Skip to main content

If only the NCCD was closer to home!

I keep meaning to write about my fabulous trip to the NCCD but life has been so hectic recently it's rather thrown me off my usual routine but here goes at last!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the NCCD, it is the largest venue in England entirely dedicated to the exhibition, celebration, support and promotion of national and international contemporary craft and design. Unfortunately for me it is nearly a 2 1/2 hours drive away in Sleaford, (Notts/Lincs area) so I can't take full advantage of their amazing programme of talks and exhibitions but it is an absolute gem and so wonderful that such a space exists in this current climate of cuts in all things creative.


On the ground floor is a super shop/cafe area which has constantly changing stock of contemporary craft and design pieces to fall in love with and current publications in all things creative which are lovely to browse and/or purchase!


I asked if it would be alright for me to take some photos for this blog so here goes, a good selection of what was on offer in the shop:

The gorgeous simplicity of Jill Shaddock's ceramic pieces in complimentary colours.

Delicious silk scarves by Barinder Gahir

Foto Ceramica's pieces made using original photographs

Bethany Walker's original cement brooches with mixed media are very effective and tactile

 Rachel Foxwell's striking ceramic pieces celebrate bold colours.

Ella Robinson's stitched driftwood pieces are simple yet effective!

Kate Evans has carved plant designs into her effective ceramic pieces.

Emily Notman's mixed media pieces are a fabulous celebration of stitch!

I first discovered Libby Ward's work at Art in Action and then MADE Bloomsbury, great stuff!

Katharina Klug's striking porcelain pieces are inspired by ancient Korean pottery

 I loved Lindsey Tyson's screenprinted pin cushions, so tactile!

There are several floors to the NCCD building and upstairs there were exhibitions and several spaces for workshops, interviews and presentations. I had a good look at the Alphabet Aerobics ceramic exhibition by Anton Alvarez in which he has developed an autonomous manufacturing system which has created the pieces shown below without the artist even needing to be present - fascinating stuff! There is definitely a resurgence in ceramics as I mentioned in a previous blog ( http://julietteorton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/made-london-bloomsbury-design-craft.html )
This exhibition runs until 5th June.



If you appreciate creativity in any way I would definitely recommend a visit to the NCCD!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wendy Dolan talk on Art, Architecture and Stitch

I had a lovely evening at Chiltern Embroidery and Textile Group in Tylers Green earlier in the week, it was good to be back there after giving my own talk back in March. I took my Mum and a friend to see a talk given by Wendy Dolan on 'Art, Architecture and Stitch' which was right up my street! Wendy is a textile artist who uses fabrics and threads to create textured designs with some wonderful results. I have met Wendy several times before as she is from Sussex (where I grew up) and we also have some mutual friends.   Wendy's talk covered how she develops her work from sketchbooks through to her final designs and she showed us photographs that had inspired her from a variety of places such as Barcelona and Venice. My work is also very sketchbook led so I could easily identify with her thought process. I am also drawn to textures but Wendy's work differs from mine in that she starts with plain coloured fabrics, stitch and thread - ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to start a sketchbook project - Part 1

Since I've started a new sketchbook recently I thought I could do a diary of sorts to explain how I have put the various sections together. I chose the theme of 'Layering' as I was looking through some old A-Level Art & Design question papers and this topic appealed to me. If you want to create your own sketchbook obviously you could choose any theme you like, just make sure that it's something that interests you and you will find plenty of inspiration. I favour an A3 size sketchbook but there are no hard and fast rules on this, and it's best to go for a scale that you feel comfortable with. I started out with a title page and a 'mind map' of written ideas of anything that I felt could relate to the theme of 'layering', a brainstorm of sorts. This is a good way to get over the dreaded 'first page fear' when you just can't bring yourself to start your pristine book and any mark you make is overly scrutinis...
1 comment
Read more

'Marine Life' Sketchbook,

Having taken part in several Open Studio events, I have come to realise how much people do like to look at a sketchbook. I find creating the books a hugely enjoyable process and I'm still referring back to and using some of the imagery from the ones I did some 25 years ago! In this post I thought I would give you a quick flick through my 'Marine Life' book which is a more recent creation and helped to inspire my 'Shoal' and 'Sea Garden' ranges. Once I've chosen a theme I generally do a mind map and look at all the different areas I could explore within that theme. Over the next 5-10 pages I play around with different images, textures, media and scale to explore the possibilities. I also like to focus on a few artists or designers that inspire me too and may relate to my theme. I might do a few pages combining their style with mine and my theme and see what happens. I recently wrote an article for 'Workshop on the Web'...
Post a Comment
Read more