthusiast. He was one of the very last survivors to have worked on designs for the Festival of Britain despite the fact that he was still in his final year at the Royal College of Art. He subsequently moved to Milan for a period before returning to London and setting up his own practice. He was passionate about sculpture and loved designing both galleries and exhibitions. I first got to know him in the 1970s when he remodelled our basement gallery at The Fine Art Society in New Bond Street. He later designed the Fleming Collection gallery in Berkeley Street. He also designed the RIBA’s Heinz Gallery, where he designed and mounted the first exhibition of the work of the Irish designer Eileen Gray. The exhibition of the ‘Horses of St Mark’s’ at Burlington House for the Royal Academy was another notable design triumph. Although small in stature, he was, until his latter years, a figure of boundless energy overflowing with ideas and bonhomie.
PM Peyton Skipwith
Ann Le Bas was a painter and print maker. She spent her early years in Surrey, but at the age of six moved with her father to the village of Winsford on Exmoor, which remained her home for the rest of her life. She studied art at the City & Guilds School under Middleton Todd and Rodney Burn, as well as engraving with Henry Wilkinson. She was elected RE in 1960 and became a member of the New English Art Club in 1972, and it was always a pleasure to see her at their annual Members’ lunch, which preceded the private view. She was Master of the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen, 1995-99.
PM Peyton Skipwith
You can view the New English Art Club’s tribute to her here.
If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Alan or Ann, please send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them here and on the website.
Bro. Anne Christie has spent lockdown getting back to painting. Hector Norris made a short film of her work during this period and you can view it here.
Chairman of the Guild, PM Phil Abel’s portrait by Eleanor Crow has been selected for this year’s Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition, which runs from Thursday 6 –Saturday 15 May at the Mall Galleries, London.
Bro. Rachel Warr is giving a presentation on her work at The Condition of Things, an interdisciplinary webinar exploring ’Is a work of art always an object? And how do artists in different art forms relate to the use of things, for example; pliers?’
The webinar takes place over two days, Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 March (Rachel is speaking on Wednesday).
For more information and to register, please see the website.
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman was invited by Netflix to celebrate the recent launch of critically acclaimed film, The White Tiger, by creating an interpretation of the infamous ‘White Tiger Driver’ car, exploring concepts of ambition, class, society and entrepreneurship from the film. You can watch the video of her creating it here.
Bro. Peter Malone has recently finished a painting for Alan Titchmarsh of his house and garden, with Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton aloft.
David Dobson - Ramshaw Rocks
Bro. David Dobson appears in the latest episode of Bro. Roger Kneebone’s podcast Countercurrent. You can listen here.
Meadowscape by Bridget Bailey. Image - Tas Kyprianou
’Evolution is a good word to think about when looking at craft, as while acknowledging origins it also suggests change.’
In this week’s blog, Bro. Bridget Bailey explores this idea, looking at her own work using traditional textiles and millinery skills alongside intense observation of nature, and the pull between honing these skills and the flashes of inspiration that pop in and break the rules.
To find out more, read Bridget’s blog post here.
The Chest is very happy to report that donations have risen since we last reported to you and the total is now £2,468.57. Many thanks to everyone for their generosity.
The Trustees have been able to help a number of Brethren with their subscriptions and are giving loans for the purchase of materials or essential workshop maintenance.
Do please come forward if the Chest can be of any assistance - that is what it is for. All loans are interest-free and, depending on circumstances, repayment may be waived altogether. These are difficult times and government schemes are not designed for the artist-craftsman. That is why we are repeatedly reminding Brethren that funds are there for you. No one except the three Trustees will know who applies.
The Trustees of the Guild Chest:
Bro. Angela Barrett (Chair): abarrett316@btinternet.com
Bro. Jane Dorner: jane@editor.net
Bro. Simon Smith: info@simonsmithstonecarving.com
Like the Lady of Shalott I am weary of seeing the world through the digital mirror. I am working on a project about touch deprivation in the digital era and have a request... I’d like you to send me a picture of your hands.
I would like to make a photo album of friends’ hands (not faces) and am hoping to eventually have an exhibition at the Guild, using the images to form a ’group portrait’ of us all.
You can send me any or all of the following;
1. A photo of your hand/fingers/palm, whatever you feel says ’you’.
2. A photo of you touching a mirror, include the camera.
3. A photo of you holding or using a tool or object that you have in common with me.
Please send your images to me at fleuroakes@outlook.com, or if you have instagram, post them and tag @theglasspingle.
Best wishes,
Bro. Fleur Oakes
Bro. Tif Hunter has an upcoming exhibition Colour Stills at Messums Harrogate from Saturday 20 March to Saturday 1 May.
For more information please see the website.
Tool to place you in the Here and Now - Fred Baier, 2015 (designed 2005)
Master Elect Elect Fred Baier’s exhibition form swallows function is currently on at the New Art Centre until Saturday 10 April.
Bro. Penny Price – Black Bamboo
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery is holding a 20th Anniversary Spring Exhibition from Saturday 27 March to Sunday 11 April, 11am - 5.30pm daily, and then by appointment until Saturday 15 May.
The exhibition features work by many Brothers, including Vicki Ambery-Smith, PM Jane Cox, Georgy Metichian and Penny Price. You can find out more on the website.
PM Jane Cox - Loire Server
Feature Wall, H:220cm, W:170cm, matt and gloss glaze, gold enamels, Spa Area, Saga Cruise Ship Spirit of Adventure, 2020
Ceramics are usually seen as functional, or on an intimate domestic scale. But there is a parallel tradition of architectural ceramics, dating back as far as Mesopotamia. This tradition has always fascinated Bro. Regina Heinz, and prompted by various commissions, she has developed her expertise in this area, creating what are described as ‘feature walls’ for both private and corporate clients.
Her largest and most exciting commission so far was to create the cabin artwork for all 2,000 cabins of P&O Cruise ship Britannia, and in this week’s blog, she tells us more about this process.
To find out more, read Regina’s blog post here.
Bro. Roger Kneebone’s book Expert appears in this feature in the New Scientist. You can also read a copy of it here.
Magdalene Odundo DBE in her studio. Img - A.K. Perkiss
As part of Collect 2021, Bro. Magdalene Odundo DBE will be in conversation with Gus Casely-Hayford, director of the V&A East, on Friday 26 February for this year’s Crafts Council Fielding Talk, in which makers discuss their creativity in depth.
The talk is free and will take place on Zoom. For more information and to register for a ticket see the website.
Bro. Andrian Melka has started a crowdfunding campaign to try and raise enough money to cast a sculpture of Captain Tom in bronze, with the intention of donating it to a local hospital or other public space.
If you’d like to help by making a donation, or for more information, please see the website.
Bro. Rachel Trevor-Morgan has guest edited February’s issue of the Hat Magazine, and has featured an article on Milliner Brothers and the Art Workers’ Guild. For more info, see the website.
Cross Stitch in Huayao
Early in 2019, Bro. Jeremy Nichols was invited to take part in a research project run by a team from Queen Mary University of London investigating and comparing the use of digital technology by craftspeople in the UK and China. In this week’s blog Jeremy takes us through his experience and what he learnt about integrating prized craft traditions with contemporary ideas and new technology.
To find out more, read Jeremy’s blog post here.
Dear Brothers,
The Justgiving page for contributions to the Guild Chest has now closed. The sum raised is £2,050, approximately twice as much as we collect in the average year on Master’s Night.
These funds will make a positive difference to one or other of our brethren, soon, or in the future. Thank you very much to all of you who have given so generously to achieve this result.
With very best wishes,
The Trustees of the Guild Chest
To find out more about the Guild Chest or how to make an application, please see the website or contact:
Bro. Angela Barrett - Chair:
abarrett316@btinternet.com
Bro. Jane Dorner:
jane@editor.net
Bro. Simon Smith:
info@simonsmithstonecarving.com
Abraxas Academy Stone and Letter carving course
Monday 23 - Thursday 26 August
Bro. Nina Bilbey and Charlotte Howarth set up Abraxas Academy to offer high quality and professional tuition for carving and letter carving. They have built a unique and exciting course, designed to accommodate all levels of experience. It is set in a fantastic woodland glamping site, and costs £500 per person, including 3 full days tuition, 3 nights camping pitch, set pieces of stone for carving and letter carving, use of tools, breakfast, coffee, lunch, tea and dinner as well as after dinner talks.
For more information see the website and brochure.
A message from Bro. Geri Waddington:
’My latest wood engraving is of this beautiful pangolin rescued by the staff at the Sangha Pangolin Project in the Central African Republic. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals on earth, prized for their meat but particularly for their scales which are used in Chinese traditional medicine. If that wasn’t enough, their habitats are becoming increasingly threatened by deforestation.
In the hope of making a small difference, I’m offering this engraving at the reduced price of £50 and donating £25 of every sale to the Born Free foundation, who work directly in supporting the Project. More details at www.geriwaddington.com’
Bro. Simon Hurst’s talk A Cotswolds Farmhouse Project, originally given to the Traditional Architecture Group, is now available to watch online here.
For the past twelve years Simon has been working for one client altering and extending a Cotswolds farmhouse complex: adding a substantial new wing to replace a 1970s one; converting the barns; and adding a cunningly disguised indoor swimming pool. The story follows the evolution over a decade and how the client’s needs changed and how the architecture adapted to suit.
The Wyvern Bindery. Image © Nicola Boccaccini
In the first Blog of 2021, Hon. Sec. Mark Winstanley reflects candidly on four practicalities of running a bindery; people, premises, promises and payment. Join him as he discusses sharing skills, collecting kit and the joy of bibliophiles.
To find out more, read Mark’s blog post here.
Mark at the Bindery in 1990 - ’Very young and very fake’
PM Dick Reid at work in his studio. Photo by Bro. Lara Platman
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of Past Master and Master Carver Dick Reid OBE, following a short illness.
We would normally stand for a minute’s silence in his memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members - but in the absence of the meetings in the Hall we will instead share these memories digitally. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Dick, please send them to
leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them here and on the website.
Please note there is a change to the originally published dates in the programme of lectures for 2021.
Wendy Hitchmough will now appear on Thursday 6 May and Kate Jordan and Barley Roscoe will appear on Thursday 1 July.
You can download the revised version of the Programme here and it is also available on the Guild website.
Dear Brothers,
As we could not be together at Master’s Night this year and hand round our collection bags, it has been decided to set up a JustGiving page to enable contributions to be made to the Guild Chest.
The link to the JustGiving page is here and can also be found on the Guild website.
Any amount, however small, will be most welcome. Gifts can be given anonymously.
The Guild Chest is a benevolent fund for the benefit of Guild members and their dependants in financial need. It is administered in strict confidence by its Trustees, who will consider any reasonable request on terms to be agreed. It can offer interest-free loans to help with ill health or bereavement, or to cover a temporary or more serious cash-flow situation.
This year, more than ever, The Guild Chest is an important resource for those members in need, and we hope that those who are able to, will give generously.
With thanks and best wishes,
The Trustees of the Guild Chest
Bro. Angela Barrett (Chair): abarrett316@btinternet.com
Bro. Jane Dorner: jane@editor.net
Bro. Simon Smith: info@simonsmithstonecarving.com
Student work by Bro. Martin Grierson
Master Alan Powers:
’For art historians, art schools are a subject of fascination (to me, anyway). Many assumptions made about them turn out to be wrong, and student experiences during the 1960s and 70s will hardly be believed by future generations. It seems that nobody leaves without learning something, but usually not what they were supposed to learn. I was stimulated by PM Prue Cooper’s reminiscences of the Byam Shaw School 1962-65, to make a general appeal for ‘Art School Memories’, and fascinated by what was sent in, whether short or long.’
To find out more and read art school reminiscences from Prue Cooper, Jane Dorner, Martin Grierson, Peter Malone and Carolyn Trant, go to the blog post here.
Student work by Bro. Jane Dorner (left) and PM Prue Cooper
The Committee meeting on the 25 November 2020 saw the election of four new Brothers, two new Associate Brothers and one new Affiliate Brother to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Brother
Karen Butti
Architect
Proposed by Juliet Johnson
Seconded by Edward Sargent
www.thomasford.co.uk
Charlotte De Syllas
Jeweller
Proposed by Jane Dorner
Seconded by Vicki Ambery-Smith
www.charlottedesyllas.com
Tessa Eastman
Ceramics
Proposed by Gareth Mason
Seconded by Agalis Manessi
www.tessaeastman.com
Henry Sanders
Architect
Proposed by Simon Hurst
Seconded by Rachael Matthews
www.hestiaarchitects.co.uk
Associate Brother
Annette Carruthers
Historian
Proposed by Anne Thorne
Seconded by Lawrence Neal
Mary Greensted
Curator
Proposed by Peyton Skipwith
Seconded by Rory Young
Affiliate Brother
Alienor Cros
Historian
Proposed by Lydia Beanland
Master Elect Elect Fred Baier’s upcoming exhibition form swallows function takes place at The New Art Centre from Saturday 23 January to Saturday 10 April (lockdown permitting). The exhibition showcases pieces made throughout the course of his career, exploring relationships between geometry and function, making and concept, and marrying technical innovation with a conceptual approach to production.
Bro. Peter Malone; ’A friend in our street who runs a course at the RCA suggested that the twelve days of Xmas should, one way or another, go up in front windows. I got the nine dancing ladies. I found it quite a release to use unfamiliar materials and a different way of working. Just enough ideas for nine. Thank goodness there weren’t ten of them.’
You can view all nine ladies here.
AO Textiles - Autumn leaves as a resource for a furnishing fabric colour range
Bro. Penny Walsh explores the world of William Morris and takes inspiration from his Merton Abbey dye workbooks in this week’s blog, making links to her own work in the world of sustainable textiles and dyeing.
To find out more, read Penny’s blog post here.
This week’s blog is from Bro. Joanna Migdal, telling us all about a cause that is close to her heart, the charity Children’s Scrapstore, of which she is a patron.
Children’s Scrapstore is dedicated to helping businesses and industry divert reusable waste away from landfill or energy recovery (ie incineration), helping to improve resources for art, creativity and play opportunities for children, young people and adults.
To find out more, read Joanna’s blog post here.
PM Alison Jensen’s obituary for PM Josephine Harris has been published in the Guardian. Read it online here.
You can also read Master Alan Powers’ obituary for Josephine in the telegraph here.
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman featured in a recent edition of Womans Hour on Radio 4, talking about Remembering a Brave New World, her transformation of the facade of Tate Britain for their annual Winter Commission - you can listen here.
This Christmas more than ever, we need to support independent makers and treat ourselves to something special. Bro. Monica Grose-Hodge is curating an on-line Advent Calendar on her Instagram account @grose_hodge. New items (including some by Brothers of the Guild) are launched each day, with a 10% discount when you contact the maker quoting MONICA20.
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman has unveiled Remembering a Brave New World, her transformation of the facade of Tate Britain for their annual Winter Commission. It’s opening coincided with Diwali, the Festival of Light, and is a celebration of new beginnings, the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and combines Hindu mythology, Bollywood imagery, colonial history and personal memories.
You can visit Remembering a Brave New World until Sunday 31 January 2021 and for more information, please see the Tate website.
Bro. Regina Heinz has just finished her latest installation at the Executive Lounge of the Hilton Vienna Park Hotel, commissioned by London-based interior design studio Goddard Littlefair. It features a series of undulating hand-painted ceramic wall modules inspired by the river Danube, and abstract geometric designs and gold elements referencing her Austrian heritage and the famous ‘Vienna Secession’ movement of Art Nouveau.
Bro. Tanya Harrod’s review of Roger Kneebone’s book Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery appears in Prospect magazine’s December issue. Read it here.
This week on the Blog, Bro. Roger Kneebone explores the complexities and limitations of translation and interpretation in language, and how we are always constituting and reconstituting meaning.
To find out more, read Roger’s blog post here.
Master Alan Powers has just published Abbatt Toys: Modern Toys for Modern Children with Design for Today. It is a fully illustrated 144 page book that explores the Abbatt Toys and shop, founded by Paul & Marjorie Abbatt in the early 1930s.
For more information and to order a copy, please see the Design for Today website.
Chrysanthemum Skeleton
Bridget Bailey’s Life Cycle of Making explores her creative process, showing the evolution of ideas by arranging the experiments, finished works and inspirations that form a body of work on a large canvas, in the order they happened.
Bridget has created a film to show the piece and tell the story behind it. It will show how ideas spark up, from scrutinising feathers, and then mutate through sampling in different materials – from wire and paper, to needles – turning into a creeping insect leg and a chrysanthemum skeleton along the way, while revealing what it’s like to experience the qualities of these stages from a maker’s point of view.
Click to read more and watch the film...
Bro. Caroline Isgar’s print pink glass and lemon has been selected for the Royal Academy Summer/Winter Exhibition. The etching, from an edition of 20, is hung in GalleryVII, catalogue number 699.
You can visit the exhibition in person until Sunday 3 January 2021 - booking essential. For more information, please see the website.
Bro. Robert O’Rorke’s Recent Paintings is on show at the Piers Feetham Gallery from Tuesday 27 October - Thursday 5 November. Featuring landscapes, interiors and still-lives, the exhibition spans several year’s work in various countries including Italy, France and Greece. Please see the website for more detail.
Bro. Peter Layton’s solo exhibition Evolution: Elucidating my process is currently on show and available to view online until Saturday 7 November. For more information please see the website.
PM Anne Thorne’s Cannock Mill Cohousing project (and new home) has recently completed and Anne has shared pictures with us. Cannock Mill is a mutually supportive community, living in low energy homes, with some shared facilities, encouraging social contact and individual space in a community managed by the residents. You can find out more about the project here.
Asquith Gibbes memorial by Simon Smith, Lewisham Police Station, London. Photo by Ben Rice
Bro. Simon Smith’s blog post explores the conversations around our complex history and how the role of statues is being reassessed. He examines his personal journey as a stone-carver, questioning whether a piece of work he has created and is proud of, should in fact exist at all. Do we even need statues and what are they for? Or is it time for newly commissioned statues to be made to help correct historic wrongs?
To find out more, read Simon’s blog post here.
Kitty Wilkinson statue by Simon Smith. Photo by Ben Rice
Bro. Gareth Mason’s retrospective exhibition 33 Pots: A decade in cahoots opened at the beginning of this month at the Jason Jacques gallery in New York. It covers a decade of work by Gareth and the gallery have made a selection of works available for viewing virtually - please see the website for more information.
Bro. Agalis Manessi features in this years Watts Ceramics at the Watts Contemporary Gallery, in a celebration of pottery’s long tradition at the Artists’ Village.
Alongside eight other leading ceramicists, this show demonstrates the diversity of contemporary practice, including work in terracotta, stoneware, earthenware and porcelain.
On show until Sunday 1 November, 10 am - 5 pm daily. Please see the website for more information.
Bro. Angie Lewin’s latest exhibition of paintings, Nature Assembled, is at the Scottish Gallery and runs until Saturday 24 October. See the website for more information.
Glass engraving by PM Josephine Harris
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of Past Master and glass engraver Josephine Harris.
We will of course stand for a minute’s silence in her memory at this week’s meeting and listen to tributes from members - but for those farther afield or currently unable to attend meetings, we will also share these memories digitally. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Josephine, please send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them.
Portrait of PM Josephine Harris at work by Bro. Lara Platman
Bro. Tim Ward has created a public sculpture at Broadbridge Heath, Horsham; a series of interconnected circles as a sculptural gateway to the neighbourhood centre. The images selected represent the local heritage of rural trades, countryside and the aspirations of the Broadbridge Heath community.
Wednesday 30 September - Saturday 10 October 2020
Online talks and demonstrations
Bridget Bailey
Join us during London Craft Week for a series of online talks and demonstrations by makers from the Art Workers’ Guild showcasing a wide range of craft disciplines. Insights into the specialist skills involved in glass engraving, kiln formed and blown glass, wax carving, intricate small-scale textiles, print-making, collage and ceramics, including majolica work. Plus an online tour by the Guild’s Honorary Architect, Simon Hurst, of the Grade ll* Georgian townhouse which is home to the Art Workers’ Guild.
