Andy Poplar and his new work for Heart Gallery

Andy Poplar

We have featured Andy here before so hop across to our previous post to read more about him and also this one on branding. What I want to tell you about today is the new ideas Andy constantly comes up with and below are our new glasses coming for Father’s Day and our milk bottle that can be commissioned for your Wedding/Civil Partnership.

Father’s Day glass

Father’s Day glass bottom

Mr and Mrs milk bottles available for commission as a keepsake of your special day.

He’s a clever lad that Andy Poplar isn’t he? A man so full of ideas I’m surprised he doesn’t pop! If you are in Hebden Bridge this weekend pop in to see his current work and if you are in Saltaire call and see Andy and say hello to him at the Saltaire Makers’ Fair.

Meet The Maker – Jenny Tidman

Jenny Tidman – Textile Artist

Jenny has a lifelong love of textiles and a secret hankering for the good life which has led her to working in wool. Having had expert one to one tuition from a Gold Medal winning City and Guilds felt artist Jenny has discovered the delights of scouring, carding, spinning and dyeing wool but the ancient art of wet felting is where her passion lies.

Felted bowl with red inner

Texture and shape is of the most importance to Jenny in her work.  She likes to work with natural coloured wool or wool that has been dyed using natural ingredients; having said that a blast of acid colour can be so good for the soul and Jenny loves the contrast it creates with a natural coloured wool.

Felted bowl with blue inner

Jenny likes to source her natural coloured wool in its raw state from around the UK and processes it herself. It is quite a thrill to work with wool when she has met and know the name of the sheep that it has come from.

Felted bowl with yellow inner

Jenny has attended felt workshops run by Amanda Warren, Frances Barker, Melanie Bermingham and Gretel Parker and admires many felt and textile artists and designers such as Alexander Pilin, Annemeike Mein, Kaffe Fassett, Stephanie Metz, Gretel Parker, Frances Barker, Elis Vermeulen and Annette Quentin-Stoll to name but a few.

Felted bowl with pink inner

Jenny is a member of The International Felt Makers Association, The Eastern Region Textile Forum and a local textile group called Chain Reaction. She has previously sold some pieces through the Hebden Spirit art auction to raise funds for the flooded town of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

Set of three felted bowls

Heart Gallery is proud to be showcasing Jenny’s felted bowls as part of Kate Lycett’s TALL TREES AND WARM STONE Solo Exhibition as the colours compliment Kate’s paintings and the bowls are interesting and tactile and here we are showing them on display infront of Clare Caulfield’s pen and ink work!

Alison with Jenny Tidman and her fabulous felted bowls

We Must Take The Current

Meet Talya Baldwin, a lovely local illustrator who is new to Heart Gallery but not to Hebden Bridge.

Talya Baldwin – Illustrator

Talya is a freelance illustrator, originally from London, who moved to Hebden Bridge eight years ago and spent a long time desperately missing the noise and filth, and wanting to go back and stand on Old Street to hear the traffic and absorb the familiar chaos. Although she has come to love the quietness and the space here in Hebden Bridge, Talya has held on to her interest in urban nature and other things that cling to life against the odds.

Talya Baldwin – illustration

Talya’s drawings are quite often of creatures or objects usually considered ugly, unwanted or unimportant: weeds, rats, feral pigeons, lost and broken toys, chickens, insects and crows.

Talya Baldwin – illustration

Birds have always fascinated her, as have the fairy tales she was read as a child. She always wanted to know what happened to the unsung characters in these stories: the third-most-beautiful princesses, knights who failed in their quests, and all the frogs who remained un-kissed. Talya is currently writing and illustrating a book about them, funded by the Arts Council.

Talya Baldwin – illustration

As tenacity and the will to survive are such important themes in her work, Talya really wanted to do a drawing about the floods in Hebden Bridge during 2012. She was astonished by the solidarity and effort of will that went into keeping the town above water. For some years, she had been working on a series of images of fantastical boats and vehicles, inspired by ideas around the medieval Narrenschiff  (‘The Ship of Fools’) mentioned by Foucault in his book, Madness and Civilisation. Although the boat in Talya’s finished piece for Heart Gallery called ‘We Must Take The Current’  is of a different kind, it felt natural for her to think about Hebden as a sort of ark.

