Handmade in Britain

Photography by Lin Vitali

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Handmade in Britain, running for the fourth consecutive year, held at the Chelsea Old Town Hall in London is a perfect opportunity for innovative designer makers to showcase and promote their work made in Britain. Glass, ceramics, textiles, fashion, furniture, silversmith, jewellery, paper, printmaking, tableware and metal work is what you may come across at the show. Artists and designers get together from various parts of Britain to showcase their distinctive works and many Londoners as well as visitors from various parts of the globe drop in to shop for the very special art items.

While the potential buyers explore the exhibits, Retox Magazine snoops around to select a handful of items showcased at Handmade in Britain to share with you. Here are the selected 10!

Richard Weaver’s Absinth Fountain

Richard Weaver’s interpretation of an object invented a century ago had immediately caught our attention. Richard had transformed the concept design through metalwork into this elegant and functional artwork designed to slowly drip ice-cold water through a sugar cube into a glass of absinthe. This way the host can prepare the drinks without interrupting conversations at the party table while showing appreciation and interest in art. - A perfect gadget for a fashionable host.

Alexandra Simpson’s Cone Ring

Alexandra Simpson, winner of the Coutts New Jeweller Award for 2009, is an independent jeweller designing, creating and making original contemporary quality pieces of jewellery sold internationally. To reflect autumn we’ve selected this delicate handmade silver ring, which expresses Alexandra’s inspiration and realistic interpretation of nature.

Rosie Stallard’s accessories

In particular we have selected this handmade bagette. This £80 clutch is made from vegetable–tanned leather and lined with a vintage scarf meaning no two are the same. It features a large leather bow in contrasting leather and it is big enough to fit the essentials for a decadent evening.

If you have a very special scarf of your own that you wish to use for the lining, you could nicely ask Rosie to incorporate it into your order and she will probably say ok. Just like the bagettes, Rosie is terribly sweet!

Natascha Madeiski’s Porcelain Vase

When looked at it – it looks soft, when felt it - it feels hard, non-the-less it is very delicate. It is a porcelain vase, hand made, making each piece unique.

Susan Long’s hardened, weatherproof fabric sculptures

The wire frame is created. Fabrics are saturated in an environmentally friendly resin, which would eventually make the textile harder. While the fabric is still wet and pliable it is roughed around the frame creating a sculpture. In the same way strands of cotton are used to make hair. Once happy with what is created, Susan then leaves it to dry. The resin seals the fabric and the end result is tough, hard, and weatherproof yet displaying intricate detail and elegant form. Thus unlike the more traditional sculpture and statuary, Susan employs a very unique technique to achieve the result. Most of her sculptures come in gorgeous vivid colours – a perfect way to liven up a garden!

Peter McNamee's elegant eye catching ceramics

Peter produces pinched and coiled vessel forms, which are gradually refined over the drying cycle of the clay with a final burnishing before the first firing. The forms are then smoke-fired using resist techniques employing mark making and found materials to develop surface pattern. His focus has been on the development of a fine surface quality to complement the quiet coolness of his forms. Our selected hand built smoke fired sculptural ceramic vessel is certainly a desired piece for an elegant office or a home.

Graham Lester paper-sculpts!

"Think 3D, think unique, think paper," Marilyn spoke to us. Lester’s handmade, or rather hand carved portrait of Marilyn is built in many intricate layers with paper carefully hand cut, bent, folded and curled to give the 3D effect. Such sculpting in paper requires extreme precision and great imagination. Well done Graham, we really like what you do!

Sue Parry’s Glass Designs

Made in her studio based in Stourbridge, the home of British Glass, Sue Parry’s highly distinctive light bouncing mirrored glass display platters (blue coloured glass mirrored on the reverse giving it that metallic quality) had to bounce into our chosen 10 of Handmade in Britain. Whether wall mounted or freestanding, this sensational blue creation is a perfect instrument to add magic to a fine home. The way it bounces the light is simply magical.

Katherine Richmond’s jewellery

Katherine uses old books and laser marking technology to create her unique pieces. Her range of brooches, neckpieces, rings and earrings is inspired by the constant state of flux with memorabilia such as photographs representing a sense of stability in a world of constant change. As with most of exhibits at Handmade in Britain, all pieces Katherine makes are unique.

Why don’t you redesign this Christmas?

Redesign’s Jason Allcorn had a completely different approach to the exhibition aiming at promoting sustainable designs and teaching people about how to make things themselves. As Jason explained, Redesign is trying to get people reconnected with their hands and encourage people to make stuff themselves for this Christmas. They’ve produced a book called “Why don’t you redesign this Christmas” featuring 33 projects from 25 designers, showing people how they can make stuff and enjoy making stuff and giving that as gifts this Christmas.

It features a real mixture of techniques. For instance, bowls made from balloons. How do you do that, you may ask? You would semi inflate the balloon, cover the outside with a mixture of sawdust from your workshop (sawdust and latex mixed together), push that around the balloon, leave it to dry overnight, then burst the balloon and snip it around to create the bowl.

Another intriguing number included a knitted purse. However, instead of knitting with wool, it would entail of making your own yarn out of old plastic carrier bags. The book showcases a technique for cutting up the old carrier bags, producing a long yarn from it, which you would then use to nit as normal. We found it quite inspirational.