Maker of the Week - Peter Spilsbury

Peter Spilsbury is a jewellery designer based in London. He uses beautiful natural objects, hand cast in resin to make contemporary fashionable jewellery. Peter will be exhibiting and selling his work at MADE10 in November.


One favorite living craft maker.
Ooh that’s a hard question because there are so many interesting craft makers. I recently visited the New Designers show at the Business Design Centre and was really impressed by the high standard of work. I guess that I have been a fan of the Dutch design collective 'Droog' since I discovered them when studying for my BA 3D Design at Falmouth. I aspire to their clarity, simplicity and consistent strength of concept and vision. Looking through their portfolio of work I feel that at some stage in my career, I would like to make time to design furniture. Check out some furniture design from my teenage years... http://www.peterspilsbury.blogspot.com/search/label/Furniture

What was the last art/craft/design thing you purchased?
I have recently acquired a Lloyd Loom chair but I often buy some smaller crafts items such as ceramics, textiles or prints when visiting other makers’ open studios. That's the great thing about living in London you meet so many people who are here to make and create.

At age 18 who influenced your style? Was there any individual who very much helped you on your way?
I was studying for a BTEC GNVQ Advanced & A level both in Art & Design. William Morris has always been an inspiration but of course I have never met him. I guess both William Morris' work and my own have been strongly influenced by patterns that can be seen in nature. My father, a keen furniture hobbyist, took me to Parnham House where exquisite furniture is produced. This was a big influence too.

What music are you currently listening to?
Right now I'm listening to Aphex Twin. I like a variety.

Where and what is your studio? Do you work alone? In silence, radio?
I work in a co-operative studio, a converted stables hidden away in Crystal Palace. At the moment we have furniture, ceramic, web design, painting, dress making, jewellery and signage. I started out by subletting a desk on the corner and now have a space of my own. At the beginning of 2010 I took on some extra room and spent January transforming the space. The space always seems to be growing and changing with more shelves going up or a new process introduced. I have been here at the Gipsy Hill Workshops for 3 to 4 years now.

Sometimes I have help in the studio and there is always another maker around to chat too. I have built a separate room where I go to do the making, containing my messy/ noisy stuff, so these are my headphone times.




What is your favourite (art) website?
Today I was looking at a jewellery based website named benchpeg. A useful resource for finding out about exhibitions and commission opportunities.

Surprising activity/hobby?
Cycling, tennis, friends, Guinness, cats, tattoos and Dr Who.

Do you have a good work/life balance? Are you able to switch off from art work?
I'm much better than I have been. When I started making jewellery in Cornwall I was working from home. Now that I have a studio separate from home, I find it much easier to switch off. My work/life balance varies as I think it does with all self-employed creature's. When there’s a deadline it’s all work and no play. At theses times I'm often in the studio into the early hours of the morning.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Freedom

Do you think art and craft has any real importance?
The communication of messages heard in different ways bringing people together. Other than that a bit of fun and indulgence is very important.

Any other relevant information? Prizes won, exhibitions etc.
I recently had the pleasure of exhibiting at the Contemporary Craft Fair held in Bovey Tracey. Situated on the edge of Dartmoor, Bovey made a beautiful setting for the event. It was my first craft specific fair and a really great show for me. To those of you who I met at the fair thank you for showing an interest in my jewellery. It was a pleasure speaking to all of you.

I have been working away to create many new and exciting individual pieces of jewellery, as well as some beautiful new ranges specially for Made10 including some bespoke map men’s cufflinks. To get a taste of these cufflinks which are being created from a vintage map of Brighton follow this link:
http://www.peterspilsbury.blogspot.com/2010/05/comic-jewellery-by-peter-spilsbury.html

Making my new paper & resin jewellery has been a thoroughly enjoyable process and I think the fun and experimentation shows though in the work. My next project is going to collaborate with illustrator James Cottell.