We Must Take The Current

The title for the image comes from a quotation from Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar that reads:

On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves

Talya wanted both the image and the title to reflect something of the indomitable spirit that has not only kept Hebden Bridge going, but completely reinvented parts of it. She liked the suggestion in the quote that even at the very worst of times, the tide of adversity could bring positive things with it.

Heart Gallery now has Talya’s framed original ‘We Must Take The Current’ for sale along with some limited edition prints of it. Please do call in to see this amazing piece that was inspired by something so negative that hit our town so hard last year that many of us struggled to wade through those difficult months. Like I always say, out of every negative there is always a positive; it just sometimes takes a while to see it.

TALL TREES AND WARM STONE PV

The PV for Kate Lycett’s first Solo Exhibition since 2010 was last Thursday and it was a truly amazing evening; were you there?

Serious tackle needed for Kate’s really large paintings Stoodley Pike and Bridge Lanes

Let the hanging commence!

We worked hard on Wednesday night ensuring that all 14 originals were in place ready for the PV Thursday evening 6-9pm

All looking great, now to introduce Kate’s paintings to the rest of the world!

Kate has many collectors from previous exhibitions and more recently from a new body of work Heart Gallery was proud to hang in November 2012 as part of our Christmas Exhibition so it was no surprise to see an orderly queue forming at 5.45pm!

Just time for a quick hug before I opened the Heart Gallery door!

Out with the nibbles

Out with the nibbles

Mustn’t forget the Prosecco and the Wine

Once we were open it was soon extremely busy in the Picture Gallery, and in the main gallery, as people politely nudged their way in to see Kate’s fabulous new collection of paintings that have been 18 months in the making.

Busy, busy, busy in the Picture Gallery

Main Gallery also buzzing

It wasn’t long before the red dots had to be stuck on the originals as sold and the lovely Julia and Lisa were kept busy behind the counter!

Hard to choose a favourite print

There was a great buzz in the air and lots of satisfied customers with most of them managing to grab a word with Kate to find out the story behind each painting. It was interesting to see the 3 originals that inspired Kate to make the lanterns for Hannah to sell in Radiance, Fairy Lights, Old Gate and Albert Street but my favourite was the Antique Printers Tray called Studies For Trees which was filled with smaller paintings and framed in a lovely box frame…and I was delighted I knew the lovely couple that bought it.

Anna and Alan chatting to Kate about the Antique Printers Tray they’d just treated themselves to (along with another print too!).

Kate has framed this piece in a fabulous wooden box frame so do call in to see the real thing on the wall if you can; I couldn’t photograph it properly as the light was reflecting on the glass so I’ve used the pre-framed picture for you here.

Printers Tray in Kate’s Studio before framing

The whole evening went by so quickly and I even took a call at 8pm from a lady in America who wanted the original Bridge Lanes if it was still available … it was, so there was another red dot and another highly satisfied Heart Gallery/Kate Lycett customer! I’m not surprised she was keen to own this one!, it’s stunning and rather large so I hope she’s got a big wall to hang it on!

Bridge Lanes painting by Kate Lycett, limited edition prints still available at Heart Gallery

As the evening drew to a close Kate and I had a chance to sit back for a second and take it all in whilst Hannah Nunn snuck up and took a crafty picture of us chatting to the last few customers, good shot Hannah thank you.

Tired but happy and as Kate pointed out, the red flower in my hair (knitted by the lovely Helen at Ribbon Circus for me), her gorgeous red beads and the red dot behind us on the original Bridge Lanes all complimented one another!

Hattie’s red shoes matched mummy’s and this blog post would not be complete without this fab photo

We were all locked up and away by 9.30 to enjoy a social gathering and food at the Thai restaurant along with a few glasses of much deserved wine!

Kate’s red hat even matched!

