Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2023

Hi everyone, I hope this finds you well.

It has been a while since I’ve pulled together a long post detailing one of my trips out, and now (after three hours of photo editing and sorting contact details etc), I know why I don’t get to do it as often as I used to lol. I am spending some time looking after my parents and working hard on promoting and selling my ceramics, which has become the work I enjoy the most … long may it continue !

However here is a nod back to my degree show from the late 80’s, a silk scarf design I created and printed. At the time interior company Timney Fowler was an influence on my thinking and I chose to give this nautilus shell idea a more modern slant, by recreating modern sayings like “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw fish” and ‘Many fish make light work”.. you get the idea.

It is from illustrating Fish on my Textile degree course that the name Fishink was finally born!

So introduction over, I wanted to show you my small offerings from the 2023 Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair from last weekend. To give you a feel for the size of the event, there were over 100 exhibitors taking part. The first today is from Nell at Hem Handwoven.

Looking like a beautifully crafted pantone chart, Nell takes hundreds of photographs of an small town (such as Whitby) and then creates a colour selection of no more than 10 colours from the photographs. She then weaves up a range of scarves that are directly connected in tone and hue to that area.

Nell says “I always made things- I was brought up in a household of makers, and as an only child, I spent lots of time following my imagination and making. I’m fascinated with fabric- I import fabrics from Japan and Sweden. Trying to find the perfect fabric led me back to wanting to learn to weave- I remember making little cardboard looms when I was a child. Weaving is old. There are hundreds of thousands of drafts, offering infinite combinations of pattern, colour and texture. I think this bottomless quality is what appeals.” Beautiful fabrics Nell.

Next I spoke to the Ceramist Annie Tortora. Her stunningly realistic small birds, felt like they had literally risen from my children’s Observer Book of Birds and morphed into 3-D ! Annie says “I have been connected with clay professionally for many years now, principally as a ceramics tutor in A&F education and in an Arts for Health service based in the NHS. I truly believe in the therapeutic power of Creativity & Art. I’m proud to have worked in this capacity for over 30 years. Alongside this, I’ve practiced ceramics for pleasure, for my own creative development and sustenance and I’ve enjoyed working on commissions and exhibiting at intervals along the way.”

Her partner had made such a beautiful stand too which all cleverly came apart and broke down into easy to carry (and storeable) parts, a truly alented team.

Some more bird inspired work, but this time stained glasswork from Debbie Copley.

Creative and quality leatherwork from colourful designer Gosia Weber which were definitely too cool for school !

Intricately detailed beadwork from coding guru Cressida at Reid and Mason. She told me “my passion for textiles, pattern and colour inspire my work. Semi-precious stone and glass beads combine imaginatively with a variety of miniature treasures to create hand embroidered bespoke artwork. The addition of Morse Code allows me to transcribe text into a series of dots and dashes which once strung can be incorporated into my pieces creating secret hidden messages. Favourite poems, lyrics, prayers or a declaration of love can all be immortalised in the beadwork producing artwork that really can speak to you.”

Back to the birds, (and other animals) by talented ceramist Jack Durling. Jack is a Brighton based artist who is inspired by the natural world and creates bespoke ceramic sculptures that are celebratory of animal species. Focusing on natural behaviour and animal congregation, his work is notable for decorative embellishment and I would also say.. the viewers quirky enjoyment.

I loved the calm illustrations by printmaker and embroider Gail Kelly. She works using linocut, woodcut and lithography, inspired closely by the countryside where she lives, along with gorgeous gardens and beautiful landscapes she sees on her travels in Ireland and Britain.

Vibrant, leafy screenprints by Kathy Hutton. It turns out from our chat, that Kathy not only is related to one of my best friends but also went to the same school as me when I was a youngster. Small world hey!

When chatting to ceramist Nehal Aamir, she told me that her work was inspired by Pakistani truck art which also enabled Nehal to illustrate her own heritage. She explained how personal the illustrations painted on the decorated trucks were to the drivers. The images have meaning to their families, communities and offer glimpses into their beliefs and sometimes even depict the gods who watch over their safety as they spend long hours on India’s dusty roads. I thought it wonderful how Nehal had captured a part of her heritage and transformed it into a decorative tile for people’s interiors.

I had bumped into illistrator James Green a couple of time before at other events. I feel we have a similar sense of creating characters who inhabit our minds, or in Jame’s words ‘alternative universes’. In his case it’s his clever little donkeys who strutt around and often steal the show.. or at least the print !

In the style of most good adventures, I was saving the best til last and for me this time, it was definitely the quiet little 20 minute chat I had with the lovely ceramist Lucy Baxendale. Her work is delightful, charismatic, offbeat and downwright enchanting. I had feelings of meeting a clay form of Maurice Sendak’s ‘and ‘Where the Wild Things are’, merged along with mischievous sprites, carefree creatures and whimsical folk of the forest. All creations from Lucy’s wonderful head.

We had a great chat about where we both feel our influences had come from and how her parents were so great at encouraging her and her sister to think as creatively wild as possible. No idea was ever considered too much, too crazy or simply silly. Her father created his own apps to switch lights on and off in his home whilst he was away and many other helpful devices for around the house. It sounds like a great childhood and a wonderful way to nurture an enquiring and creative mind. I can see where he work comes from. Beatutiful work Lucy and thanks so much for the inspirational chat.

Needless to say, apart from a quick hello to my friend Tone Von Krogh (who’s stand always looks amazing), my two small purcases today were from James and Lucy. How lovely to take a little part of their worlds home with me.

Do visit the weblinks to the artists I have mentioned today and if you like their work too, please tell them you saw them here and perhaps buy a little something along the way too.

For some of my work you can find me over on instagram at Fishinkblog. Thank you GNCCF for a wonderfully exciting day out.