Painswick Summer Show - was held during August

The Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen is one of the most influential and well-respected craft groups in Britain. Over thirty contemporary designer-makers, including a number of new associate members, were showing recent work in this annual selling exhibition. Of special note was a collaboration between Guild member and textile artist Louise Watson and Cardiff-based ceramicist Rosemary Cochrane. This year’s guest exhibitor was Louise Evans whose distinctive jewellery incorporates vintage textiles and found items.

The exhibition was opened by the world renowned furniture designer and maker, John Makepeace OBE.

John Makepeace and the pursuit of the special

The Gloucestershire Guild’s annual show at Painswick was officially opened by John Makepeace OBE, one of the pre-eminent figures in the field of contemporary crafts. John is an outstanding furniture maker and designer but has also taken a much wider interest in the development of the crafts in Britain – he describes his career as ‘an adventure in wood’. In 1976 he set up a college alongside his own workshop at Parnham House, Devon to provide a unique training for cabinet makers. The college rapidly acquired an international reputation – but John was still thinking creatively and developing new projects. He then bought Hooke Park, 350 acres of woodland to research ways of using local timber. This resulted in the construction of a number of exciting and innovative timber buildings and the project is now being developed by the Architectural Association.

To the audience at Painswick John emphasised the important role that designer makers can still play in today’s industrial society. He wanted the crafts to be at the cutting edge – to be innovative, rebellious and revolutionary, technically strong and experimental, and always pushing the boundaries. Certainly many of the Guild members present found his talk inspirational.

Currently touring is a major retrospective exhibition of John Makepeace’s work organised by the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. It opens at its final venue, Lotherton Hall. Leeds, on 10 September. For more details look on the website www.JohnMakepeace.com.

Finally Ray Leigh from the Gordon Russell Design Museum www.GordonRussellMuseum.org selected the annual student award. It went to Simon Bushell , a graduate of Hereford College of Arts, for a forged metal and wood bench.

Mary Greensted

As part of the Gloucestershire Guild’s commitment to young makers we featured a selection of work by graduates from Hereford College of Arts. Ray Leigh, former President of the Guild and founder of the Gordon Russell Museum, Broadway, presented the annual student award.

Mary Greensted, Chairman of the Gloucestershire Guild, said: ‘The summer show provides a wonderful opportunity to see and acquire some of the finest examples of contemporary craft available in Britain – and to meet the makers in a friendly and inspiring setting.’