All the originals are still gracing our walls so you still have time to bob in and see them as they won’t be collected until the end of April. After that they will be replaced with framed limited edition prints and the exhibition runs until the 7th July so find a date in your diary to visit Hebden Bridge and bob in to Heart Gallery to see it – you will not be disappointed.

If you would like to be informed of future exhibitions at Heart Gallery then please email us and we will happily put you on our mailing list and you can also keep an eye on Kate’s news here.

Stoodley Pike painting by Kate Lycett, limited prints still available at Heart Gallery

Meet The Maker – Nicola Hurst

Nicola Hurst – Jeweller

Nicola Hurst, designer and maker of contemporary jewellery, has been hand making jewellery professionally since 1995, having completed a Jewellery BA (hons) degree in 1990 at Middlesex Polytechnic.

Silver Diver Cufflinks

Here at Heart Gallery we love Nicola’s new Iconic Collection – it’s the perfect gift for that special person in your life who loves to wear symbolic jewellery.

Silver Love Cufflinks

Each piece in this stunning collection of figure jewellery is individually cast in solid silver before being polished and hand finished by Nicola. Including gorgeous cufflinks for men and exquisite pendants for women, the Iconic Collection is a joy to wear. Whether you’re marking an important relationship or acknowledging a much-loved hobby, the Iconic Collection is for you.

Silver Woman With Attitude necklace

Nicola’s other ranges incorporate silver and gold with precious and non precious stones in some pieces, and simply silver or gold in others. All Nicola’s jewellery is beautifully elegant, contemporary and easy to wear. The inspiration for designs comes from Nicola’s fascination of architecture, clean and simple lines and her love of making the jewellery. New collections are frequently produced as well as many one-off pieces and commissions undertaken so take a look at her other pieces here.

Meet The Maker – Anna Baldwin

Anna Baldwin – Jeweller

Meet Anna – I think she’s a little shy so we are showing you a pic of her hands at the workbench. This photo in itself just hammers home how handmade our jewellery really is actually so we are really pleased with this notion that you don’t have to see what any of our makers looks like but you do have to know that they are in fact skilled craftspersons in the discipline they work in.

Dappled bangle

Based in Buckinghamshire, Anna has been designing and making jewellery for over 9 years.

Wrapped silver pendant

She makes all her jewellery by hand, working mainly in silver, gold, and semi-precious stones, and loves creating beautiful, contemporary, wearable pieces.

Dimpled silver ring

Anna loves working with natural forms and texture. Her designs have an organic, tactile feel, and share a sense of delicacy and movement.

Wrapped silver long earrings

 Anna gains inspiration from many different sources including light, texture, and natural and fluid forms. She also gains many ideas from simply working with the metal itself to develop new forms. 

Wrapped silver ring

 We adore Anna’s gemstone set rings that she can make to order using gorgeous faceted semi-precious stones such as smoky quartz, light amethyst, blue topaz, citrine or green quartz. You can order your birthstone and create a bespoke ring just for you. Anna loves making the Gem rings – the setting really shows off the stone and allows the light to filter through it. So pretty!

Gem ring stacked with a dappled ring

Anna’s recently developed the Dimpled range – its hammered finish is similar to the wrapped range, so they complement each other well.  She has made the rings and bangles in two different widths, which stack together easily. The gold highlights in the range add extra interest and colour.
The Gem rings go really well with Anna’s Dappled rings – it creates a bit more impact and is great if you like stacking rings. 

Branding

Recently I went to a ‘new-to-me’ eatery in Leeds to celebrate my daughter being offered a place at Leeds City College in September, RED’S. Before I’d even had my food delivered I knew I was in for a treat … why … because their branding was so strong; they had got it spot on!

A shot of the menu at RED’S, Leeds

A shot of the menu at RED’S, Leeds

I even pulled one of the lovely waitresses to one side and asked her to pass my comments on to the two owners and then accosted (in a friendly manner of course) another member of staff thinking he was the owner! I apologised but also asked him to pass on the much deserved praise.

