New Designers

It all seems a bit of a blur now, but at the end of June I was in London for a week exhibiting at New Designers.

My work was part of the Bradford School of Arts and Media stand, where I was with the BA students and two of my fellow HNC classmates.

To say it was overwhelming at first was a bit of an understatement. The Business Design Centre where it is held is a big venue and we were near the back of the main hall.

We spent the Monday and Tuesday getting set-up, and then on the Wednesday was the first proper day where it was open to VIP guests and judging of the work happened.

My brother also came along to see me on the Wednesday evening. It was the highlight of the week as he’s always been the arty one and it was great to have him there to share the whole thing with.

The Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was open to the public and it was really busy and fun. It was great to meet people who were interested in my work and I got some great feedback on it all as well.

We managed to get to have a look around the rest of the stands, which in itself took a couple of days to really see everything. The standard of work was very high and inspiring and has given me lots to think about.

Here’s some of my favourites from the other stands in no particular order.

 

Paula Fox hand screen printed these designs for a range of ski wear. She’s already got links with the Scottish ski centres and had a lot of interest at New Designers. I can see her doing really well as she’s really innovative as she’s also designed a special waterproof wax, and also had added led lights onto her garments for safety. A really nice person and I’m sure she’s going to go far judging by her website and the exposure she’s had since New Designers.

 

 

Anna’s work is based on old Scottish buildings and are screen/digital printed onto a variety of things. I loved the use of the buildings with the other bold patterns and I really want one of her aprons.

 

 

Erin Young’s display was really sweet and I loved all the intimate wee things she had. There were lots of small crocheted, sewn, and printed items, and it was a nice change to see something that looked really personal in contrast to a lot of the other displays.

 

Cathy MacTaggarts work was another personal collection based on memories of her mum and her childhood.She had hand and machine sewn 64 Jam jar covers with images of parts of the equipment needed to make jam. It was a really personal project and we were both nearly in tears talking about what differing ways our families have influenced and inspired our work.

I know there’s not really any weave here. That’s not to say that there wasn’t any that I liked as there was lots of amazing weaving, I just hadn’t taken enough photos of it all as there was so much to take in. Lesson learned to take more photos next time.

I also attended some of the Design Trust talks. They were really informative and have given me a lot to think, especially on the why I weave and why I am doing this. It’s all good and has really helped to focus on what my inspiration is and where I want to start heading in my new life as a weaver designer maker.

Since then I’ve been on a much needed holiday with my boys, where I couldn’t help but be inspired by the Devon countryside.

I’m feeling re-energised and itching to get back to weaving again and getting stuck back into classes as well.