All talks are available to watch online on our website for the next ten days.
Bridget Bailey - A Personal Origin of Species
An illustrated talk describing Bridget Bailey’s process of reinterpreting the traditional techniques and materials from her textile and millinery background, and showing how they’ve evolved into the delicate flora and fauna creations she makes now.
Ha Nguyen - Wax Carving For Jewellery
Lost wax casting is a process where a piece of wax is either carved or moulded to the desired shape and then cast into metal. Ha Nguyen demonstrates the use of traditional hand tools and modern power tools to carve a detailed moon face ring.
Simon Hurst - 6 Queen Square: Shaped by the Art Workers’ Guild
Simon Hurst, Honorary Architect of The Guild, will give a guided tour of the building and describe its transformation from early 18th Century townhouse into the home of the Art Workers’ Guild fit for the 21st century.
Rebecca Jewell - Engaging and Creating: the reinterpretation of collections through an artist’s residency
In 2019 the British Museum acquired a collection of over 40 prints, drawings and collages made by artist Rebecca Jewell. In this talk Rebecca Jewell will discuss her trips to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and her role on the Melanesia Project at the BM and how this has inspired her work over the last twenty years.
Agalis Manessi - Majolica Magic
This film introduces Agalis Manessi’s two studios, in London and Corfu, where she was born and where she returns to every year. She describes her simple methods of working with clay, primarily with her hands, to create a range of modelled animals and figures as well as coiled and pinched vessels and dishes.
A major feature of her work is painting on the raw glaze with oxides and stains in a traditional process known as majolica. The film explores some of her inspirations and goes through the process of making, glazing, painting and firing to the glorious fired result.
Jeremy Nichols - Reconciling Form and Function: The life history of a teapot design
In this talk saltglaze potter and chair of the Craft Potters Association, Jeremy Nichols, traces the evolution of his open handle teapot designs, showing how a variety of apparently disparate influences came together to produce an integrated whole.
Sally Pollitzer - Stained or Unstained? Glass for Architecture
The versatility of coloured glass is not commonly appreciated. In this richly illustrated talk, Sally Pollitzer, an experienced glass artist and member of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, will show the importance of ancient and contemporary glass design for architectural settings.
Tracey Sheppard - Her Light Material
From the first drawn line to a final engraved mark. Tracey Sheppard will illuminate the processes of capturing an image, harnessing the touch of light. Working on, around and through the magical, mysterious medium of engraved glass.
Cathryn Shilling - Wrap Up Warm!
Cloaked are large figurative pieces that combine kiln formed glass and blown glass in an innovative way. Through this short film Cathryn Shilling shows how she makes them using a contemporary twist on a traditional glass technique that dates back hundreds of years.
Translation glitch
This week on the blog we have Past Master Prue Cooper telling us all about the Guild Outreach committee’s ongoing collaborative working party with the V&A Research Institute (VARI), and other craftspeople, artists, curators, academics, musicians and medics.
She details one specific project, designed to widen the understanding of craftmanship, exploring the translation of images into words and back again; with fascinating results.
To read Prue’s blog post click here.
For translation - Max Ernst - The Wheel of Light
The result
PM Sally Pollitzer has a new exhibition, The Big Net and other concerns; Paintings, prints and glass, at 44AD artspace gallery (4 Abbey Street, Bath BA1 1NN) from Tuesday 13 to Sunday 18 October. For more information, please see her website.
Bro. Lida Kindersley has recently published a new book, The ins and outs of Public Lettering; Kindersley inscriptions in the open, looking at the Cardozo Kindersley workshop’s work in public spaces. The book is written by Marcus Waithe, Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley and Thomas Sherwood.
For more information or to order a copy, please visit the website.
In last week’s virtual lecture, Bro. Lydia Beanland mentioned her article published on the Amsterdam Museum’s online Exhibition, Corona in the City. You can read it here.
Bro. Peter Burman will be speaking at Ruskin, Roycroft, and the Arts and Crafts Movement, a series of virtual talks organised by the Roycroft Campus, the Ruskin Society of North America, and the Guild of St. George. The talks will be taking place online on five successive Saturdays this October: October 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 - Peter is speaking on 10 October.
For more information and tickets please see the website
Bro. Geoffrey Preston’s flower sculptures are on display in a window exhibition at Bloomsbury Design on Judd Street. A selling exhibition of flower sculpture, it includes two studies in hand-modelled stucco as well as new works modelled in clay and cast in plaster. The exhibition runs until Thursday 15 October. For more information please see Geoffrey’s website.
Bro. Graham Rust is holding an autumn joint exhibition with Guy Taplin and Robina Jack at Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery from Saturday 3 to Sunday 18 October (Daily 11 am - 5.30 pm and then by appointment until Tuesday 15 December). For more information, please see the website.
Bro. Luke Hughes book Furniture in Architecture - The Work of Luke Hughes has just been published by Thames & Hudson.
The book includes not just work by Luke, but also several Guild Brothers including Mark Adams, Georgy Metichian, Richard Kindersley, Phil Surey, PM Brian Webb and the late Caroline Webb, with an introduction by Tanya Harrod.
To celebrate its publication, there will be a book launch at Messums Wiltshire on Wednesday 16 September at 6.30 pm. Luke will be in conversation with Aidan Walker, talking about his life and work, and this will be livestreamed via Zoom for those who cannot make it person.
For more information and to book tickets, please see the website.
We reopened the Guild on Tuesday 1 September 2020, and Guild meetings will resume from Thursday 1 October. We very much look forward to welcoming you back.
Please take some time to read the attached guidelines on the changes we have made in the building and the safety measures that are in place to make us COVID-secure. We hope this will reassure you and enable you to make your return to the AWG with confidence.
AWG Covid-secure guidelines
Main points to note:
1. You must wear a mask inside the Guild
2. You must now book your place at Guild meetings
3. Please do not attend if you feel unwell
Autumn Programme
Here is the planned and revised autumn programme of lectures to look forward to:
Thursday 1 October:
Annette Carruthers and Mary Greensted on Gimson
Thursday 15 October:
Bro. Rosemary Hill - Suddenly it’s now: Paul Spooner and the School of Rough Automata
Thursday 29 October:
Bro. Matthew Eve - C. Walter Hodges: a life illustrating history
Thursday 12 November:
Will Hunter - Radical models for architectural learning at the London School of Architecture
Thursday 26 November:
Wendy Hitchmough - Omega Dress
Thursday 10 December
Annual General Meeting (members only)
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of fellow Brother and letter-carver Caroline Webb.
We would normally stand for a minute’s silence in her memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members - but in the absence of the meetings we will instead share these memories digitally. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Caroline, please send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them.
Bro. Michael Drury shares his tribute to Caroline and her work at Westminster Cathedral here.
We thought you might like to see these pictures of the newly finished Guild Library from Hon. Architect Simon Hurst.
On and off over the last five months, the library has seen a complete makeover. Firstly it was redecorated in a new colour scheme chosen by the DAB Committee, and then has had two new bookcases installed; and a tea station built into the window reveal to hide a mini fridge.
Master Alan Powers, along with Bros. Rachael Matthews, Monica Grose-Hodge and Simon Hurst then spent the best part of a day ferrying books up from the basement and refilling the shelves. It is now ready to receive hirers and Brothers once again.
PM Sophie MacCarthy currently has a joint exhibition with Richard Phethean, Paper, Scissors, Slip, celebrating the joy of vivid slip decoration at Contemporary Ceramics until Thursday 17 September. For more information please see the website.
Master Alan Powers recently gave a lecture on Neo-Georgian architecture for the Twentieth Century Society and you can now watch the recorded lecture online on their website.
Bro. Roger Kneebone’s book Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery was recently published by Penguin. He says ’The book brings together ideas I’ve been working on for many years. It draws on my own experience and my collaborations with over twenty outstanding experts, including a bespoke tailor, close-up magicians, laboratory scientists, a taxidermist, a fighter pilot, a hair stylist and my harpsichord teacher. Many of the experts who appear in the book are Brothers of the Guild, and conversations with many other Brothers over the years have helped to shape the book’s ideas and arguments.’
He will be doing an online book launch and lecture at Gresham College on Wed 30 September at 6 pm. The lecture will be live-streamed and then available on Gresham’s YouTube channel.
An interesting article on the BBC this week on the traditional crafts in danger of dying out... read more here.
’What we need is here’ 10x15cm, 2017
This week on the blog we have Bro. Fleur Oakes giving us a fascinating insight into her working process. Detailing how she begins contemplating a new piece of work, how she uses her sketchbooks, through to the nuances of creating the work itself.
To read Fleur’s blog post click here.
’All that was left behind’ , 5x5cm, 2016
Cajon player puppet
This week on the blog we have Bro. Rachel Warr talking about how she has had to adapt to new ways of working within a lockdown away from home and making the most of limitations and resources at hand. She also reflects on the theatre world at large and how they are having to rethink and reinvent to retain a public presence and a connection to their audiences.
To read Rachel’s blog post click here.
Still from ’Writing for puppetry’ Youtube videos
Wood Forget-me-not and Scarlet Pimpernel
This week on the blog we learn about the wild ’lovelies’ of Bro. Mark L’Argent’s lockdown, from scorpion weeds to wild angelica, pyramid orchids and hawksbeard, and how he has been documenting them throughout, enjoying how the hedgerow still carries on despite lockdown.
To read Mark’s blog post click here.
Top two - Marsh Thistle, bottom two - Knapweed
Sunday, 20 September 2020
11am - 5pm
This year for Open House London the Guild will be holding walking tours on Edwardian Art and Architecture in Holborn and Bloomsbury, led by expert guides, conservation specialist and local historian Alec Forshaw, historian and Master of the Guild, Alan Powers and architect Karen Butti, leading expert on Smith and Brewer.
Please see the Open House London website for more details and how to book.
PLEASE NOTE ALL TOURS ARE NOW FULLY BOOKED FOR THIS EVENT
When the members of the Art Workers’ Guild celebrated the 30th anniversary of the foundation of their organisation in 1884 by moving into their own building at No.6 Queen Square, they were consolidating a longer history of the Arts and Crafts Movement in this part of London. We could trace it back to the time that William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones spent at No.17 Red Lion Square in 1856, near the Working Men’s College, later in Great Ormond Street, where Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin were lecturers. In 1914, The Rebel Art Centre at No.38 was the home of Vorticism.
The London County Council’s Central School of Arts and Crafts was provided with a sturdy headquarters designed in part by its Principal, William Lethaby, a building opened in 1912, with its departments mostly headed by members of the Art Workers’ Guild, practising ‘learning by doing’ across a wide range of design and crafts. Other individual buildings of note on this part of the walk include No.12 Queen Square by Eustace Frere, 1907 and the Queen Anne style National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery by Sir John Simpson, 1881-85 and 1938 extension with sculpture by Arthur Ayres. Stanley Hall, Easton and Robertson’s Nurses Home for Great Ormond Street, 1932, has a frieze by Eric Aumonier.
Much redevelopment took place in Bloomsbury between the wars, with Sir Herbert Baker’s London House (now Goodenough College), 1933-7, Coram’s Fields insertions to create a playground, 1936, and the School of Pharmacy by H. J. Rowse of Liverpool, 1939, close to J. M. Brydon’s Women’s School of Medicine, 1897-1900. Post-war Patrick Hodgkinson’s Brunswick Centre, 1972 takes us into Marchmont Street and a view of the magnificent back of the British Medical Association, by Sir Edwin Lutyens, 1912 (originally for the Theosophical Society) and on to Mary Ward House, 1898, a fascinating multi-purpose social project modelled on Toynbee Hall, the architectural debut of Cecil Brewer and A. Dunbar Smith.
At Woburn Square, the Warburg Institute, 1955-8 is a late work by Charles Holden, part of his revised scheme for London University begun with the Senate House, 1931-7. We finish with Heals, Tottenham Court Road, the original section by Smith and Brewer for Brewer’s cousin, Ambrose Heal, 1914-16, extended in replica 1938 by Sir Edward Maufe, decorations by Harold Stabler.
Alec Forshaw’s book, An Address in Bloomsbury: The Story of 49 Great Ormond Street (Brown Dog Books), will be available for sale from the author.
All of us make or design stuff. Why do we do it and who for? Where do you fall on the scale between museum connoisseurship and untrammelled hoarding? Bro. Jane Dorner explores these questions in this week’s blog post, and shares with us the beautiful watercolour portraits she has made of her belongings. These watercolours have been compiled into self-published book, The Stuff of Life, the proceeds of which Jane is very generously donating to the Guild.
To read Jane’s blog post click here.
From left to right - work by: Frank Brangwen, Matthew Eve, Frances Federer,
Simon Hurst, John Piper, Francis Terry,
Glynn Boyd Harte, Jeremy Sancha and Madeleine Dinkel (finished by John Nash)
PM Brian Webb has designed the catalogue and exhibition graphics for My Garden’s Boundaries are the Horizon, the Derek Jarman exhibition currently showing at the Garden Museum until Sunday 20 September. The exhibition and book were planned to coincide with the (successful) fund raising campaign to preserve Prospect cottage.
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman will be featured in Midnight’s Family: 70 Years of Indian Art in Britain at the online Ben Uri Gallery from Friday 7 to Thursday 20 August 2020. Find more about the exhibition here.
Bro. James Stevens Curl is writing a book entitled St Michael’s Kirkyard, Dumfries: A Presbyterian Valhalla. He is currently inviting subscriptions to help raise sufficient funds so that the project can be realised. For more information, please see here.
Bro. Russell Taylor takes us through his architectural plans for the recreation of Pliny the Younger’s (61-113 AD) villa at Laurentum. For centuries, many have tried to recreate visually that which only survives in words - head over to the Blog to see how Russell has interpreted them.
To read Russell’s blog post click here.
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman has a solo exhibition at Output Gallery, Liverpool from Thursday 6 to Sunday 30 August. She will be exhibiting a showreel of three moving image works.
Bro. Laurence Beck is pleased to announce that the book he worked on Hansel Gretel: A Nightmare in Eight Scenes by Simon Armitage and Clive Hicks-Jenkins, with Design for Today, has won the illustration book of the year at the V&A Illustration Award 2020.
Past Brother William A S Benson’s house, Windleshaw, that he designed and built for his wife Venetia, is up for sale - still retaining many original features including Benson’s lanterns and fireplaces. If you want to purchase it, or perhaps just have a nose around, you can view it here. Thanks to Prof. Ian Hamerton, author of W A S Benson : Arts And Crafts Luminary And Pioneer Of Modern Design for notifying us.
This week we have two new posts on the blog. The first, musings on the pandemic and new work from Bro. Michael Madden. The second, a reminiscence of an inspirational childhood teacher and artist, William Lyons-Wilson from Bro. John Rae.
To read Michael’s blog post click here.
To read John’s blog post click here.
A response to the bombing of Exeter -
Bro. John Rae (Aged 10)
Detail from ship of fools tarot cards
A new post on the blog this week from Bro. Carolyn Trant - giving us an insight to her lockdown world, her decomposing beasties, and the other recycled and organic materials she collects, which inspire and are included in her work.
To read Carolyn’s blog post click here.
PM Ian Archie Beck recently sent this picture of a Guild Pantomime from the 1990s. AquaJack or 20,000 Leagues Under Bogginton on Sea was performed at the Guild in January 1995 and involved the talents of many Guildsmen, including the late Brothers Margaret Watson, Ray Pfaendler, Madeleine Dinkel, and PM Chris Boulter. PM Glynn Boyd Harte was the driving force and also involved Bro. Llewellyn Thomas, the Master Alan Powers, PM Ian Archie Beck and assorted Guild children and grandchildren.
Adults:
Jack Worthing a young sailor: Biddy (James Biddlecombe)
The very reverend Ichabod Mandible: (an Episcopalian Bishop) PM Ian Archie Beck
Nemo a puppet master: PM Alan Powers
Merriman, a Merman in disguise: John Hilton
Children visible:
A retinue of icicles: Eleanor Powers, Emily Pountney, Veronica Brough.
Trusty Crustaceans: Felix Hilton, Caspar Boyd Harte, James Pountney.
Bro. Jacqueline Taber has a one man exhibition in the doll’s house size Twenty Twenty Gallery (Miller’s Arch, Finningham Road, Walsham le Willows, Suffolk P31 3PG) until the autumn. For more information contact robwheelerpotter@icloud.com.
After Cambridge Open Studios were cancelled by Corona, Bro. Eric Marland has been taking part in an alternative scheme, Cambridge Open Windows whereby participants display work in their windows for passers by to enjoy. The only problem in his case was that his studio is in a Victorian former mortuary chapel and the windows are quite high up and very small (presumably to keep the sun’s rays from affecting the preservation of bodies awaiting funerals within), so he has opened his socially distanced doors instead.
We will be reopening the Guild on 1 September 2020, and our rooms will again be available for hire. We look forward to welcoming you back.
To keep everyone safe, arrangements are in place for an enhanced cleaning schedule and to ensure that social distancing measures are observed. There will inevitably be limits to room capacity and, for the moment, we will not be serving food or refreshments. More details can be found here.
If you have queries about room hire at the Guild please get in touch with Elspeth (elspeth@artworkersguild.org or 020 7278 3009). For anything else please contact Catherine@artworkersguild.org.
In conjunction with the Random Spectacular exhibition currently on at the Fry Art Gallery, Bro. Simon Lewin and PM Brian Webb have created a 100 plus page Random Spectacular large format journal/catalogue. It contains visual and written contributions by many Guild members including PM Ian Archie Beck, Chris Brown, Jeff Fisher, Angie Lewin, Master Alan Powers, Rob Ryan, George Saumarez Smith, PM Peyton Skipwith and PM Brian Webb. It also includes work by Chloe Cheese, Jake Tilson, Jonny Hannah, Emily Sutton and Mark Hearld.
For more information, please see the website.
All profits go to the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden.
We have a new post on the Blog this week from Bro. Nicholas Cooper, who has been using lockdown as a chance to reflect on his profession as an architectural historian and the parallels between history and craft.
Documents. 1837 plan for additions to the Henley on Thames Workhouse.
To read Nicholas’s blog post click here.
We have a new post on the Blog this week from Bro. Sandy Ross Sykes, detailing her newest work based around the gardens at Fulham Palace and how the project has evolved through lockdown.
To read Sandy’s blog post click here.
As promised - at one of our recent virtual quizzes, our resident Quiz Master’s, PM Ian Archie Beck and Master Alan Powers, revealed that they both had appeared on TV Quiz shows in their youth. Here you can see the evidence, with PM Ian Archie above on the far right; aged 11, representing The Knoll school for Boys on Southern ITV’s Full Marks, a kind of copycat show to Top of the Form, circa 1958. Below we see Master Alan Powers appearing on University Challenge in 1973, representing Clare College Cambridge.
We have a new post on the Blog from Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman, telling us all about what she has been working on during lockdown and the many projects she has underway, including preparing her archive for acquisition by the Tate.
To read Chila’s blog post click here.
Bro. Charlotte Knox - Sea Pinks
Bro. Charlotte Knox currently has work on show in the Natural Beauty exhibition, currently on show at the North House Gallery. The exhibition celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Stour Valley and Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is on show until Saturday 22 August.
Eat Me Now - Chila Kumari Singh Burman
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s work has been profiled in the ’Who is...’ artist section of the Tate Kids website. You can read it here.
Hat by Bro. Noel Stewart
Several of our milliner Brothers, Bridget Bailey, Edwina Ibbotson, Jane Smith, Noel Stewart and Rachel Trevor-Morgan, who are also members of the British Hat Guild, have designed bespoke rainbow themed hats in-line with the nation’s use of rainbows to thank the NHS and frontline workers. The hats were auctioned throughout the Royal Ascot at Home #styledwiththanks campaign - raising funds for four charities at the frontline of the global Covid-19 crisis.
You can view the hats here.
Hat by Bro. Edwina Ibbotson
Bro. Bridget Bailey is showing new artworks in Re-Flourish, an exhibition at Jaggedart. A selection of artists have been invited to make works inspired by flowers and nature, incorporating their response to lockdown. Bridget’s works are about noticing the colours and rhythms of grasses. ’Time’s passed so strangely during lockdown that measuring it by the changing colours of the grass, and the seed-heads forming, has felt more real than looking at a calendar’.
