2010 September | Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics

‘Make’ Exhibition – Devon Guild

I will be part of the annual Christmas exhibition at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen this year: 13 November – 2 January 2010.

The exhibition is called ‘Make’, and quotes: “The exhibition takes in the best contemporary craftwork the UK has to offer from both regional and nationally acclaimed designer-makers. This is the perfect place to buy presents this Christmas with such a wide range of unique hand-made designs on display.”

This selection of my work will be on show and for sale at the exhibition. I’m excited about this venture as many people have mentioned to me how they had thought my work would fit in well in Devon.

Featured Interview: Kirsty Elson Designs

Meet: Kirsty of Kirtsy Elson Designs

How long have you been making?

I started about 6 years ago, after I didn’t get a job as a postman! Now I am very grateful for that!! I just started making driftwood boat cards and taking them to galleries. They did really well and I began to get regular orders from all over the country. In the last 18 months I’ve expanded my product range alot.

What processes & techniques do you use in your work?

I love working with driftwood, but you’re kind of limited with this medium as sometimes there is none to be found! So I make fabric homewares/accessories to supplement the driftwood stuff. Recently I’ve had a couple of commissions for collages, which is how I worked when I did my illustration degree nearly 20 years ago. I don’t believe you need to stick to one process. Most of my products have a nautical feel: that’s what links everything together.

What are you inspired by?

That’s easy…the beach!

Do you have a workspace or studio? What is it like?

Only recently! I spent years working at the dining table, now I am lucky enough to have a room of my own and I love it! I can just shut the door on the mess – it saves me so much time, not having to constantly clear stuff away etc!

Where can people buy your work?

Folksy and notonthehighstreet.com

How do you promote your work?

I’ve just signed up to be in the ‘Not on the High Street’ Christmas catalogue, which was quite expensive, but it has a huge distribution, so hopefully it’ll be worth it. And writing a blog has been really worthwhile (www.sixtyonea.blogspot.com).

What goals do you have for the future?

I’ve just given up a part-time job at a bakery which meant a 5am start! I’m doing well enough with the business to do without it, which I am very thankful for! My youngest son has just started pre-school: as time goes on, I should be able to concentrate on the business more. Ultimately, I will be more than happy if I can continue creating at home and be self-employed for, like, ever!

What advice would you give to someone thinking about turning their craft/art into a business?

Ideally, you should have a unique product, confidence in that product and be passionate about what you do. If you want to do it badly enough, you will!

A few of your favourites (just for fun)…

Colour red

Animal reindeer

Season Christmas! or failing that, spring.

Person My mum and dad – don’t make me choose between them!

Food: Mexican, Thai….chocolate?

Website: Sorry, can’t choose a website – far too many lovely ones to choose from!

Thanks for sharing a peek into your life and work Kirsty!

Kirsty also has a Facebook page – Make sure you ‘Like’ her page to keep up to date with the latest news and information. Kirsty has just ran Facebook giveaway and will be running another one soon – keep your eyes peeled!

New Ceramic Bowl Design

This is the first piece I made using my new bowl design. I saw a mirror in a magazine made up of lots of different sized circles stuck together, cut it out and stuck it on the wall of my workshop as inspiration. Then this evolved…

Pond Bowl with Spots

I made this as an experiment a couple of months ago and finally got around to firing it – I’m really pleased with the results.

I’ll definitely be making more pieces using this design, and will try out some different shapes and colours. Any requests?

What I’m working on…

Somehow (I’m not quite sure how!), I’ve managed to find some time to make some bits & pieces in my new workshop this week. I love it in there, I’ve got so much more space… although I suppose more space means more mess.

These little ceramic shapes are white because they have been glazed. The glaze is white when it is applied to the clay, and when fired it turns clear and smooth.

The shapes are going to form some new hanging decorations that I’m working on, a bit like this one, but slightly different! I’ll show you the results when they are finished.

I’ve also been working on a completely new product which I think could be popular at my craft fairs for Christmas – samples below. Can you guess what they are?

I’ll show you the finished pieces in a few weeks when they are ready

Homemade Leek & Potato Soup

Since I moved into my new house, my mum has been baking me a few things like bread and cakes. Last week she made me a big tub of home made leek & potato soup, one of my favourites – it was absolutely scrummy!!! It was the first time my Mum had made her own soup so I was very impressed.

