Independent Interiors Show

Overhead projection of designer/makers at the Independent Interiors Show, 2022NQ, Manchester

We went along to the inaugural Independent Interiors Show this Saturday and judging by this event, it certainly won’t be the last. Rachel and Victoria of The Social Butterfly who organised the event will be very pleased with the huge success of the day.

It was held at 2022NQ in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The choice of venue and quality of exhibitors were excellent.

A wide variety of independent designer/makers & shops were present. Their stands looked great set against the industrial fabric of the building and Justin really enjoyed photographing them. Here’s a run-down of those present.

Eclectic Chair – upholstery & cushions using vintage fabrics.

ScandiNord – Scandinavian lighting and neon installations.

Jamie B. Edwards – distinctive contemporary artwork.

Caslon & Co – vintage inspired textiles using antique wooden printing blocks.

Jorja Wilkinson Design – contemporary and quirky fabrics and interior products.

Elizabeth Jane Winstanley – acrylic, wood and metal sculpture & design.

Liz Foster Design – handmade appliqué cushions.

Helaina Sharpley – exquisite sculptural wire work.

Northern Letters – prints, posters & tiles using vintage fonts sourced from Northern quarter signage.

Lisa Watson – sumptuous quilts & throws.

Hannah Nunn – paper cut lighting and a brand new wallpaper range.

Amanda McCrann – contemporary mosaicist & artist.

Annabel Perrin – surface pattern design & homewares.

Lisa Southern – contemporary furniture.

Flitty Bird – decorative homewares & furniture.

Memo – hand printed products including stationery, coasters, tote bags etc.

Claire Murray Designs – hand crafted surface pattern for wallpaper & textiles.

Lomas & Lomas – handmade light shades, cushions & artwork.

May Wild – ceramics.

Inspirit – bespoke industrial furniture & shelving.

There was also an up-cycling demo run by Sian Astley of Morgeous and a big screen situated in the atmospheric café/bar area showcasing each of the exhibitors. Nice coffee there too!

We highly recommend this show – it’s already in our diary for next year! Justin took tons of photographs, so here’s a slide show of further shots if you fancy a leisurely browse.

Bookmarks: Illuminate – Contemporary Craft Lighting

Today’s Bookmarks review, of Illuminate – Contemporary Craft Lighting, is the debut publication by someone we’ve blogged about in the past.

The book’s author, Hannah Nunn, is a designer/maker – specialising in beautiful & delicate paper-cut lamps.

She also owns and runs Radiance – a lighting & craft boutique – in Hebden Bridge where she’s based. All in all, a very busy lady!

Illuminate’s chapters are broken down via materials – paper, glass, ceramics, wood etc…

…with sections within those chapters given over to individual designer/makers – a summary of their background & practice accompanied by lush photographs of their creations.

Creations that are fun, colourful, wacky, delicate, whimsical and works of art – you’ll never make do with a bare bulb ever again!

It’s lovely to see makers we know personally and admire including people like Manchester-based Jane Blease.

And others who we’ve not had the pleasure of meeting in person, but with whose work we’re already familiar, such as Helen Rawlinson and Greypants.

Equally, it’s great to be introduced by this book to talents such as Scabetti, Penelope Batley and Aline Johnson.

The lighting showcased represents an international pool of artistry. As well as the UK, makers hail from as far afield as Japan, the USA, New Zealand, Serbia and The Netherlands.

In all, there are 43 individual lighting designers featured in the book – but owing to space restrictions Hannah has included an additional image gallery of work by other makers that she recommends you seek out.

Perhaps this is a sign that there’s a demand for Illuminate II!

Illuminate is available from Bloomsbury the publishers, Amazon and Hive.

[Many thanks to Bloomsbury for the review copy]

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair ’11

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2011 is being held this weekend in Manchester city centre – we went to the preview night on Thursday.

It was great to see designer-makers whose work we’ve long admired – there was also the thrill of seeing fresh, new exhibitors.

We featured Ken Eardley, whose ceramics are shown above in last year’s GNCCF blog post – once again, his stand had real impact. Things are going really well for him with magazine features such as this recent one in BBC Homes & Antiques.

Another striking space belonged to Jane Blease who works primarily with bentwood & reclaimed plastic often with her characteristic hand worked thread detailing. A recent artist residency in India has clearly inspired some of Jane’s new pieces. It’s interesting charting artists’ new developments & influences.

