Early Christmas

I always love the aftermath of opening my studio and house to visitors. After the stress of the preparation, the house is transformed into a zen-like gallery and the studio becomes a wonderful organised space with clear surfaces and tidy work areas. Needless to say, this is not its normal state of being! And invariably it doesn’t last long after the final visitor has left, but for a day or two, I float around feeling contentedly on top of things.

Last weekend I held a Christmas pop up shop. It was the first time I’ve opened up at this time of year and I really enjoyed it. Though my visitor numbers were not as high as my May Open House it seemed as though everyone was buying, so I had the enjoyment of having time to chat to visitors along with the benefit of lots of sales.

I also appreciated having a couple of neighbouring houses opening up at the same time, as it provided a mini Xmas shopping experience for our visitors. This will definitely be on my calendar for next year, and I may even manage a little private viewing evening on the Friday to catch those early shoppers.

Christmas Goodies

I hold an Open House in May every year, and I’ve always meant to do a Christmas Open Studio event. I was approached by a couple of local makers to hold a joint event, and so for the first time this November I will be opening my studio for a Christmas sale.

I will be open this Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November from 11am-6pm at The Glass Studio, 47 Pymers Mead, London SE21 8NH.

In anticipation of the launch of my new online shop, I will be having a sale of small glass pieces which will make perfect Christmas presents. The studio and one floor of the house will be open to visitors who want to make an early start on Christmas shopping. I have easy parking and credit card facilities which will help make the experience easy and enjoyable, and of course I offer handmade glassware at reasonable prices. And as if this wasn’t incentive enough, my fellow off-Croxted Road residents are also opening that weekend and so you will have a mini trail of houses to visit.

Catherine Mitchell makes jewellery crafted in silver with semi-precious stones and pearls. Catherine’s Open House at 84 Croxted Road is also running for extended dates on Thursday 6th and Friday 7th November.

A little further down, five makers are selling their products at 21 Hawarden Grove.* Catherine Potter makes a host of decorative gift items from upcycled textiles and buttons. Handmade in Hammersmith recycles tweeds and other textiles made into beautiful new bags and pouches. One of a Kind Jewellery creates one-off designs combining rare vintage beads, Italian and Czech glass, ceramic, resin and amber. Alison Watt-Cooper produces drawings, prints and cards, inspired by local flora and fauna. Joy Fitzsimmons sells cards, notebooks, tea towels and prints all featuring her signature dachsund designs.

*At Hawarden Grove an entrance fee of £1 plus 10% of takings will go towards the local community charity 4ALL-Building Community in West Dulwich. Entrance includes a glass of mulled wine, coffee or tea and mince pie.

Party dressing

Photo: Nick Reynolds Photography

I went to a party in Islington last Friday night for the launch of a new space on Essex Road. It is the office and showroom for Reis, a new interior design and architecture consultancy, and our glass was used to dress the space with a longer term view to be held on show for clients coming into the office.

The mayoress of Islington came to launch the store with a ribbon cutting and lots of photographs. She and her husband stayed for a few drinks and before going off to their next launch (apparently they do 300 events a year!). There was the most unbelievable feast of canapes which we barely dented, despite feeling like we were constantly picking at it.The photographers were snapping away while we quaffed, dined and mingled to our heart’s content until the late closing and stumbled back to Kings Cross for the last train home.

Wrapping the show

After a successful fortnight showing our Designed | Crafted exhibition at Rivington Street, we finally wrapped the show last night and today had the unenviable task of also wrapping the work and packing away the plinths to clear the space. Usually the final clear up is a little sad, taking down all the lovely work and seeing the empty space.

However there was one thing which brightened our day considerably this time. We were sent the link to a video piece on the FT website which featured some footage of our show. In all the craziness of London Design Week I had almost forgotten that I met the producer of the piece last Tuesday and showed him around our exhibition while a cameraman filmed inside and outside the gallery!

The hour that they spent in our space, and asking about our work, was reduced down to about seven seconds…. in fact just about as long as one of good old Terence Conran’s pauses, but it made us very happy!

Check us out between 1:46 and 1:53

Designed | Crafted

Our exhibition opened last week at the Society of Designer Craftsmen Gallery in Rivington Street, Shoreditch. Designed | Crafted is a showcase bringing together the best of British craft, with beautifully handmade objects which bridge the gap between craft and design.

We tried to represent the breadth of the show in the window with one piece from (almost) every artist. The gallery space was looking gorgeous with a row of Simon Yates‘ sculptural stands made from polished yew leading to the back space where Brett Manley‘s ‘Glass Forest’ comprised of a cluster of glass discs presented on plexiglass stands. Juliette Bigley‘s bowls in polished silver had a seductive warmth from the gilded interior which put me in mind of horse chestnuts and their shells.

From the arboreal to the underwater, my Coral Bowls have an organic undulation about them which invokes notions of deep sea coral as they project a frilly pattern of colour underneath. Myung Nam An‘s wall of sculptural ceramics continues the underwater theme with colourful anemone-like forms.

Set against these weird and wonderful shapes, Katie Snow‘s androgynous geometric jewellery is no less intriguing. in fact her collection is called ‘Pockets of Intrigue’ as the wearable angular containers open to reveal their secrets. Then we had beautifully contrasting work with the virtuoso blown glass vessels by Adam Aaronson, large and expressive, contrasting with a group of neat blown glass vases from The Edition Collection, exquisitely engraved with intricate patterns.

Private-View We are open late on Tuesday 16th September for a private view to which you are cordially invited. Please come along between 7pm and 10pm to see this exciting collection of contemporary craft work with a design edge.

See further images at my Pinterest page

London Design Festival

September is an exciting time as it is the London Design Festival which centres on East London. I have got together with couple of my fellow Teepee Glass artists to organise a special exhibition of high quality craft with a design edge.

We are thrilled to be presenting the work of eight makers including glass, silver, ceramics and furniture in the show Designed | Crafted which will be opened in a beautiful gallery space in Rivington Street in the heart of the Old Street design district during London Design Festival.

If you would like to attend one of the Private Views on Thursday 11th or Tuesday 16th September between 7pm and 10pm, please get in touch

And if you are on Twitter, please do follow us on @DesignedCrafted and spread the word!

Photo shoot heaven

I had the loveliest day yesterday working with my girl, Carine Lucchese, who is not only a very talented photographer but, as you can see from the pictures, is also a one-woman whirlwind of lighting and styling. I employed her to take portraits of me in my studio, but in between outfit changes she took the opportunity to set up little vignettes of products and packaging to photograph.

Other than for my wedding, the last time I was photographed by a professional was when I was seventeen and, I daresay, much more photogenic! However Carine is a fashion photographer and, although she usually works with proper models rather than the likes of me, she knows how to get the best out of a subject so I can’t wait to see the finished images.

House of Glass VII

Last weekend I held the first part of my Open Studio. The weather wasn’t brilliant but the sparkling glass made up for the lack of sunshine. As usual, I opened up the studio and most of the house to visitors with all the seconds glass being sold off at bargain prices in the studio.

House of Glass part 2 will happen this weekend and I think it’s going to be a sunny one so we’ll be laying out lots of glass in the garden too. My top room will be dedicated to Love and Marriage, with lots of lovely paper flowers on display. Come along 11am-6pm.

As well as all the old favourites, I had some new glass on display. My new Mandala Panels (below) are delicious kaleidoscopic glass collages which create a complex double image in the reflective background which changes as you move through the room.

Mandala-Panels

Alex R | Glass Design

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