Meet The Maker – Miranda Sharpe

Miranda Sharpe – Jeweller

Miranda started her professional practice/business designing and making contemporary jewellery in 2001 and has exhibited and sold her work widely across the UK and ventured into the international market place.  She enjoys the challenges of designing and producing a unique range of jewellery that holds commercial possibilities, alongside opportunities to create one-off or commission specific piece’s that can be larger/ bolder in design.

Miranda Sharpe – Flourish necklace

 Miranda studied for a BA Hons degree in 3D design at Manchester Metropolitan University, followed by an MA specialising in jewellery design at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. Her latest work explores ideas of emotion and emotional responses. One strand is inspired heavily by microscopic images of disease and bacteria, translating images of matter that we find unpleasant and finding the beauty within it to evoke a contrasting response.

Miranda Sharpe – Thrive 6 piece necklace

For this work she is exploring scale by working on larger pieces for walls as well as pieces of jewellery.

Miranda Sharpe – Thrive 5 drop necklace

Miranda’s approach to jewellery is to express what interests her visually, drawing on shape and form from the natural world and presenting it an abstracted way. Through the design process she explores form through simple lines and how repeating or layering materials and components can change the effect of a piece. 

Miranda Sharpe – Flourish multi drop earrings

Heart Gallery loves Miranda’s work and our customers do too – add her to your ‘wish list’ before it sells out!

Miranda Sharpe – Flourish ring stack

Meet The Maker – Eric Moss

Eric Moss – Potter

Eric work’s in raku and naked raku as he likes the way the finished pots reflect their ‘elemental’ journey from mud to ceramic: Eric thinks this particular process imparts a ‘sense of life’ within a piece. 

Knife Family

The transparent crackle glaze Eric uses dresses tightly-controlled, sculpted forms in a complementary random and natural effect sometimes punctuated by paper and glue resisted areas. Thrown pots are modified with shaped ‘ribs’ during throwing and often have no base so the pot can ‘rock and roll’ without tipping. 

Seedpod

Seedpods group

Eric enjoys this play between the fragility of the pot and the durability of its composition.  His forms suggest seeds and nuts, ringed planets, flower bracts and jet engine parts. 

Small Boat Balancers

Larger, sculptural, work: The ‘Big Boat’ theme Eric is exploring is assembled components, press moulded with a variety of surface treatments and levels of enclosure; The ‘Knife form’ – not quite a cylinder and not quite a cube is intriguing by virtue of it being three dimensional but with only two sides and one edge – follow the knife edge with your finger and you end where you began.  This form is ‘scale independent’, lending itself to manufacture in many sizes – groups of varied sizes ‘nest’ together in ‘family units’

Knife couple

Much of Eric’s work is in 2 or more parts and very tactile with a range of display configurations which invites the observer into the sculptural process. 

Squid & Seed Mated Pair

Shark

Heart Gallery has showcased Eric’s work before but we still get excited when he delivers his new pieces – his work will be with us for our next exhibition launch to celebrate our 6th Birthday.

Eric Moss

SPIRIT

SPIRIT – Heart Gallery’s 6th Birthday Exhibition

Yes! We are 6 next month and after the year that we have had in Hebden Bridge with the devastating floods we felt it was something we needed to celebrate! So you really do have to come and join us on Sunday 23 September for the Summer Garden Party celebrations we had to postpone.

SPIRIT – Heart Gallery’s 6th Birthday Exhibition

We have rushed to put this exhibition together but have fantastic support of previous makers alongside new ones keen to be a part of our celebrations. Keep checking into the blog for some sneaky peeks at all the work due in for this exhibition and see you on the 23rd x

Meet The Maker – Libby McMullin

Libby Mcmullin – Surface pattern designer, illustrator, printmaker, artist

The imaginary world of Libby McMullin is intricate and beautifully detailed, as is her work. Libby wanted to be an illustrator since she was nine and met Quentin Blake, the illustrator famous for bringing to life characters such as Roald Dahl’s Big Friendly Giant.

Hummingbird

Born in the sunshine of South Africa, and educated in Devon, Libby is now based in London and now 19 years after meeting Blake she is living her dream. Her designs are fresh and unique, influenced by folk art, fashion & fairy tales.

Dance

Libby’s style is decorative and rich, whilst maintaining a simplistic quality.

Love

Her love of beautiful things has taken her around the world, she believes travel is so important to an artist. She loves words, writing stories and incorporating hand-drawn lettering into her illustrations.

Shine

Libby recently decided to launch a greeting card publishing company after freelancing in the industry over the past few years and working on commissions for some top names such as Marks & Spencer, Hallmark Cards and Gisela Graham. Libby prides herself on not creating run of the mill designs and has gone for a nostalgic feel for her latest works.

Wish

Heart Gallery is so proud to now be stocking Libby’s designs and we are looking forward to new work from Libby in the future … She believed she could and so she did!

Beating Heart

 

 

 

 

Meet The Maker – Clare Sidebotham

Clare Sidebotham

From the moist and luscious green lands of the North West of England, it would be nice to put all that  lovely sounding traditional small family run business mojo here but, although in part this is true, it’s not as folk would usually imagine it.

Wren brooch

Clare is the creator, designer, illustrator, maker, marketor and dreamer. Father sometimes collects mounts and often jokes about having a sticker made for the family car to become his ‘moots ink’ company car, while Mother likes to add her crucial input by the frequent and passionate encouragement of “that’s nice”.

Old Man Beard

Inspiration comes from the beautiful world around us, the adorable creatures living within it and great works from the likes of the Brothers Grimm which are all driven on by Clare’s playful nature and love of a fine composition.

Selection of brooches

Illustrations are first drawn in pencil then worked over with ink pens. The line work is then scanned into a laptop and digitally embellished with colours and textures. Illustrated mounted prints are printed on archival paper with colour fast pigment ink to prolong its life and vibrancy. 

Little Piggy

Jewellery findings are silver plated to ensure quality and enjoyment of wear that doesn’t turn your lovely skin nasty colours.

Ladybird necklace

 

Meet The Maker – Abby Filer

Abby Filer – Jeweller

Abby  is a contemporary jewellery designer/maker. Working in silver, printed aluminium, enamels, pearls and precious stones to create fun, feminine and easily wearable pieces of jewellery.

Flower jewellery previously showcased at Heart Gallery

Abby’s inspiration for her jewellery collections comes mainly from her childhood memories of growing up in the picturesque surroundings of Summerseat in Lancashire. Where she was surrounded by an array of brightly coloured flowers, wildlife and clear night skies. 

Penny necklace – part of Abby’s new collection now in Heart Gallery

Abby’s new bike collection was initially inspired as a result of her move to Chorlton in Manchester. Where she loves to watch the wonderful array of quirky and unusual bikes like the unicycle, and penny farthing, Abby’s personal favourite, that ride past her workshop and home each year during Chorlton’s Big Green Festival procession.

Silver bike ring

Silver bike bangle

Abby has also recently re-found her childhood love of cycling through the countryside which has spurred her onto complete the collection. 

Silver mini bike necklaces

Silver mini penny bracelet

Abby graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Art in 3 D Design and now runs her own business in Chorlton.

Silver penny earrings

Heart Gallery is so proud to be one of the first galleries to showcase Abby’s new collection of silver bike jewellery and we hope to see you in Hebden Bridge soon…..a great little town, full of independent shops which is very much Open For Business.

Silver bike bracelet