All the artworks can be viewed online, as well as in the gallery.
Bro. Simon Hurst is speaking at the Traditional Architecture Group’s Tag Talk No.1 - Capitals of the world; a romp through the weird and wonderful ornamentation of column capitals from around the globe on Thursday 25 June, 6pm via Zoom. For more info please see the website.
Crockets at Exeter Cathedral (1981)
This week we have a new post on the Blog from Bro. Geoffrey Preston discussing the fascinating world of crockets and raffle leaves and their place within his work and architectural sculpture.
Geoffrey’s interpretation of a raffle leaf, modelled in clay and cast in plaster (2010)
To read Geoffrey’s blog post click here.
The AWG blog can be found on the website - a space for us to share projects, musings, thought pieces; reflecting and celebrating all aspects of our wide and varied membership. The blog is edited by Hon. Editor, Prue Cooper, with help from Leigh in the Office.
This week we have a new post on the Blog from Bro. Lydia Beanland, telling us all about her career in textiles and how she has used patchwork to get her through these strange months of lockdown.
To read Lydia’s letter to the Guild click here.
Master Alan Powers’ obituary for PM Ed Fairfax-Lucy was published in the Telegraph this week. You can read a copy of it here.
Embroidered cushion cover by Jessie Newbery
Bro. Elaine Ellis’s Arts & Crafts Tours has sadly had to cancel or postpone their tours for 2020 due to Covid-19 but they are hard at work planning tours for 2021. In the meantime they have also been adding resources to their website featuring articles such as Elizabeth Cumming’s piece on Phoebe Anna Traquair.
They are inviting Brothers to get in touch if they would be interested in contributing an article. Please email Elaine at
artsandcraftstours@gmail.com for further information.
Old Pots - Barbara Richardson
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery spring exhibition featuring the Small Paintings group (founded 1989) has now been extended and is open to the public from Monday 15 June to Tuesday 1 September 2020, 11am - 5.30pm daily. For more information, please see the website.
Dad on Ship – Arriving in Britain 1950s
Chila Kumari Burman
Bro. Chila Kumari Burman’s work is profiled in Dr. Alice Correia’s paper ’Picturing Resistance and Resilience: South Asian Identities in the Work of Chila Kumari Burman’. You can read it here.
This week we have a new post on the Blog from Bro. Simon Hurst, the Guild’s Honorary Architect; looking at his life under lockdown at home and what he’s been getting up to working on the latest projects at the Guild.
Detail of the wooden pattern for sand casting
the new cast iron handrails.
To read Simon’s post, click here.
For those of you that missed Bro. Jane Smith’s wonderful lecture on her research on the Bicorn Hat at the Guild virtual meeting on Thursday 21 May 2020, you can now view a recording of the lecture here.
Bro. Chila Kumari Burman has made a new film, Armour, in collaboration with Susanne Dietz.
Illustrations by Thelma Speirs
This week we have a new post on the Blog from Bro. Rosie Wolfenden; focusing on her experience through the pandemic and the importance of creativity in making life better. She looks at examples of work by contemporaries that have raised spirits and funds, inspired and helped others.
Friends Necklace by Harriet Vine
To read Rosie’s creative response to a crisis click here.
Bro. Mark L’argent sent us this simple and easy design for a protective face mask. Essentially it is two squares sewn together with a slot for the ties each side.
Other patterns for protective face masks we have previously shared:
Pattern for a face mask sourced by Bro. Tanya Harrod.
Pattern for a face mask sourced by Bro. Vicki Ambery-Smith
Lockdown at the Art Workers’ Guild by PM David Birch
This week we have a new post on the Blog from our very own Guild Steward, Elspeth Dennison; focusing on her life in lockdown and looking after the Guild whilst its doors are closed. It also features her own tried and tested recipe for strawberry and black pepper jam.
The AWG blog can be found on the website - a space for us to share projects, musings, thought pieces; reflecting and celebrating all aspects of our wide and varied membership. The blog is edited by Hon. Editor, Prue Cooper, with help from Leigh in the Office.
If you have an idea for a blog entry please contact Prue on info@pruecooper.com for more information.
In line with Government advice on the current Covid-19 pandemic, the Trustees have decided that the Guild will now remain closed until at least the end of August and until Government policy allows us to reopen. There will continue to be no meetings or lettings during this time.
Leigh and Catherine remain working from home and are answering emails and phone messages as usual should you need to get in touch.
Marygate 1953, Tom Gamble
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of fellow Brother and painter Tom Gamble.
We would normally stand for a minute’s silence in his memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members - but in the absence of the meetings we will instead share these memories digitally. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Tom, please send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them.
Master Elect Tracey Sheppard and Bro. Eric Marland feature in the online exhibition All the Fading Landscape at the Garden Gallery in Hampshire.
Bro. Jane Dorner is self-publishing The Book of Stuff, a book of 420 watercolours of her possessions with accompanying text to tell their stories.
You can read a few sample pages here. It’s a personal book but also says something everyone can relate to about why people surround themselves with objects. Jane will sell the book at the self-cost price of £15 + p&p and is very kindly donating all proceeds to the Guild, which has taken a hit in these troubled times. Please email jane@editor.net if you would like to reserve a copy – available in mid July.
Why do we pick up pebbles on the beach? Bros Angie and Simon Lewin are happy to announce that The Book of Pebbles has now sold out in its third hardback edition and a paperback edition is now available from Thames & Hudson.
Part social history and part practical guide - writer and pebble collector Christopher Stocks unearths the sometimes surprising story of our love-affair with pebbles, and considers how the way we see them today has been influenced over the years by artists, authors and even archaeologists. Bro. Angie has illustrated the book with more than 40 prints, watercolours and sketchbook pages.
This week we have two new posts on the Blog; a piece by Bro. Ivy Smith on her current work and inspiration, and another by Bro. Edwina Ibbotson focusing on her work with the Visor Army, making PPE for NHS staff.
Bro. Edwina Ibbotson demonstrating one of her Visors for the NHS
The AWG blog can be found on the website - a space for us to share projects, musings, thought pieces; reflecting and celebrating all aspects of our wide and varied membership. The blog is edited by Hon. Editor, Prue Cooper, with help from Leigh in the Office.
To read Edwina’s Unprecedented Times, click here.
To read Ivy’s Work and Inspiration, click here.
If you have an idea for a blog entry please contact Prue on info@pruecooper.com for more information.
Embroidered Cushion Cover by Jessie Newbery
Bro. Elaine Ellis’s Arts & Crafts Tours has sadly had to cancel or postpone their tours for 2020 due to Covid-19 but they are hard at work planning tours for 2021. So far they have scheduled:
Utopian Planned Communities - May
William Morris – The summer
Women in the Arts and Crafts Movement - September
Art and Soul: The Soul of the Arts and Crafts Movement – October when we will be studying churches by such architects and designers as G.E.Street, Philip Webb, and Sara Losh.
They have also been adding resources to their website featuring articles such as Elizabeth Cumming’s piece on Phoebe Anna Traquair. You can read this via their Newsletter here.
They hope to publish a new article each week and are inviting Brothers to get in touch if they would be interested in contributing. Please email Elaine on artsandcraftstours@gmail.com
for further information.
Bro. Felicity Aylieff has written an article on her practice in China for Adrian Sassoon - you can read it here.
Bro. Angie Lewin has made a short film for The Scottish Gallery, part of a series looking at what some of the gallery’s artists and makers have been up to during the lockdown. She is also participating in the Artist Support Pledge which is a movement started on Instagram to support artists and makers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept is a simple one - artists share works priced at no more than £200 and every time the artist reaches £1000 in sales, they pledge to purchase another artist’s work valued at £200. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Chila Burman has work on show in the Paul Stolper Gallery London Original Print Fair 2020, running online until Sunday 31 May. You can view all pieces online on the website.
Bro. Lincoln Taber has a show of new work opening at the Russell Gallery, Putney, from Thursday 14 May until Saturday 30 May. For more information please see the website.
We have begun a Guild blog on the website - a space for us to share projects, musings, thought pieces; reflecting and celebrating all aspects of our wide and varied membership. The blog is edited by Hon. Editor, Prue Cooper, with help from Leigh in the Office.
During these weeks of lockdown, the plan is to post a new blog each week and send you a notification in the weekly mailing. To start us off, this week we have two posts; a letter from Bro. Mark Hoare letting us know all about his life in lockdown and then a post from Bro. Laurence Beck telling us all about his work on the design and artwork for Simon Armitage’s reworking of Hansel and Gretel, published by Design for Today.
If you have an idea for a blog entry please contact Prue on info@pruecooper.com for more information.
Many thanks to everyone who donated money to Bro. Fleur Oakes in order to help her purchase materials to make NHS scrubs for the staff at Homerton Hospital in order to protect them on the frontline of treating Covid-19 patients. Above is a picture of her hard work so far.
Bro. Flora Roberts has been doing more research into how to make or help with the production of protective equipment for your local hospital, and below are some links that will give you further information:
For Companies with sewing capacity, machinery, facilities (or that are able to offer help in any other way) there is a Government questionnaire/resource here.
For Individuals there are many initiatives from grassroots collectives:
- Scrub Hub website.
- Central St Martins have a good initiative with downloadable patterns - CSM loves NHS.
Most are asking for scrubs & laundry bags to be made (not the protective waterproofs used in Covid-19 wards), using fabric that is washable at 60 degrees & above. Some hospitals don’t accept handmade clothing, therefore it is best to get in touch with your local support groups, or maybe even NHS & hospice friends directly. Fleur points out even the postmen could do with them.
Patterns for
protective face masks:
Pattern for a face mask sourced by Bro. Tanya Harrod.
Pattern for a face mask sourced by Bro. Vicki Ambery-Smith
Past Chairman Tony Wills is delighted to announce that his company, Buttonfix Limited, won the Queens Award for Enterprise in Innovation 2020, celebrating outstanding achievement. For more information, please see the press release.
Bro. Harry Gray is fundraising £5000 in order to make a prototype medal to honour the NHS staff and volunteers who are so bravely fighting the Coronavirus on our behalf. For more information and to donate please visit his JustGiving page.
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery is currently operating as an online gallery due to the Government advice regarding Covid-19. You can view their Spring Exhibition, featuring The Small Paintings Group (founded 1989) now on the website.
Bro. Noel Stewart is part of the #VisorArmy, a community of thousands of Londoners, who are making single use, NHS specification, protective visors which cost less than 50p per visor to make. They are fundraising so they can buy more supplies to keep production going. For more information or to donate - please see their Gofundme page.
Past Master John Skelton’s (1923 – 1999) life and career is being celebrated in Innovative Forms – The Lettering of John Skelton, on show at the Lettering Arts Centre, Snape Maltings. Sadly, due to the Government advice on Covid-19 the gallery has had to close to the public - but they have developed a virtual tour which you can view online. For more information, please see the website.
Carpets by Bro. Simon Hurst.
Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020;
Photographer: Simon Hurst
Brother Simon Hurst has recently completed the installation of carpets he has designed in the Historic State Apartments at Windsor Castle. Each one has been detailed and coloured to complement the individual character of each interior, and often have been inspired by the ornate ceiling plasterwork.
Carpets by Bro. Simon Hurst.
Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020;
Photographer: Peter Smith
Carpets by Bro. Simon Hurst.
Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020;
Photographer: Peter Smith
In line with Government advice on the current Covid-19 pandemic, the Trustees have decided that the Guild will now remain closed until Government policy allows us to reopen. There will continue to be no meetings or lettings during this time.
The Guild Office remain working from home and are answering emails and phone messages as usual should you need to get in touch.
With best wishes
Alan Powers, Master
Phil Abel, Chair of Trustees
The Guild’s planned London Craft Week event, The Art of Making, was due to take place from Thursday 30 April to Sunday 3 May, showcasing Brother’s work to the public. In line with the current Government advice and the larger city wide event, it has now been rescheduled to later in the year.
We can now confirm the new dates will be Thursday 1 – Sunday 4 October 2020 - please make a note in your diaries and we will be in touch with more information nearer the time.
It is with great sadness that we must inform you of the passing of two of our fellow Brothers, jewellery designer Jocelyn Burton and paint and mural specialist Peter Farlow.
We would normally stand for a minute’s silence in their memory at our next meeting and listen to tributes from members - but in the absence of the meetings we will instead share these memories digitally. If any one would like to share a tribute, memory or image of Jocelyn or Peter, please send them to leigh@artworkersguild.org and we will be very happy to share them here and on the website.
Bro. Richard Sorrell has written a wonderful tribute to PM Ed Fairfax-Lucy, who passed away last week, which you can read here.
Bro. Fleur Oakes has been in touch with Surgeon Tamzin Cuming who says that Homerton Hospital are desperate for scrubs and fluid resistant long sleeved gowns. Fleur is willing to sew - but needs financial help with purchasing enough fabric to do so. If any Brothers would like to help, you can send donations to Fleur’s Paypal account (fleuroakes@tiscali.co.uk). Please mark it as a GIFT and put ’NHS scrubs’ as a message/reference. This is rather urgent as Fleur would like to try and order the fabric before the Easter bank holiday - so deadline for donations is latest Wednesday night. If you would like to help with sewing - please contact Fleur directly by email.
To make a donation:
1. Login to your Paypal account
2. Go to ’send and request’
3. Type in fleuroakes@tiscali.co.uk for the recipient
4. Enter the amount
5. Add the message ’nhs scrubs’ when prompted
6. Click send
Bro. Vicki Ambery-Smith has been making face masks for essential workers using scraps of fabric she has to hand. Here she is in her Art Workers’ William Morris one. If anyone would like the pattern, you can find it here.
A message from Bro. Roger Kneebone:
Dear Brothers,
My colleague Aaron Williamon (Professor of Performance Science at the Royal College of Music and co-director with me of the RCM-Imperial Centre for Performance Science) has developed a questionnaire about the impact of Covid-19 on people in the arts and cultural sectors. He and I would love to have the perspective of as many Brothers of the Guild as possible. I’d be most grateful if you have time to help.
From Aaron:
Today, we launch an online survey to understand how Coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting on the arts and cultural sectors. If you are working or studying in these areas, we invite you to share how the current situation is affecting your work, livelihood, and wellbeing. The survey is available here.
Please forward this invitation to colleagues, students (+alumni), and your arts networks.
Bro. Carolyn Trant has been keeping a daily art diary about what it is like to carry on working without an audience - you can read it here.
The Master, Alan Powers and Bro. Ben Pentreath
Image by PM David Birch
I can’t end my account of the Cornwall week without talking about our visit to see the new development on the eastern edge of Truro by Bro. Ben Pentreath. It was great good fortune that Ben, who is notoriously hard to pin down, was actually going to be there anyway on the same day, showing round a group with whom he is working on the Tornagrain project near Inverness.
I suspect that many of you will know Ben in person, or perhaps through his very popular blog, mostly about his rural retreat, the Old Parsonage at Little Bredy in Dorset. The first I knew of Ben was an elegantly cursive letter that arrived for me when he was an art history student in Edinburgh in the early 1990s, asking my advice on his dissertation subject, an interesting 1954 building in correct classical style by William Kininmouth, who was normally a Modernist. A few years later, Ben had gained much practical experience as a designer with Bro. Charles Morris in Norfolk, who had persuaded him to abandon art history and do the thing for real. He was persuaded to add some polish (which he really didn’t need) at the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture, where I was then teaching. He added joyful anarchy to an already freewheeling establishment, while also asking searching questions about what people were doing there. However, one year of even this very alternative kind of qualification was enough for him, and he has continued to practice quite happily in the role of an architect without the official title that others slave, often unproductively, to attain.
Ben now operates on several fronts – as a designer of private commissions for new buildings and alterations to old ones, about which he has lectured the Guild in recent years. He has a semi-separate practice for interior design, he writes books and newspaper articles, and runs Pentreath and Hall, the shop in Rugby Street that started almost by accident in what was meant to be an annex to his office, offering enticing morsels to decorate your home. He has also played a significant role in the design of housing developments, mostly for the Duchy of Cornwall.
Which brings us to Truro. This is a very special town, in a river valley at the head of the Fal estuary, ringed by hills, with the noble Victorian Gothic cathedral jostled among the narrow streets as if it were in Northern France. Truro is popular for shopping, and often flooded with holiday visitors when it rains (as it often does). The County Council built one park-and-ride to ease congestion on the west side, but as a lot of visitors come from the opposite direction, it wasn’t enough. They searched for sites, and settled on a beautiful valley near the intersection of several main routes. The land happened to belong to the Duchy of Cornwall, who initially opposed the scheme, but finally had to give way. Along with the car parking and bus access, a site was found for a Waitrose supermarket and the opportunity was taken to build part of the extra housing allocation required by the government.
The Royal Crescent. Image by Bro. Rory Young
All this sounds like business as usual, but a number of factors have lifted it up to another level. A consortium of local farmers wanted space for a covered market, and so were allocated one end of the Waitrose. Ben devised the buildings for this, and also the housing, which is at the head of the valley. He saw the need for a clean edge, unlike the normal straggle produced by development, and following the contour of the land, proposed a Royal Crescent, which enjoys something of the same quality of landscape setting as the famous one at Bath. As so often with Ben, this proposition was cheeky to the point of outrageous, but actually the right one, and now it stands complete in two sweeping halves, white against the skyline. The cars in the lower foreground might be deemed a slight shame, but there are some trees waiting to grow, while the distant views would distract your attention.
Behind the crescent are a few streets of houses, some of which face onto a square with a stone-walled garden. The original proposal was to offer allotments in this space rather than the conventional grass and shrubs. Once it was built, the developers took fright at the prospect, but when they asked the householders, several said they had moved their expressly because of the allotments, so these are on course to happen. The houses themselves are mostly three-bay fronts with central doors, stepping down the slope with minor variations in design and painted in a range of colours. The result is already a much more lived-in look than you normally get in a new place, but without the irritatingly predictable ‘assortment box’ scattering offered by housebuilders (and, dare I say it, in much of Poundbury). It looks and feels local, because these are the house types found in Truro’s most beautiful street, Lemon Street, climbing the hill to the old Falmouth Road.
The Square. Image by Bro. Rory Young
Many of my group approached with caution and scepticism, unwilling to accept this as the right answer. I think they went away convinced on several levels by Ben’s detailed account of how the whole project had been thought through. I haven’t described the Waitrose, which has a Doric portico and pediment over the entrance, with real granite columns. This has the benefit of leaving you in no doubt where you are supposed to enter. When the proposed upper story on this building was axed as a cost saving, Ben offered to sacrifice the portico, but it was too late, as the commission to the local granite quarry had already been publicised and couldn’t be cancelled. We were joined on this visit by Julian Holder, an architectural historian friend and colleague of mine who recently moved into the area. Arriving late at night after a long drive, he and his partner stopped off at Waitrose to get supplies. He couldn’t believe that such classical stage scenery could be solid, and suffered for his disbelief by unwisely giving one of the columns a good punch to test it.
The Doric Columns of Waitrose. Image by Bro. Rory Young
Wild Flowers by Ed Fairfax-Lucy
It is with great sadness that I must tell you that Past Master Sir Edmund Fairfax-Lucy, Bt., died on Monday having been unconscious for two weeks following a heart attack at his home. Normally, we would be standing for a minute’s silence in his memory at the meeting today, and receiving tributes from members, of which I am sure there would be many. I have asked PM Ian Archie Beck to contribute a written one, which you will find below. I have sent the condolences of the Guild to Ed’s family. We will miss him very much but long remember his unique contribution to our lives and his great abilities and dedication to painting.