I'm also taking on commission work, so if there is something you would like specially made or saw something that sparked your imagination from my website, I would love to make it for you.

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Open Houses Worthing

Worthing Open Houses opened their doors again last weekend showing a wide variety of art and craft. It's only on for 2 weekends and next weekend is the last weekend so if you fancy a day in Worthing - Brighton's up and coming but sleepy neighbour then would be a good time!Worthing has embraced the Open House idea enthusiastically with double the number of houses opening this year (45 venues) from last year and visitor numbers respectable.

We had a few distractions over the weekend - setting up our pictures (late) in one open house, talking to artists and visitors, sitting in the sun on the beach drinking sangria and waiting for our lunch to be served at Coast Cafe, taking pictures of the classic american cars at the rally on the Steine - the houses we did visit were pretty good and worth a look. Details of all artists and houses can be found on the website here - the symbol on the map marking a venue is a house and the pointy bit is a roof not an arrow pointing to the location - so make sure you read the address!

Here are a few we got to visit... and they're worth a look!

8 New Parade Alison Milner recently curated an exhibition "Beyond Floral" up in Barnsley and she's brought much of the exhibition to her house at New Parade on Worthing Seafront. (also picture at top of page)


Sarah Young Dolls and Mel William Lavender birds at 3 Alexandra Road


Sarah Young relief prints at Alexandra Road

and Sarah Young Paintings at Alexandra Road


Julia Burns, Philip Tyler and Louise Tyler at 229 Farm Road


Chis Hill at 229 Farm Road

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Jeremy Hunt Launches Structural Reform Plan

Jeremy Hunt the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, launched his "structural reform plan" setting out the Coalition Governments plans for that sort of thing on the 15th July.

(Picture Guardian.co.uk)

A quick reading of it reveals that Culture and Art isn't really mentioned at all apart from a general 'encourage philanthropic giving' - that's it.

All the rest of the plans were about the olympics and para-olympics, "Boosting the big society" - lifting restrictions on cross-media ownership, a move which will apparently boost the "big society" and not just reward media moguls for electoral support. Also they hope broadband will be extended across the country by telecom companies.

But about art, culture and heritage nothing, ziltch, nada.

I hope that this could mean that these sectors will be left alone to fulfill their artistic goals, and that the government is happy with the successes and value for money of these sectors provide and that they don't need reform just hands-off nurturing and occasional funding.

Or did they just forget...

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Artist of the Week - Sara Downham Lotto

Sara Downham Lotto's paintings are primarily abstract, celebrating the spirit and sensation of seeing. Composed in mixed media, they illustrate a dynamic exploration and consolidation of decorative form and colour, surface and light. At conception they are free and organic, embracing the accidental and playfully arranging pleasing shapes, colours and textures. Increasingly, the creative process becomes slower and more considered, drawing on an intuitive sense of when to stop. A lifetime‘s passion for beauty in art and nature, plus years of study both the practice and how it exists in a historical context, have significantly fed this intuition. Technically, the paintings evolve into a build up of translucent layers of paint and collaged paper creating a sense of depth and intrigue as to how they were actually made. Traces of these layers or ‘lives’ can always be seen beneath the surface to remind us of the complexities of experiences past and present; whatever is said or done has shaped and continues to shape us. The painting, therefore, is almost like a living organism with its history exposed. One might say the work is an unconscious attempt to evoke the rhythm and energy of the real world we inhabit.