The condiments at RED’S, Leeds

And when the food arrived I was not disappointed in the slightest  ….although I couldn’t go too regularly, not good for the waistline with those generous portions! I should have known as my hubby said that he thought that Adam Richman (Man V Food) had paid RED’S a visit but I’m not sure how true that statement is.

Pulled Pork and Slaw at RED’s, Leeds

Onion Ring Stack at RED’s, Leeds (They also do one a metre tall!)

This got me thinking about how important branding is and how so many people get it wrong and dilute the strength of their brand by straying and not remaining true. One of my makers who is so spot on that we love here at Heart Gallery is Andy Poplar and this is why … just received today from him:

A brief history

Creative Juices Andy Poplar

Kindred Spirit Andy Poplar

Half Full Andy Poplar

Watch our for his Fathers Day offering coming soon to Heart Gallery, Mothers Day was a huge hit:

‘Thanks for Delivering Me’ etched milk bottle – Andy Poplar

Meet The Maker – Marie Krazizky

Maria Krazizky – Jeweller

Marie is a Contemporary Jewellery Designer and Maker. She works predominately in silver and gold.  Marie’s ideas are generated through sketches and developed whilst experimenting with techniques at the work bench. 

Flower Hoops

Her recent designs are influenced by natural forms with fluid shapes, feminine styles and combine moveable features with oxidised and polished surfaces.

Flower Necklace, 4 stems

Marie trained at Birmingham School of Jewellery in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter. During the final year of her degree she was awarded the Goldsmith Bursary.

Flower Studs

After graduating in March 2000 with a BA Hons in Jewellery and Silversmithing, Marie was selected to exhibit her work in The Business Design Centre in London. Heart Gallery is proud to have been carefully selected by Maria to showcase her latest collection.

Meet The Maker – Julia Parry-Jones

Julia Parry-Jones – Jeweller

A collector by nature, Julia draws inspiration from fragments, curiosities and hidden treasures. Fascinated with the minute and delicate, she creates contemporary, intriguing and feminine jewellery, inviting the wearer to explore the hidden narrative within each piece.

Seek Brooch

Julia’s current collection is inspired by the treasure hoarding habits of the bowerbird, and explores the deliberate contrast of materials, forms and colours through their placement. Hardwoods, vintage elements and semi-precious stones are scattered amongst a showcase of silver and 9 carat gold, carefully arranged until a sense of harmony is achieved through their mismatching chaos. From dainty studs to tumbling neckpieces, her diligent attention to detail and love of the eclectic is evident.

Nestling Jewels Earrings

 Julia graduated with First class honours from Norwich School of Art & Design before completing further training in the London Jewellery quarter. She has exhibited and sold her work widely through galleries and exhibitions across the UK.

Adornment Rings

Heart Gallery is really pleased that in 2013 Julia is showcasing her collection here in Hebden Bridge….it will be in our cabinets soon!

Meet The Makers – Emma Winterhalder and Clare Whitehead

Emma Winterhalder and Clare Whitehead

Emma and Clare are both jewellery designers; their work is contemporary and strong with clean lines but stylish and some items are chunky silver with delicate gold plated elements added.  Their inspiration started from their imaginations and sketch books of ideas drawn from objects from the world around them.

Eclipse Ring

Most of their inspiration is from a mutual love for travelling and shared experiences which allows things to evolve in precious metals and bring the patterns and designs to life. 

Dual Bubble Necklace

Precious metal is hammered, to create texture, and overlaid with delicate moving parts; silver is highlighted with details and elements of chain.   Free moving shapes are forged and soldered to make necklaces or earrings from hand pierced shapes. 

Ring of Feathers

It makes it all worthwhile when they see a ‘happy customer’ wear their creations and for there to be a longevity. They wish to create wearable objects with fragility that questions traditional notions of wear-ability. As an item worn close to the body, jewellery contains a strong emotional and physical relationship to the wearer and its small scale makes it the ideal collectible item.

Each piece is designed with creativity and made with passion and worn with pride.  In their own words – ‘Our Style, your way’.

Quill Necklace

Their first collection arrives at Heart Gallery in March 2013 … are you as excited as we are?