Wednesday 15 January 2014

Welcome 2014


Lakes collective logo by artist Nick Leigh

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to Lakes Collective. We are a loose collection of 30 artists and designer makers who live in and around the English Lake District. 


Lakes Collective is a self-funded,not-for-profit organisation that shares costs between the participating members at each event. We are administered by a small organising group of founder members who organise events on a voluntary basis. All members are encouraged to be active participants and enthusiastically speak about and sell our own and one another's work. We are proud that our events are welcoming and friendly, with the chance for the general public to chat directly with informed artists and designer makers about our work. 

Like all the best organisations, we formally set up in 2010 following a day of discussion at a local craft fair. There appeared to us to be a gap in opportunities for local artists and designer makers who create original work. There seemed to be plenty of small craft fairs for hobbyists making skilled handicrafts, and galleries offering exhibitions for high-end art and craft at high commissions, but nothing in-between for serious artists and designer makers who want more exposure and artistic development in order to be able to make a living from our creativity.


We were also concerned that what constitutes genuine Art and Craft is becoming confused. It increasingly seems that 'anything goes', even at some of the most prestigious craft events. Terms like "handcrafted", "handmade" and "unique" are often applied to work that hasn't been entirely designed and created by the maker. Work that is assembled from bought in components, bought items re-presented as locally designed, digital and laser prints, vintage, upcycled and recycled items are now positioned alongside original work. 


While this type of mixed event can be fun and popular, and there is certainly place for it in the creative world, we believe that it can also downgrade the knowledge and skill, hard work and the commitment to quality of serious artists and designer makers. It can also lower the general public's expectations of the amount of time involved, and the prices. 

Competing to sell our work in this expanding creative environment also means that artists and designer makers tend to focus on producing work that immediately sells, with little time and energy left over to be our creative selves. Lakes Collective is also committed to creating opportunities for our members to explore and develop new ideas and collaborate with different artistic disciplines - just for the sheer pleasure of it!        


Membership of Lakes Collective is free, and open to anyone who lives in or around the Lake District who creates high quality art or craft made from 'raw' materials as their key source of income. Members are chosen via invitation by existing members and a simple selection process. 




CONTACT US 

 lakescollective@gmail.com 
if you would like to be considered for membership, or to find out more about our events, or to contact one of our members about their work. 



'Washing Line' embroidery by Louise Dorman


LC Summer Showcase 2013

View 1 of our Summer Showcase 2013
The Lakes Collective 
Annual Summer Showcase 2013

Bishop Bulley Barn 
Rydal Hall 
Rydal ( nr. Ambleside in the Lake District)  
Cumbria
LA22 9LX 

Following our successful first Summer Showcase in 2012, this year we extended it over seven days as the punctuation point to Lakes Collective expanding the Rydal Sculpture Trail. This created an exciting opportunity for our members to experiment with site-specific outdoor work, and also exhibit in the beautiful interior of the Bishop Bulley Barn.

We had 7 new artists showing this year, including 3 more ceramicists and milliner Victoria Relph.  Several artists used it to launch a new range of their work, and ceramicist Jane Smith used it as her 'good-bye' show as she is moving to Cornwall after decades in the Lakes. Many of our members were exhibiting at more than one event that week, but were keen to exhibit their latest collections with Lakes Collective. 

Footfall was good, despite the dates clashing with some other busy arts and crafts events. A number of visitors travelled from a long distance specifically to visit the show, and feedback was that our publicity strategy of advertising, posters, online presence, and word-of-mouth was working well. By the end of the week the majority of visitors attending had come along due to recommendations from relatives, friends and neighbours who had enjoyed our event and the high quality of the work on display. 

Visitors included gallery owners and collectors, and some photographers who gave our event a great write up on their own art blog. All vistors seemed to enjoy our approach of being gently guided around the exhibition by an artist or designer maker whose work was on display, and who could answer questions about some of the other members' art. This added an extra bit of cache, and was also enjoyable and educational for the LC members who acted as guides. 
We hope that the reputation of the Lakes Collective Annual Summer Showcase will continue to grow as a place where latest collections, experimental work and special pieces by local artists and designer makers can be exhibited and bought.

The Bishop Bulley Barn has already been booked for next year's Summer Showcase at the slightly earlier dates of the first week in June 2014, and we will again be taking over the Sculpture Trail for the whole month of May. 


