SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

I have recently completed the latest window dressing for the One Craft Gallery.  The theme was SPRING, complete with two mad March hares! The hares are my latest work.  The female hare on the blue background is dressed in pearls and a flowery dress that is attracting the butterflies! The text reads - 'Cherish every moment'. The male hare is obsessed with time! He is wearing a pocket watch and there are clock faces in the background. The text on this one reads 'Never enough time'.   They are painted in acrylic with paper collage and are 30cms square.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR is the theme for the Valentine window in the One Craft Gallery this month.  Red hearts, collaged hanging hearts and lettering plus a range of Valentine cards and gifts made by members completed the picture...

  

VALENTINE CARDS FOR THE GALLERY!

It will soon be Valentine's Day so I have made some cards to sell in the One Craft Gallery.  This year I have kept away from the traditional pinks and reds and tried some different colour schemes.  I have used screen printed or hand painted backgrounds and added hearts cut from hand painted papers.  In addition old maps and cut out lettering was collaged onto some of the cards below... 

LET IT SNOW!

Our New Year window dressing in the gallery reflects our desire to have some cold, bright weather, rather than the grey and damp Winter we have had so far!

ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS!

This year for the gallery windows we have opted for a Christmas woodland theme with natural branches and fir cones painted white, sparkly lights, and stars.  Below are a selection of the Christmas cards I made this year...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to anyone who reads this and a big thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me this year.  I hope to be able to devote more time next year to creating artworks and writing my blog!

AUTUMN HAS ARRIVED AT THE ONE CRAFT GALLERY!

The latest window that I have just completed at the One Craft Gallery is seasonal - Autumn has arrived! Autumnal colours, lots of paper leaves, colourful squashes and handmade felted bunting help create the look. The window features the work of one of our newer members - Lila Streether. She has painted a series of beautiful detailed images on black backgrounds which include, Autumn leaves, fungi and fruit (see pic below).

MADE WITH LOVE!

The One Craft Gallery window for September has returned to a theme that has been used before - MADE WITH LOVE.  All members of our co-operative cannot charge for the total hours they have taken to design and make the goods we sell, as the cost would be too much!  However, the enjoyment and satisfaction of creating makes it worthwhile, especially when people buy and appreciate what you have done...

COLOURFUL BUTTERFLIES!

It has been a long time since I have posted anything!  It is not that I haven't been creative when I can find time, but the truth is, full-time caring for a loved one doesn't leave you a lot of spare time!  I am still involved in doing the One Craft Gallery window with Caroline Tetley.  Above are pics of our latest window, which is full of colourful butterflies.  I made these out of thick cartridge paper decorated with alcohol inks.  They were coated with cold acrylic wax and the middle was then folded and stitched.

Above are some butterfly cards that I made by cutting up a background that I had constructed using layers of acrylic paint and napkins.  I then collaged on punched out flower shapes and butterflies.

DESIGN & CRAFT WINDOW AT ONE CRAFT!

The latest window display in the One Craft Gallery shows some of the processes involved to design, make and produce a finished handmade product.  The main window (see above), features two textile makers - Chris Rice and Lesley Hill.  Chris makes knitted products from her own spun wool - from fleece to yarn.  You can see her spinning wheel and carders. Lesley makes her own printed fabric and makes it up into garments, bags etc. Stage by stage examples can be seen in the window.  She also specialises in felted animals, which are also shown with tools displayed.

In the side window are examples of the tools and materials used by jeweller, Susanna Hawkins together with some of her finished silver jewellery.

 

TO THE BEACH!

The latest window in the One Craft Gallery is a beach theme, especially for those who cannot get away this year!  Caroline Tetley, who works with me to do the windows, made some sweet sandcastles out of sandpaper - see bottom pic.  We also had netting, shells, starfish, driftwood, seabirds etc. to create the look...

 

BOOKMARKS TO SEND INSTEAD OF CARDS!

Here are some of my new bookmarks which are for sale in the One Craft Gallery.  They are double-sided - the top pics show one side and the pics underneath show the reverse.  I collaged my drawings and found pictures on top of handprinted and painted backgrounds.  I looked at the colours and shapes in the background to see what subject they suggested.  Each one has a gift tag and is supplied with an envelope so they can be sent instead of a card...

