Meet The Maker Preview Evening for TIME & TIDE

Well my friends, it’s a week since our launch with Angela Smyth and Kirsty Elson and what an amazing evening we all had. Thank you to all of you who came along; it means such a lot when so many of you make the effort to visit us on an evening.

Our lovely Picture Gallery

Our lovely Picture Gallery

 

Angela and Kirsty have been friends on social media for quite some time but they have never met so collaborating for our TIME & TIDE exhibition meant Kirsty could fly up from Cornwall for our launch evening and meet Angela….they had a blast!

Kirsty and Angela meeting in Heart Gallery

 

Many of our customers are local but some do travel quite a distance to visit us on a weekend. This lovely lady and her mum came all the way from Wiltshire for our launch evening and in the end went home with not one but two of Kirsty’s lovely driftwood sculptures! Meg was so happy to meet Kirsty too after having Kirsty’s work on her ‘wishlist’ for quite some time.

Kirsty Elson with Meg and one of her new sculptures

 

Here are some highlights from our wonderful evening on 1st October for the launch of TIME & TIDE with Angela Smyth and Kirsty Elson:

Alison, Mandy and Pippa

Angela with another happy customer and her purchase

Sarah Mason and Suzi trying to decide which painting of Angela’s to buy for their home

Helen studying Angela’s Box of Cats

Box of Cats

Studying Angela’s paintings and trying to decide

Snippets of Kirsty’s work that was available on the night

Ross McGinnes, photographer, talking to local artist Lisa Slater

 

The highlight for me of course was having both of these two amazing artists and very lovely ladies in Heart Gallery at the same time.

Angela, Kirsty and Alison

 

TIME & TIDE is a fabulous exhibition which is running until 15th November so if you haven’t yet managed to visit then please do, you will not be disappointed x

Meet The Maker – Tom Smith

Tom Smith – Artist

Tom is a self-taught artist from the Nottinghamshire countryside who makes handmade wooden sculptures that are inspired by nature using the natural characteristics of a wide range of responsibly sourced hardwoods.

Tom first works on his designs then lays them out on the wood

In 2014 Tom’s work made it to the final round of judging in the David Shepherd Wildlife Trust Wildlife Artist of the Year and was included in the competition catalogue.

Individual layers are then glued up and finished with white polish

His work has also been featured in Craft & Design Magazine and on Nottinghamshire TV where he was interviewed live on the 6:30 Show.

Dry fitting the wenge details in the feathers

 

Finished life size Barn Owl on Tom’s bench in his workshop

The technique Tom uses is called “intarsia”, which involves using pieces of wood of different size, shape and species which are stuck together to create something similar to a mosaic with an illusion of depth.

Goshawk Feather

The different pieces of wood are carefully selected for their colour, grain pattern and texture so that there is no need for paint or stain. All of the colours you see are the natural colours of the woods.

Various feathers

After carefully selecting the woods, each individual piece is cut, shaped and finished with white polish both to protect the wood and enhance the natural characteristics. Areas of the pattern are raised or lowered to create more depth.

Large Barn Owl Feather

The final part of the process for Tom is to glue all the individual pieces together; a bit like a jigsaw.

We are now showcasing this amazing life size Barn Owl in Heart Gallery

We are delighted to be showcasing Tom’s work as part of our The Way Through The Woods Exhibition, Summer 2015. His work is stunning and he is such a perfectionist with every piece thought through from design to completion with precision.

Tom and myself with a selection of his amazing work at the launch of our                       Summer 2015 Exhibition The Way Through The Woods, 16th July 2015

Here are some of Tom’s videos shot whilst making his large Barn Owl feather you can see on the Heart Gallery wall behind us and I know you will find them really interesting:

Meet The Maker – Lynn Walters

Lynn Walters – Designer/Maker of metal and wire sculpture

Lynn is a designer maker of metal and wire sculpture for interiors. From her studio in Wales she makes wall and free-standing sculptures that depict everyday life in wire and metal.

Along the Canal

She began to make sculptures in 2002 after she gained a first class honours degree in Contemporary Textile Practice at Cardiff University where she specialised in metal and wire.