Master Alan Powers
Ed painting in Brittany in 1986. Image by PM Ian Archie Beck
Ed Fairfax Lucy and I joined the AWG in the same year, 1987. This was at the urging of Past Master Glynn Boyd Harte. We had all three been on a painting holiday in rural Brittany together. Ed was, among other things, our designated driver. We had rented a house at Sizun in Finistère, a small town free from distractions but with useful shops etc. The house had a large walled garden. We spent the month of June in 1986 painting, reading aloud, and often arguing there very happily. The good-natured arguments were usually between Ed and Glynn and were mostly about the exact tones of blue in the sky. This was measured by Ed by holding his circled thumb and forefinger up at the sky in order to ‘isolate the tone’. Canaletto’s use of black in his skies was another touch point as was the existence, or not, of Breton wine. Neither side ever backed down.
Ed was a perceptual painter of great subtlety. He mainly painted interiors, still lives, and the landscape around his home at Charlecote Park. In Brittany he was delighted to discover the Breton churches and their primitive carved and painted altar pieces called Retables. He painted many church interiors during that Summer. He had a tendency though to fuss and overwork his pictures. It was as if he was deeply reluctant to ever finish them. Glynn took on the role of the art police. He hid the paintings in various cupboards so that Ed couldn’t fuss with them.
Ed was very knowledgeable on all aspects of art, literature music and poetry. He liked nothing better than holding forth. The subjects might range from Hugues Cuenod’s singing in a Nadia Boulanger recording of Monteverdi’s Zefiro Torna, (which he treasured), to Fats Waller’s piano playing style, and his own experiences of and with Synaesthesia.
He embraced the role of Master at the Guild in very much his own style. He would start every meeting with a suitable poem which he read aloud. His commitment to the Guild during his year as Master and beyond was admirable. He was eccentric and generous to a fault. When driving along the lanes in Brittany he would suddenly raise his left arm as if to strike the passenger in the seat beside him. He gave no explanation for this until pressed when he admitted he was just saluting magpies. After eating a particularly large seafood platter at Concarneau he simply wiped his fingers through his then wild and bushy hair in lieu of a napkin. When some champagne was spilled on to a table-cloth he simply snatched the cloth off the table and wrung it out into his mouth. At the same meal a candle set light to part of his shirt so he simply threw himself to the ground and rolled down the steep incline to put it out. A whole book will be needed to properly record such moments. He will be greatly missed. They broke the mould when they made Ed.
PM Ian Archie Beck
Bro. Richard Sorrell has also written a beautiful piece in Ed’s memory, which you can read here.
Here is a copy of Ed’s Proceedings & Notes from his year as Master of the Guild in 2011, featuring a wonderful foreword - a brilliant reflection of him and his thinking.
I shall make Cornwall last as long as I can, as there won’t be such an opportunity to go and see things for a while to come. This time, I am talking about stained glass that we saw only a little over a week ago.
We made a special journey to the church of St Pol de Leon at Paul, on the hills above Newlyn. This was another brilliant suggestion from Bro. Ruth Guilding, as I had never been there before. The church has an immensely tall tower, so that ships at sea can use it to steer by. The nave seems very low by comparison, and this is partly explained by the fact that a group of Spaniards landed here in 1595 and caused fire damage, but the original granite columns were almost certainly used again in the rebuilding.
There are several fine and fascinating monuments inside the broad and brightly-lit interior. Our main interest, however, was the east window, a war memorial designed by Robert Anning Bell (1863-1933). You may recognise him from his portrait that hangs in the hall of the Guild, showing him with stained glass behind him, as he was Master in 1921. He was local to Holborn by birth, son of a cheesemonger in St Giles, just off Seven Dials. He went to University College School in Gower Street, worked for his uncle, who was an architecture, and was able to study art in London and Paris, coming back to share a studio in Camberwell with PM George Frampton, whose portrait with a prominent top hat hangs close to Bell’s.
In the early 1890s, Frampton and Bell worked together on painted low reliefs, which they exhibited, and some of which can be seen at the wonderful church of St Clare, Sefton Park, Liverpool. He also worked in mosaic, designing the panel on the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill (architect PM Charles Harrison Townsend) and at Westminster Cathedral (the tympanum over the west door) and in the Palace of Westminster. Writing about Bell in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (a great resource for Guild details which you may be able to read via a computer by logging in to your local public library), Peter Rose quotes a writer in the Studio magazine in 1911 who Bell’s ability to grasp ’the issues of the Italian Renaissance … its ability to revive in art remote experiences which have passed into its veins’. Bell started designing stained glass when he was teaching in Glasgow in the 1890s, with the studio of J. & W. Guthrie to help him. In his marvelous book, Arts and Crafts Stained Glass (Yale, 2015), Bro Peter Cormack quotes a lecture given by Bell to students at the Royal College of Art in 1922.
East Window at St Pol de Leon by Robert Anning Bell
Image by PM David Birch
‘Having trained as a painter, he had thought that “a stained glass window was the kind of thing you just did with charcoals and ‘genius’”; as a result he “learnt stained glass backwards. I began by designing windows, and then learned how to work them – designing them all wrong, and talking to the fellows in the shop and learning it that way.’
Detail of East Window by Master Alan Powers
By the time of his commission at Paul, he had plenty of experience, and examples of his work published in The Studio and shown with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society had a big influence. His window window commemorates Torquil Bolitho, the son of a prominent local family who died at Ypres in 1915. Unusually, his figure takes a central position as Sir Galahad, leading his horse, with haloed children, angels and a figure of Christ in the flanking lights. The tops of these lights are a reminder of the reality of the war, showing a journey across the battlefield, while the base of the window has the view of Mount’s Bay which lies beyond in reality.
Our visit was much enhanced by the vicar, the Rev. Andrew Yates, who described the major project to remake the decayed Polyphant stone tracery in Forest of Dean, and to re-set the glass, funded by HLF along with many other community activities about remembrance. He describes this in a short film here:
I was pleased that when 19 sturdy Guild members went to Cornwall last week we were not just looking at old things, lovely though they were, but meeting people and hearing about their activities in the present. These were inspiring and exciting and representative of the kind of thing we all care about, so I thought I could beguile a quarter of an hour of enforced solitude by telling you about them.
On our first morning in St Ives, we visited the Porthmeor Studios. The building, we were told, has about 50 different phases of construction and alteration, including the incorporation of iron pipes and long wooden shafts from redundant tin mines, plus stone, brick and timber.
When Bro M J Long was commissioned to make it stable and watertight by the owners, the Borlase Smart John Wells Trust, she was keen to retain its character and the Trust, led by Chris Hibbert (gesticulating on the right) who showed us round, realised the importance of keeping a space for the fishermen who were on this site before the artists. I could tell you a lot about pilchards, but for now, you can see fishermen using the space for setting nets – stringing them onto lines with floats, each calibrated for a different catch. Upstairs, we saw a couple of the studios which are used with a mixture of long-term and short-term residencies. The light coming straight off the water outside the windows is fantastic, and the artists we saw were actually using paint and colour, which seems a rarity these days.
At the Leach Pottery, also in St Ives, the whole historic site was threatened with redevelopment as housing in the late 1990s, but owing to a listing for its historic associations, it was possible for the original workshop buildings to be saved as a museum, while a new working pottery, education room, display space and shop were added. Bernard Leach started working there in 1920, and there is no other place with such strong associations with the craft pottery movement that he did so much to influence.
We had an excellent tour, enhanced by expertise from the group (David Birch and Emma Barker in particular). Please post more pictures! And most people went away with something from the shop. I got about the smallest thing I could find, a tiny John Leach jug to add to my display at the Guild ‘The Constant Art Worker’, plus a soap dish with draining holes in it which has been much in use since I got back home.
This is the lowest chamber of the Japanese-style ‘climbing kiln’ built for Leach by Tsurunosuke Matsubayashi. The firebrick lining has become glazed over many years of use.
Here is one of the labels from the treadle wheels that Bernard’s son David invented to make throwing more controlled and effective.
On Thursday, we were in Falmouth and had the delightful experience of visiting the workshop of Keith Newstead, a maker of automata. In case you didn’t know, Falmouth is the world centre of automata and the place where Cabaret Mechanical Theatre began. I somehow failed to take a picture of his current project, based on a Rowland Emmett cartoon, but this one gives you the flavor.
On Friday, we started the day in Newlyn, and thanks to Bro Ruth Guilding’s introduction, we were able to visit Michael Johnson at The Copper Works. Michael arrived from Australia, after running a male dance company in his 20s, and developed his metalworking skills through his English-based uncle who made armour for films. In 2004, Michael re-started the copper-beating tradition in Newlyn that goes back to the 1890s. I was especially excited about this as I inherited some pieces of furniture decorated with art nouveau leaves, fronds and flowers that might have come from here.
We were all impressed by Michael telling us that he has always encouraged children and teenagers to come to his workshop after school for no charge, and many have kept on coming as they love working there. In the foreground is a big fountain made of brass for a garden festival (Chelsea?). Being a bit typographic, I liked the plaque on the piece underneath it – part of a tank for a distillery. They called it Dennis after Dennis Hopper.
What’s Wrong? was an extraordinary day-long Outreach event, exploring and documenting ways to describe what is usually understood without words.
The event was led by Bro. Fleur Oakes, a member of the Guild’s Outreach Committee.
Twenty leading experts in science and the arts were invited to perform unorthodox tasks, describing their experience as they went, in whatever way they chose. These conversations were documented, with an aim to explore the use of a universal language for anyone who exercises a sense of touch in their work, either as practitioner or teacher.
Many craftsmen find language difficult, and here was a chance to welcome a raw, organic, and perhaps newly invented, language. The language that surgeons use is useful to creatives as it relates back to the body. The body is the same body which holds an understanding of making; an understanding which the surgeons don’t always have.
Bro. Stephen Fowler has organised CMYK 2, a one-day festival celebrating illustration, zine and print, featuring over 50 international practitioners selling their work. There will be talks and workshops running throughout the day, including Bro. Rob Ryan closing the festival with a talk about his practice.
Takes place on Saturday 28 March at the Art House, University of Worcester, 11am - 6pm. Entry is free.
Bro. Magdalene Odundo was made a dame in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours.
Bro. Carolyn Trant will be exhibiting a new woodcut book Ship of Fools, based around climate crisis, and cartoneras and a paper theatre on the same theme at The Oxford Fine Press Book Fair from Saturday 28 to Sunday 29 March. For more information please see the website.
Ceramic Art London takes place Friday 20 to Sunday 22 March at Central St Martins, Granary Square. Featuring work by Brothers, PM Jane Cox, Chris Keenan, Sophie MacCarthy, Agalis Manessi and Jeremy Nichols. For more info please see the website.
Bro. Luke Hughes has a book, Furniture in Architecture, being published by Thames & Hudson on Tuesday 21 April. The book includes work not just by him but several other Guild members, including PM Brian Webb, Bro. Georgy Metichian, Bro. Martin Grierson and Bro. Caroline Webb, plus an introduction by Bro. Tanya Harrod.
Past Master John Skelton’s (1923 – 1999) life and career will be celebrated in Innovative Forms – The Lettering of John Skelton, on show at the Lettering Arts Centre, Snape Maltings, from Friday 13 March to Sunday 28 June 2020. For more information, please see the website.
Bro. Nicholas Cooper features on Bro. Roger Kneebone’s podcast Countercurrent. To listen in, please see the website.
Bro. Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s work will be discussed by Alice Correia in her talk Punk Punjabi Protest as part of the conference Cutting Edge: Collage in Britain: 1945 to Now at Tate Britain on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March.
Bro. Katharine Coleman has been invited by Elena Vlasova, the Director of the Elagin-Ostrovksy Palace Museum in St Petersburg, to give a paper at their conference Engraving in Art Glass on Monday 23 March, alongside an exhibition of Russian engraved glass from the 18th Century to this day. Her paper will cover her work and efforts to promote engraved glass in Western Europe.
Bro. Michael Petry has an exhibition The Landscape of the Gods at the HSBC Space, from Wednesday 11 March until Friday 15 May. For more information please see his website.
Many of our Brothers will be appearing this weekend at the Crafts Council’s Collect: International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design at Somerset House, running from Thursday 27 February to Sunday 1 March. Bro. Carol McNicoll will feature, in conversation with Bro. Tanya Harrod on Saturday 29 February - please see the website for more information.
Bro. Phillida Gili will be opening The Art of Advertising Exhibition at the Bodleian Library, Oxford which begins on Thursday 5 March, and runs until Monday 31 August. The exhibition is based on the John Johnson Collection of ephemera.
Bro. Lesley Strickland is showing at Desire at the Old Chelsea Town Hall from Friday 28 February to Sunday 1 March 2020.
Bro. Jacqueline Taber is exhibiting in the Mall Galleries at the Royal Society of British Artists 303rd Annual Exhibition from Thursday 20 to Saturday 29 February, 10am - 5pm. There will be a private view Wednesday 19 February, 11am - 8pm. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Susan Aldworth’s new installation Out of the Blue explores the human perspective of living with epilepsy and the potential impact of technological interventions within the brain. It is part of the exhibition Illuminating the Self at the Hatton Gallery and Vane in Newcastle on until Saturday 9 May 2020. You can find out more about the exhibition in this BBC Radio 4 broadcast: Art of Now: The Algorhythms of Epilepsy.
Bro. Roger Kneebone has written a review of the Under the skin: illustrating the human body currently on show at the Royal College of Physicians, Regent’s Park until Friday 3 April. You can read the review here.
The Guardian published an obituary for Bro. Hugh Bulley, written by his daughter Emma Bulley.
Bro. Richard Adams currently has a studio space available for rent - For more information please see here - or contact him on richard@adamsassociates.org.uk.
Work by East London Textile Arts. Images © Elle Sillanpaa
Re-envisioning John Frederick Lewis - Interpretations in craft and architecture
Open days for viewing to the general public
Thursday 6 - Saturday 8 February, 11am - 5.30pm
An exhibition of work by Guild Brothers and members of East London Textile Arts exploring the work of the Victorian Orientalist painter, John Frederick Lewis, and offering contemporary interpretations of ’the Oriental’ today. As the exhibition comes to a close, we are holding three open days for the general public from Thursday 6 - Saturday 8 February, 11am - 5.30pm.
There will be an illustrated talk Painted Embroideries: interwoven threads in the Orientalist images of John Frederick Lewis on Saturday 8 February at 2pm, discussing John Frederick Lewis and his painting of textiles, given by Briony Llewellyn (Co-Curator of the John Frederick Lewis - Facing Fame exhibition at the Watts Gallery). To reserve your place, please email Celia on celia.ward99@gmail.com. Places are very limited, so will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
The exhibition forms part of a year-long AWG Outreach project in partnership with East London Textile Arts and The Watts Gallery.
Monday 10 to Saturday 15 February 2020
10.30 - 16.30
A selling exhibition of watercolours and drawings by Thomas Hennell (1903-1945), curated by Bro. Neil Jennings in the Gradidge room.
Woodcarver Andrew Beckwith, a friend of Bro. Meredith Ramsbotham’s brother, has asked if there might be a woodcarver amongst the Brothers (or if anyone knew of anyone) who has just finished their training and would like to spend a little time in Berwick-on Tweed with Andrew (now approaching 80) who would like to pass on some of his traditional woodcarving skills. He is not able to pay anyone and there would be accommodation costs to cover but the tuition would be gratis and it might be a unique opportunity for the right person.
Necessary attributes:
A good manual dexterity
Very sharp hand tools
The ability to use or acquire familiarity with Imperial Linear measurement.
Please contact Meredith for more information.
Bro. Julie Westbury is holding a pop up exhibition, ’Setting the Scene’ at Linden Hall Studios in Deal from Thursday 27 February to Sunday 1 March. For more info please see the website.
Bro. James Birch has curated Them, an exhibition examining the work of five artists who came to prominence in the early 1970s, including Duggie Fields, Andrew Logan and Derek Jarman. It runs until Saturday 15 February at the Redfern Gallery. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Roger Kneebone is giving a lecture on the ethics of surgical innovation on Wednesday 19 February at 6pm at the Museum of London. This forms part of the Gresham lecture programme. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Polly Ionides features in the Art of Now: Tides and Staithes by Kevin Crossley Holland on BBC Radio 4 - listen here .
Bro. Tom Perkins, Bro. Eric Marland and Pieter Boudens will be teaching a 6 day letter drawing and carving course in Eric’s chapel workshop in Cambridge in June 2020. More information can be found on the Lettering Arts Trust website.
The Committee meetings on the 9 October and 20 November saw the election of 5 new Brothers and 2 new Associate Brothers to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Brothers:
Agalis Manessi
Ceramicist
Proposed by Karen Bunting
Seconded by Sophie MacCarthy
www.agalismanessi.com
Ruth Martin
Printmaking, Illustration, Book Arts
Proposed by Charlotte Grierson
Seconded by Prue Cooper
www.nothingbuttheruth.co.uk
Eric Parry
Architect
Proposed by Anne Thorne
Seconded by Patrick Lynch
www.ericparryarchitects.co.uk
Sue Ridge
Artist
Proposed by Anne Thorne
Seconded by Tony Wills
www.sueridge.com
(Sue gave a lecture as part of Embroidered Minds earlier this year)
Joe Whitlock Blundell
Book Design/Photography
Proposed by Alan Powers
Seconded by Mark Winstanley
Associate Brothers:
Ruth Guilding
Art and Design Historian
Proposed by Alan Powers
Seconded by Ben Pentreath
www.bibleofbritishtaste.com
Will Wootton
Academic
Proposed by Prue Cooper
Seconded by Paul Jakeman
www.artofmaking.ac.uk
With this recent intake of new members - we have now hit 400 members of the Art Workers’ Guild!
Bro. Agalis Manessi has a solo show, a journey painted in clay, at the Municipal Gallery of Central Corfu until Friday 10 January 2020. You can view a video of Agalis’s work here.
Bro. Bridget Bailey is holding open studios this weekend Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December (PV Friday 6 December 6 - 9pm) at Clockwork Open Studio Weekend.
Bros. Martin Grierson and Georgy Metichian have designed two memorial benches to be installed outside Belsize Community Library, to honour past Bro. Arthur Rackham. Currently money is being fundraised to complete the project, so if you would like more information or are interested in donating, please see the attached article or email Myra Newman on arackhambench@gmail.com.
Outreach Exhibition - Re-envisioning John Frederick Lewis
Interpretations in craft and architecture
Monday 25 November 2019 to Saturday 15 February 2020
An exhibition of work by Guild Brothers and members of East London Textile Arts exploring the work of the Victorian Orientalist painter, John Frederick Lewis, and offering contemporary interpretations of ’the Oriental’ today.
The exhibition will run from Monday 25 November 2019 to Saturday 15 February 2020 and forms part of a year-long AWG Outreach project in partnership with East London Textile Arts and The Watts Gallery.
Please note exhibition is viewable by appointment only. Please contact Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org to book.
Bro. James Hart Dyke has a solo show, From the Studio, at John Mitchell Fine Painting from Thursday 21 to Friday 29 November.
Bro. Neil Jennings is holding an exhibition of works on paper by 20th Century British women artists at Fisher London. Exhibition runs until Saturday 30 November and features work by Bro. Angela Barrett.
Brothers Charles Gurrey and Phil Surey currently have work on show in Lettering Art & Illusion at Ruthin Crafts Centre in north Wales until 12 Jan 2020.
A one-day festive spectacular of Print, Illustration, Talks & Seasonal Merriment at the Guild on Sunday 8 December, 11 am - 4.30 pm. Curated by The Gentle Author, The Mainstone Press and Design For Today the day will feature 20 exhibitors (including Master Elect Alan Powers and Bro. Neil Jennings) and a range of talks and book signings. For more info please see the website.
Re-envisioning John Frederick Lewis
Interpretations in craft and architecture
Private view Monday 25 November, 6 - 9 pm
An exhibition of work by Guild Brothers and members of East London Textile Arts exploring the work of the Victorian Orientalist painter, John Frederick Lewis, and offering contemporary interpretations of ’the Oriental’ today. The exhibition will run from Monday 25 November 2019 to Saturday 15 February 2020 and forms part of a year-long AWG Outreach project in partnership with East London Textile Arts and The Watts Gallery.
Please join us for the private view
on Monday 25 November
6 - 9 pm
at
The Art Workers’ Guild
6 Queen Square WC1N 3AT
RSVP to leigh@artworkersguild.org
Please note exhibition is viewable by appointment only. Please contact Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org to book.
