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 – Lucy Palmer

Lucy Palmer – jeweller

Lucy creates unique and beautiful jewellery inspired by myths, fairytales and folklore, with an emphasis on animals and the natural world. In her jewellery she escapes the mundane and creates a magical world of enchanted forests, mysterious creatures, and far away places. 

Lucy Palmer – Moongazing silver and Keum Boo necklace

The Intricate designs are cut by hand in precious metals and are often layered to give an amazing three dimensional, miniature stage set effect. 

Lucy Palmer – Little Mermaid silver and Keum Boo necklace

The design style is influenced by toy theatres, shadow puppets and paper cutting.  Decorative techniques are used to embellish the surface, including ‘Keum Boo’, an ancient Korean technique of fusing 24ct gold foil to silver.

Lucy Palmer – Golden Wandering Fox silver and Keum Boo necklace

After graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a degree in ‘Decorative Arts’, Lucy spent several years working as a Community Artist before setting up her Jewellery business in 2007. Each piece of jewellery is handmade by Lucy in her workshop in Derbyshire.

Lucy Palmer – Under The Sea silver and Keum Boo necklace

Heart Gallery has showcased Lucy’s work before as we absolutely adore her subject matter and admire her techniques and know that you will too so see you soon!

Lucy Palmer – Enchanted Forest silver and Keum Boo necklace

Meet The Maker – Gillian Lee Smith

Gillian Lee Smith – mixed media artist

A lifetime fascination with storytelling, history, fairytales and folklore, has led Gillian Lee Smith to create paintings and artwork based on the everyday whirling mind of a person who does not always wish to be rooted in the realistic present.

There is Always A Flicker Of Hope

The Heart That Cannot Be Hidden

These paintings tell the stories of the characters ever present in the imagination of the artist. Puppets and dolls with heart and emotion, women walking the coast searching for long lost souls, characters who throughout their life carry with them a memory or a reminder of times gone by.

One Misty Morning

The Twilight Rehearsal

The marionette and doll-like figures hint at those emotions and characteristics that we attempt to hide-away when we are wearing a mask and protecting our emotions but the melancholic nature and the objects we carry portray that which we cannot help but reveal.

One Moment In Time

Decadence and decay, nature and dreams, atmospheric places and the contrasts and complexities of life; all are endlessly captivating and thought provoking.

Dreaming Of The Dwelling Place

Graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in Performance Costume in 2005, Gillian Lee Smith has since been working as a mixed media artist as well as teaching workshops with community groups, more recently coordinating a project involving reminiscence work with older people. This has been a huge source of inspiration to her latest artwork and themes of memories, dreams and childhood.

Isobel’s Dream of Life And Light

Heart Gallery is so proud to be showcasing three of Gillian’s original framed paintings for our fairytale inspired exhibition which runs until 08 July; Dreaming Of The Dwelling Place, There Is Always A Flicker Of Hope and Whilst Waiting You Have Time To Dream. We also have a very small handful of limited edition mounted prints and hope to see you soon.

MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

Alison, Lisa, Julia and Heather having fun on the toadstools!

So Sunday was the launch of one of our most exciting exhibitions in 6 years, May All Your Dreams Come True, inspired by fairytales and folklore. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves dressing up as characters from Alice in Wonderland, eating mini fairy cakes made for us by Truly Scrumptious, listening to magical stories in the garden told by nationally acclaimed storyteller Ursula Holden Gill and chatting to customers about the amazing work we are currently showcasing. Here is a little glimpse at our day:

Toadstools kindly lent to us by The Old Treehouse, Market Street, Hebden Bridge

Fairycakes made by Rachel at Truly Scrumptious, Todmorden

Bunting made from pages from old children’s’ books by Mandy, Alison and Julia

Fairy Wish Tree-borrowed from The Old Treehouse and trimmed by Mandy

Lisa and Julia

Ursula storytelling in the garden

Mixed media artist Gillian Lee Smith with her ‘dreamy’ original paintings on display

Alix Swan with her beautiful daughter Effie and her stunning work in Heart Gallery

Josephine Gomersall with her collection of wall pieces and mini sculptures

Fairy Wish Tree sign

A lovely wish written on one of our birdies

Sad wish that made us cry

Happy wish that made us smile!

Fun with feet!

Ursula keeping the little ones entertained all day

Children enjoying the Fairy Wish Tree

Customers enjoying the day – Andy Pointon’s tea towel of Hebden Bridge always popular

Drink me!

There’s no place like home!

My Queen of Hearts hat was made by Heart Gallery’s resident artist Heather Wilson

We were all stars

MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

May all your dreams come true exhibition invitation

May all your dreams come true exhibition invitation

We are all so excited at Heart Gallery about this magical exhibition and hope that you are too – it is going to be one of our best, we can sense it! The wire Mergirl on the invitation has been made for us by Rozie Keogh and we have 3 of them swimming around the gallery to keep an eye on you all as you browse the amazing new work we are showcasing. Here are a few sneaky peaks but please make sure to come to the launch on Sunday 13 May – you will not be disappointed!

Alice in Wonderland framed papercut by Yasemin Wigglesworth

Mars necklace by Rachel Lucie

Storybook by paper/textile artist Alix Swan

Feather Fox by glass artist Rachel Elliott

'Like Ghosts from an Enchanter Fleeing' Nicola Taylor, self portrait photographer

Lovers' Triptych Brooch by Catherine Chester

'Untaken' Cyanotype print by Moira Fuller

Recognised phrases and stories on bags by Alison Hughes

Lucy Palmer's fairytale inspired silver jewellery

Lucy Harding's illustrations inspired by customers she meets on her milk round

So, a few images to whet your appetite but if they haven’t tempted you enough then maybe Ursula Holden Gill can! Ursula is one of the North’s most innovative, award winning Storytellers. Her quirky, unique sets are influenced largely by 19th Century Music Hall, Lancashire Dialect, Westmorland Clogging, Folk, Traditional and Original Song, Contemporary Dance, Puppetry, Clean but Cheeky Stand Up Acts and essentially, life. This has led her to be frequently described as a cross somewhere between Gracie Fields and Billy Connolly!

Urusla Holden Gill

Ursula will be spending Sunday 13 May with us presenting a song and story set she calls Sightings of the Little People – suitable for adults and children alike. It explores the idea that fairy sightings have been associated with – and are responsible for – the naming of more places in the British Isles than anywhere else in the world and that in the North of England alone we proudly boast numerous fairy bridges and glens, a few sets of standing stones, waterfalls, cottage gardens, and a variety of hills and wells! By revealing how such places came to take their title Ursula will welcome all who attend the launch into a most controversial debate that has fascinated artists for hundreds of years – are fairies real or not… and if so, what are they? Fanciful Friend or Malevolent Foe? Further, who can see the little people and how?

See you all at Heart Gallery, Hebden Bridge on Sunday May 13 from 12pm – 5pm for fairy cakes, angel dust and magical stories and of course an eclectic mix of jewellery and craft inspired by fairytales, folklore, myths and dreams to tempt and delight xXx

Dreaming of the dwelling place original painting by Gillian Lee Smith