In The Park (detail)

Lynn gained a highly commended award in 2005 in the Welsh Artist of the Year, and has undertaken many public and private commissions and exhibited in many UK galleries, including Heart Gallery Christmas 2008.

Just Another Day

Lynn’s new collection for Heart Gallery depicts everyday life with colourful rows of houses and wire people going about their daily business.

Early Morning

Her pieces are made from a mixture of metals and wire, the houses are made from anodised aluminium which she hand cuts and colours herself, around each house is a mild steel wire framework which is welded in place, once the process of welding each house is complete, the whole sculpture can be welded together.

Holiday (detail)

Lynn uses recycled tin to form the flowers, clouds and ladies dresses, she also uses felt to form birds and sheep.

Washday

We adore Lynn’s work and have a few customers who are keen collectors so they will be so pleased that her colourful work is back with us in Hebden Bridge.

Breezy Day (detail)

We are happy to discuss commissioned pieces with you as Lynn will be able to add a personal touch to a sculpture or for a special occasion such as a wedding, birthday or anniversary … get your thinking caps on! Here is a list of the type of information we would need so Lynn can make for you:

In The Park

Size of sculpture, colour preference of houses, adding personal touches such as family members, or people walking, carrying handbags/newspapers, walking sticks, pushing a pram, walking dogs (dogs will be made from wire – no colour as they are too small), cycling, sitting on benches, cats (cats will also be made from wire) and birds (birds can be either small cream felt birds with copper wire eyes and beak or larger white metal birds which are more like seagulls/pigeons, small bees which have a black felt body with copper wire stripes and feelers etc. Names and dates can be stamped into clouds or houses, and she can include street names or house names.

Wednesday December 24th – Christmas Eve

A little montage for you of work from some of our lovely makers in Heart Gallery throughout 2014 … enjoy … see you in 2015 folks and have fun during this festive season. Below are our opening times leading up until the New Year just in case you need them xXx

 

OPENING TIMES OVER THE FESTIVE SEASON:

CHRISTMAS EVE 10AM – 3PM

CHRISTMAS DAY CLOSED

BOXING DAY CLOSED

SATURDAY 27TH DECEMBER 10.30AM – 5.30PM

SUNDAY 28TH DECEMBER 12PM – 4PM

CLOSED THEN UNTIL SATURDAY JANUARY 3RD AT 10.30AM

HAPPY NEW YEAR xXx

 

Meet The Maker – Frances Noon

Frances Noon – Jeweller and Artist

Frances starts her jewellery making process with observations, simply from watching the birds around her garden. She likes to draw and sometimes is able to work from life, then she uses reference books to check for details. Frances aims for her birds to have personality, attitude and character.

Bird necklace and earrings – Frances Noon

In her garden Frances watches the blackbird who always sits in the same place in the same tree, a robin with long legs who likes hanging around with her hens, a chaffinch that hops around on the ground whilst neighbourhood cats lurk, and not forgetting the pair of collared doves who build their nest in the most ridiculous place in the birch tree every year. It is their individual character she enjoys and this is something Frances then likes to transfer to her jewellery work. This is made possible by the process of drawing onto the silver with punches, she can then decorate the surface by hand and will file the bird shapes so that each piece is unique.

Birds in Flight – Frances Noon

Making up each piece by hand is very important to her, there is a satisfaction and a pleasure seeing her final pieces when they are polished and ready to leave the workshop.

Bird necklaces – Frances Noon

Frances started her art education as a printmaker, mainly using etching & making images of people going about their lives, doing ordinary things, although her focus on their activity made them extra ordinary to her. Many years later Frances continues to illustrate the world around her as she has always done, although for the moment it is her garden that holds her interest and that fuels her work.

Sculptural pieces – Frances Noon

Her sculptural pieces take the same techniques Frances uses on silver to a slightly larger scale on base metals and with the introduction of colour through painted wooden plinths. The subject matter is broader working on a larger scale and Frances makes birds, animals and boats. These pieces are fun but are also meant to be unique with personality and individual expression as each one differs.

