Tag Archives: ceramics

At Last!

Spring 2021, and I have seen every single member of the Time-Lapse team at least once this week – in the flesh!

At a time when such things have become a novelty, we have been hanging a physical exhibition – socially distanced, no hugging and face masks firmly in place – which has been in the pipeline since autumn 2020 during which time we have not met.

In fact I had never met the majority of the group before this week – not once – in real life. Yet, since that first lockdown in March 2020 we have done something remarkable. We have formed a new regional group of Design Nation (Cornwall and Devon) and then, with the support of the Royal Cornwall Museum, we have planned, prepared, staged and hung a remarkably coherent and truly thoughtful exhibition.

The exhibition, Time-Lapse, opens on 17th May 2021 and I think that everyone involved is feeling pretty proud of it.

Time-Lapse in the Philbrick Gallery, Royal Cornwall Museum

It represents our response to the isolation of the past 14 moths when, for most makers, work dried up: galleries were closed and craft fairs went online.

Let’s hope that this is the light at the end of the tunnel. May it shine bright!

It’s a Wrap!

I have become increasingly concerned about the type of packaging that I use: getting through bubble wrap by the mile since I started selling my work.  In a recent accountability workshop for like minded creatives we talked about this and someone mentioned paper bubble wrap

I decided to trial it at the Contemporary Craft Fair in Bovey Tracey, Devon last week.  I bought the Rajapack EX MINI system which comes on a cardboard dispenser and also provides tissue paper to interleave with the packaging.  I also bought a big roll of string and some brown recycled paper bags.  The cardboard dispenser and was easy to set up.  It’s quite a small thing to transport, but as you pull  it from the dispenser the ‘bubble wrap’ cleverly expands into a honeycomb structure.

IMG_20190607_125257_710 The verdict?  The first couple of pieces that I pulled off the roll didn’t quite go according to plan – maybe the piece was too big; maybe trying to use the dispenser while it was on the floor, under a table, hidden by fabric impeded things; maybe it is always difficult until the dispenser is a little less full – but I was delighted to have found an alternative to plastic which works brilliantly to protect smaller pieces and the environment.  It looks good too and there is a weird satisfaction in the way it comes off the roll!  I think the jury is still out for larger works which I was less confident were adequately protected.

Given that my work is about the fragility of our landscape, it is vital for me to find a satisfactory solution to the wrapping of my work.  Not sure I’m all the way there yet but I am certainly feeling much happier.  And let’s face it, if we all do something isn’t that better than a few good people doing it perfectly?