WELCOME BACK TO OUR CUSTOMERS!

The One Craft Gallery reopened on July 1st.  I am pleased to report that sales for the opening days were very good and it was good to welcome back our customers. We have a fresh look inside - it has been decorated with a new carpet.  The position of the desk has changed to help with conforming to the Covid-19 regulations.  We also have a new hanging system for the artworks and new display systems for textiles.

Caroline and I kept the window display simple, with colourful spotted fabric bunting and the word WELCOME in large white letters...

  

RAINBOWS FOR NHS!

While the One Craft Gallery is closed, we have decided to decorate and reorganise, so we have all taken our entire stock out and decorated the window with rainbows and thanks to all key workers and the NHS.  This is my rainbow.  It is double-sided, made with a variety of papers and materials collaged onto cardboard, and has painted wooden hearts hanging from it. It was great to work in such vibrant colours and really lifted my mood!

GALLERY IS IN LOCKDOWN!

The One Craft Gallery in Shepton Mallet is, of course, closed at this present time as all members are staying at home due to the coronavirus, and it is a non-essential business.  The photograph above shows the SPRINGTIME  window, which we completed just before the lockdown.  We have no idea when we will be allowed to reopen.  We just hope that our customers remain safe and will come back in due course...

ONE CRAFT GALLERY WINDOW WANDERLAND CONTRIBUTION!

Tonight is the last night of the first Window Wanderland in Shepton Mallet. These events, where communities get together to light up and give people something to look at in the dark evenings, are taking place all over the country and even abroad.  The idea started in Bristol by set designer Lucy Reeves Khan in 2015.

This is the One Craft Gallery's contribution.  It was a team effort and we were so pleased with the result, we have decided to keep the window for a while longer, even if by daylight, you can't see many goods in the main window!

 

SNOWDROP AND HEART WINDOW WINS A PRIZE!

Last weekend was the Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival and Storm Dennis!  Despite this, it was a huge success and the festival goes from strength to strength.  At the gallery we had put together a hearts and snowdrop window to celebrate both the snowdrops and Valentine's Day. Our window won the prize for best dressed window at the festival, due in part, I am sure, to the enormous snowdrop and gorgeous cushions made by Liz Oliva - see top left pic.  Liz is a member of the gallery who makes fantastic hats...

MIGRATING SWALLOWS HERALD THE END OF SUMMER!

Our end of Summer window, at the One Craft Gallery, features migrating swallows and grasses, wheat and barley.  The birds are in silhouette and made from heavy wrapping paper by Caroline Tetley, who does the window dressing with me.  The grasses etc. were provided by Phil Davis, the wood turner member of the gallery, who cannot resist picking them when on his early morning walks with his dog...

TO THE BEACH!

After a few months break, Caroline and I are back styling the One Craft Gallery windows.  As the weather has been hot, we have headed to the beach!  A sign stencilled onto driftwood, and blue and white striped bunting set the scene.  We added discarded ropes, fishing nets and line, wooden seabirds, starfish and loads of seashells.  We then scoured the gallery for goods and artworks to fit in with our theme...

SPRING HAS COME TO THE GALLERY!

As March1st is the first day of Spring, according to the metrological office, we at the One Craft Gallery, decided to change our window dressing to reflect this.  The 'i' in the SPRING wording is represented with a large wooden flower and we have used yellow/orange and green bunting.  We are hoping for good weather...

OUR WINDOW WAS HIGHLY COMMENDED!

The Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival 2019 has taken place.  It was a great success with the town buzzing!  I was right about the winner of the Best Dressed Window - it was Anna's Attic (see last post).  Incidentally, the trophy, which can be seen in the top left pic, was made by Fran Davies, a local stain glass artist and one of our members at the One Craft Gallery.

We, at the One Craft Gallery had a highly commended certificate - see our window in the previous post, as did the Opticians in the High Street, Christopher Young.  Their window can be seen in the bottom three photographs above...