James Sharp began by sharing a new a new marketing package for his hand made greetings cards. As much of his craft work incorporates textiles (including the cards themselves), he has designed a fabric envelope as a container. This can then be reused when the cards have been sent on their way as a pocket or pouch. It is hoped that this will make the cards more attractive as gift packages; indeed he has already been enjoying sales of these from his crafts stalls. Whilst it was unanimously agreed that this was a successful idea, questions were raised around whether the envelopes in their current incarnation really showed of the contents to the best advantage, as being made from a single piece of fabric it was difficult to appreciate the rich colours and textures of the collages on the cards. James felt that any further embellishment would make them too time consuming to sell at a realistic price however and this led us on to talk about the fine line you cross as a crafts person when you realise that you cannot sustain a certain line of outcomes at a price that is attractive to your customer base. | Cards and Textile Case By James Sharp James also mentioned that he has been involved in plans for a re birth of the New Mills Originals gallery, having recently written a business plan for the project. It’s still very much a ‘watch this space’ venture however, so it’ll be interesting to hear more about that in the coming months. |
Christine forming King Canute's cloak (photo by Roz Kettleborough) However, we were pleased to hear that in spite of a marathon of sponsorship requests, volunteer searches, borrowed plants, soaked landscaping, scheduling, publicity events, marketing design and press releases; the garden was awarded a silver medal and appeared not only on North West Tonight but even featured in the RHS’ own programme from Tatton Flower Show. Christine made clear the sheer exhaustion that such an undertaking had resulted in but was also very positive about the experience, saying that she had very much enjoyed working in a team (as her work is normally of a more individual nature) and that she hopes to do more in the future. She was also very positive about the boost that the exposure had given to the Caldwell’s Nurseries Project and if all that wasn’t quite enough to be proud of she now has a new metal work commission and has been asked to run a series of workshops! Christine is now reflecting on which area of her practice to centralise and will give a dedicated talk on her work in 2013. | We were delighted to see Christine Wilcox-Baker again this month following her recent unavailability during the run up and aftermath of the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park. Christine has recently worked as the artist in a team of four who created a show garden at the RHS show on behalf of Cheshire Gardens Trust. Inspired by the tale of King Canute who (legend has it) lent his name to Knutsford when he forded a local river in the 11th Century (Canute’s Ford), one of the aims of the show garden was to draw attention to a local history project at the site of the old Caldwell’s Nursery (in Knutsford). As King Canute was included in the emblem of the nursery, it was decided he should feature in the 13 x 9 m garden, which was also constructed with a costal theme in recognition of the story in which King Canute demonstrated his humility before God by failing to hold back the tide. Christine designed and was heavily involved in the construction of a stainless steel sculpture of Canute which presided over the landscape; however she was also heavily involved in many of the other tasks and responsibilities that were necessarily carried out. The Tatton Show Garden (photo by Christine Wilcox-Baker) |
Page from This Place Is | I shared some recent developments of what had until now been a fairly foetal project and presented photos and pages from two This Place Is workshops sessions that had taken place since the last meeting. Not everyone had seen the booklets in their final form yet so it was good to hear reiteration that the planning and trial period had paid off! I also showed some photographs from another workshop which used craft techniques (glass painting) as a vehicle for encouraging participants to reflect on the positive things about their local areas. Last but not least, I brought along a newly completed painting from a series, the last of which had caused some controversy in the discussion as we debated the validity of using digital processes as a step towards completing traditional work. |
Suck My Ballsack 2012, Acrylic on Canvas | It was agreed however that seeing it ‘in the flesh’ made a difference though it was questioned as to whether it was necessary to make clearer the links between the paintings and other areas of my practice (The interest in interactions with urban spaces as a means for feeling more positive about being in them). I felt that I was ‘finishing off’ rather than developing a new thread, however there seemed to be an interesting parallel between my tendency to have several (related) projects running at once and Christine’s current position at a creative crossroads. Speaking personally, I have always found it rather frustrating when it has been suggested that I should specialise too heavily or have just one project underway, however I do also accept that focus is an important tool for achieving successful outcomes and that a ‘scatter gun’ approach often yields inconsistent results. |
We also had absent friends in mind this month as we viewed this photograph emailed in from Kevin Linanne (unable to make it as he’s installing a show in Bury St Edmonds!). There was some discussion about the shadowy image; a fire escape? A man in a hard hat? Construction? Or demolition? And does the second step down really have ‘666’ spookily emerging from it?! More to be revealed I’m sure, in future updates from Kevin. We also took the time to have a quick virtual look in on James Pashley to see if there were any updates from Japan but it seems he’s having too good a time experiencing it all to have done much blogging yet! Next month (26th September) we look forward to a talk by illustrator and tattoo artist Hannah Mosley on the master/apprentice relationship in contemporary practice, followed by a presentation from Jo Scorah in October on her sculptural textiles. | Photo by Kevin Linnane |