Onwards

Well, Designer Crafts at the Mall was a great success! So much positive feedback from the public and fellow Society members- thank you all.

Never one for complacency though; I've been feeling as though it's time to push on with my work again. So, various applications have been made and I'm hoping for progressive and exciting times ahead...

In order to get there I've been having a bit of a review; delving back into old projects and sketchbooks, rediscoving some unexplored paths. Here are a few of the things I found:

And the winner is... me!

Designer Crafts 2011 got off to a great start for me at the packed Private View on Friday. I was presented with the SDC TSB Award for Excellence. The award is made to a new Licentiate and automatically promotes that person to the status of Member. The selection panel was made up of Chairman of the SDC, Fiona Zobole, along with curators Carol Naylor and Heidi Lichterman, my thanks to them for all their support. There was certainly stiff competition for the award; I will be revealing some of my favourite makers from the show in my next post, along with further photographs of the exhibition.

The exhibition is open to the public until next Sunday (16th Jan) at the Mall Galleries, London (right next to Trafalgar Square and just down the road from Buckingham Palace). For full details, see the catalouge here.

Set Up

I spent Thursday and Friday setting up at the beautiful Mall Galleries. I'd been allocated a great space right at the entrance which meant I was able to show all of the work I took along. 

Once I had decided how to display the pieces, the set-up went smoothly,  with  the help of my fellow exhibitors.

Here are a couple of shots of the work in progress. 

News from the opening night and images of the show to follow shortly.

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.