Unveiling "357 stitches, 1 needle, 1 knot"

Okay so here it is, a brand new piece for Designer Crafts at the Mall 2011. I'm really pleased with it; the flow of each image into the next is so smooth and seemingly effortless- how deceptive! (Click on the images for a closer view)

Those of you familiar with my work will know my trademark as a gold-eye crewel needle "left" in the work; a trace of the maker's hand. Well, I was thrilled a few weeks ago to discover real gold-plated needles. They look incredibly precious and really gleam from the crisp white background. This is the first piece in which I have included one, no doubt the first of many.

"357 stitches, 1 needle, 1 knot"

106x48cm framed (matt black box frame) £600

Available to buy at Designer Crafts at the Mall 8-16th Jan (for full details please see post below). If you are interested in this piece or any other on the site, please leave a comment or send me an email.

Designer Crafts at the Mall 2011 JANUARY 8-16th

Designer Crafts at the Mall 21st Anniversary Exhibition is fast approaching (4 weeks until set-up)

All my work is finished and ready to go, the hard bit will be deciding which pieces to leave out! The show is open Sat 8th-Sun 16th Jan at the Mall Galleries, London. I will be stewarding on Sat 15th and hope to be there most days, so do come and say hello. To see the flyer and for full details, please click here.

In other news, work is progressing with my new website which will be available in the not too distant future here:

    www.jessedwards.co.uk

And, I will be previewing new work for the exhibition here on my blog very very soon so do check back...

Two London Shows

I'm excited to announce that I have 2 London exhibitions coming up. The first is at the launch night of Tout Nouveau- an exciting new online platform for emerging creative talent in fashion, art and interior design.

The exhibition is a prequel to the online store which will launch on 29th November. I am going to be stocked with them in the new year as part of the SS 2011 collection.

A diverse mix of design products will be available to view prior to their release online and it will be a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of everything up-and-coming and creative in one place. Emerging musical talent will play alongside live art installations from Tout Nouveau’s chosen few.

The exhibition is free and open to the public on the 27th and 28th November with press days on the 26th and 29th. It's taking place at the Real World Gallery, 65 Hanbury St, E1 (just off Brick Lane). Further details about Tout Nouveau and the launch night can be found on their Facebook page here.

Secondly, earlier this year I was awarded a Merit Licentiateship with the Society of Designer Craftsmen. My first exhibition with the organisation will be Designer Crafts at the Mall, Saturday 8th-Sunday 16th January 2011 at the Mall Galleries, London. I am going to be showing a large selection of works including new (and as yet unfinished pieces) alongside other new Licentiates and well established designer makers in the fields of textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery & metal and furniture & wood. It's going to be the 21st anniversary of the exhibition and looks set to be the best yet. Full details of the show can be found on the Society's website here.

New Work for GNCCF

I showed mainly new works at GNCCF last week. It all follows on from my final university project "The Sublime in the Mundane: Counting Threads". It's a theme that I would like to continue exploring, I think there's a lot of potential for my work to develop. I really want to up the scale- I just haven't physically got space to do so at the moment, now that I'm working from home. Anyway, this is where I am with it currently:

 

An overview of my stand. It great to have such a big space all to myself, it meant that I was able to exhibit a good selection of all of work and gage a public reaction to each strand. I showed work in pairs: 2 large photogram pieces, 2 small, 2 photograph pieces and two in fabric. I also showed my acrylic ribbon piece, now re-named "On the Surface, 10" and a selection of unframed works.

Tone no.1

Hue no.1

A real public winner

Pincer

Spider

If pushed, I would have to say that this is my current favourite piece. Deception plays a huge part to the viewing of my work, I just cannot work out how I took this photograph- which is why I get so much enjoyment from revisiting it.

News of upcoming exhibitions and my new website coming soon...

Great Northern Contemorary Craft Fair Favourites

As promised here is a selection of my favourite makers from GNCCF:

 Allyson Gee

A Glasgow based jewellery designer with a stunning collection of encased butterflies. Incredible intricacy and fragility combined with graphic geometric structures.

www.allysongee.co.uk






 Suzi McLaughlin

Suzi works with laser cut paper and fabric to produce beautiful cascading floral installations. I love the white and cream pieces- perfect for weddings. On her blog you can see her extravagent coloured works too.

http://suzimclaughlin.blogspot.com/
































Julia Snowdin

A conceptual artist producing knitted forms for ceiling installations. Her work seems to have an almost fluid quality whilst retaining strong orderly lines and sequences.

www.juliasnowdin.co.uk

Elspeth Edmondson

Elspeth was showing my favourite piece at the whole fair. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of it! It was a stunningly simple piece of curled off white paper presented in a huge box frame. She works with typography and plays with ideas surrounding 2D & 3D work. Clean and crisp aesthetics, perfectly executed.

www.elspethedmondson.com






Details of all the exhibitors including the other graduates can be found here: www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk

Best New Graduate

I've just returned from a very successful Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. My work received a hugely positive response from the public and I was lucky enough to be awarded "Best New Graduate" from the lovely people at Pannone LLP.

As well as big sales at the show, I have had requests for commissions and lots of interest from galleries. Thank you to everyone who came along and saw my work and to Pannone LLP, Kelda, Ann-Marie, Angela and my fellow exhibitors  for making it such an enjoyable show! Hopefully I'll be back again next year.

Pictures and full details to come in the next few days as well as a selection of my own favourite makers from the show.

I would also like to announce that work is beginning on my new website which should be up and running by the new year. Check back here for details...

Great Northern Contemorary Craft Fair 22-24 October

I have been awarded a stand in the Great Northern Graduates section at this years Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester.

I'm working on new pieces especially for the show including this embroidered film piece:

This is going to be my first major show after graduation and hope it will be one of many to come.

The show will be at Spinningfields in Manchester city centre from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th October. Come along to see me and over 150 other contemporary craft designer-makers.


Further details can be found on their website here: Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

New Designers 1-4 July

I will be exhibiting at New Designers next week; Thursday to Sunday, as part of Birmingham City University's Textile Design course (stand T35). Tickets are available here: http://www.newdesigners.com/


This is some of the work which I will be showing:

Acrylic Ribbon (close-up)

 Yellow Echoes

Double Needle

George Jackson Travel Award

Earlier this month I was selected as the winner of the George Jackson Educational Foundation Travel Award. This is an annual award given to students from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design based on their academic achievement and proposal for travel. I will be using the award to fund a research trip to Sweden to broaden my knowledge of both historical embroidery and contemporary textile art. I will visit Stockholm to view cutting edge art and design with a focus on textile work, before travelling north to more rural locations to explore traditional Nordic craft and folk art. I will use inspiration from the trip to develop on from my final degree project.

London Midland Rail Poster

My work is to be displayed as a poster in 70 rail stations across the midlands as part of Made in the Midlands; a public art initiative between Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and London Midland railways. The work will be on station platforms and in booking halls. The posters are up now until October.

http://www.biad.bcu.ac.uk/madeinthemidlands/

Final Degree Show

My final degree show is now up in Birmingham City University's Gosta Green Campus. Open to the public 16th-19th June.