This week end I was lucky enough to get a last minute table as part of the designer makers craft fair at the London Pride design festival in Ilford. It was a really great event that saw a host of donated art and design items exhibited around the Mansion and garden marquees. The Tate and Saatchi Gallery had donated a host of work from all the leading and great artists including Damien Hirst (dotty mini seen below), Lucien Freud, Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth (my favourite), Anthony Caro, Chris Ofili, Sarah Lucas and many more. It's not everyday you get to see great art and design on your local doorstep! The event was set up as part of the Queen's Jubilee tour, so was showcasing art and design from the past 60 years, and the artists in the studios at the house were in full spirits from her visit on Thursday.
The amazing sculptures below are Tom Hiscocks Queen's Beasts which really came to life in the sunshine.
There was a music stage playing live music all week end, really lovely in the sunshine on Sunday!
Here was our stall......
And some of the other amazing talent......
A London bus, one of my favourite iconic designs, celebrating the queens diamond jubilee....
There was also a local graduate artist showcasing her work in the gardens, she harvested the silk worms to produce this amazing piece.....
There was also a kids tent.... one half was from a knitting and felting collective, Materialistics from South Shields, who create childrens scenes all from knitted and felted objects. It's a group of 40 ladies who meet up and get crafting to create amazing pieces including this ginger bread house to inspire little minds into a love of literature...
Everything the eye can see was knitted, there was so much to take in that every time I went back to have a look you found something else.....
The other half of the tent was the Big Book Bubble, a children's grotto where little people could live out any fantasy from literature......
Story telling......
And to top it off the most deluxe portaloos I have ever seen : )
It's a small world as I bumped into artist Amanda Seljubac, whom I met at the Forest Gate Art Trail. She has a studio at the mansions, such a great place to have a studio at the top of the house overlooking the park and grounds! Make sure to check out their next open studio day and see a whole host of talent up there and a lovely visit around the garden and park.
Kirsten x
2 comments:
Oh my!! This looks like it was terrific fun!! I wish I could have the gingerbread house to play in.
I especially love the loo!!
Is this an annual event or was it a one off for this year? I would love to put it in the diary for next year.
Is there a list of local events I could check out? Being new to the UK I am totally out of touch about fairs, markets & the like. I am sure there must be some in my local area (Stratford). As I work from home I would love to have a craft group to go play with.
Cheers
Lush
Yes it was great fun, unfortunately not a yearly event as it was part of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations. Be lovely if it was! We were there as part of the designer makers who do a monthly market at Spitalfields so check them out http://www.designersmakers.com/. We're doing the E17 Designers spring market on May 11th at the Asian centre in Walthamstow, come and say hello and meet some other crafty people x
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