…Although it did sound really easy to make.

All you do is soften the potatoes by boiling them, fry some chopped leeks and roughly chopped onion in a small amount of oil, then blend it all together with chicken/vegetable stock and seasoning. If you don’t have a blender you can buy a hand held blender quite cheaply.

I complimented the soup so much, my Mum is making me some more this weekend

New Stockist: Rosewill Cottage

Today this bunch of ceramic goodies will be winging their way up to Newcastle Upon Tyne to settle into their new home, my new stockist – Rosewill Cottage in Whitley Bay.

The lady behind the new shop is Dawn of Rosewill Charms. She makes some beautiful jewellery, and is about to broaden her business by opening up Rosewill Cottage to stock beads and findings. Dawn has space in the new shop to accommodate 4 other designer/makers, and will be selling the work of Lazy Daisy Glass, Handmade in Heaven, The Sock Garden, and my ceramics. Rosewill Cottage will also be running workshops.

This is a view of the old shop front, which is being completely redesigned in a few weeks. Whitley Bay is on the North Sea Coast and boasts a fine stretch of beach of golden sand forming the bay. Rosewill Cottage will be situated at 188 Park View in Whitley Bay – the up and coming row of boutique style shops, and is scheduled to open its doors around mid October.

My new Workshop in Action

Last week I showed you what the new garage looked like after it had been emptied and freshly painted. Now that I’ve moved all my stuff in and set everything up, it’s all ready to start making new work!

Theres still plenty of room for my car to fit in…

I’ve made use of the nails in the walls to hang some of my wind chimes up,

and there were also 2 nails conveniently positioned for my banner to hang up on a beam! It needs a bit of extra support in the middle but its ok for now.

I don’t use this banner any more, since I got my new stand up roller banner earlier this year. So I thought it would be perfect to hang it up in my new work space rather than not being used.

I’ve already spent some hours making a few new pieces, and organising work to be sent for an exhibition in Newcastle and a new stockist in Tyne & Wear (more details about these soon!) – It’s cosy in my new workshop!

Featured Interview – Petal Textiles

Meet: Helen of Petal Textiles

How long have you been designing textiles and how did it all begin?

Since I was little, I always loved drawing, designing and making things. I remember drawing lots of bat winged jumpers in the 80′s. I then went on to specialise in Textiles at college and then did a degree in Decorative Arts at Nottingham Trent University. After my degree I felt like I needed a break from being creative and unfortunately that lasted about 10 years. I then started to knit and did a couple of courses and loved it and haven’t stopped since. I started Petal Textiles about 18 months ago.

What processes & techniques do you use in your work?

I predominately use handmade felt, needle felting, hand and machine embroidery and often combine these techniques together. But I love experimenting with other techniques such printing, knitting and stitch and burn.

What are you inspired by?

Most of my inspiration comes from nature, a lot of my work uses floral designs. Recently I have been inspired by pebbles after spending an afternoon on a pebble beach. I also like exploring colour and texture and sometimes the materials I am using are the inspiration.

Do you have a work space or studio? What is it like?

I work from home and have taken over the dinning room, unfortunately it is still used as a dinning room occasionally, so I have to tidy everything away now and again. There is a large table, which is great as I get to spread out, I am a very messy worker so I tend to fill all the space I can. This room is is also full of our large book collection.

Where can people buy your work?

I have a shop on Folksy and will be selling through a couple of other online galleries / shops soon.

I also have work in Get Made, which is the Nottingham Craft Mafia Shop on St James Street in Nottingham and Studio 61 in Derbyshire. I will also be doing some Christmas Craft Fairs.

How do you promote your work?

I have a blog, I also use Facebook and Twitter. But to be honest I do need promote my work more.

What goals do you have for the future?

I still work full time, ultimately I would like be able to able to spend more time on Petal Textiles, as this would mean I would have time to promote my work more and explore and develop ideas, but I think that’s a very long time away. I think short term I want to get my work in more places, I want to keep developing, as I feel I have come a long way in 18 months, I need to promote my work work more and I want to do more craft fairs as I think this can be a great way to promote yourself. But most of all I want to keep enjoying myself.

