Category: Events

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Leigh Art Trail 2023

This year I exhibited at the Leigh Art Trail with SEVEN Collective at the Refill Room. Our chosen theme for the year was ‘Seasons’ and we each produced 2 x DL concertina sketchbooks: one for autumn and winter; and one for spring and summer. For each season I also took inspiration from a different artist.

Autumn – inspired by Gustav Klimt

Using mixed media and collage, for me, Autumn is all about the rich colour palette of reds, oranges and golds.

Autumn sketchbook (inspired by Gustav Klimt)

Winter – Inspired by William Kentridge

The key visual element of winter, for me, is seeing the silhouette of skeletal trees against the sky.

I had recently visited a William Kentridge exhibition at the RA in London and took inspiration from his use of old text pages for backgrounds and his simple drawn animations.

Winter sketchbook (inspired by William Kentridge)

I created my own simple, stop-frame-animation of trees blowing in the wind which you could see via a QR code on one of my sketchbook pages.

Spring – Inspired by Flora Bowley

My spring sketchbook was heavily influenced by the ‘brave intuitive’ approach of Flora Bowley. As spring was very late to arrive this year it was a difficult sketchbook to start, so I relied heavily on being intuitive. Spring, for me, is all about seeing new life in the garden. Green shoots appear along with springtime flowers: daffodils, tulips, bluebells and my ever-favourite Fritillaria flowers.

Spring sketchbook (inspired by Flora Bowley)

Summer – Inspired by Antonio Gaudi

Summer season, for me, is seeing an explosion of bright colours and patterns in the clothes people wear. This reminded me of Gaudi’s mosaics, in particular Parc Guell, Barcelona.

Summer sketchbook (inspired by Antonio Gaudi)

The Leigh Art Trail was on from 8-16 July.

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2022 highlights

Handmade crochet accessories – fingerless gloves, cowls and hats

The main highlight of 2022 has to be dipping my toe into the world of artisan craft fairs!

As with any new venture I always find myself spiraling in towards the intended goal before I reach it. So this journey hasn’t been any different and this is how I’ve gone about it:

Step 1: Help a friend with her stall. Back in June I wanted to gain the experience of being at a craft fair without the risk of doing a craft fair. The day included: pickup, drive, unload, (drive back to collect a forgotten item!), set up, hang out for the day, meet and greet potential customers, cover the stall for little breaks, pack down, drive, drop off. The day flew by!

Step 2: Take part in Open Studios. In early October I moved into a new studio and in mid October we had Open Studios – Phew! Challenging to get everything set up but it was a really good weekend with a few sales to boot.

Step 3: Share a craft stall with friends at different craft fairs. In November and December I shared stalls with friends at three local craft fairs, which was a really good experience. I only had half a stall which meant less space (but less stock was needed!), plus it was half the cost. I also had support throughout the day and gained lots of knowledge from the wealth of their craft fair experience.

Step 4: Have my own stall at a craft fair. This is my aim for 2023 and I have applied for a few fairs that take place early in the year, which I’m waiting to hear back from. Watch this space! Very exciting 🙂

Working up some crochet gloves at the Folk & Bespoke Artisan Fair, Rayleigh Mill. (Photo courtesy of F&B)

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has visited the fairs, liked my posts, followed me on social media, my customers and everyone who has supported me – it’s been a lot of fun so far!

Hope to see you in 2023!

BTW: I will be selling throughout the year via Instagram and in person from my studio at Hadleigh Old Firestation. I also take commissions, so if there is a bespoke size or colour you’d like, please DM me to discuss: hello@jobund.co.uk

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My first craft fair

Folk & Bespoke artisan craft fair flyers

I’ve been interested in doing a craft fair for a long time. I also know a growing number of people around me who take part in them regularly, which has inspired me to finally take the plunge!