Kimono - Katharine Coleman
Bro. Katharine Coleman is holding her final solo show of new work, A Fine Line, at the Scottish Gallery until Tuesday 26 November 2019. For more information, please see the website.
Bros Rebecca Jewell and Sandy Ross Sykes are holding an exhibition at the Cass Art Flagship Store in Islington. There is a private view on Thursday 5 December, 6 - 8pm. Please RSVP to rebecca@pageslane.co.uk
Be sure to catch ELTA’s Octagon project at the Watts Gallery, forming part of the Guild’s year long Outreach project to create an exhibition of work by Guild Brothers and members of East London Textile Arts along the theme of John Frederick Lewis and Orientalism.
Over 200 decorative octagonal designs have been hand-embroidered and stitched together to create a gown now displayed as part of John Frederick Lewis: Facing Fame at the Watts Gallery.
Bro. Jane Dorner will be on a discussion panel on the contribution of Hungarian immigrants to British publishing. She will give a short illustrated talk on Andor Kraszna-Krausz who founded Focal Press. Amanda Hopkinson will show the work of Stefan Lorant, the founding editor of Picture Post. Monday 18 November, 7 - 8 pm at the Hungarian Cultural Centre London, WC2E 7NA. Tickets are free but registration is required - see the website.
Bro. Mark L’Argent, as part of the Gallimaufry Collective, will be exhibiting in Journeys at the Bunyan Gallery in Bedford from Tuesday 22 - Saturday 26 October 2019.
Bro. Rosie Wolfenden is currently appearing in Channel 5’s The Wonderful World of Craft , advising up and coming crafters on the path to success.
Lesley Strickland
Bros Bridget Bailey, Charlotte Grierson, Jeff Soan, Lesley Strickland and PM Jane Cox will all be exhibiting at Made London from Thursday 24 – to Sunday 27 October, 10.30am – 5.00pm at One Marylebone, London, NW1 4AQ.
Bro. Carolyn Trant is taking part in Pollocks Toy Museum’s Gallimaufry exhibition, from Friday 8 November to Saturday 7 December 2019.
Bro. Jeremy Musson has just published a new book, Henbury - An Extraordinary House. The Building was designed by PM Julian Bicknell along with Sebastian de Ferranti, Felix Kelly and David Mlinaric. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Tom Samuel has contributed to Madeleine Neave’s new book Vintage Breadboards, the first ever book on breadboards since they appeared in texts nearly 200 years ago. The result is a Masterclass in the appreciation of wood artistry and includes sections on famous carvers, owners, collectors’ tips and even recipes. For more information please see the website.
Peter Cooke of Adam Architecture will be holding a series of evening life drawing sessions at the Guild. For more information please get in touch with Peter Cooke or call 020 3971 6080. All abilities are welcome.
Bro. Penny Price has a piece of work, Castanospermum australe (the black bean tree), appearing in the 16th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh until 18 December 2019.
Bro. Alan Powers will give a talk, Makers United: The Art Workers’ Guild since 1884, to the Friends of Belsize Library on Thursday 17 October at 7:30 pm. Belsize Community Library, Antrim Road, NW3 4XN. Donation £3, refreshments available.
The AWG Table Top Museums
Sunday 22 September 2019
11 am - 6 pm
Back for its fourth year, and in conjunction with Open House weekend, join us for an inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect, organised by Bro. Stephen Fowler.
Come and delight in an exhibition of 23 installations, featuring molluscs, plane spotter’s notebooks, stereoscopes, blank paper and the archive of Zenda, to name but a few.
Cake and refreshments will be available throughout the day.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Exhibition - Packets & Places; Drawings, watercolours and lithographs by PM Glynn Boyd Harte
Sunday 22 September - Friday 04 October 2019
Bro. Neil Jennings of Jennings Fine Art presents an exhibition of drawings, watercolours and lithographs by PM Glynn Boyd Harte. There will be a private view on Monday 23 September from 6.30 pm – 9 pm.
Opening hours:
Sun 22 Sept 11am – 6pm
Mon 23 to Fri 27 Sept - 10.30am – 4.30pm
Sat 28 Sept - 10am - 2pm
Mon 30 Sept to Fri 4 Oct - 10.30am – 4.30pm
Lawrence Kreisman will be speaking at the Guild on Past Master C. R. Ashbee and the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest on Monday 30 September 2019 at 7 pm in the Guild Hall. This event is in collaboration with the Decorative Arts Society and all Brothers are welcome.
For more information https://bit.ly/2ZWrxq0 and to reserve your place please email leigh@artworkersguild.org.
Entry is free.
Bro. Carol McNicoll has an exhibition, Cut and Paste, at the Marsden Woo gallery until Saturday 26 October 2019.
The Royal Mail issued a special set of Elton John stamps including PM Ian Archie Beck’s album cover illustration of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from 1973. Available as a stamp and also as a framed limited edition enlargement, of which one hundred were signed by him.
Bro. Carolyn Trant will be speaking about her new book, Voyaging Out; British Women Artists from Suffrage to the Sixties, (Thames and Hudson), at Tate Modern on Wednesday 25 September at 7 pm. For more info and tickets please see the website.
Bro. Jacqueline Taber is holding an Autumn Exhibition at the Geedon Gallery, from Saturday 5 to Sunday 20 October 2019 and thereafter by appointment until Sunday 15 December. The exhibition will feature watercolours by Yvonne Skargon, plus work by Brothers Vicki Ambery-Smith, PM Jane Cox, Anne Hickmott, Georgy Metichian, Jeff Soan and A Lincoln Taber. For more info, please see the website.
Reynolds Stone: A Memoir is being published in early October 2019 by The Dovecote Press Ltd. A fresh look at the life and work of past Brother Reynolds Stone, written by his son, Humphrey Stone, who gave a talk at the Guild in 2017 on the same. For more information please see the attached.
A reminder that the closing date for submissions to the Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museums is Friday 23 August 2019. If you, or someone you know, have an interesting or quirky collection, be it large or small, please come and share it with us!
Please send details of your Museum to Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org
- Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection - 40 words maximum (this will be for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
The Museum forms part of Open House London.
During his 1909 lecture tour to the West Coast, Past Master C. R. Ashbee presented lectures in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Unimpressed by the crowds, pollution, and degradation he had seen in New York, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, he was fascinated and delighted with the West. Ashbee wrote in his journals that Seattle was “the only American city I have so far seen in which I would care to live. All the gold of Ophir would not tempt me to live in one of those smug eastern cities. Here is a city with a new light in her eyes.”
This lecture, based upon an award-winning book by Lawrence Kreisman and Glenn Mason,The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Pacific Northwest (Timber Press, 2007), explores this theme of regional identity. Lawrence Kreisman, Hon. AIA Seattle, was Program Director of Historic Seattle for 20 years, He has been recognised for significant work in bringing public attention to the Pacific Northwest’s architectural heritage and its preservation through courses, tours, exhibits, lectures, articles, and 11 books. Kreisman and his husband, Dr. Wayne Dodge, are both members of the Decorative Arts Society.
To reserve your place, please email leigh@artworkersguild.org.
Entry is free.
Bro. Daphne Gradidge currently has work on show at Vibrancy; a celebration of colour in British art, at Brownsword Hepworth until Friday 23 August. For more information, please see the website.
Bro. Georgy Metichian currently has work on show at Material: Wood at Messums Wiltshire, until Sunday 1 September. For more information, please see the website.
Bro. Magdalene Odundo was awarded the Potterycrafts Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Ceramics Festival at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in July.
Bro. Peter Layton currently has a solo show, Origins: Interpreting my Sources, at London Glassblowing until Saturday 31 August. Please see the website for more information.
Bro. Carolyn Trant’s new book, Voyaging Out; British Women Artists from Suffrage to the Sixties, will be published with Thames and Hudson on Thursday 5 September. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Tim Ward has just completed the S.S. Stockport Memorial Railings in Stockport and an unveiling service was held on Sunday 7 July. The event was organised by the Hazel Grove Royal Naval Association. For more information please see here.
Bro. Magdalene Odundo has an exhibition of work The Journey of Things opening at The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, from Saturday 3 August - Sunday 15 December 2019. This major exhibition will bring together more than 50 of Odundo’s vessels alongside a large selection of historic and contemporary objects which she has curated to reveal the vast range of references from around the globe that have informed the development of her unique work.
Bros. Susie Rogers and Kevin Mulvany have just launched their latest miniature work, an 18th century Swedish Manor House. For more information please see their website.
Join Bro. Will Houstoun (The Magic Circle Close-Up Magician of the Year 2015) as he pulls back the curtain on some of the most incredible magicians of days gone by in a very special show that reveals the truth behind the smoke and mirrors. He will be performing on Wednesday 24 and 31 July, for more information and tickets - please see the website.
PM Jane Cox will be speaking about her work and the Guild at Celebrating Ceramics at Waterperry Gardens on Friday 19 July, 10.45 am. For more information, please see the website.
PM Marthe Armitage has a book coming out later in the year,The Making of Marthe Armitage, Artist and Patternmaker. She will be holding a book launch for it at the Guild on Tuesday 24 September, 6 pm - 9 pm and all Brother’s are welcome.
Bro. Helen Whittaker has been commissioned by Filinvest to design the stained glass for a new chapel in the Philippines. The project involves three countries; the architect is Japanese, the artist is British and the glass will be assembled and installed by a company in the Philippines.
Bro. Ged Palmer will be speaking on Thursday 11 July, at Type Thursday London at 6.30pm. For more information and tickets please see the website.
Bro. Rob Ryan has a solo exhibition Sculpture 001 at the Old Bank Vault on Hackney Road from Thursday 4 to Sunday 28 July.
The Crafts Council’s summer exhibition this year will be Misshapes: The Making of Tatty Devine, celebrating Brothers Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden’s 20-year anniversary. It will open at Central Saint Martins’ Lethaby Gallery, London, from Saturday 20 July to Sunday 11 August, before touring UK-wide. The 20th anniversary will also see the publication of a new book and a special jewellery collection, re-imagining some of Tatty Devine’s best-loved pieces from their 5,000 strong archive. For more info please see here.
Bro. Silvia MacRae Brown is running a Sculpture Summer School at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft from Saturday 27 to Monday 29 July, 10am - 4pm. For more info and how to book please see here and here.
The Art Workers’ Guild
Sunday 22 September, 11 am - 6 pm
The Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for its fourth year, in conjunction with Open House weekend. Join us for an inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect, organised by Bro. Stephen Fowler and PM George Hardie.
We are calling for submissions from Brothers of the Guild and their friends who would like to exhibit their collections, be they large or small. This year, the focus is again on ’Museums’, rather than simply collections. Submissions will be discussed by the Outreach Committee and accepted on the basis of the classification, narrative and explanations provided, as well as the quality, quirkiness or interest of the collection itself.
The Museum forms part of Open House Weekend, and will feature on their website and catalogue. Please send details of your Museum to Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org answering the following by Friday 23 August.
- Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection - 40 words maximum (this will be for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
We look forward to hearing from you!
Save the Date:
Open House London and the Table Top Museum
Sunday, 22 September
11am - 6pm
Bro. Liam O’Connor is creating the new British Normandy Memorial, in Ver-sur-Mer, France. A neoclassical walled forecourt with colonnades and gardens on either side, housing a centrepiece sculpture by David Williams-Ellis.To be inscribed on the 160 columns will be the names of 22,442 servicemen and women who died here. Bro. Richard Kindersley has created the typeface with which to record this roll of honour.
Bro. Eric Marland currently has an exhibition, 5 Sculptors, in the Fellows’ Garden, Clare Hall, Cambridge showing until Wednesday 4 September. For more info please see here.
The Outreach Committee are holding an evening conversation on 3 July. Master Anne Thorne will discuss the history of gendered space in the UK and how her practice has used this to challenge the design of public and private spaces, working with different community groups. Bro. Celia Ward will talk about gendered spaces within the Egyptian architecture depicted by Victorian painter John Frederick Lewis.
A display of work in progress by Bro. Carol McNichol, Bro. Rachael Matthews and the members of East London Textile Arts for the current Outreach project, Re-envisioning John Frederick Lewis - Interpretations in craft and architecture will also be on show.
To book your place, please email Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.com. Places are very limited, so will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Entry is free and refreshments will be available.
Bro. Juliet Jeffery has published a book called Gypsyguise and Disguise: a History of Gypsy Fashion, limited to an edition of 100 copies. Fully illustrated, and focusing on the history and evolution of Gypsy fashions, it is a comprehensive look at Romany and Traveller dress down the centuries, up to the present day.
Bro. Eileen Hogan currently has an exhibition, Personal Geographies at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, USA, on until Sunday 11 August. You can watch a video of her lecture at the Center on the website here.
A number of Brothers appear in recent episodes of Bro. Roger Kneebone’s podcast, Countercurrent, including Vicki Ambery-Smith, Bridget Bailey, Angela Barrett, Katharine Coleman, Jane Dorner and Will Houstoun, amongst others.
Bro. Lesley Strickland will be showing new designs, including the Moda pendant and Doppio earrings, at the Crafts Festival in Bovey Tracey, Devon from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 June.
Bro. Aaron Kasmin has an exhibition, Showtime!, at Sims Reed Gallery until Friday 28 June.
Bro. Cathryn Shilling has an exhibition, Hidden Gestures, at the Vessell gallery running until Tuesday 9 July.
Bro. Charlotte Knox has had one of her paintings, Canvey Island, selected for the 2019 Royal Academy of Arts 251st Summer Exhibition in London, running until Monday 12 August.
Tuesday, 14 - Friday, 24 May 2019 at the Art Workers’ Guild
An exhibition of photographs by Nicholas Hardinge (1927 - 2005), hosted by Brother Jacqueline Taber. The exhibition will be open in the Master’s room 10.30am to 4.30pm daily and there will be a private view on Friday 17 May, 6.30pm - 8.30pm.
Bro. Monica Boxley is holding Open Studios this weekend, Friday 10 May to Sunday 12 May, at Redlees Studios, Isleworth.
There will be a private view Friday 10 May, 6pm - 9pm.
https://www.redlees.org/
Bro. Will Houstoun has contributed a video exhibit to the Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic exhibition at Wellcome Collection, running until Sunday 15 September 2019. He has also organised a programme of live events running alongside the exhibition, taking place each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. His hands also star in the all the promo material.
Bro. Gareth Mason will be speaking at the Craft[ing] the Body symposium, taking place on Wednesday 22 May at the Craft Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts. He will be speaking on Making Sense, exploring the role of the body and senses in crafts practice, using his own work and experience as reference.
Bro. Eric Marland has work on show at Inscribed: The Craft of Cutting Letters hosted by the the Hand Engravers Association and The Lettering Arts Trust as part of London Craft Week at the Goldsmith’s Centre. The exhibition runs until Thursday 11 July.
During Past Master Sophie MacCarthy’s year as Master in 2010 there was a talk given by Deirdre Westgate on a 19th century French sculptor and stone carver called Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume. He was Past Master MacCarthy’s great-great grandfather who worked with the architect Violet Le Duc on the major restoration programme of cathedrals and churches in France during the second half of the nineteenth century. One of the major projects was Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and as well as re-carving many of the statues of saints and kings that one sees on the facade, Victor was also responsible for creating 12 statues of the apostles, each one 3 meters high and made of beaten copper (for lightness), positioned on the roof. These statues would have been completely destroyed by the fire on 15 April 2019 had they not all been airlifted off just three days before, in advance of renovation work. Sadly however, as we all saw, the spire was destroyed in the inferno. It remains to be seen if it will be rebuilt or not.
The AWG Outreach committee invites you to a day of decorative darning and mending on Saturday 4 May, 1 - 5 pm in the Art Workers’ Guild Hall. Please bring your holes or somebody else’s. If you are one of those extraordinary people who has no holes, please come along anyway.
Yarns and woven fabrics of many colours are waiting to darn knitwear and patch holes. There will be tuition in the use of darning mushrooms, and examples of how decorative darning can bring new life to old favourites. Sewing machines, irons, needles and scissors will all be provided along with refreshments. It’s possible that standard buttons can be matched but we are unable to mend broken zips.
Please RSVP to Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org or call on 020 7713 0966.
Entry is Free
London Craft Week
The Guild is holding two events over London Craft Week, between 8 - 12 May 2019.
Unveiled – The Craft of Millinery
Wednesday 8 - Friday 10 May
This exhibition brings together British milliners, chosen for their diverse designs and skills, to give an insight into the particular workings and craftsmanship of each. Curated by leading milliners and Brothers of the Guild, Rachel Trevor Morgan, Edwina Ibbotson and Noel Stewart, the exhibition draws on their experience and knowledge to bring together the best of British millinery, including hats from Stephen Jones, Philip Treacy and Bro. Bridget Bailey. Their aim is to highlight the very special craft of millinery and its varied techniques, both modern and traditional. A working gallery forms part of the exhibition, where you can see hats being made over the three days. There is also a display of winning hats from the annual Feltmakers’ Design Competition.
Included in the week are ticketed talks and demonstrations. For more details, please see the website.
The Art of Making at the Art Workers’ Guild
Sunday 12 May, 11am - 5pm
The Guild is holding a special one-day event to showcase the enormous variety of our members’ craft disciplines. Brothers will be demonstrating the specialist skills involved in the making process of each, featuring stone carving, textile design and calligraphy, to name but a few.
Entry is free and refreshments will be available.
Those taking part include:
Jane Cox - Potter
Wally Gilbert - Sculptor
Edwina Ibbotson - Milliner
Paul Jakeman - Stonecarver
Mark L’Argent - Calligrapher
Sue Lowday - Leather work
Georgy Metichian - Woodcarving
Jeremy Nichols - Potter
Tom Samuel - Woodcarving
Annie Sherburne - Textiles
Bro. Annie Sherburne has a career-spanning retrospective exhibition, Birth of Flowers, at Contemporary Applied Arts from Wednesday 1 May to Saturday 1 June. There will be a private view on Thursday 9 May, 4pm to 7pm and Annie will also be doing a free beading workshop as part of London Craft Week on Saturday 11 May, 2pm - 5pm.
The 11th Dedalo Minosse International Prize for Commissioning a Building are now looking for applications. Bro Richard Haslam is a founder Juryman and is looking for architect Brothers to nominate client candidates that have made a significant contribution to the success of a new building. For more information please see the website.
Be sure to listen to Bro. Roger Kneebone’s Private Passions on BBC 3.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00045vc
Design for Today have invited Guild members to join them at the event they are holding at the Guild on Wednesday 22 May at 6.30 pm.
Simon Armitage will giving the first public reading of his new narrative poem, Hansel & Gretel. The reading will be accompanied by a short animation of Hansel & Gretel, produced by the illustrator Clive Hicks-Jenkins. Tickets are available here.
PM Ian Archie Beck’s new book The Magic Hour, based around John Singer Sargent’s painting Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, has just been published by the Tate Gallery. You can find it here.
Designed by PM Brian Webb, the exhibition is now on tour and opens at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery at the University of Leeds from Tuesday 9 April.
Bro. Shanti Gorton has designed the set for the play Boomerang which, following two sold out runs, is now showing at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, from Wednesday 15 to Sunday 19 May. For more info and tickets, please see the website.
This Thursday, 14 March, from 6-9pm there will be an open evening at the Guild to view and discuss work in progress for the Re-envisioning John Frederick Lewis - Interpretations in craft and architecture exhibition taking place at the Guild in the Autumn.
All are welcome and drinks will be provided. It is an AWG Outreach project in partnership with The Watts Gallery and East London Textile Arts.
Bro. Emma Alcock’s exhibition,Quietude, opens this Friday 15 March at the Fine Art Society in Edinburgh, and runs until Saturday 6 April. There will be a private view on Thursday 14 March, 6pm - 8pm.
Ceramic Art London takes place from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 March at Central St Martins Kings Cross, featuring work by Brothers Ashley Howard, Chris Keenan, PM Sophie MacCarthy and Jeremy Nichols.
Bro. Ivy Smith - Whitlingham Marsh
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery will be showing East Anglian Women Artists of Today from Saturday 13 to Sunday 28 April, 11am - 5.30pm daily, and then by appointment until Wednesday 15 May.
