Christmas Celebrations at Heart Gallery

OWN ART DAY AT HEART GALLERY SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER 11AM - 5PM

Hello friends

Just a quick blog post to tell you about our Own Art Day Sunday 11 December from 11am-5pm. We will have lots of goodies to give away but we really want to talk to you about how great this scheme is. OWN ART is an Arts Council England initiative designed to make it easy and affordable for everyone to own high quality contemporary art and craft.

Own Art To Take Home

The scheme seeks to support the creative economy by encouraging increased sales of work by living artists from a wide range of visual arts venues across the country and Heart Gallery wholeheartedly supports and promotes this scheme.

Heart Gallery Hebden Bridge

Why? Because it allows our customers to apply for an interest free loan of between £100 and £2000 for the purchase of original works of art or craft in any media. No deposit is required and loans are repayable in 10 monthly interest free instalments.

Own Art With an Interest Free* Loan Representative 0% APR

The Social Housing Shortage ltd edition screenprint £6.20 a month for 10 months

This means that, particularly at this time of the year, there is no need to max up the credit card and incur high interest charges because you can choose more or less anything you want from Heart Gallery and buy it on the Own Art scheme interest free …. it doesn’t cost you a penny more than the price of the piece(s) and you then have 10 months to pay for your purchase but you can take it away with you the same day your loan is approved! The minimum you can borrow is £100 (monthly repayment of £10) but this can be used to cover a group of lower value items whose combined total adds up to £100 or more.

Think about it …. a necklace for Mum …

Silver lily necklace with white fresh water pearl £57

… a bracelet for your best friend …

Silver flower charm bracelet £54

… a limited edition print for your Aunty and Uncle …

Boutique Shopping in County Arcade Leeds £80

… a mounted textile for gran …

Gran textile picture £60

… and a treat for you perhaps!!

Silver Primrose studs £40

All these pieces above qualify for the Own Art scheme and total £291 but you will pay just £29.10 per month for 10 months and everyone gets to own a piece by a UK based artist/maker that’s really special and not mass produced.

So, if you want to find out more about Own Art, or wish to purchase pieces from Heart Gallery on the Own Art Scheme, bob along on Sunday 11 December for some festive cheer. Joining us in the afternoon to sing Christmas Carols for your entertainment will be Gledholt Male Voice choir. They are kindly giving up their Sunday afternoon free of charge to sing a selection of popular carols and collect for various local charities so do come along and show your support. Their musical team includes Susan Wilkinson, an award winning musical director, and accompanist John S Bailey who has worked with Opera North, Freddie Starr and various award winning choral societies so this promises to be an entertaining afternoon.

Gledholt Male Voice Choir

Meet The Maker – Sarah Ibrahim

Sarah Ibrahim - Ibrahim

Born in Brunei, but living in England now Sarah’s work combines elements from both East and West. More specifically Sarah is concerned with the pattern, decoration, shape, form and texture of an object, and how these things are interpreted differently by the two cultures.

Small and tiny studs - Sarah Ibrahim

Sarah initially studied graphics at degree level in Bristol but later went to study jewellery in the Sir John Cass department of Art Media and Design in London. Her techniques involve intricate piercing, press forming, etching and overlay to create individual, imaginative pieces.

Large locket (nearly closed view) - Sarah Ibrahim

Sarah’s work is inspired by her heritage and travels. Her first collection is inspired by her love of intriguing containers and boxes.

Locket ring (open view) - Sarah Ibrahim

The ‘keep it’ collection consists of lockets with bright gold interiors for your keepsakes.

Sarah's statement necklace now in Heart Gallery. The locket closes when worn.

The ‘and then…’ collection is a continuation and more simplistic. They both form her first collection called ‘The Beginning’. Heart Gallery is proud to have been carefully selected by Sarah to showcase her amazing jewellery – this ‘KEEP IT’ collection of silver and gold lockets really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated.

Meet The Maker – Lauren Crawford

Lauren Crawford - Textile Artist

Using luxury silks and woollen fibres, sourced from traditional Scottish mills, Lauren designs and produce 100% hand made fabrics for those who love something unique and special. 

Reflection Corsages

Her fashion accessories are suitable for all occasions and include scarves, skinny scarves, corsages, brooches and wedding garters. 

Skinny Scarves

Available in rich colours and styles, fabrics are woven on a 16 shaft dobby hand loom, before being machine felted, air dried and hand finished.

Lambswool Corsages

Accessories feature innovative double sided woven structures and textures, inspired by Venetian opulence and architecture.

Skinny Scarf-Burgundy

All fabrics are woven in her workshop in Staffordshire and Lauren is also available for collaborative projects and is happy to receive commissions for custom pieces.