Favourite Living Artists
On reflection, it seems all the artists who most interest me are those who have a dynamic hunger for life and knowledge. Their approach to life and art is honest and direct, resulting in authentic individualism unfettered by convention and preconceptions.
Callum Colvin I have enjoyed for his breadth of reference to art history and literature, his unpretentious uniqueness and provocative subject matter and use of mixed media.
Howard Hodgkin’s sumptuousness as a colourist and intuitive command of paint leave me envious

Favourite Historical Artists
From early student days I have devoured Delacroix for his breadth of knowledge and dynamic use of line and colour. His journals are a great read, illuminating the extent to which a passion for travel, literature and music can feed into visual interpretation.
In contrast, and more directly influential on my own painting technique at the time, was the Abstract Expressionist work of Franz Kline and Pierre Soulages. As a postgraduate I studied Emil Nolde and Primitivism. His “Unpainted Pictures” with their glowing colour and seemingly miraculous balance of light and dark, space and form defy explanation. Nolde’s preoccupation with the Primitive – whether tribal cultures and their artifacts or the primordial forces of nature – parallels my own interests. . Ivon Hitchins’ exquisite semi abstract landscapes have taught me about the importance of space in composition and a balance of both gestural and decorative mark making.

When and Where I first Wanted to do what I do
Childhood memories of living in central Africa have very much shaped my ambitions to do what I do in the ways I have chosen to do it. A passion for the bush with its intoxicating smells and sounds, abundance of colourful bird and insect life and the inexhaustive ingenuity of the Africans making so much from so little, have fueled my enthusiasm for creative making and living. I try to take as little as possible for granted; within my chosen confines of making paintings, the range of possibilities is endless if one is prepared to keep things open.



A Place in the World that has been an Inspiration
I have a pantheistic love of remote and wild places, untainted by contemporary notions of industrial and technological progress.These places could well be inhabited by communities. Communities that share and tell stories , that work on the land and adapt to seasonal and ritualistic rhythms. These have taught and inspired my creative spirit the most.

Influence of Style at age 15
An individual who very much helped me on my way. My art teacher at the time – Joe Taylor – had an eccentric enthusiasm for art and music. His continued reference to connections between the two had an enormous impact on me. As a teenager I was a very keen French Horn player to the extent that when I wasn’t drawing or painting I was playing or listening to music. My painting style at the time was influenced by Kandinsky and Malevich, later to be overtaken by shaped wall pieces of Frank Stella and colour experimentations of Rothko, Frankenthaler and Morris Louis.

How I set about starting a new Project
Clear the decks. In order to maximise the intuitive flow of ideas I have to be undistracted by everyday ‘stuff’. I therefore ensure all outside the studio is more or less obsessively organized so I can switch off from the everyday and immerse myself in ‘my thing’. Fridge full, house tidy, garden dug, animals and kids fed and happy – THEN I start. I also tend to work in blocks of time, given other demands on life like teaching, being a mother, wife, friend and smallholder. I find it near impossible to integrate fits and starts of painting amongst all this, so will ‘book in’ a period of two to three months of devoted studio time when the house and garden pretty much look after themselves and the kids get used to humbler meals.



Where and what is my studio?
The studio is a purpose built wooden and glass cube set into a hill several metres from the house. It has superb views over the Avon Valley and beyond to Dartmoor, and is integral to the small holding we run, surrounded by fruit and veg patches and a field of free range sheep, geese, ducks, guinea foul and hens. Having always painted to music before I came here, I now find the natural sounds around me more conducive to clear thinking. The fortune to have this set up is thanks to an inheritance from a relative who followed my work and wanted to see continue with it come what may.



Do I work best alone or in collaboration?
hen painting, I most definitely work best alone. However, I love people and hugely enjoy collaborating ideas and general banter when teaching. Sometimes, sorely lacking, is constructive dialogue with other artists when it comes to my own painting. For years now, I have been entirely alone which may not be a good thing.

How much do I bend my ‘vision’ to suit the marketplace – if at all?
Not at all –never.

My work/life Balance
Work/life balance couldn’t really be better, although I could always do with more time in the studio. Blessed with healthy kids and always stuff to do with the animals and garden, I have to be disciplined to carve out time for painting and teaching. My ideal is to run four or five art workshops a month to assist finances, as well as work towards an annual show of new work. Things like housework I try not to waste time with when I have the place to myself, preferring to focus instead on stuff that needs time and space to think. Weekends tend to be sacrosanct vis-à-vis family and friends, ideally getting all involved in stuff around the farm.