The Owl and The Pussycat – Frances Noon

Heart Gallery loves the whimsy birds that Frances makes whether in silver to adorn the body or in base metals as a quirky piece for you home and we are certain that you will too x

We all Cast Shadows Thursday 2nd October 2014 An exhibtion about the lost and found

This exhibition at Heart Gallery is Gillian Lee Smith’s first solo show and she chose to launch this series of paintings with us so we are ever so excited about it. Her paintings portray ‘all the times we stand alone and all the times we stand together’. It is about loneliness, isolation, shared experiences, connections and a sense of community.

Gillian is a mixed media artist based in Nottingham and graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in Performance Costume in 2005. This took Gillian on a journey from sculpture to solely dedication her time to her paintings three years ago, all inspired by her fascination with dreams and memories and the art of storytelling.

Gillian Lee Smith – Artist

Gillian describes herself as an ‘emotionally curious’ artist who is constantly searching for the answers; travelling through the historical pages of time, connecting and creating her own visual interpretation of people, stories and events.

Gillian’s self-portrait

We all Cast Shadows is inspired by tales of women who were left husbandless during the war, in fishing and mining communities. It was this sense of pulling together, helping one another survive in uncertain times, that the strength and beauty of the human spirit shone through.

Detail from Gillian’s sketchbook; part of We all Cast Shadows

Gillian’s work is imbued with atmosphere, storytelling and emotion. Her paintings encompass layers of narrative, layers of paint, memories and dreams. She is inspired by history, women walking the coast searching for long-lost souls, characters who throughout their life carry with them a reminder of times gone by. Communities that are both fractured and brought together by difficult times play their part in connecting the shadows we cast and the shadows that comfort us.

Details from Gillian’s sketchbook; part of We all Cast Shadows

Gillian works primarily in acrylics and oils on board and mixed media on paper. Gillian’s exhibition at Heart Gallery is a collection of original paintings that depict the communities of women, independent and strong, raising their children whilst their men are away from home. This is the start of Gillian’s anthology of work that has touched her heart and spoken to her soul.

 

THE LAUNCH IS THURSDAY 2ND OCTOBER, 6PM – 9PM. GILLIAN WILL BE WITH US DURING THE EVENING TO CHAT TO YOU ABOUT HER WORK AND THE INSPIRATION BEHIND WE ALL CAST SHADOWS.

Please contact the gallery for your invitation and the exhibition runs until 11th January 2015.

 

Meet The Maker – Nikki Brown

 

Nikki Brown – Artist

Nikki is inspired by the smallest of details in nature and this is reflected in her work. A life long love and curiosity with butterflies, beetles, nature and well crafted miniatures somehow developed into a partnership with footwear. (An obsession with shoes was noticed at her first trip to a shoe shop, before she could even walk!). So it comes as no surprise that her work has manifested into what it is today. She gives you a unique twist on the Entomology/Lepidopterist wall display.

2 pairs of shoes – Nikki Brown

Made entirely of polymer clay, these shoes are not painted. The main technique involved is called called “Millefiori” (Italian meaning a thousand flowers). This is how the patterns are made within the clay. Originally this was used for making mosaic beads and is also associated with venetian glass.

Blue Shoes – Nikki Brown

Another process Nikki uses is known as “Mokume Gane” which was initially used in 17th-century Japan, a mixed-metal process, used only for sword fittings and later for designs in lacquered boxes. This technique which results in distinctive layered patterns works beautifully with polymer clay.  

Selection of small shoes by Nikki Brown – bear in mind all these are no larger than 1.5cms!

Nikki has adapted these techniques after much experimentation to achieve the desired effects she uses within her work. The shimmering effects you see are gold and silver leaf.  Each pair are approximately 1.5 inches in length.  Each design is unique and cannot be duplicated. Artwork is polished to a glassy sheen and coated to seal. All her work is stamped with her maker’s mark.

Small shoes – Nikki Brown

Nikki prides herself on her craftsmanship and has worked to commission for some well know names, those famous for their talents as well as their signature footware!

Who might these belong to I wonder?

Recently Nikki sold work in Kings Rd, London and The Affordable Art Fair both in London and Singapore. She is now working on some large scale pieces (1 metre square) as well as continuing with her smaller works. 

Framed selection of small shoes by Nikki Brown

Nikki hopes you enjoy her work, as she loves to spread a little bit of magic around and evoke the child like wonder, which exists in all of us. 

Roses grow on you x

You can see why Heart Gallery loves Nikki and her work now can’t you?

