Open Studios
3 edge bangle, Jo Hayes Ward (Cockpit Arts)
Enjoy Christmas shopping with a difference this weekend and check out the open studio events at several of London’s leading crafts organisations
They’re an effective method of avoiding the Christmas shopping crowds and finding a gift you can’t get on the high street. If you’re in the market for jewellery head for Craft Central in Clerkenwell; look here for Sarah Stafford’s meticulously made, rigidly geometric patterned necklaces or if you want more lighthearted pieces, check out work from Frilly by Lily. There’s also plenty of stuff here for the home, including Margo Selby’s colourful, woven textiles and Ikuko Iwamoto’s quirky ceramic sculptures.
Cockpit Arts is also holding an Open Studios event and to make things easier for present-hunters, they’ve got Liberty’s buyer Michelle Alger to make her selection. She’s gone for textile-covered notebooks by Tamasyn Gambell (for her), UK postal stamp mirrors by Soner Ozenc (for him) and Mica Hirosawa’s tiny teddies for children.
Hidden Art is hosting a special Christmas Design Fair at the Old Truman Brewery this weekend where members like Nick Fraser, Reiko Kaneko and Jessamy Llwellyn will be showing their stuff. Others members are opening their studios for the weekend; they’re all based in East London and so armed with a map and you can go and visit studios belonging to the likes of Ella Doran, Karen Bunting and Annabell Farraday.
www.craftcentral.org.uk
www.cockpitarts.com
www.hiddenart.com