Bro. Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley and Frank King have just published Sundials: Cutting Time exploring both the science and art of creating sundials in stone. Illustrations of 27 Kindersley dials dating from 1938 to the present day are detailed, their design and workings explained. To order your copy, you can visit the website or we have a handful of copies in the Office - £15.00 each (plus p & p).
Bro. James Stevens Curl has been given the 2019 Arthur Ross Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition for history and writing by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art.
Bro. Edwina Ibbotson has designed this year’s brooch for Brain Tumour Research - on sale now until Friday 29 March - coinciding with Wear a Hat day - all in aid of raising funds for the charity. Each brooch is £10 and limited to a run of just 500 and you can buy one here. You may also notice brooches designed by Bros Noel Stewart and Rachael Trevor-Morgan in previous years.
Made London takes place from Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 March at Canary Wharf. Several Brothers will be exhibiting, including Bridget Bailey, Charlotte Grierson, PM Jane Cox, Jeff Soan, Jeremy Nichols and Lesley Strickland.
Bro. Michael Petry has work on show at Artropocene: iBiennale MMXIX at the Y Center for Visual Arts in Honolulu, Hawaii until Sunday 24 March. The work is a MAP unit - made from freshwater pearls and is exactly his height.
The Power of Wealth/This Yellow Slave
This is the first UK solo show for Swiss born sculptor Isabella Kocum. Using a number of techniques including printmaking, gilding, sculpture and ceramics, her work explores contemporary issues rooted in the traditions of European art. In this exhibition she will be showing polychrome wood reliefs alongside lustre glazed ceramic figures and lino prints.
There will be a private view on Monday 8 April, 6pm – 9pm
Bro. Neil Jennings has an exhibition, Relief Printmaking in the Master’s room from Monday 18 to Saturday 30 March. There will be wood engravings, woodcuts and linocuts all available for sale.
There will be a private view on Monday 18 March, 6.30 - 9 pm.
For more information contact Neil on neiljennings20@gmail.com or 07812 99455.
Bro. Rachael Matthews is giving a short talk and ’In Conversation’ on the controversial subject of ’well being’ in the Crafts at Making is Good for You – The Heritage Crafts Association Conference 2019 on Saturday 9 March at Cecil Sharp House. For more information about the event and tickets please see the Heritage Craft association website.
Bro. Lesley Strickland is showing some new designs including the MODA and VUTO Earrings at the Desire Fair at the Old Chelsea Town Hall from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 March. She has lots of tickets for the private view on Thursday 7 March, 4.30 - 8 pm. Please email Lesley if you would like a ticket on lesley@lesley-strickland.co.uk
Bro. Alan Powers will be speaking on Francis Pollen’s work at Worth Abbey on Saturday 2 March as part of Art + Christianity’s Visual Communion - a series of symposia exploring the art, architecture and craft of the Eucharist, asking how the visual arts have shaped and are shaped by the Eucharist. The event is taking place at the Bishop’s Palace, Chichester and you can find more details on the website.
The Outreach Committee are calling for submissions for an exhibition exploring the work of the Victorian Orientalist painter, John Frederick Lewis, and offering contemporary interpretations of ’the Oriental’ today. The project is in partnership with East London Textile Arts and The Watts Gallery and will run in parallel to the Watts Gallery exhibition of portraits by John Frederick Lewis to be held from summer 2019.
The Guild exhibition will be on show in January and February 2020. Brothers are invited to participate in two ways. The first is by creating an octagon, based on the traditional Islamic motif. You can interpret this in any way you choose and in any medium you choose. The octagon should be no bigger than 16cm across – i.e. based on two intersecting 12 cm squares. Please find a template attached to get you started. The image above shows examples of octagons that have been made and embroidered by ELTA to give some inspiration.
The second way to participate is if Brothers have ideas or already finished work which they feel would fit within the focus of the show - whether illustration, architectural plans, Islamic designs etc - we’d love to see them and work out how they can be incorporated. Inclusion is on a first come basis. Work can be for sale.
If you would like to take part in the project or would like more information, please contact Bro. Celia Ward by email or phone on 07985 993191. We’d love as many Brothers as possible to participate.
We have recently found out that HRH Prince of Wales’ visit to the Guild last year was reported in the Daily Mail at the time.
Bro. Shanti Gorton has designed the set for the play Boomerang, which is showing at the White Bear Theatre Pub, Kennington, from Tuesday 26 February to Saturday 2 March. For more info and tickets, please see the website.
Bro. Silvia McRae-Brown is holding a Creative Weekend at Paddock Studio in Lewes, creating portraits in clay on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 March. For more information please see the website.
An exhibition of glass work by Brothers in the Yellow Gallery and Courtyard. The exhibition shows finished pieces and the processes and tools behind them and features work by Katharine Coleman, Ged Palmer, Sally Pollitzer, Tracey Sheppard, Caroline Swash and Helen Whittaker.
Curated by Bro. Monica Grose-Hodge.
The Committee meeting on the 23 January saw the election of a new Brother and a new Affiliate Brother to the Guild. We wish them both a very warm welcome!
Ptolemy Dean
Architect
Proposed by Jeremy Musson
Seconded by Oliver Caroe
http://www.ptolemydean.co.uk
Nicholas Hughes
Affiliate Brother
Drawing and all its applications
Proposed by Daniel Heath
https://diddletron.com
Bro. Richard Adams currently has a studio space available for rent - if interested, please email him on richard@adamsassociates.org.uk
Bro. Stephen Proctor, of Proctor & Matthews Architects, is delighted that his firm is part of the Tibbalds CampbellReith JV team appointed to the Homes England 2019-2023 Multidisciplinary Framework. It is one of 20 specialist teams joining the panel set up via the OJEU process to provide Homes England and other public sector bodies with rapid and cost effective access to professionals who will help deliver new development.
Bro. Luke Hughes will be giving a talk entitled The Arts and Crafts in the Digital Age, on Friday 22 February, 6pm, to the Friends of the Gordon Russell Design Museum at the Lygon Arms in Broadway, Worcs. Guild Brothers are welcome to attend and you can find more information here.
Bro. Ivy Smith’s painting of Sir Richard and Sir David Attenborough (1989) is included in the new 20th Century display at the National Portrait Gallery.
Bro. Magdalene Odundo has an exhibition of work The Journey of Things opening at The Hepworth Wakefield from Saturday 16 February to Sunday 2 June 2019. This major exhibition will bring together more than 50 of Odundo’s vessels alongside a large selection of historic and contemporary objects which she has curated to reveal the vast range of references from around the globe that have informed the development of her unique work.
Bro. Sally Scott currently has a retrospective exhibition of her glass, paintings and prints at the Menier Gallery until Saturday 2 February.
Bro. Roger Kneebone will become the fourteenth Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy of Arts on January 19 2019. You can also view recordings of his recent Gresham Lecture series online - Dissecting the Consultation also features new Brother Will Houstoun.
Bro. Rebecca Jewell will be showing new and recent work in a joint exhibition with artist Pam Hawkes at the Catto Gallery from Friday 8 to Monday 25 February. There will be a private view on Thursday 7 February, 6 - 8.30 pm - please RSVP to rebecca@pagelane.co.uk.
There was a brilliant double page spread in the Christmas edition of the Fortean Times featuring an interview with Bro. Stephen Fowler about the AWG Table Top Museum 2018 that took place as part of Open House. Get your thinking hats on for 2019’s Museum!
Bro. Richard Sorrell is holding a painting holiday at Camilla and Gianludovico de Martino’s splendid palazzo in Amantea, Southern Italy, from Saturday 18 - Saturday 25 May 2019. Easels, canvas and acrylic paints provided, please bring own brushes, oil paints and watercolours. For more information or to book a place please contact Camilla de Martino.
Bro. James Stevens Curl has written the foreword to a new facsimile of Theo Moody’s 1939 book, The Londonderry Plantation 1609-41.You can view more information here.
The Committee meeting on the 21 November saw the election of 5 new Brothers to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Phillida Gili
Illustrator/writer/publisher
Proposer: Phil Abel
Seconder: Meredith Ramsbotham
Will Houstoun
Conjuring
Proposer: Prue Cooper
Seconder: Rachael Matthews
www.drhoustoun.com
Lawrence Neal
Chairmaker
Proposer: Jane Cox
Seconder: Monica Grose-Hodge
www.lawrencenealchairs.co.uk
Eleanore Edwards Ramsey
Designer Bookbinder
Proposer: Bernard Middleton
Seconder: Flora Ginn
Penny Walsh
Natural Dyes
Proposer: Jane Cox
Seconder: Prue Bramwell-Davis
www.aotextiles.com
Bro. Rachael Matthews is showing knitted rocks at the Live Art Development Agency Festive Fair on Sunday 9 December.
Bro. Alan Kitching will be launching his A to Z of London as a boxed limited edition at the London Art Fair from Wednesday 16 to Sunday 20 January 2019. It is a subjective A to Z of his favourite haunts in the capital - a lexicon of London marries the individual letters of the alphabet with many historic locations, contemporary buildings, national monuments, sports grounds, hotels and eponymous retailers that contribute to the fabric of this great city.
Bro. Michael Petry will be discussing the lasting influence of Spanish Old Masters in contemporary arts practice with Dr Nicola Jennings, Director of the Colnaghi Foundation, at Curators in Conversation, on 6 December, 6:30 - 8:30pm at the Colnaghi Foundation. The event is part of Spain NOW!, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the season of contemporary arts and culture in London. Please RSVP to info@colnaghifoundation.com.
Why do we pick up pebbles on the beach? Random Spectacular’s (otherwise known as Bros Angie and Simon Lewin) forthcoming book (published in February 2019) is part social history and part practical guide - writer and pebble collector Christopher Stocks unearths the sometimes surprising story of our love-affair with pebbles, and considers how the way we see them today has been influenced over the years by artists, authors and even archaeologists. Bro. Angie has illustrated the book with more than 40 prints, watercolours and sketchbook pages.
On Monday 17 December at 4pm, Bro. Lida Kindersley will feature on Marking Time on BBC Radio 4, talking about the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop. The workshop also has a new book,Cutting through nature - Kindersley Inscriptions from Wild Settings to intimate Gardensavailable here.
Pollock’s Toy Museum Trust and Bro. Alan Powers will be holding the Toy Theatre Tea Party on Sunday 6 January 2019 at the Guild. Joe Gladwin will be performing Aladdin, or The Wonderful Lamp. The first performance is 2pm for 2.30pm start followed by a slap up tea. The second performance starts with tea at 4.30pm with curtain up at 5pm. Tickets are £8 for Adults, £3 for Children. Please contactpasquito@aol.com for more information.
A selection of festive cards created by Brothers of the Guild on sale in the Gallery.
Individual cards: £3
Pack of 5 cards: £12
Please ask for Elspeth, Leigh or Catherine if you would like to purchase.
Cash only
Monday 19 to Saturday 24 November
An exhibition exploring a collaboration between painting, gilding and computer graphics by Brother Elizabeth Ball, Prof. Grzegorz Mazurek and Marek Letkiewicz PhD. Exploring the concept that museums are not a storage of paintings and sculptures but repositories of timeless human imagination. Images reach us from the past, they are projections of the visual mind in which we intuitively sense the vibration, strength of life and energy.
There will be a private view on Saturday 24 November, 6 - 9.30 pm.
Bro. Russell Taylor has adapted and renovated a listed building on Fitzroy Square for the Royal Society of Musicians which was formally opened by HRH The Prince of Wales on Thursday 15 November.
Bro. Lincoln Taber has an exhibition, Remarkable Creatures, along with Stephanie Rubin at Thompson Spare until Saturday 1 December.
PM Anthony Paine has created three handcrafted beehives, commissioned by Fortnum & Mason to give as a birthday present to HRH the Prince of Wales for the gardens at Highgrove. He has worked in close consultation with Steven Benbow, keeper of the hives at both Highgrove and Fortnum & Mason. ’We wanted to be sure the bees would be happy, rather than flying away in fright’.
Bro. Andrew Davidson has illustrated this years Royal Mail Christmas stamps.
Past Masters Peyton Skipwith and Brian Webb’s latest book Eric Ravilious Scrapbooks is just published by Lund Humphries. It follows the same format as their book Edward Bawden Scrapbooks from the same publisher.
PM Sophie MacCarthy will be exhibiting her ceramics alongside paintings by her brother Charles MacCarthy at the Piers Feetham Gallery. Exhibition runs from until Saturday 24 November. There will be a private view on Thursday 1 and Tuesday 6 November, 6.30pm - 8.30pm. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Rob Ryan has a solo show of his papercuts and silkscreen prints at the William Morris Gallery until Sunday 27 January 2019.
Bro. Roger Kneebone was interviewed by Martha Kearney on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday (6.55 am) discussing dexterity, surgery and the knowledge of the maker.
Bro. Tim Ward has created a permanent civic beacon for Ashford - whose first formal firing will be on Sunday 11 November.
Monday 5 to Thursday 15 November 2018
Better known for his books on mid-twentieth century British artists, architects and designers, Bro. Alan Powers also produced a considerable body of paintings and graphics, mostly in the 1980s. These are the subject of a forthcoming book from Inky Parrot Press, with text by the artist and introductory essays by Peter Davidson and Michael Hall. In anticipation of this, he is staging a small retrospective exhibition at the Art Workers’ Guild, of which he has been a member since 1982.
The exhibition includes a number of watercolour paintings for sale, and others borrowed from their owners, showing buildings, landscapes and interiors. There will also be samples of etchings, lithographs, magazine illustration, painted furniture and a couple of peep shows.
There will be a private view on Saturday 10 November, 6 - 9pm.
Details about the book can be obtained from dennis@parrotpress.co.uk
Bro. Shawn Williamson appeared on Radio Cumbria’s ’The Arty Show’ talking about his latest project. Hear him around 11 minutes in.
There will be an exhibition of past Bro. Gillian Whaite’s and her father, Clarence Whaite’s, work called ’Father and Daughter’ at the Oxmarket Gallery, Chichester, from Tuesday 6 to Sunday 18 November. Master Jane Cox will open the exhibition on Tuesday 6 at 6pm. Please see the website for more information.
The Duchess of Sussex attended last weekend’s Royal Wedding wearing a hat made by Bro. Noel Stewart.
Posted on: 18 October 2018
Bros Sandy Ross Sykes and Rebecca Jewell are running a natural history painting course at the Linnean Society from the end of October. Please see the website for more details.
Posted on: 18 October 2018
Bro. Simon Henley was recently shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize. The shortlisted project is currently on show at RIBA, 66 Portland Place, until Friday 9 November.
Posted on: 18 October 2018
Film Screening - The Chair Maker
Tuesday 16 October, 7 pm - 9 pm
at the Art Workers’ Guild
A film screening of The Chair Maker by Falcon Productions. Master craftsman Lawrence Neal has been handcrafting exquisite ladderback chairs for over half a century. The Chair Maker explores his making process, the historic lineage of ladderback chairs, and the existential threat facing modern craftspeople. For more information see the website.
Talk - William Simmonds - The Silent Heart of the Arts and Crafts movement
Thursday 25 October, 5 pm to 6.30 pm
at the Art Workers’ Guild
A talk by Jessica Douglas-Home on the sculpture and puppets of past Brother William Simmonds, to coincide with the publication of her new book and an exhibition of Simmond’s work. RSVP to magdalenevans@gmail.com
Bro. Vicki Ambery Smith and Ed Kluz have an exhibition, Place Makers, at the Scottish Gallery until Saturday 27 October. For more info please see the website.
Bro. Geoffrey Preston is currently looking for a full time workshop assistant, initially for a three-month project starting in January 2019, but with a view to longer-term work. If anyone knows anyone who would be interested please see the job description attached or visit the website.
Bro. Lesley Strickland will be showing new designs at Praktis 2018 - Mind and Matter: the making of craft, at Bury Court Barn, near Farnham, from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 October.
Bro. Tanya Harrod’s new book, CRAFT: Documents of Contemporary Art, published by MIT and the Whitechapel Gallery is now available. Tanya will be in conversation with Phyllida Barlow to formally launch the book at the Whitechapel Gallery on Thursday 29 November at 7pm. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery is holding an Autumn exhibition until Sunday 21 October, 11am to 5.30pm daily, and then by appointment until Saturday 15 December. The exhibition features many Brothers of the Guild, including Bro. Matthew Eve, PM Prue Cooper, Bro. A Lincoln Taber, Bro. Anne Hickmott, Bro. Jeff Soan and Bro. Georgy Metichian.
Bro. Michael Petry’s new book, The Word is Art, will be published by Thames and Hudson on Thursday 18 October. For more info please see Michael’s website.
Made London takes place Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 October featuring work by many Brothers, including new Bro. Bridget Bailey, Master Jane Cox, Bro. Charlotte Grierson, Bro. Jeremy Nichols, Bro. Jeff Soan, and Bro. Lesley Strickland.
Bro’s Sally Scott and Gilbert Whyman are holding an Open Studio and garden this weekend, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 October, 11am - 6pm. For more info please the leaflet here.
Bro. Roger Kneebone will be giving four public lectures as Gresham College 2018 Visiting Professor of Medical Education. His theme is ‘Performing Medicine, Performing Surgery’ and he’ll be drawing on many of his collaborations with Brothers of the Guild. The first lecture is on Wednesday 31 October at 6 pm at the Museum of London. For more info see the website.
The Committee meeting on the 26 September saw the election of 4 new Brothers to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Bridget Bailey – textile artist
Proposer: Roger Kneebone
Seconder: Edwina Ibbotson
https://bridgetbailey.co.uk/
Harriet Vine – jeweller
Proposer: Rachael Matthews
Seconder: Rosie Wolfenden
https://www.tattydevine.com/
Taslim Martin – sculptor
Proposer: Gareth Mason
Seconder: Carol McNicoll
http://www.taslimmartin.co.uk/
Rachel Warr – Puppetry director and dramaturg
Proposer: Roger Kneebone
Seconder: Prue Cooper
https://www.facebook.com/dottedlinetheatre
There is a new exhibition in the Yellow Gallery, ‘The Figure; cast, carved and restored’, featuring work by Brothers James Butler, Wally Gilbert, Charlotte Hubbard, Guy Reid and Simon Smith.
James Butler
James Butler is one of today’s foremost figurative sculptors. He has been a member of the Royal Academy since 1964; he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and a member of the Royal West of England Academy. His many monuments and memorials stand in London and other UK cities, and also abroad in Kenya, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, France, Singapore, Madeira and in the USA. His small and medium-size bronzes are in many private collections.
His large monumental figurative sculptures including the Rainbow Division Memorial, a pieta placed at the site of the Battle of the Croix Rouge Farm in Fère-en-Tardenois, France; the winged figure of Daedalus, a Memorial to the Fleet Air Arm which stands in the Embankment Gardens in London; the Memorial to the Green Howards, a seated figure of a contemplative soldier, described as ‘one of the most moving war memorials of our time’, are just a few examples of his love for the military hero. In contrast, he has also designed for the Royal Mint, the Royal Seal of the Realm, the Jubilee coin and the 50 pence piece, commemorating Roger Bannister’s 4 minute mile.
Wally Gilbert
Wally has a unique and instantly recognisable decorative style, using fine silver wire and chasing to build up layer upon layer of detailed surface. His silverwork has won a number of awards and can be found in the V&A museum, as well as many other international public and private collections.
His commissions include the De Beers Diamond trophy for Ascot 2000 and he was granted the Freedom of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in 1999. Wally also designed and made the cast iron barrel vault beams that you see in Guild Courtyard.
Charlotte Hubbard
Charlotte Hubbard is Head of Sculpture Conservation at the V&A Museum. Her work has included a wide range of preventive and interventive conservation on European and Asian objects in a variety of materials. Other activities include advising curators, designers and engineers on both sculpture-specific and wider conservation issues such as environment, lighting and display.
She has recently enjoyed making plaster piece-moulds. However, her area of specific interest is terracotta and its use in sculpture. This includes historic sculpture and her own production.