The Radiance stand belonging to Hannah Nunn always delivers the goods – her hand cut paper light shades look great when displayed en masse…

…and we loved her new seed pod window hangings.

Ruth Green, who we’ve seen at GNCCF in previous years, also had some lovely new works…

…and she’s also branched out into illustrated books, notebooks & note cards.

With autumn setting in, Andrea Lord’s &made display offered some warm seasonal comforts…

…such as these gorgeous cushions & cosies.

As we mentioned earlier, it’s really exciting to discover new makers and their work…

…we’ll highlight just a couple who made an impact on us.

The first was Gemma Truman, whose hand-blown glass & seagrass hangings and vases are absolutely exquisite – they’re inspired by South African weaverbird nests. We also thought they were very reminiscent of those old fashioned glass fishing net floats.

Second was Louise Hibbert.

Her pieces have a natural feel and use subtle, earthy, yet striking colours.

As you can see from her salt & pepper mills, they’re organic, tactile and oh so beautiful – they just cry out to be picked up, handled and caressed.

The show runs till this Sunday, so visit if you can! We’ve only featured homewares in this post, but there’s also lots of jewellery and fashion on display… and all of it’s for sale… so go on, get your Christmas shopping done early!

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2010

We spent Friday evening at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Spinningfields, Manchester city centre…

…and a very pleasant evening it was too.

The fair expanded into two pavilions for its second year.

A great mix of ceramics, glass, metal, paper and textiles… from both new exhibitors and favourites from last year.

There were so many great stalls – we’ve just selected a few that caught our eye.

We’ll start with Jane Blease Design.

She uses plywood and threaded cotton to produce artworks, light shades and jewellery.

It’s striking from a distance, then fascinating in the detail.

A piece of Jane’s work was temptation number one and we’d only been in the marquee for a few seconds!

Moving along to &made,

Andrea Lord produces lovely hand-sewn pieces…

…her items simply & beautifully displayed.

Cushions, wall hangings and rows of gorgeous cacti pin cushions in their little terracotta pots!

We mentioned Derek Wilson Ceramics in our post from last year’s fair.

His stand, filled with his beautiful and delicate porcelain, stopped us in our tracks again…

….elegant, understated simplicity.

Ruth Green Design has proved another favourite with our blog readers – and a shot of her prints always rides high in our Flickr photo viewings.

We lingered at her stall for a good while.

Her prints, sold in limited edition runs, look fabulous hanging all together.

The Pear Tree, one of her new designs, was another strong temptation!

You can always guarantee a striking display from Hannah Nunn’s Radiance Lighting…

…the warm cosy glow of her beautiful, nature-inspired shades…

…the designs hand cut from paper and then laminated.

Phew… time for a pit stop… a sit down with a glass of wine!!

First-time exhibitor Ken Eardley made the long drive up from Brighton where he has his studio.

His range of striking pottery with stylised trees, flowers & leaves was a real show stopper.

Functional and beautiful – always a winning combination.

No doubt his work will be starring in lots of interiors magazines in the future!

The natural landscape strongly inspires & influences the work of enameller Janine Partington.

Trees, flowers, seed heads, birds and animals.

She produces enamel panels, small sculptures and jewellery.

We’d love to stroll through a magical forest of her making.

Kent-based Maxine Sutton plays with imagery of familiar everyday domestic objects and the natural world.

Incorporating them into embroidered and printed textiles to produce a range of interior products.

There were lots of eye-catching items on her stand.

We’ve got a standard lamp that would happily accommodate one of her large shades… and we just loved the coffee pot/cafetiere cosies with their Scandinavian feel.

The work of Sarra Kate is bright and effervescent – just like Sarra Kate herself!

Her stand called out to us from a long way away.

She starts her pieces by making colourful collages which are then laser printed onto textiles and paper…

…which go into making wall hangings, cushions and cards.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Hannah McAndrew, another of our favourites from last year.

This is where we finally gave into temptation.

We admired her stand last year, filled with its mediæval-inspired slipware pottery.

This year we just had to take a few of her pieces home!

We’ve concentrated on featuring homes and interiors products, but there was also lots & lots of fantastic fashion & jewellery – and if we featured any more this post would turn into a novel!

All the makers will be packing up and making their way home as we write this… so be sure to put the fair in your diary for next year!

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: Hannah Nunn

Independent Interiors Show

Bookmarks: Illuminate – Contemporary Craft Lighting

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair ’11

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2010