Nikki’s Tour de France piece at Heart Gallery now for the Summer of 2014

 

British Craft Trade Fair

I am sorry I haven’t blogged for a while; things have been rather hectic socially with a trip to Nairn in Scotland for a wedding which was amazing. Thought I would rectify the lack of recent posts by giving you a little taster of my trip to Harrogate at the weekend to one of my favourite shows, BCTF.

BCTF has been promoting British hand-made giftware for more than 35 years, longer than any other trade fair in the UK….I’ve not been visiting for 35 years but I have seen it grow and now there are over 250 makers under one roof showcasing a vast range of handmade work from the British Isles. It’s my favourite show to visit – not just because of the locality which is really handy I have to say – but the atmosphere is always fantastic and it is such a friendly show. Here are some of my makers I managed to catch up with and have a chat and a giggle with:

As well as meeting up with past and present makers it is a great opportunity to find new makers to showcase in Heart Gallery in the future … I am really excited about some of the new work I found and can’t wait for it to arrive in Hebden Bridge later this year and also in 2015 … yes I have to look that far ahead! No sneaky peeks at the new work yet – you’ll have to keep dipping into this blog but here is an image of something fresh arriving soon just in time for our Burlesque Festival in Hebden Bridge!

Miss Honey Crumpet arriving at Heart Gallery soon

Meet The Maker – Kate Lulham

Kate Lulham – Artist

Kate completed her Fine Art Degree at Northumbria University and has exhibited in galleries all over the South East.

Mickey

Kate currently lives in Brighton and is a member of the Cross-Street Studios in Brighton and a member of BIP (Brighton Independent Printmaking).

Albert

Kate is an active member of the Fiveways Artist Group, and opens her house each year in May as part of the Fiveways Trail.

Juggling Fish

Kate creates wall sculptures out of tin, taking inspiration from a variety of sources from the circus, burlesque imagery, cake shops and vintage artifacts.

Seth’s Fish

Each of Kate’s wall sculptures tells a story. Using vintage boxes such as old sweet tins or cigarette tins Kate creates wonderful multi-layered painted scenes.

Fish

Opening one of Kate’s tin boxes reveals a world full of quirky characters, from sweet shops, to picnics in the countryside, to the odd juggling fish.

 

The Amazing Juggling Fish

Inspired by the 20th century artist Alexander Calder, Kate strives to imbue her work with a sense of fun and wonder. Heart Gallery is proud to be showcasing Kate’s wonderful work here in Hebden Bridge.

Meet the Maker – Ian Swales

Mister Ian Swales – Artist (The ‘Mr’ comes from the fact that Ian Swales MP has ALL the URLs that Ian wanted & he quite liked the tongue in cheek formality!)

The story is pretty simple, it’s Ian and what he loves doing! Sculpture, making, playing and experimenting with forms, ideas and materials that excite him. 100% natural, homegrown organic sculpture, reared in Yorkshire. 

 

Heronism

Ian works with natural and reclaimed materials. Sticks, wood, rusted wire, anything that has the right aesthetic, materials that feel authentic and have a sense of heritage and honesty.

Hoot

Figurative sculpture has always been Ian’s inspiration. Rodin, Henry Moore, twin that with the creativity, beauty, humour and natural honesty of David Nash, Andy Goldsworthy, then you will know what drives, and influences him.

Sparrowesque #2

Ian spent years crafting clay and bronze into perfect representations of the natural world. It turns out that by choosing right pose, scale or setting you can convince the mind a single stick has a life of its own. It’s that “light bulb” moment when people see the animal in the inanimate object that makes Ian smile. All Ian has to do is give them a nudge in the right direction by adding legs or a bird box and the rest is down to their own creative mind.

Hawkish

Some people then act on that connection by taking the piece home, some are inspired to do the same to the driftwood they have had in the loft from that special family holiday three years ago. That’s what he loves the most.

Pheasantly Familiar

Ian’s best seller is birds, birds, birds… someone tweeted (no pun intended) him saying that birds were really big this year. It made him smile, “birds being big this year” is like blinking or air being big this year, it’s a strange concept. Turn’s out its strange but true, as they have indeed been big this year, and last, and next we expect.