Brooch

Heart Gallery is proud to have been selected by Lauren to showcase her gorgeous scarves and corsages.

Skinny Scarf-Teal

Meet The Maker – Louise Wilson

Louise Wilson - Contemporary Wire Artsit

Louise is a contemporary wire artist based in Staffordshire. She uses wire and found materials to create 2D and 3D drawings and sculptures of everyday objects and day to day life.

Wire Spectacles

Her inspirations include found objects and vintage items, and also anything she finds particularly interesting in the environment around her.

Wire Gloves

The wire is simple and elegant allowing the focus to be on the line of the object, something so simple and yet so often missed. Louise aims to bring a feminine and personal touch to the wire using thread wrapping and also including real objects within her work.

Wire Sewing Kit In Vintage Tin

Each piece is handmade and individual which is important to her as she feels every object has its own history and a story to tell and she allows this to happen through the use of wire and found materials.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle Wire Work In Vintage Tin

Heart Gallery is so proud to showcase Louise’s amazing work for the first time and hope that she will continue to produce new collections for us.

Meet The Maker – Genna Delaney

Genna Delaney - Jeweller

Genna is a  Scottish jewellery designer who graduated in 2006 with BDes (Hons) Jewellery & Metal Design from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. She has been designing and making bespoke jewellery since 1999.

Aqua perspex and silver cuffs

Genna is passionate about designing and making jewellery and thrives to produce bespoke, superbly produced handcrafted pieces. As jewellery has a personal and sentimental value she loves taking on commissions or she can give new life to an old piece of jewellery using your own ideas.

Silver rollered frame with gold leaf pendant and earrings

One of Genna’s designs The Labyrinth Neckpiece attracted a Precious Metal Bursary Award from the Goldsmith’s Company in 2006. More recently it came 3rd in the Jolomo Craft and Design Awards and won the Dundee Craft Makers Award 2011.

Labyrinth Neckpiece

Architecture is a major influence in her work which inspires both geometric forms and organic sculptures. Movement is also a prominent force where rare coloured stones can be moved along the labyrinths of her work. Genna’s pieces are tactile, playful and sculptural. Natural rock formations influence the texture and layering of many of her designs. The Scottish landscape has influenced some of the curves and shapes of pendants.

Silver and aqua component neckpiece and ring

Genna enjoys working with precious metals such as silver and gold and loves using unusually shaped stones and setting them in innovative ways into many of her one-off pieces. However, she also experiments in incorporating non-precious materials such as plastics; glass and resins too.

Perspex silver rectangle pendant and earrings

Genna creates innovative designs by adjusting them to suit the needs of her clients, every piece is unique. She is constantly challenging the boundaries of jewellery design, producing both one-off and commercial pieces.

Silver and gold leaf frame bracelet ring and earrings

Meet The Maker – Gemma Scully

Gemma Scully - jeweller

Gemma creates jewellery inspired by the Chaos Theory, something that has fascinated her for years. The idea that small differences in initial conditions yield widely diverging outcomes fascinates her. Through a process of hand casting she is able to conduct her own research into this idea. Dropping varying amounts of molten silver and gold into different volumes of snow, ice and water she creates wildly different all one off castings that Gemma then designs around.

Silver Brooch from Gemma's Chaos Collection

Gemma is interested in adding order and structure to her designs to create an almost ironic balance or juxtapose. Drawing inspiration from Edward N. Lorenz’s images of chaotic flow she creates repetitive line drawings in precious metals including silver and 18ct gold, that add structure, form and wearability to the cast pieces.

Chaos rings in silver and oxidised silver

Having completed her degree in jewellery and silversmithing at UCA Farnham Campus, Gemma developed a new body of work based round chaos whilst on a residence at Bishopsland Educational Trust. A year long apprenticeship that helps develop business sense and skills as a maker. The Trust prides itself on the high standard of work or “The Bishopsland Standard” which all fellows are taught to work to.

Chaos necklace

Gemma prides herself on being Eco-friendly within her work, through casting herself by hand she ensures that there is no waste, all scrap is melted down and cast again. Also instead of using cast grains, Gemma buys old scrap and re-uses old silver pieces.

Chaos brooch with fresh water peacock pearl

Along with casting Gemma also uses other techniques within her work including, Gold inlay, fusing and fabrication. Lastly Gemma simply loves to design, create and then sell her pieces.

Chaos ring with fresh water pearl

Heart Gallery hopes you love your little piece of Gemma chaos!

Meet The Maker – Tania Sneesby

Tania Sneesby - Textile Artist

Tania uses a variety of new and vintage fabrics, combining them with unexpected materials, to create beautiful tactile craft pieces. 