Guy Reid
As a sculptor working in lime wood, Reid’s carvings appear in both natural wood and painted. It is the body itself, both naked and clothed, which fascinates Reid, evoking the complex nature of human being. The philosophical debate surrounding this subject and its reflections on the tangible ‘reality’ of creation have had a considerable impact on his work.
When working on portraits, the engagement he has with the individuals who sit for him is central. Whilst his carvings draw on traditions of European gothic and early renaissance lime wood sculpture, it is the photographic basis of his work that gives a perplexing exactness that the medieval could never achieve, and it is this marriage of the traditional and the modern that gives his work its originality.
Reid has exhibited throughout the UK and internationally, in the USA, France, Australia and Asia. Public commissions include the controversial and much acclaimed nude Madonna and Child for St. Matthew’s Church Westminster, a naked Christ figure for St. George’s Church Paris, a figure of Adam for Mirfield College Yorkshire and 14 life size portraits for the Avoncroft Museum. Other commissioned portraits include authors Philip Pullman and Dame Jacqueline Wilson, plus British comedian and chat show host Alan Carr. His works can be found in significant international collections worldwide.
Simon Smith
Simon Smith is an artist who designs, models and carves for commissions. His work ranges from historic ornament and figurative carving to contemporary sculpture and memorials. Recent clients include Liverpool City Council, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, The National Trust and Westminster Abbey, as well as private clients.
In 2015 his Winchester memorial to soldiers of the First World War, A Promise Honoured, was shortlisted for the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture.
Simon is also a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Master Carvers Association.
http://simonsmithstonecarving.com
Bro. Neil Jennings is holding ’The Studio of Harold Jones’ at the Guild from Monday 1 to Saturday 13 October. Featuring paintings, watercolours, prints and original artwork.
Posted on: 25 September 2018
Bro. Marianne Tidcombe will be giving a lecture, ‘The Imprisonment of Annie Cobden-Sanderson, Women’s Suffrage, and the Arts and Crafts Movement’ at The Watts Gallery Artists’ Village, Compton, Surrey on Wednesday 26 September 2018 at 7 pm. See website for tickets.
An interview with Bro. Matthew Eve is featured in this year’s ’200 Best Illustrators Worldwide’ published by Luerzer’s Archive.
Bro. Giles Downes has an exhibition, Sculpture Dialogues, at The Gallery 77 Cowcross Street, London from Monday 5 to Friday 16 November. There will be a private view on Tuesday 6 November.
Bro. Angie Lewin, along with Emily Sutton, is holding ’Nature Table’ at the Town House in Spitalfields, showing recent work and new fabric and wallpaper designs, until Sunday 30 September. This is a St Jude’s In The City event, and visitors will also be able to explore the St Jude’s Studio Archive range, featuring reissued wallpaper designs by Edward Bawden and Sheila Robinson.
Forty five years ago, PM Ian Archie Beck drew the cover image of Elton John’s seminal album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton is now embarking on his three year world tour Farewell Yellow Brick Road. PM Beck has made a new updated version of the original drawing which features on the official tour souvenir programme.
Bro. Sue Lowday is featured on Craft in Focus this month, giving an insight into her work.
Sunday 23 September, 11 am - 6 pm
Desdemona McCannon The Museum of Ashridge
The Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for its third year, in conjunction with Open House weekend. Join us for an inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect, organised by Bro. Stephen Fowler and PM George Hardie.
Come and delight in an exhibition of 24 installations, curated by Guild Brothers and others selected by invitation, featuring mincers, alphabets, antique breadboards, rough seas, objects of desire and the architectural garden of Eden, to name but a few. This year we will also be dedicating a table to matchbox museums - special collections in micro.
The Art Workers’ Guild
Sunday 23 September, 11 am - 6 pm
The Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for its third year, in conjunction with Open House weekend. Join us for an inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect, organised by Bro. Stephen Fowler and PM George Hardie.
Desdemona McCannon The Museum of Ashridge, PM George Hardie Stencils
We are calling for submissions from Brothers of the Guild and their friends who would like to exhibit their collections, be they large or small. This year, the focus is again on ’Museums’, rather than simply collections. Submissions will be discussed by the Outreach Committee and accepted on the basis of the classification, narrative and explanations provided, as well as the quality, quirkiness or interest of the collection itself.
If you’d like to take part, but cannot attend on the day itself, we are also reserving a table for a collection of Matchbox Museums. You can send your micro museums in the post to Leigh Milsom Fowler at the Guild.
Examples of Matchbox Museums
The Museum forms part of Open House Weekend, and will feature on their website and catalogue. Please send details of your collection to Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org answering the following by Friday 31 August.
- Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Specify whether table or matchbox entry
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection - 40 words maximum (this will be for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
We look forward to hearing from you!
Tiffany Leeson + Duane Kahlhamer Museum of Coastal Curiosities, Nicholas Cooper England in Paperweights
Bro. Angela Barrett has illustrated The Restless Girls by Jessie Burton, a feminist reinterpretation of a classic fairytale. The book is coming out on 27 September with Bloomsbury.
Bro. Clive Richards currently has his early hand-coloured computer prints on show in Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers at the V&A until Sunday 18 November. For more info please see this article.
Bro. Peter Burman is organising the third annual Falkland Craft Symposium at the Centre for Stewardship, Fife, this weekend, Friday 17 to Sunday 19 August. The symposium celebrates traditional skills and provides opportunities for demonstrating and sharing them. For more information please see here.
Bros Kevin Mulvany and Susie Rogers have just finished their latest, two year long project, Savage Manor, a quintessential English manor house, detailing the evolution of the Savage family home from 1500 to 1700.
Bro. Deborah Carthy was a winner earlier this year at the Australian National Trust Heritage Awards for carrying out specialised stone conservation work on the Hyde Park Barracks guardhouses, gate piers and corner pavilion at Sydney Living Museums.
PM Julian Bicknell is pleased to announce that Arragon Mooar, the house Julian Bicknell & Associates Ltd designed for Dr John Taylor OBE, is featured on a recent special Isle of Man stamp issue.
Bro. Georgy Metichian currently has a hand carved picture frame on show at Buckingham Palace, selected by HRH The Prince of Wales, as part of the Prince & Patron Exhibition by the Royal Collection Trust.
Bro. James Stevens Curl new book, Making Dystopia - the strange rise and survival of Architectural Barbarism is published with Oxford University Press on Thursday 30 August.
Bro. Silvia MacRae Brown is running a Sculpture Summer School at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft over the bank holiday weekend Saturday 25 to Monday 27 August, 10am - 4pm. For more info and how to book, please see here.
The Art Workers’ Guild
Sunday 23 September, 11 am - 6 pm
The Art Workers’ Guild Table Top Museum is back for its third year, in conjunction with Open House weekend. Join us for an inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect, organised by Bro. Stephen Fowler and PM George Hardie.
Desdemona McCannon The Museum of Ashridge, PM George Hardie Stencils
We are calling for submissions from Brothers of the Guild and their friends who would like to exhibit their collections, be they large or small. This year, the focus is again on ’Museums’, rather than simply collections. Submissions will be discussed by the Outreach Committee and accepted on the basis of the classification, narrative and explanations provided, as well as the quality, quirkiness or interest of the collection itself.
If you’d like to take part, but cannot attend on the day itself, we are also reserving a table for a collection of Matchbox Museums. You can send your micro museums in the post to Leigh Milsom Fowler at the Guild.
Examples of Matchbox Museums
The Museum forms part of Open House Weekend, and will feature on their website and catalogue. Please send details of your collection to Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org answering the following by Friday 31 August.
- Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Specify whether table or matchbox entry
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection - 40 words maximum (this will be for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
We look forward to hearing from you!
Tiffany Leeson + Duane Kahlhamer Museum of Coastal Curiosities, Nicholas Cooper England in Paperweights
Bro. Patricia Lovett has set up the All Party Parliamentary Group for Craft on behalf of the Heritage Crafts Association. It is hoped that it will provide a forum for all crafts - conservation craft, heritage building crafts, contemporary craft as well as heritage living crafts, and also crafts in education - school, colleges and universities and lifelong learning.
Bro. Katharine Coleman features in the latest episode of Bro. Roger Kneebone’s podcast Countercurrent.
PM Marthe Armitage has an exhibition of prints and paintings at Christ Church, Turnham Green, Town Hall Avenue, London W4 5DT from Friday 13 July to Monday 16 July. For more info see the leaflet here.
Many Brothers, including Eric Marland, Tom Perkins and John Nash have work featured in a new exhibition, Alphabet Museum, at the Lettering Arts Centre, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, IP17 1SP until Sunday 9 September 2018. The exhibition includes carvings, drawings, glass and wood work, systems of codes, Greek, Roman and Hebrew alphabets and axe work.
Brother Richard Sorrell has a BREXhibITion of paintings about Exit from Brexit at the Bankside Gallery from Tuesday 24 July to Sunday 29 July.
Brothers Jacqueline and Lincoln Taber are holding an exhibition of their work at the Geedon Gallery, Jaggers, Fingringhoe, Colchester, Essex CO5 7DN, from Saturday 14 July to Sunday 22 July, 11 am - 5.30 pm.
Master Jane Cox and Brother Sue Lowday, along with Anne Lynch, are holding an open studio at 62a Tyrwhitt road, London, SE4 1QG, as part of Brockley Open Studios on Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July. For more info please see here.
Monday 18 June to Saturday 23 June 2018 at the Art Workers’ Guild
Bro. Rob Ryan and TAG Fine Arts will be holding an exhibition of new work, But If I Tell You It Won’t Come True at the Guild. Rob has made a departure from his previous monochromatic paper cuts, showing new pieces using multi-layered collaged paper cuts and highly coloured limited silkscreen prints. For more info please see the website.
Opening hours are Monday 18 June to Saturday 23 June, 10 am - 6 pm.
There will be a book signing with Rob on Saturday 23 June 1 pm - 3 pm.
Monday 4 June to Thursday 14 June 2018 in the Master’s Room
An exhibition of works refused entry into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition by members of the Traditional Architecture Group, organised by Bro. Simon Hurst.
This year, many TAG members submitted entries for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. So far all but one have been refused and all these entries, which include many fine architectural models, exquisite drawings, stone carvings and plasterwork will go into TAG’s own exhibition.
There will be a private view on Thursday 14 June, 6.30 pm - 9.30 pm to celebrate and publicise the fine work being produced by TAG members. Come along and judge for yourselves - drinks and nibbles are provided!
Bro. Stephen Fowler and Bro. Geoff Coupland are holding an evening of craft workshops, dance and music in celebration of the golden thread that entwines the folk song of the UK and USA together. Murri Celebrates the Golden Thread is taking place on Thursday 28 June 2018 from 4 pm to 10.30 pm, at Cecil Sharp House.
Bro. Julie Westbury has been commissioned by London Transport to make two posters to promote shopping in Brixton and East Dulwich - you should be able to spot them on show throughout the underground.
Bro. Angie Lewin and Bro. Simon Lewin, as St Jude’s, have just published Edward Bawden at Home under their Random Spectacular publishing imprint to accompany the exhibition at the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden. It’s designed by Past Master Brian Webb and features written contributions by Past Master Peyton Skipwith and Brother Chris Brown.
An exhibition of work by new Brothers in the Yellow Gallery at the Art Workers’ Guild. The exhibition shows finished pieces and the processes and tools behind them and features work by Hannah Coulson, Zebedee Helm and Jeff Soan.
Curated by Bro. Monica Grose-Hodge.
Hannah Coulson
There are several strands to my work: I’m a painter and illustrator, I lead workshops, I manage a programme that establishes creative exchanges between young people and practitioners, and I write and research too. These strands often overlap, informing and enriching each other.
As an illustrator and painter, I am interested in developing ways to make playful, less self-conscious work. I don’t have one fixed style or attitude, but I think there are sensibilities that can often be found in what I make. I like drawing outdoors. I like making things for people.
As a workshop leader and as a manager of participatory projects, I aim to have an adaptable approach that is responsive to the interests and needs of all those taking part. I value discussion and collaboration. I think about pace and flow.
When I write, I follow diverging and disparate threads of thought. I like finding ways to bring those threads together. I tend to look at ideas from multiple viewpoints rather than starting out with a theory to prove. I like to see the connections in things.
Zebeedee Helm
Zebeedee Helm’s work is regularly published in several national publications including Private Eye, The Spectator, House and Garden, The Lady and Art Review. Recently he has been contributing animated Gifs on political matters to the Financial Times. He has embarked on creating a series of children’s guides, which include Kit and Willy’s guide to the Dogs of the World, Art and a forthcoming one on Buildings. They are co-published in America. In 2012 he co-wrote and illustrated a best-selling ABC book about the British Middle Class called inventively The Middle Class ABC. This was published by John Murray and has been translated into Mandarin and is hugely popular in China.
In late 2013 he cobbled together some drawings for John Lobb, the luxury shoemaker, then trotted out some maps and multifarious illustrations for French fashion house, Hermes. Fortnum & Mason got scent of his talent and commissioned a mural in the fragrance and beauty hall, and he inflated his prices for a residency with Airbnb in Milan. His latest illustrated work is a set of drawings for a recent history of Wimbledon tennis championships, called Standing in Line, which is published in May 2018. He also serves up the official cartoons for the Wimbledon fortnight and for the last 3 years has been the piss artist in chief for Jeroboams and their numerous wine merchants across London.
His ancient family motto is ‘Leones mihi cassis’, which translates as ‘Lions are blackcurrants to me’. He lives by this, in a hovel on the side of a windy valley in The Poshwolds. His interests include nougat.
Jeff Soan
My work reflects equally a love of creatures, great and small, and a love of wood. My earlier training as an artist and more lately as a toymaker has led to objects which can be seen as playful sculpture or perhaps sculptural toys, but I generally refer to it as Wobbly Wood.
I try to express the essential nature of the animals, birds, and fish I create, sometimes by simplification, sometimes by attention to detail and very often by the sinuous movement achieved with the technique of articulation. A large part of my work in recent years has been investigating the possibilities of this wobbly wood which is created by cutting the wood into narrow sections and securing it to canvas.
I use the wood’s natural forms and features; its grain, colour and bark to suggest the creature’s shape, markings, feathers and texture. Reclaimed wood is used extensively, from discarded furniture, driftwood, industrial pallets and friends’ and neighbours’ prunings, and it is this found wood that often informs and shapes the work. This constantly varying source of timber helps keep the work fresh and alive.
Loren Golden Headdress by Justin Smith
An exhibition bringing together the best of British millinery, showcasing the diverse styles and skills of makers and giving an insight into their design processes. In conjunction with London Craft Week, supported by the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers and hosted by the Art Workers’ Guild.
Curated by leading milliners Bro. Rachel Trevor Morgan, Bro. Edwina Ibbotson and Bro. Noel Stewart, this unique exhibition draws on their experience and knowledge to highlight the very special craft of millinery and its varied techniques, both modern and traditional. It includes hats from Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy as well as millinery costumier, Bro. Jane Smith. There will also be a display of winning hats from the annual Feltmakers’ Design Competition. Throughout the week there will be a variety of ticketed talks, demonstrations and a documentary film. Please visit feltmakers.co.uk/london-craft-week for more details and booking.
Any profits raised for this event will go towards The Feltmakers Charitable Trust.
Wednesday 9 - Saturday 12 May 2018, 11 am - 6 pm
at The Art Workers’ Guild
Keira Knightley in the Duchess wearing hat by Bro. Jane Smith
The Committee meeting on the 25 April saw the election of 5 new Brothers to the Guild. We wish them all a very warm welcome!
Julie Arkell
Maker in paper mache, fabric and wool
Proposer Fleur Oakes, Seconder Rachael Matthews
https://www.instagram.com/thescatteredchairs
Monica Boxley
Jewellery/Textile design
Proposer Ian Archie Beck, Seconder Lesley Strickland
www.monicaboxley.co.uk
Marie-Helene Jeeves
Illustrator
Proposer Rolfe Kentish, Seconder Alan Powers
http://www.mhjeeves.com/
Chris Keenan
Ceramicist
Proposer Jane Cox, Seconder Lesley Strickland
https://www.chriskeenan.co.uk/
Andrian Melka
Sculptor
Proposer Dick Reid, Seconder Tim Crawley
https://www.melkasculpture.com/
Brother Tif Hunter is holding an exhibition of his work, Mirror Mirror, at Messum’s in Wiltshire from 16 - 20 May. For more information, please see the website.
Bro. Neil Jennings is holding Standing a Little Outside Life - Edward Bawden and his friends and Followers at the Morley Gallery, 61 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 7HT from Monday 18 – Friday 22 June. There will be a private view on Tuesday 19 June 6 – 8.30. Please RSVP to neiljennings20@gmail.com.
Bro. Silvia MacRae Brown is holding a 3 day course from 19 - 21 May with the Society of Portrait Sculptors, creating life size portraits in clay. It will be held at Skelton Studios (studio of the late John Skelton) and will cost £250. To book your place please email sps@portrait-sculpture.org . For more info please see the website.
For those that don’t already know, Bro. Roger Kneebone creates a regular podcast called Countercurrent, where he holds conversations with ’unorthodox people whose careers defy traditional boundaries and who swim against the tide’. You will find several Brothers of the Guild there, including PM Prue Cooper, Bro. Jane Smith, and Bro. Isabella Kocum amongst others. To explore, please see the website.
Bro. Alec Peever is holding an Open Studio, along with his wife, Fiona Peever, this coming weekend, Thursday 10 - Sunday 13 May. 12 pm - 5 pm.
Bro. Michael Petry is currently participating in a group exhibition, Workflow, at the CC Sint-Niklaas museum, Belgium until 2 September 2018. He is showing Libation to Virgo (Aphrodite), 2017, silver glazed porcelain stars in the shape of the Virgo constellation. For more information please see the website.
Brother Geoffrey Preston will be participating in London Craft Week in a group exhibition, Walpole’s Crafted: Makers of the Exceptional, at Battersea Power Station. He will be exhibiting three new flower panels, which were inspired by paintings on French 18th century porcelain. On Wednesday 9 May Geoffrey will be showing his sketchbooks and drawings, and discussing the inspiration behind some of his favourite pieces. For more info please see the website.
New Brother, Chris Keenan, will be taking part in the Art in Ditchling open house exhibition. Worked Surface will explore how hand, eye and tool work together to create texture and detailing to the finished surface. It is a collaboration between Chris, textile designer/weaver Emily Mackey and furniture makers, Petrel. For more info please see the website.
The Guild now has a Facebook Page - if you use Facebook - please come and like us!
Loren Golden Headdress by Justin Smith
An exhibition bringing together the best of British millinery, showcasing the diverse styles and skills of makers and giving an insight into their design processes. In conjunction with London Craft Week, supported by the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers and hosted by the Art Workers’ Guild.
Curated by leading milliners Bro. Rachel Trevor Morgan, Bro. Edwina Ibbotson and Bro. Noel Stewart, this unique exhibition draws on their experience and knowledge to highlight the very special craft of millinery and its varied techniques, both modern and traditional. It includes hats from Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy as well as millinery costumier, Bro. Jane Smith. There will also be a display of winning hats from the annual Feltmakers’ Design Competition. Throughout the week there will be a variety of ticketed talks, demonstrations and a documentary film. Please visit feltmakers.co.uk/london-craft-week for more details and booking.
Any profits raised for this event will go towards The Feltmakers Charitable Trust.
Wednesday 9 - Saturday 12 May 2018, 11 am - 6 pm
at The Art Workers’ Guild
Keira Knightley in the Duchess wearing hat by Bro. Jane Smith
Past Master Sally Pollitzer has recently completed a new commission comprised of three panels with a wall hung light box, called Reaching Out, for the Spiritual Care Centre at the Royal United Hospital, Bath.
Made London is taking place from Wednesday 25 April to Sunday 29 April at the East Wintergarden at Canary Wharf. Admission is free and they will be showcasing over 100 makers, including our Master Jane Cox, Bro. Charlotte Grierson, Bro. Sue Lowday and Bro. Lesley Strickland.
Bro. Peter Kindersley’s image of Bishop Libby Lane is featured in a new book by the National Portrait Gallery entitled 100 Pioneering Women.
