Mark Herald-Art and Illustration

I have just visited the wonderfully refurbished York Art Gallery which now featured the very talented and more than a little eccentric Mark Herald as the artist in residence. Mark has also curated The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures, a room full of miscellaneous stored objects and artifacts from the stores of the Yorkshire Museum and York Castle Museum as well as the York Art Gallery. His choices include textiles, costume, oil paintings, and works on paper, furniture, and taxidermy, many items of which have not been on public display before, this quirky collection is well worth a visit.

Mark Herald studied illustration at Glasgow College of Art and then completed an MA in Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art. Taking his inspiration from the flora and fauna of the British countryside, Mark works across a number of mediums, producing limited edition lithographic and linocut prints, unique paintings, collages and hand-painted ceramics. Just wonderful as an unusual gift.

Mark has recently completed commissions for Faber & Faber and Tate Museums. A children's book illustrated by a series of Mark's unique collages was published by Walker Books in 2012.

There is something very contemporary about Mark’s work but also at the same time I feel that it reflects a different time, nostalgic and very British. I love the distinctive images, wonderful colour’s and the fact it always puts a smile on my face.  Great fun!

Mark’s work is available through many Museum shops nationwide or via the website below:

 www.stjudesprints.co.uk

Ruth Singer-Textile Artist

As a textile artist myself, I really appreciate the work and love that goes into a piece of work. I find the work of Ruth Singer very interesting.

Ruth creates detailed and interesting textile artworks inspired by historical textiles, museum objects, personal heritage, memory and stories. She combines natural and vintage textiles with hand stitching as well as fabric manipulation techniques to create texture. Ruth’s textile practice was established in 2005. She has been commissioned by Derby Museum Service to create work based on their African collections and have work in the permanent collection of Staffordshire Museum Service, based on their Victorian photographs of women criminals.

Her more recent work incorporates photography, experimental dyeing and found objects. Many of the techniques used are developed from her study of historical textiles. She created an installation piece in collaboration with weaver Jan Garside and a collection of objects with jeweller Alys Power. Series: Monumental Folly which explores love and the sense of place associated with a particular building, won Ruth the Craft space Prize at Unit Twelve Contemporary Craft Open 2012.

Smaller pieces of framed and unframed work suitable for the home are now for sale on madebyhandonline.com

 For more details - http://ruthsinger.com

 

 

Take care Sara x

Jill Ford Ceramics

I have known Jill several years and have a couple of her beautiful porcelain candlesticks. Based in Yorkshire she started her business as a potter in 2002 and has become very successful in the crafts arena as a ceramic artist.

Her contemporary porcelain, which encompasses innovative textural wall pieces, vases and bowls thrown on the wheel and a range of candlesticks, is now sold in an impressive host of galleries and shops both in the UK and overseas, including New York. She has been a featured artist at the Hepworth in Wakefield.

Jill’s work mirrors the seasons, both in the processes she uses as well as the changing nature of her landscape. Her latest work tends towards a more abstract nature and draws heavily on the themes of ice and rock, particularly informing her wall pieces and Strata range of vessels. Her love of nature shows in the subtle, natural colours of blue, green, grey and taupe (copper oxide is used) and simple patterns of her work.

I love the fact that not only is Jill’s work unique, as well as been lovely, that she keeps the prices affordable, this makes her work accessible to a wide range of people and I am sure is one of the many factors of her growing success. I love the simple clean lines of the work and her ceramic wall pieces are delicate but strong and have a graceful style.

Jill is also an enthusiastic champion of craft lending her support to nationwide initiatives to raise its profile in the UK and is a member of Northern Potters Ass and East Riding Artists. Children’s and adults workshops are held regularly at Jill studio pottery near to Ellerton, if you want to have a go at learning to throw pottery yourself.

To buy Jill ford’s work or find out more information about her range of products or workshops visit http://jillford.co.uk

Bye for now

Sara x

Wonderful Shops.....

Merci-111 Boulevard Beaumarchais-Paris

Housed in a stunning historical building, this shop combines shopping, eating and design. A one stop destination for all that is important in life……

Merci was created in March 2009, in the heart of the historic Haut-Marais district. The founders, Bernard and Marie-France Cohen, realised that Paris lacked a place which brought together the best in fashion, design, household goods, and friendly eating options.

Merci's aim is to bring together, under one roof, products and customers who traditionally have not had the chance to meet such as vintage furniture or contemporary creations; emerging new fashion brands or already-recognised collections; impulse buys, affordable for all or much rarer pieces, sometimes in limited editions.

Merci calls this approach "The One and The Other" because we don't want to have to choose between traditional or modern, local or international, simple or costly, mass-produced or individually made, but to bring them all together, and present the best of each world.

Merci is a shop which works like a magazine. Over 15 exhibitions/events around a selection, and an original theatrical design in harmony with the year, have transformed the place into a "store-destination". The exhibitions' themes put over the Merci point of view on a trend, a change in society, the work of a designer or an irresistible take on a project.

www.merci-merci.com

Enjoy

Sara x