We're delighted to be hosting one of our first exhibitions with Design Nation South West (Cornwall and Devon). Titled 'Shine' the exhibition has been conceptualised and curated by Create's Art Gallery Manager, Abi Symmons. A simple brief of 'Shine' was given to artists to interpret however they wish.
The private view will be held on 11th November where the artists will come together at the Create gallery, Bedruthan Hotel.
All of the pieces chosen to be exhibited will be for sale for prices ranging for £30.
The public can see the exhibition for free from the 12th November during the Create shop and gallery's opening hours: Monday - Sunday 10am - 5pm.
What is Design National Cornwall and Devon?
Design National Cornwall and Devon is a sub-group of the artist portfolio that make up Design Nation, a collection of acclaimed designers, artists and craftspeople in the UK.
We have an incredible pool of talent in the South West and Create is proud to offer an additional platform for the artists through the Shine exhbition.
Find out more about Design Nation Cornwall and Devon.
Meet the artists...
Alison Shelton Brown
Alison is a multi-disciplinary artist with a deep focus on the natural world and sustainable making.
Making with meaning is fundamental to Alison, exploring the consequences of the human touch on our world. As a multi-disciplinary artist her butterfly brain and bowerbird eye intuitively play with those fluttering thoughts through ceramics, metal and textiles, encouraging a tactile curiosity. By distilling an idea and eliminating the unnecessary, the essence of a form is divined; a simple joy revealed.
(Image by Robin Shelton Photography)
Bridget Maklin
Bridget hand builds unique, fragile ceramics. Each piece begins with a thin sheet of pure porcelain with connotations of beauty and fragility. She has a deep desire for her art to tell the story of our landscape. Geology is at the core of her work and she is amazed by the sense of power within contorted, fractured layers that shape our moors, mountains, cliffs and coasts.
Bridget hand builds unique, fragile ceramics. Each piece begins with a thin sheet of pure porcelain with connotations of beauty and fragility. She delights in experimenting, striving for ever thinner, more lustrous results. Firing high to bring out the translucent nature of the porcelain and to flux or burn any inclusions. This causes tension within the piece which results in craters, blisters, exploded splinters of rock with the impact showing on the surface as cracks radiating out from the point of tension. The smooth polished feel of the finished piece is her final comment on the need to cherish our planet.
(Image by Robin Shelton Photography)
Rocks of all kinds inspire Carin’s one-of-a-kind jewellery. From quartz veined beach pebbles and rugged slate, via semi-precious gemstones to the precious such as diamond and sapphire, you’ll see the full spectrum of nature’s own art in the stones used. They act as focus points and inform shapes and textures of the metals that tie them together.
The influence of Carin’s Swedish heritage fosters simple and elegant qualities, and together with the ever-changing coastal landscape of north Cornwall, they provide ample ingredients for her melting pot of design inspiration. Carin’s work can be described as having natural Scandi elegance & coastal Cornish ruggedness; “Scandi meets Cornish”.
(Image by Paul Mounsey)
Fiona J Sperryn
Working from a studio on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Fiona combines traditional techniques with digital innovation to create one-off contemporary handwoven tapestries. She translates her drawings into computer files to be read by the jacquard loom. She presses the foot pedal to lift each combination of warp threads. She throws shuttles of different colours by hand, combining carefully chosen fibres.
‘I draw from life or my own photographs and the inspiration behind the work comes from being outdoors, in close contact with an environment and the elements. I enjoy the physical interactions of the creative process, from textural mark-making outdoors to hand finishing the woven cloth.’
Helen Eastham
Glass artist Helen Eastham is passionate about making work which connects her and others to the topography, flora and fauna of Cornwall. Her playground has been the beaches, coast-paths and inter-tidal zones of the coast for decades.
Helens work is about bringing the outdoors indoors. Helen works with glass powders and sheet glass to interpret her abstracted designs, building, layering and using multiple firings to create each unique vessel. She sketches and draws, planning the designs in advance, but on the day her process is also organic: much of what she feels will influence the design further.
Lynne Speake
Lynne Speake is a multi disciplinary artist combining sculpture, ceramics, photography, written word and installation.
Her work is always organically driven and determined by her materials.
Originally a painter Lynne has a passion for colour, texture and pattern. She is fascinated and inspired on a daily basis by the peeling paint and the rusting metal that she finds all around her. Since moving onto dry land (with a garden) it is nature and predominantly her feathered visitors that are increasingly becoming her inspiration.
Sam Isaacs
At his workshop in North Cornwall, Sam Isaacs produces unique, original and eclectic lighting made from salvaged materials and found curiosities. Vintage motor and bicycle lamps, mid 20th century kitchen appliances and flotsam from the sea are amongst the intriguing and nostalgic components featured in his work. By repurposing these items Sam creates a new singular identity and a new lease of life for lost treasures.
All work complies to current electrical standards and is PAT tested. Lamps use replaceable A++ long life low energy bulbs 2 watt.
Susan Kinley
Following her MA at the Royal College of Art, Susan established a studio in London, moving to Cornwall in the 1990’s to take up a fellowship at Falmouth University. Her work has been widely exhibited in the UK and internationally, with awards from Arts Council England, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and the David Canter Memorial Fund.
Her starting points are often Bronze Age sites in West Cornwall, and her assemblages in glass and enamels mirror both the wider landscape and small, close up details. They overlay places, ideas and experiences, fusing imagery, shapes and colours together in unexpected ways. Each work is a visual story of memories and visits to remote places.