Sister - mounted original textile piece in Heart Gallery

She doesn’t like to over plan the work, preferring to start with just a simple sketch, and “feel the work”, enjoying the flow of extemporizing, letting the fabric determine the outcome. Tania loves the imperfection of working this way, leaving edges raw, and threads loose, emphasizing the hand made care and fragility of the work.

Grandad - mounted original textile piece in Heart Gallery

As her work grows and develops, She is planning to continue with further experimentation, incorporating photographic elements, and creating new combinations and discoveries.

Tea for 3 - mounted original textile piece in Heart Gallery

Tania graduated from the University of Central Lancashire, where she studied illustration. She is fascinated by the relationship between text and pictures, and is particularly interested in children’s book illustration. 

Gran - mounted original textile piece in Heart Gallery

Tania loves traditional stories and fairy tales, and is looking forward to further development of different characters. This means that a new body of work inspired by folklore will be in our ‘May Your Dreams Come True’ Exhibition in May 2012. However, if you can’t wait that long Heart Gallery is proud to showcase a small range from Tania for our Christmas Exhibition.

Meet The Maker – Timea Sido

Timea Sido - ceramicist

Award winning British designer Timea Sido is based at the prestigious Cockpit arts London. Where she has been hand crafting her beautifully intricate ceramics since 2002. Timea’s work ranges from hand crafted bespoke work to design for manufacture and batch production. Her clients have included Kevin McCloud, Molton Brown, Kelly Hoppen, Aveda, Liberty and Fortnum and Mason.

Tangled contour small vessel

Timea’s Tangled Web Collection challenges conventional ceramics, through the development of an innovative technique in which delicate organic lines of white earthenware clay are formed and layered to construct a filigree pattern, which is then creatively applied to a variety of products within the collection.

Tangled Web Small T-Light holder

Her intricate ‘tangled’ pattern structure and fine detailing is Timea’s signature style.

Tangled Heart Container

Her enchanting ceramics add a touch of individuality to a room.

Tangled Web bowl collection

Timea’s work has been well represented by the media and the press, her work was featured in ‘Breaking the Mould’ a contemporary ceramics book published by Black Dog Publishing. Timea also won Best Dressed Stand @ PULSE 08 for her innovative display and enchanting collection of ceramics, textiles and gifts.

Various Tangled T-Light Holders

Her most recent achievement was winning the runner up prize for the Export Award at Origin 2009, enabling her to launch her collection in Milan the following year. 

Tangled heart hanging ornament on red ribbon

Heart Gallery has a wonderful selection of Timea’s tangled web collection and her hanging Christmas decorations are flying out so hurry if you are wanting to treat yourself to a snowflake, droplet, heart or bauble xXx

13.11.11

A great day on Sunday started with a very moving sight for me which I hadn’t realised would be happening.  I had been getting the gallery ready for opening for our What A Cracker Exhibition and I heard a brass band. I was just in time to see this band and people walked through Hebden Bridge and along Market Street at 11am.

Market Street 13.11.2011. 11am

What a great way to start the day which just got better and better so here are a few little piccies of our launch, please enjoy:

Fizz

There just had to be pink fizz …

Chocolates

and chocolate treats …

Tinsel

and because they are re-pointing the outside of the building I just had to trim up the scaffolding with tinsel and hearts …

Customers enjoying browsing the gallery

and customers browsing, sipping, chomping, marvelling and buying …

Contemporary craft on the shelves-small wire tin by Louise Wilson

and contemporary jewellery and craft including new collections from old favourites and new and exciting makers …

Baubles and Makers - Jacqui Sharples with her letterpress framed work

and baubles and makers adorning the gallery.

What A Cracker

If you couldn’t make it on Sunday don’t worry as the exhibition runs right through until January but we have another surprise event planned for Sunday 11 December so watch this space and see you soon xXx

Meet The Maker – Jacqui Sharples

Jacqui Sharples - Graphic Designer

Jacqui works on small antique printing presses to create unique letterpress products. Her small design studio in Lancashire is dedicated to wood letters and tree hugging paper.

Lovers Lane wood type

Jacqui is a freelance graphic designer inspired by a passion for print, the smell of ink, vintage typography and her collection of wood type.

Framed Golden Rules

Using traditional methods of hand setting type and a range of vintage printing presses, including a Victorian treadle, she creates prints to frame for the home and stationery.

Jacqui's vintage presses

 

All her presses are manually operated so the only energy used is an eco friendly light bulb and some muscle power!

Framed Bake More Cake

All the paper and card is tree friendly stock and the ink is recycled from printers who have sadly closed down due to the impact of digital on traditional print methods.

Letters

Lovers Lane print

Jacqui’s work is now gracing the walls of Heart Gallery and we are really proud to be showcasing it in Hebden Bridge – this image below has to be our favourite print!

Framed Red Wine