Where did I Train, what are the favourite/least favourite aspects of that Training?
My last years of school in the late ‘70s were in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Then, unlike now, there wasn’t a huge amount going on culturally, so I chose to continue studies in London. Having failed to get into the Royal College of Music as a French Horn player, I incredibly fortunately got a place at St Martin’s on the Art Foundation Course. This was just as well, as I really don’t think I was cut out to be a full-time professional musician. The course and tutors at St Martin’s were superb, the only criticism being it felt too short. London, however, I did not enjoy, despite all those free lunchtime concerts and student stand-bys on the South Bank. The metropolis has always felt too big and impersonal to me and to this day, I have a kind of phobia of the place.
As an undergraduate, I was based at Manchester Polytechnic for three years from 1981. Like most Fine Art degree course, we were pretty much left on our own most of the time. I used to enjoy being one of the first in to the Medlock studios in the mornings, sometimes with my horn to practice in the peace and quiet, sometimes just to get more work done. Frustratingly, the tutors were all male who I felt didn’t really take us ‘girls’ too seriously. David Sweet, Head of Painting at the time, was an inspiration, however. On occasion, we would get a very fine female visiting lecturer coming through who kept me going. The Department of Art History and Contextual Studies at the Poly was, in contrast, full of dynamic and motivating tutors. I enjoyed this aspect of study so much, that I signed up for the 60%Painting - 40%Art History and Contextual Studies option.

In 1987 I began Post Graduate studies at Glasgow University, gaining an MPhil in 1989, the Thesis title being “The Role of Primitivism in the work of Emil Nolde”. My hope had been to experience some inspired, academic teaching, but again, we were very much left to our own resources and my tutor was absent with M.E. much of the time. Sitting in on Scottish Opera rehearsals and artist lectures at Glasgow School of Art made up for this.

Between 1988 and 1991 I was based at the Gdansk Art Academy in Poland, having been awarded three consecutive British Council/Polish Government Postgraduate Scholarships to paint. These were some of the happiest most interesting years for me, a time of Zomo police, Lech Walesa rallies, black market and lively social gatherings. The Academy itself was very traditional, organized into ateliers/studios headed by aging professors. For four years the students were to study and develop the working style of their professor, culmination in an exhibition of uninspiring copies of their master’s work. The more academic easel painting I saw, the more it pushed me to turn things on their head with abstract paper collages and sploshy paint.


Sara will be exhibiting at the Brighton Art Fair in September.

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Knit Cloud

We've just heard about an intriguing and exciting new project about to be launched in Brighton.

Knit Cloud is to be new fashion & textile shared studio space, and small business incubator in Brighton. Giving start-up businesses access to space, expertise, and specialist equipment. It's the idea of designers Susan Pearson and Sarah Elwick.

Knit Cloud are looking for a few more members/sharers - contact Sarah Elwick (sarah@sarahelwick.com)

This is what they write about Knit Cloud ...

First ever incubator dedicated to the fashion & textile industry in Brighton & Hove, supporting and promoting talented designers, makers and artists in this sector.

Nurturing the business and technical skills of both new and established designers – helping them to make their businesses more profitable, while maintaining their creative integrity.

Master classes for the members and the community, that educate across the lifecycle of the design-make process including, CAD computer-aided design (In Design layout and documents, Illustrator vector drawing), pattern cutting, dubied flatbed knitting, sample-making, tailoring and craft skills.

Dedicated tuition in essential business skills - branding & marketing, presentation, negotiation and sales, accounting & finance, intellectual property management, time management, leadership, entrepreneurship & accessing venture capital and networking.

A sustainable social enterprise - a creative hub for designers makers and artists.

Co-working ethic providing a coming together to share ideas, collaborate, innovate and network.

