50 Plus Show

Last Weekend I was involved in the 50+ Show to help promote Craft Scotland.  This was a last minute effort as the promoters only offered the space to Craft Scotland about 6 weeks before the show.  Selection was a hurried affair and with some being selected dropping out before the three people were selected.

When we arrived, I was surprised to find that we did not have a shell stand, just a space.  However we all set up with the materials we had.  This was the set up prior to opening on Friday.

The three crafts represented were paper making (Pulp), jewellery (Lauracet Designs) and glass (Verrier).  We all offered some hands on making of a basic kind.

The first day for me was a blur from about 11:30 when people began taking up my offer of a free basic introduction to stained glass through making copper foiled angels or Christmas trees.  The degree of activity can be noted by the fact that I got to start my lunch after the close of the show at 5:00.  I was better organised on Saturday, but still finished my lunch at 5:00.

I am not sure how much Craft Scotland got out of the show, as we all were busy and not really able to promote the sponsoring organisation as much as we should have.  The staff of Craft Scotland were in Philadelphia at a show promoting Scottish craft and the Board member who was to have come on Saturday was ill.

It was gratifying to hear some of the workshop participants say to one another that "this was the best part of the show."  I am not sure how many people will be coming to my classes and workshops as a result, but I enjoyed the process, although very busy.

The "C" Word

I was at the launch of the craftscotland "C" Word advertisement launch on Friday evening. It was exciting to see lots of people enthused about craft - there I've gone and spoiled it for you! Lots of people talking about craft and their reactions to it and how to promote it.



The campaign has a nice logo too which you can see at the foot of the page. Follow the links for more information on this high profile campaign.

DIY Craft

I note Emma Walker’s encouragement for us all to embrace the DIY movement in the craftscotland website.

The idea of DIY craft has had to be explained to me. Emma gives a good description of what it is in the USA. My description is “Enthusiast”. Because craft is still largely an activity carried out by the person who imagines the object that they then create, it is still largely DIY. Technology increasingly plays a part in craft production and processes. But this is not about technology as far as I can see it.

It may be that I am being dense here, but I think I have been encouraging people to explore my medium for over 10 years. I have offered workshops and classes to many people. The studio I have been involved with, has offered open access facilities for people to create things for themselves. Some of these people have become dedicated workers – although not many have become full time workers. Most who have continued, make things for themselves and others. A few sell their work at craft fairs and through galleries.

This is what I understand the DIY movement people do too. I am not sure what has changed. Is it the volume of people newly interested in making things themselves? A number of suppliers of materials for various craft forms have long been kept alive by these enthusiasts/DIYers.

I guess I just don’t get it.

craftscotland Calendar 2009

I have just realised that I have some copies of the craftscotland calendar for 2009. I am willing to send them to anyone who wants one at a discounted price of £3.00 plus p&p (normally £5)

The calendar gives a baker's dozen examples of Scottish craft. It comes in a CD sized case for propping up on the desk or leaving closed with just the current month showing. It is a momento of the "Homecomming" to Scotland in the year of the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birth.

Send me an e-mail if you would like a copy.

Absence and Return

I haven't been very consistent in posting about my activities. Apologies.

I have had several weeks of doing no glass at all! The first of these weeks I spent on a life drawing course with 7 other people. Five days for only £100. This included meals and all the paper you could use. Oh yes. And a model and an instructor. Although I was only able to do the first 4 days, it was a great experience. I normally think I can do only two hours at a time before my concentration falls. Well with an instructor, I find I can concentrate longer. It was a great group of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experience.

The last day I had to go to chair the craftscotland Board meeting. We have appointed a new chief executive, and I didn't think I could leave her to cope on her own, nor my vice-chairman. One good outcome of the post meeting discussion was that I think we have convinced the vice-chairman to take on the post of chairman soon.

Then off to London for a week to see my daughter and go to some exhibitions. I got to see the Royal Academy show that included a number of my favourite artists - Braque, Calder, Miro, and Giocometti. It was a great show with lots of big stuff. There also were a number of charming small studies in pencil, charcoal and some pastels that showed the working up of ideas to the final pieces.

I also got in the last week of the BSMGP 40cm2 (Forty centimeters squared) show at the Cochrane Theatre. This required each of the selected artists to use a square format of 40cm. This provided a variegated wall of glass against the windows of the Cochrane Theatre bar area. I was there on a bright day which allowed lots of light through all the windows. A feature of the street scape outside the Theatre is a number of relatively young trees, giving a dappled light for the panels. Lots of variety, but not many surprises. But there was enough to occupy me for a couple of hours.

I went to the Sir John Soan Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields. This is a great museum for those interested in architectural details. The attraction was the invitation to find the pieces of glass, ceramics and a few other materials that were created by students in response to the space. Well some of them were so well hidden that even with a crib sheet they were not easy to find. My favourite though was a "poured" piece of glass falling from a tap in the dressing room.

Good dinners, good conversations, and nice wines.

Then I came back to reality - work.

As you know, I have had difficulty with my large kiln over the past few months. I am now getting more confident about the results that I can get from it. The three pieces below are a screen between a bedroom and the stair up to the loft. It is more about decoration that privacy it seems to me.

The three pieces as shown are for a space 990mm by 860mm

The actual colour is somewhere between these two photographs. The upper one is as it was taken by the camera (me). the lower one is as colour corrected by Adobe. The colours are warmer than the bottom one, but not so yellow as the top. I suspect that I should take an evening class in photography.

Growing audiences for craft

As soon As I got back from London, I went to the Birnham Institue near Perth, to attend a day conference on developing audiences for craft. This was organised by The Audience Business who have put some of the information from the meeting on their website under the title Future Focus.

Among the models for developing craft promotion and sales is the one for the fine art market. This relies on scarcity. The scarcity is created by the gallery system of creating an environment where the prospective purchasers buy in or subscribe to the values promoted by the galleries, educationalists and critics. It seems to me that crafts are a bit more democratic than this model. I admit that there is more chaos than system in the current craft market, but it is distinctly different from another proposed model - the antiques market.

The art market may be considered elitist. I don't think I would like to see the craft market move in that direction. But I don't see why a populist art form has to be unorganised. I would like to see some one develop a research project to develop a model for crafts in an electronic age. We do need much more critical writing about craft and more galleries that devote some of their energies toward promoting and selling craft.

Of course, I should admit an interest. I attended this conference both as a maker and in my other guise as chairman of craftscotland. This is currently a web-site devoted to the promotion of quality Scottish craft. It is open to all working in Scotland to become members of this site, and everyone can use it to get information about artists, events, and resources. You can sign up to receive monthly e-mails on current news and developments in craft.

Flower series

I have been fascinated by a number glass artists who use powders to "paint" on glass, others sift the powder in an even layer and then cut through to the colour below with wheels or sandblasting.

My variation on this has developed into a series of bowls using flowers as the theme. The way in which you can control the powders through a number of firings gives a subtle graduation of colour. Firing at lower temperatures can give a variety of textures over the 5 - 7 firings required to achieve the colour intensity and graduations. Experience has shown that the bowl form suits the flower shapes well, giving a three-dimensional aspect to the image that is in keeping with the subject.

Below are a number of recent bowls I have completed in preparation for a spring show and possible inclusion in the craftscotland limited edition collection.

Briar Rose 300mm dia.

Briar Rose, 200mm dia.

Plumeria, 300mm dia.

Tulip, 300mm dia.

"Australian Bloom", 400mm dia.