I initially helped a friend with her stall back in June, just to get some experience and to see if I would like it, and I really enjoyed it. She then very kindly asked if I would like to share her stall in November – I jumped at the chance. But then the nerves took over and the more practical questions began…’how much stock do I need?’, ‘what prices do I sell my items for?’, ‘how will I transport everything to the fair?’ etc etc

Luckily I had already decided WHAT I would sell, as over recent months I have received a lot of interest in my crochet wrist warmers. I personally love these and have made a few pairs for myself as my hands are ALWAYS cold! I wanted a simple design with a thumb hole so that I could still use my fingers while keeping my wrists and hands toasty warm. They have since been snapped up by other craft stall holders, artists and dog walkers and they make the perfect gift.

A selection of my wrist warmers on display

To compliment the wrist warmers I also made matching cowls, scarves and slouchy hats. These are a few of the items I had on display.

Crochet accessories on display

The display is a work in progress but for a first attempt I think it worked ok. I had varying heights, a space to stash my notebook and water bottle and a long table covering to hide everything under the table. I had also bought a Sumup machine to enable me to take card payments. It was sooo easy to use and accounted for about 90% of my sales on the day! Well worth the investment (in the initial purchase and in the time for setting up the stock items).

I’m now busy making new stock for my upcoming Christmas Craft Fairs, see dates below…

Upcoming craft fair dates where you can find me:

Sat 19 Nov – Christmas Eco Fayre at Leigh Road Baptist Church, SS9 1NN
Sat 10 Dec – Folk & Bespoke Artisan Craft Fair, Leigh Community Centre, SS9 1SP
Sat 17 Dec – Folk & Bespoke Artisan Craft Fair, Mill Arts & Events Centre, SS6 7ED

I also take commissions, so if you have any specific requirements please drop me an email at hello@jobund.co.uk, or pop along to one of the craft fairs above, and we can discuss them 🙂

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Open studios – Hadleigh Old Firestation

Open Studios is back at HOFS and we’re all very excited to be opening our doors to the public!

However, before we open the doors, on the 15th & 16th October, I’ll be moving into a new studio (so please excuse any unpacked boxes!)

In the run up to the event there will be a buzz of activity and I’m really looking forward to it. My new studio is more spacious than my current one and comes with its own printing press!! Yay! Come along and see for yourself.

There will be other events in the building and artists taking part will have an exhibition in the main hall. I’ll be displaying the photograms from my #the100dayproject that I completed earlier this year. Here’s a taster:

Photograms from my #the100dayproject 2022

I’ve also been working on a new series of mixed media collages using gelli printing. Join me in the studio to see how I create my gelli prints and the progress I’ve made so far.

Mixed media collages using gelli printing and stitch

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Leigh Art Trail 2022

This year, the Leigh Art Trail will be celebrating 25 years! I’m taking part with SEVEN Collective, where we will be exhibiting sketchbooks inspired by the theme ‘Silver’.

Each artist has chosen a different ‘silver’ theme and created a handmade sketchbook.

My theme is black and white photography.

“When exposed to sunlight silver became darker”

Britannica

Silver is the main element in b&w photography due to its light-sensitive properties. Photography paper is coated with an emulsion made from silver salts and gelatin. When exposed to light, an image is formed on the paper, which is then developed using darkroom chemicals.

I have always enjoyed developing prints in a darkroom and I have long been inspired by the ‘Art in Nature’ photographs of Karl Blossfeldt and the cameraless photograms of Laslo Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray.

My book is comprised of five sections, each with five pages developed from a different workshop run by SEVEN, focusing on collage, print, text, lyrics and drawing. Cultural and technical references to photography are loosely woven throughout the pages. Each section closes with a digitally enhanced lumen print (a cameraless technique using direct sunlight to develop photographic paper). The book has been bound in a recovered vintage hardback book cover.

Sketchbooks on display at The Refill Room, Leigh Art Trail

When: 3-11 September 2022
Where: Venu 13, The Refill Room, Leigh-on-sea, Essex, UK

Visit www.leigharttrail.com for all the details.