View 2 Summer Showcase 2

Read what others say about LC


Holy Detritus exhibition 2013

Ghost - poem by Mary Chuck, suspended hat by Victoria Relph
Holy Detritus 
a creative adventure into 
St Oswald's Church

Located in St Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, this exhibition proved to be unexpectedly successful and highly popular. It began as a developmental collaboration between 10 acclaimed, contemporary poets, selected by the Wordsworth Trust, and 20 artists and designer makers from Lakes Collective. It was on display from Sat Sept 27th – Tues Oct 8th 2013. 

Selection of individual poem books by Elizabeth Shorrock

Inspired by the fascinating architecture and history of St Oswald's Church, the poets created poems which were then passed to the artists and designer makers to interpret in any way they chose. Some of us were drawn to the wide-ranging content in the poems, while others focused on just one image or line or the rhythm of a poem. The experience of considering the church as a whole in such close detail gave us all the opportunity to expand our impressions of it and express those in ways that connected poetry, art and place for people who viewed it. Most of the art work was for sale, and nearly all of it sold during the exhibition. The copyright of the poetry remained with the poets so that the poems can be used in future collections. 

St Oswalds Church was the perfect venue for this event, as the poetry and art work looked very 'at home' there. It also enhanced the experience of visiting the church, as people were encouraged to adventure into it in greater depth and from different perspectives. 

3 poem tryptych by Suki Kyme


The Lepers' Door
(St Oswald's Church, Grasmere)

We come down from the crags, the wastes, our hovel colonies
just out of sight – the stumps of our limbs, the flesh betrayed.
We're here at the side door waiting for the nave to empty.

We dream of the old life and hunger for the one hereafter.
We have no currency today – untouchable, unclean.
O cleanse us father, fill the holes in our bodies with the host.

From the shelf inside the door, we'll pick up whatever the world
offers – food, old clothes, messages from family – then slip away,
wraiths, imagine the sacrament's tang on our tongues like blood

reminding our souls of our selves. Each daybreak our poverty
offers itself to the light, the light that renews all.  We look
to the hills and they keep us here. Our prayers go unheard:

may the wind, burling down, pass through us,
may the sun leave no shadow behind us;

   The Lepers' Door - poem by Mike Barlow 
'Ring For a Leper' in silver and stone by Amanda Hunter
may the wafers of clouds be our bodies made spirit.
                                                                                  Mike Barlow 2013






Poets: Polly Atkin, Mike Barlow, Judy Brown, Elizabeth Burns, Mary Chuck, Sarah Hymas, Carola Luther, Kim Moore, Jane Routh, and Mark Ward.

Artists / Designer Makers:    
Clare Humphry - ceramicist
Amanda Hunter - silversmith 
Amanda Watson - painter
Barbara Humphry - painter
Elizabeth Shorrock - book binding
Gordon Baddeley - sculptor in wood
Helen Golding-Miller - bookbinder and conservator
Jane Crowe - felt maker
Jo Aspray - painter
Joy Grindrod - painter
Keith Shorrock - woodworker 
Lola O'Reilly - artist
Melissa Harwood - painter
Stephen Rae - artist
Sue Brophy - beaded jewellery
Sue David - printmaker
Suki Kyme - painter
Victoria Relph - milliner


Wordsworth Trust www.wordsworth.org.uk



Sculpture Trail 2013

Branch Library by paper artist Elizabeth Shorrock

Sculpture Trail at Rydal Hall



In June 2013 Lakes Collective contributed to the popular Sculpture Trail at Rydal Hall.  

From 1st -  30th June 2013, works of art by 12 Lakes Collective members were scattered throughout the grounds of Rydal Hall, Rydal, nr. Ambleside  LA22 9LX to add to the existing textile sculptures. Our members enjoyed the experience of stretching our knowledge and skills to create work that was suitable for the open outdoor context and all weathers. The extended Sculpture Trail proved very popular with the general public, and some of the sculptures have remained in situ and can still be viewed. 

Visitors could start off by dropping into the tea shop where there were information sheets on the various artists involved, and a map of where their artworks were sited. The Rydal Hall Heritage Gardens and tea shop is open each day during June from 10am-5pm.


Lakes Collective has been invited to contribute to the Rydal Scultpture Trail again in 2014, and we will also be creating a piece of site specific artwork around an ancient tree. 

Barn Owl by Victoria Relph