What advice would you offer to someone thinking about turning their craft/art into a business?

Promote your work as much as you can, its a really competitive market with loads of very talented sellers, so it can be hard to get your work seen. Don’t get down hearted if you don’t get sales, I know I have had to work very hard to get every single sale. Grow some thick skin, you will get people who don’t like your work. Try and do something a bit different. But most of all keep enjoying what you do.

A few of your favourites (just for fun)….

Colour: Red

Animal: Badger

Season: Autumn

Person: My Fella

Food: Cheese

Website: ooh that’s hard, I do like a good craft blog with lots of images.

Thank you Helen! I love your work and your workspace looks amazing with all of those colourful books.

Check out Helen’s shop for her latest creations, and hop over to her blog to read about what she is currently working on.

Molly is settling in

…she’s slowly getting used to the different noises and smells, but likes to wake us up every morning at 5am with her strange meow! She still loves her scratching post,

and snuggles up on the sofa in the evenings while we’re watching tv,

But she can’t go outside yet. She’s been out in the garden for a little sniff so that she can get some fresh air, but she usually runs straight back in because she’s scared!

It will be strange when she does eventually venture out properly – there isn’t a cat flap so we’ll have to keep opening the door for her. But what if she’s out somewhere and we go out – she’ll be locked outside? Our old neighbour never had a cat flap, and I know of other people who don’t use them, so I suppose we’ll get used to it.

New House

Here are some pictures of our new house… I ♥ the teal in the living room! I think its my new favourite colour.

Do you remember the photograph of the beach boulders I bought from Andrew Scoggins? I finally found a frame for it, and it looks great on the wall in the living room.

We don’t have a door separating the living room and dining room/kitchen, its just an archway. It’s really nice with the light coming through the patio doors lighting up the whole space. One of my sculptural vessels is on display! Can you spot it?

We are very happy here

My new workshop

It started as a cold, dirty empty shell full of dust and cobwebs…

…but now with a thorough clean from top to bottom and a lick of paint, it is looking fresh and ready to work in.

There were some tubs of paint left on one of the shelves in the garage when we moved in last week, so I thought I’d make good use of them, even if it was a mish-mash of white, magnolia, brown & tea green! The brick work at the far end of the garage is quite old and some of the bricks are crumbling in between the gaps – so thats why you can still see gaps – I couldn’t paint over these bits which was a shame. I haven’t done half a job, honest!

The shelves were originally painted blue, and were full of layers of dirt and dust. Now they are sparkly clean and I painted them ‘tea green’.

The space is huge – theres still plenty of room to use as my workshop when my car is in the garage too.

Its nice to just step out into the back garden and straight into the garage side door. It also feels great being surrounded by actual walls, rather than wooden slats from my old workshop (shed). I’ll be spending today moving all of my stuff from the shed at my mums into the garage at my new house. I might even get stuck in and start making some new work once its all set up this afternoon!

Come back in a couple of days to see the garage properly set up!

Featured Interview – Trinket Box

Meet:

Sophie Franck – Trinket Box

How long have you been making jewellery and how did it all begin?

I’ve been making jewellery for a few years now. I’ve always liked making things and being creative – it started off with cross stitch when I was little, then I began making cards and customising, before getting hooked on making jewellery!

What processes & techniques do you use in your work?

I love using Art Clay silver in my work – a precious metal clay, which when fired becomes 99.9% pure silver. I tend to mix this with sterling silver and semi-precious gems. I love using gemstones in my work, there is such a wide variety, and I also do quite a lot of wire work with sterling silver wire.

What are you inspired by?

Anything and everything! I always find I get a lot of my ideas when I’m trying to get to sleep at night – not the best times! I should learn to sleep with a notebook by my pillow.

Do you have a work space or studio? What is it like?

I would love to have my own little studio! I do have a little area in my bedroom though. I have a desk with drawers full of supplies and all my jewellery mags stacked on top of each other, and a big work surface!

Where can people buy your work?

www.frankie.folksy.com

What goals do you have for the future?

I’m going to be doing a class in silversmithing soon, so I’m hoping to get more into that – providing I’m half-decent at it! I would just love to try out lots of new things.

What advice would you offer to someone thinking about turning their craft/art into a business?

Promotion is the key!