Access to a fully equipped workshop - multi-tenancy enabling shared cost of otherwise prohibitively expensive resources (equipment and workspace).

A vibrant and growing network among new and established professional designers with strong links to the business community, tapping as well as feeding into the effective creative and business networks and training programmes of the South East

A self-help principle, members encouraged to cross-practise, helping, swapping skills and time. The co-working experience providing trusted affiliations to help at key times when deadlines have to be met. Once their businesses have taken off, creating employment opportunities for other designers and the community.

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Oxfam's Trailwalker - HUGE Success

Back in May we wrote about Helen Forbes' 100K walking challenge to raise money for Oxfam. Helen's company Essential Italy is sponsoring the Palace Art Fair in October and we were of course supporting her all the way.

We are very proud, pleased (and just a little in awe) to announce that Helen and her team finished the walk in just 25 hours and have raised close to £2500 for Oxfam.

Helen said that the last 20kms especially were incredibly difficult, that she will never ever do it again BUT that she can highly recommend it to other people as a worthwhile physical and mental challenge.

Donations can still be made at..

http://www.justgiving.com/comradesinboots

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Artist of the Week - Kate Walters

Kate Walters lives and works in Cornwall and where she produces drawing and watercolour artworks. Kate's interests include walking in wild places, camping in wild places (like the Hebrides and Italian mountain ranges) and spotting wild life - eagles, deer, wolves. She has also trained in classical shamanic techniques. Kate is a strong dreamer and will be working in the dream tent at the Port Eliot Literary Festival, and at Camp Bestival, this summer.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
I trained at Brighton Poly ( as it was then) in Fine Art, making films and tape/slide installations. I am self-taught as a painter/draughtsperson. I learned to work hard and to be self-reliant. I have made drawings since I was a small child, and have always wanted to do what I do but for many years didn't believe in myself enough to let go of my teaching career and all the things which took up my time and prevented me from following this path.


One favourite living artist?
Eija-Lisa Ahtila, the film-maker. I love the way she finds her way inside emotions in her films. I love them visually too.

One favourite historical artist?
Piero della Francesca (and all early Renaissance Italian artists)because of the subjects of their work, their stillness, radiance, and beauty.


Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from my inner life and all that appears there.

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had.
What I do now, thankfully!

Do you work mostly on your own? Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?
I do work mostly alone but recently collaborated with Karen Lorenz when we both made films about one of our parents. I will also be showing with John Keys in Bristol in October at Centrespace Gallery.

At age 18 who most influenced your style?
Kandinsky.

How much do you bend your 'vision' to suit the marketplace - if at all?
I don't bend my vision at all!


Who would you say buys your work?
My purchasers are other artists, poets, academics, ministers, therapists.

Where and what is your studio?
My studio is at home, where I love to be. I rented a larger studio recently but it didn't feel right.
Do you have a good work/life balance?
I have a very good work/life balance. Twenty steps and I can be in my garden, which I also love working in.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Bliss

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
Caring for working animals in third world countries.


If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
The gallery of my choice would be in the main pavilion in the Venice Biennale, 2011.

Please list any exhibitions you have had in the past 12 months.
House of Fairy Tales, Millenium, curated by Alice Herrick, including live drawing ‘skyped’ to ICA, London;
House of Fairy Tales ‘Exquisite Trove’, curated by Alice Herrick, at Newlyn Art Gallery.
Artsway Open 09 curated by Peter Bonnell, Sway, Hampshire.
Birmingham, Visual Exhibition for Art of Ideas II curated by Stephen Snoddy.
‘Blasphemous’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dublin
Millenium, St. Ives, Winter Show.
Salisbury Open Drawing.

Later this year Kate will be showing in Truro Cathedral, drawings in response to St. Francis' Canticle of the Creatures and will also be exhibiting at the Brighton Art Fair and the Palace Art Fair.

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