Bro. Rosemary Ransome Wallis has curated the upcoming exhibition Grant Macdonald International Silversmith. It is on at Goldsmiths’ Hall from Wednesday 25 April - Wednesday 25 July 2018 . For more information please see here.
Hon. Sec. Rebecca Jewell is teaching Drawn from Nature: The Exotic, a five week course at the Royal Drawing School from Wednesday 25 April. As well as drawing from natural objects and artefacts in the studio, and the odd rare live animal, the course will visit the V&A, London Zoo and the Grant Zoology Museum. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Renee Spierdijk has an exhibition Imposed Transitions at the Alison Richard Building at University of Cambridge from Thursday 5 April to Friday 29 June 2018.
Bro. Jane Dorner has published a book of memoirs centred on her handmade Easter eggs and Christmas cards - £10 each - please get in contact with Jane if you would like one.
Bro. Shawn Williamson runs an art project retreat on an island in Chile https://www.isletillachiloe.com. Special rates are available for Guild members.
Bro. Jane Dorner is holding The Workshop of Past Master Stephen Gottlieb, an exhibition of work inspired by PM Stephen Gottlieb’s workshop, at the Guild from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 April. Over 50 splendid pieces have been made specially for the exhibition, many of which are contributed by Brothers, illustrating the diversity of a craftsman’s practice.
There will be a private view on Saturday 14 April, 6 – 9 pm and Brothers will of course be able to view the exhibition at the Sketchbook evening.
Opening hours are as follows:
9 April 4.30 pm - 7 pm
12 April 4 pm - 7 pm ( Guild OGM - sketchbook evening)
13 April 6 pm - 8 pm
14 April 6 pm - 9 pm (drinks party)
15 April 10 am - 12.30 pm
Cross section Of PM Stephen Gottlieb’s workshop by Bro. Simon Hurst
On Wednesday 7 March, the Guild had the honour of hosting Hon. Brother HRH The Prince of Wales. His visit marked the official opening of the new Courtyard. As well as unveiling a plaque in honour of his visit, he took the opportunity to meet and view the work of Brothers. More photos can be found on the Guild’s Instagram feed.
Bro. Silvia MacRae Brown is holding life drawing days at Charleston on the first Tuesday of every month, 10 am - 4 pm. The fee is £45 for the day - bring a packed lunch to enjoy in the studio or the folly garden. For more information and how to book please see the website.
PM Brian Webb has curated an exhibition Edward Bawden at Home at the Fry Art Gallery from 1 April to 28 October 2018, with a private view on Saturday 31 March, 11 am - 1 pm.
PM Sophie MacCarthy and Bro. Jeremy Nicholls are both exhibiting at Innovations in Ceramic Art this weekend, Saturday 3 to Sunday 4 March 2018 at The Guildhall, Cambridge.
Brother Ashley Howard has an exhibition, Meditations, at Guildford Cathedral from Thursday 5 April to Friday 18 May 2018. There will be a private view on Wednesday 4 April, 6 pm to 8 pm.
Bro. Neil Jennings is holding an exhibition of lithographs and drawings by James Boswell at the Guild. There will also be additional Lithographs on show from Vanessa Bell, Robert Bevan, Barnett Freedman, Duncan Grant, James Holland, Henry Moore, John Piper and Graham Sutherland.
The exhibition is open Monday 5 March - Saturday 10 March.
Opening hours are as follows:
Monday – Friday 10.30 am – 4.30 pm
Saturday 10.30 am - 3.30 pm.
There will be a private view Monday 5 March, 6 - 9 pm in the Master’s Room.
We hope to see you there.
Dear Edward, the twenty-year correspondence of PM Peyton Skipwith with Edward Bawden, is now available. A hardback book of 240 pages, it is extensively illustrated with Bawden reproductions, including a new, two-colour pattern paper on the covers. Design is by PM Brian Webb and printing by PM Phil Abel. For more information please see the website.
Bro. Jacqueline Taber’s Geedon Gallery is holding a spring exhibition, New English Art Club, from Saturday 24 March to Sunday 8 April, and then by appointment until Tuesday 15 May. Featuring work by Master Jane Cox, Past Master Josephine Harris and Brothers Vicki Ambery-Smith, Anne Hickmott, Georgy Mertichian, Jeff Soane and Richard Sorrell, along with members of the New English Art Club. Image - PM Josephine Harris - Late as always.
London Craft Week takes place 9 - 13 May 2018. The Guild will be partnering with the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers to hold a millinery exhibition and lectures, involving Brothers Edwina Ibbotson, Noel Stewart and Rachel Trevor-Morgan. More details to follow.
Bro. Vicki Ambery-Smith is taking part in an exhibition, ‘Sheer Folly’, at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Featuring Silver follies by Vicki and pictures by Ed Kluz. Until Sunday 25 February 2018.
On Thursday 1 March the Guild will be holding a film screening of Anthony Dolan’s new film ’Edgar Wood - a Painted Veil’, featuring Bro. Gareth Mason as Edgar Wood. Please contact us on 020 7713 0966 if you would like to attend.
Bro. Perry Bruce-Mitford has been awarded the Medal of the Victorian Order in the New Year’s Honours.
Bro. Alan Kitching has an exhibition ’Letterpress Prints - From a Lifetime of Letterpress Printing’ at the North House Gallery in Manningtree until Saturday 20 January.
Bro. Luke Hughes has an article in the current issue of Crafts Magazine entitled ’Craft’s place in post-Brexit Britain’.
The Art Workers’ Guild new 2018 programme is now live on the website.
Sansom & Co are pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of the first monograph on stained glass artist, Bro. Keith New. For more information please see their website.
Bro. Kee Wilkinson with artist Frances Fay Davies are launching "The Islington Art Room” - A space for artistic adventure, that will run unique evening classes including mono printing with watercolours and surrealist art games, to name a few. Opening the beginning of February, please check the website for more information.
Bro. Ben Bacon & Bro. Tim Crawley have been working on the restoration of the Great Pagoda at Kew for Historic Royal Palaces, replacing the lost dragons.
Watch a video about the project:
Here is Bro. Ben Bacon working on carving one of the lower-tier dragons.
PM Peyton Skipwith has joined Bro. Elaine Ellis’ Arts & Crafts Tours as Associate Director and is already working on new tour ideas and writing a monthly informative blog. Currently there are three tours planned for 2018 and several Brothers will join Peyton as guides and lecturers on those, including Peter Cormack, Mark Eastment, Margaret Richardson and Phil Abel
Bro. Ivy Smith has an exhibition, ’Watery Places - recent watercolours, etchings and linocuts’ at the Church Street Gallery, Saffron Walden, until Saturday 28 October.
Bro. Professor Roger Kneebone will be appearing at the Affordable Art Fair, in conversation with Royal Academician Rebecca Salter on Saturday 21 October from 3 pm to 4 pm. They will be discussing the relationship between art and medicine.
Bro. Mark Cockram has his first solo show in the USA, Beyond the Rules, at the Centre for Book Arts, running until Saturday 16 December.
Bro. Charles Gurrey is holding an exhibition, Material Matters, with his son, Philip Gurrey, at the Fitzrovia Gallery from Wednesday 8 November to Tuesday 17 November. There will be a private view on Tuesday 7 November, 6 - 9 pm.
Bro. Mark L’Argent will be exhibiting at ’Paper Scissors Stone’, which is on at the Obsidian Art in Stoke Mandeville until Sunday 29 October 2017.
A number of Brothers will be exhibiting their work at the Geedon Gallery Autumn Exhibition in Colchester from 7 - 22 October, including Bros. Richard Foster, Rebecca Jewell, Lincoln Taber, Jacqueline Taber, Juliet Johnson, Tracey Sheppard, Anne Hickmott, Georgy Metichian and PM Sophie MacCarthy.
Saturday 21 October 7 pm
The Guild is hosting the award-winning campaigner and founder of the global Craftivist Collective Sarah Corbett speaking on ’How to be a Craftivist’. This event is part of the Bloomsbury Festival.
Monday 16 - Saturday 21 October
Bro. Sarah McMenemy will be holding an exhibition of recent work featuring oil paintings and works on paper, inspired by the effects of light on the sky and sea in the beautiful parks of North London and on the stunning Norfolk Coast.
The exhibition is at the Guild and will be open Monday 16 - Saturday 21 October. There will be a private view on Monday 16 October, 6.30 - 9 pm in the Master’s Room, to which you are all invited.
We hope to see you there.
The Art Workers’ Guild
Sunday 24 September 2017 11 am - 6 pm
Following the very successful first Table Top Museum held at the Art Workers’ Guild in 2014, we are holding a follow-up event on Sunday 24 September. An exhibition of 22 installations, curated by Guild Brothers and others selected by invitation, the event will be an exhilarating, exciting and inventive celebration of the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect. Featuring museums of groovy flutes, coastal curiosities, shopping lists, gay dolls and the Chinchilla’s Museum of Crypto-Zoology, to name but a few.
An Art Workers’ Guild outreach initiative, the exhibition is organised by Stephen Fowler and George Hardie. It forms part of the Guild’s involvement in the London Design Festival, alongside Neil Jennings’ exhibition ’Works on Paper’.
The Museum will be open to the public for one day only on Sunday 24 September, 11 am – 6 pm and entry is free of charge. Refreshments will be available throughout the day.
Venue :
The Art Workers’ Guild
6 Queen Square
London
WC1N 3AT
For more information contact Leigh Milsom Fowler on info@artworkersguild.org
020 7713 0966
Monday 11 - Sunday 24 September
As part of the Guild’s involvement in London Design Week, Bro. Neil Jennings will be holding an exhibition of works on paper from the early 20th Century to the present day featuring drawings, watercolours, posters, lithographs, etchings and wood engravings. The exhibition features work by past and current Brothers of the Guild, including PM Glynn Boyd Harte, PM Marthe Armitage, Bro. Angela Barrett and Bro. Christopher Brown.
The exhibition is open Monday 11 - Sunday 24 September.
Opening hours are as follows:
Monday 11 – Friday 15 September 10.30 am – 4.30 pm
Saturday 16 September 10 am - 6 pm
Monday 18 – Sunday 24 September 10 am - 6 pm
There will be a private view on Monday 11 September, 6 - 9 pm in the Master’s Room.
We hope to see you there.
Bro. Eric Marland and Bro. Paul Jakeman have recently finished installing a plaque into the particularly hard Portland Stone facade of the Grand Lodge of the Freemason’s Hall on Great Queen Street, matching the previous three such plaques installed since the building’s opening in 1927.
Bro. Romilly Saumarez Smith was on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour talking about her practice and her place as one of the 12 finalists in the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize in partnership with the Crafts Council and V&A.
Bro. Daniel Heath is featured in an article on Design Milk - watch the video below of him discussing his craft and issues that matter.
Bro. James Birch, along with Barry Miles, has curated the book ’The British Underground Press of the Sixties’ detailing, for the first time, the covers of every 1960s underground paper and magazine. There will be a corresponding exhibition held at the A22 Gallery, 22 Laystall Street, London, EC1R 4PA from Thursday 28 September to Saturday 4 November.
Bro. Mark Miodownik has won the Royal Society Faraday Prize and Lecture.
Named after the influential 19th century inventor, the prize is awarded to scientists and engineers for their expertise in communicating scientific ideas to the wider public.
Monday 11 - Sunday 24 September
As part of the Guild’s involvement in London Design Week, Bro. Neil Jennings will be holding an exhibition of works on paper from the early 20th Century to the present day featuring drawings, watercolours, posters, lithographs, etchings and wood engravings. The exhibition features work by past and current Brothers of the Guild, including PM Glynn Boyd Harte, PM Marthe Armitage, Bro. Angela Barrett and Bro. Christopher Brown.
The exhibition is open Monday 11 - Sunday 24 September.
Opening hours are as follows:
Monday 11 – Friday 15 September 10.30 am – 4.30 pm
Saturday 16 September 10 am - 6 pm
Monday 18 – Sunday 24 September 10 am - 6 pm
There will be a private view on Monday 11 September, 6 - 9 pm in the Master’s Room.
We hope to see you there.
Following the very successful first ’Table Top Museum’ held at the Art Workers’ Guild in 2014, we are planning a follow-up event on Sunday 24 September, organised by Bro. Stephen Fowler and PM George Hardie.
We are calling for submissions from Brothers of the Guild and others who would like to exhibit their collections, be they large or small. This year, the focus will be on ’Museums’, rather than simply collections. Submissions will be discussed by the Outreach Committee and accepted on the basis of the classification, narrative and explanations provided, as well as the quality, quirkiness or interest of the collection itself.
The event will be an exhilarating, exciting and inventive celebration of both the madness and the individual and extraordinary rules of those who collect. It forms part of the London Design Festival, and will feature on the Festival website. So if you have a collection, however small, that you would like to submit, please contact Leigh on leigh@artworkersguild.org with the following details by Monday 4 September.
- Name
- Contact email and telephone number
- Title of Museum/collection
- Description of Museum/collection - 40 words maximum (this will be for use in promotional material if submission is accepted)
The Artists’ Collecting Society have just published an ’Artist Spotlight’ interview with Guild Brother Rebecca Jewell.
http://artistscollectingsociety.org/news/artist-spotlight-rebecca-jewell/
Bro. Ann Christie is holding an open studio at East Neuk in Fife this Saturday 1 July - Sunday 2 July.
Bro. Kee Wilkinson is involved in the production of Good Soldier Schwejk taking place at Sands Films with performances from Friday 7 July to Monday 17 July. For more information and tickets please see the Sands Films website.
Bro. Richard Haslam was a member of the jury for the Dedalo Minosse International Prize for Commissioning a Building. The award winners of the prize will be shown at Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza, until Sunday 16 July.
Bro. Lincoln Taber has a painting on show at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. The piece is called Lindum and the exhibition runs until Sunday 20 August.
PM Prue Cooper is taking part in the upcoming Landmark Trust exhibition, Inspiring Landmarks, celebrating the Trust’s 50 years of rescuing buildings. She has made twenty five dishes, featuring images of Landmark Trust buildings. There will also be a programme of talks. The exhibition runs Thursday 29 June to Tuesday 4 July at the Old Truman Brewery.
Bro. Bobbie Kociejowski is holding an open studio this weekend, 16 - 18 June.
Bro. Penny Price currently has a piece of work, ’Shropshire Prune Damson’, exhibited at the Tradescant’s Orchard exhibition at the Garden Museum, running until September 2017.
Bro. Tanya Harrod has just published a book with Royal Academy Publications on the painter Leonard Rosoman (1913-2012). The book was designed by Bro. Brian Webb with a preface by PM Peyton Skipwith.
An exhibition of new watercolours and drawings
Monday 19 June - Saturday 24 June 2017
Bro. Neil Jennings will be holding an exhibition of PM Ian Archie Beck’s work at the Guild from Monday 19 June - Saturday 24 June.
This exhibition is PM Beck’s first one man show to feature all new and original work. With these new watercolours and drawings, he has returned to the roots of his inspiration. These include the music of Debussy and in particular his settings of Verlaine’s poetry which was in turn influenced by the paintings of Watteau.
For more information please the attached invitation.
The exhibition will be open from 10.30am - 4.30pm each day, except Saturday when it will be open 10.30am - 1.30pm. There will be a private view on Tuesday 20 June, 6-9pm in the Master’s room.
We hope to see you there!
Bro. Romilly Saumarez Smith has been shortlisted as one of 12 finalists in the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize and her work will be shown at the V&A from 7 September 2017 – 5 February 2018, before touring to venues around the UK.
PM Ian Archie Beck has made his short film about Lutyens’ Le Bois des Moutiers available on Youtube. ’An evocation of the house and garden at Le Bois Des Moutiers in Varengeville, Normandy. Made in conjunction with The Artworkers’ Guild. The house was designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1898. The gardens were laid out by Gertrude Jerkyll. It is the only house by Lutyens, still owned by the family that commissioned it in France’
Bro. Roger Kneebone will be curating a discussion between Bro. Fleur Oakes and vascular surgeon Colin Bicknell about their collaboration tomorrow, Thursday 1 June, 7pm, at the Wellcome Collection Reading Room. Fleur is the Lacemaker in Residence at the Vascular Surgery unit at St Mary’s Hospital. She is exploring how lacemaking techniques can help surgeons improve their skills and how observing surgery can enrich her own practice. The event is free, no need to book, just turn up.
Bro Shawn Williamson has created a sculpture trail on the shore of Windermere, carved from huge boulders which were unearthed as the nearby Low Wood Hotel was being extended. He appeared on BBC Cumbria this week talking about his practice and the project.
Bro. Silvia MacRae Brown is running a three day course making portraits in clay at the late Bro. John Skelton’s studio near Ditchling. The course runs Saturday 27 to Monday 29 May.
Bro. Aaron Kasmin currently has an exhibition entitled Up in Smoke at Sims Reed Gallery running until Friday 9 June.
Bro. Susan Aldworth has an exhibition entitled The Dark Self - exploring the experience of sleep - at York St Mary’s from Tuesday 6 June to Sunday 3 September.
PM Sally Pollitzer, will be showing her work and demonstrating glass painting and printing this weekend, Saturday 27 May to Monday 29 May, at 31 Bloomfield Road, Bath, BA2 2AD as part of the annual Bear Flat Artists Open Studios.
ARCHIVE 1980 - 2000
An exhibition of linocuts and others works by Chris Brown
Friday 19 May - Friday 26 May 2017
’My work is often far from serious but I am very serious about my work’
Bro. Chris Brown will be holding an exhibition of his work at the Guild from Friday 19 to Friday 26 May. The exhibition will detail linocuts made during the period when Christopher left the Royal College of Art in 1980 until 2000. Many have been reprinted and editioned for this selling exhibition. During the early years he used a paper suggested by Bawden, which is no longer available, therefore the new editions will be printed on Zerkell. For more information please the Press Release.
The exhibition will be open from 11am - 6pm each day and there will be private views on both Thursday 18 May and Monday 22 May, both running from 6pm to 8.30pm in the Master’s room. 
PM Julian Bicknell is pleased to announce the publication of Designs & Buildings 2001-2016. This second volume of the work of his practice presents thirty projects, built and unbuilt, selected from the past fifteen years. Copies of the book are printed to order and further information can be found at his website.
Bro Richard Sorrell has an exhibition at Wolfson College in Cambridge from 27 May to 24 September 2017, Saturdays and Sundays 3-5pm. He will be exhibiting large pictures and small paintings and watercolours. Richard will be giving a talk about his work on 26 May at 7pm at the College.
Wednesday 3 - Sunday 7 May
The Guild is involved in two events during London Craft Week:
3 - 7 May, 10am - 8pm, at Fortnum & Mason
4 May, Meet the Makers, 12 - 5pm, 1st Floor at Fortnum & Mason
5 May, Milliners Tea, 3pm, at Fortnum & Mason
A new selection of work inspired by the Royal Gardens at Highgrove made by members of Guild, including PMs Marthe Armitage and Sophie MacCarthy and Brothers Vicki Ambery-Smith, Daniel Heath, Rebecca Jewell, Peter Layton, Georgy Metichian, Noel Stewart and Mark Winstanley.
There will be a ’Meet the Makers’ event on Thursday 4 May from 12-5pm at Fortnum & Mason.
There is also a special tea at Fortnum & Mason hosted by milliners Noel Stewart, Edwina Ibbotson and Rachel Trevor-Morgan on Friday 5 May at 3pm. Booking is necessary as places are limited to 20. If you would like to book a place please email customer.services@fortnumandmason.co.uk.
Friday 5 May, 10am - 5pm at The Art Workers’ Guild
Textiles to sooth the mind and soul... The ties between craft and therapy have long been in conversation, but how does craft actually contribute to your wellbeing?
The day will start with 3 speakers - Betsan Corkhill, Ruth Battersby Tooke and Marie O’Mahony. After a delicious lunch you are invited to attend a workshop. Choose from:
Basketry with Hilary Burns
Spinning with the Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers
Tapestry Weaving with Sue Lawty
Quilt Making with Abigail Booth of Forest + Found
For more information and details of booking please see the Selvedge website.
