To paraphrase the great Victorian poet Robert Bridges ‘We love all beauteous things, we seek and adore them.’ Every Friday we’ll share some of the stunning handmade pieces we’ve been discovering across the UK. From unique handcrafted jewellery to stunning handmade gift ideas, why not take a moment, lose yourself in their beauty and find out a little more about the people behind them, their passion and inspiration.
See this week’s choices here
We have made ceramic items for millennia: taking rough clay and shaping it into useful vessels and objects of devotion. Ceramics appear all over the world – at least where there is a raw material to utilise! – and they have played an integral part in our lives for countless generations.
The art of the ceramicist is truly ancient and also ongoing, a skill passed down, reinvigorated and renewed as each generation learns, takes the baton and passes it on. And this journey, this continual progression, is apparent in every home in the country. You don’t have to look far to see the all-encompassing nature of ceramics, in the pieces we utilise every day and in those we treasure. And as we use and appreciate our vessels we can see very easily the functional and decorative items of our forebears not only in our display cabinets and in antique shops but by simply digging in our own back gardens and when walking along the beaches and river banks of the UK. Here you can see the fragments of the once functional and prized items of the past slowly being denuded, beaten by the spade and the plough, the wave and the pebble, returned to the earth from which they sprang.
Ceramics used to be very much site-specific, the styles of pot created dictated by the clay available in the vicinity of the potter and the fuel to fire it to sufficient temperatures, although pots of course were traded across ancient borders and seas. Nowadays a potter has access to every kind of raw material and this is immediately apparent when you see the range of work produced by the ceramicists on Seek & Adore. Stoneware, earthenware and porcelain all joyfully and fully represented by our talented makers.
What we have lost in the old-fashioned locally sourced materials we have gained in the explosion of creativity forged by makers having the opportunity to work in the medium that suits them best. This is a fantastic breakthrough. And with our modern global community makers can source, discover and learn techniques pioneered and perfected anywhere in the globe. At every UK ceramics event or craft fair you will find Oriental inspired pottery being produced in the Cotswolds, South American inspired ceramics produced in Cornwall or the finest porcelain produced in Hackney!
With this development there is now a style of pottery, a style of ceramic to suit all tastes and all purses and we can easily eschew the cheap and uninspiring mass-produced piece for the handmade, artisan item. My home is full of them and I love every one!
Here is a glimpse of what Seek & Adore offers the die-hard collector, the ‘newby’ and the simply inquisitive.
Lisa Katzenstein – Small Twist Vase – Bluebells, £65.00
Lisa Katzenstein‘s earthenware pieces are so distinctive! When I first saw her work on a stand at one of the many UK craft fairs I stopped in my tracks. I was stunned. It is Lisa’s graphic style and her bold use of colour that makes her work so appealing and immediately recognisable. This piece shows bluebells yet seen through Lisa’s very keen eye the sky to me is as vivid and livid as any I saw in my travels in Australia a few years ago. Lisa makes the ordinary look immediately exotic.
Lucy Burley – Small Violet Blue Bottle, £25.00
It is Lucy Burley’s simplicity of form and colour that appeals to me about her work. No extraneous decoration here, these white earthenware pieces succeed or fail on their purity. This is risky! Lucy has a wonderful eye for coloured glazes and for form however and all her pieces co-ordinate both in tone and shape. Lucy’s work is universal and utterly timeless.
Georgina Fowler – Medium Wide Blue Cage Butterfly Vessel, £68.00
Georgina Fowler‘s earthenware creations are slip-cast and then decorated with her very distinctive designs. Georgina’s world is inspired by the story and the fairy tale and it is not unusual to see horses in silhouette running around the inside of her pieces, butterflies flying in great swarms, and black cats surrounded by cages or clocks. Alongside this her forms are sometimes slightly twisted, a step beyond ‘true’, expressing her very unique and magical view of the world.
Alan Birchall – Oblong Dish, £60.00
Alan Birchall works with the most extraordinary precision. Each of his stoneware pieces is carefully constructed and his quality of finish is exquisite. Here is work reminiscent of ancient Chinese forms but there is also a hint in this piece of classic Chinese roofs with the up-turned corners of the rim. Alan’s work has an innate power borne of its simplicity and its quiet, unassuming, contemplative quality.
Alison Jones – Tripot Wall Vase, £92.00
Alison Jones‘ pieces are utterly striking, shapely, vari-coloured, sinuous and asymmetric. This is difficult to achieve, Alison builds all these vessels by hand, each section rolled separately and then combined – or should I say constructed – to create these carefully balanced and unusual forms. But the work doesn’t stop there, she then colours and decorates them by hand with the utmost care. White stoneware is manipulated by Alison and rendered unrecognisable by her intense and time-consuming techniques.
Cressida Borrett – Allium Medium Sized Wonky Dish, £55.00
Cressida Borrett’s pieces are inspired by the natural world and her shapes and their finish evoke this organic quality. Using off-white stoneware, each piece is marked by very minimal, but striking natural forms and the use of empty space, the latter a nod to ‘Ma’ in Japanese art. These pieces are functional but would equally work on a dresser or wall to beautifully enhance a decorative scheme.
Debbie Barber – Bird with Circles, £27.00
Quirky, witty and charming, Debbie Barber‘s work brings a smile to your face and her subtle use of colour makes her pieces pretty and appealing. I met Debbie recently at The British Craft Fair and she has started to use lustre glazes, a really exciting development. This white stoneware slip-cast bird typifies Debbie’s lovely, life-enhancing work but don’t just buy one, they look even better in a flock!
Peter Willis – Tall Bottle with a Yellow Shawl, £300.00
Peter Willis‘ work is vivid and uncompromising and in this vessel he has incorporated three different stoneware mixes to create this striking piece. I met Peter about twelve months ago and his work stood out immediately. He has a free, improvisatory style with his glazing, letting the colours drip and meet where they please, but don’t let that fool you, Peter’s work is anything but random.
Kate Schuricht – Miel – Small Lidded Sphere Pot, £60.00
Precision, subtlety, grace and peace: all words that describe the work of the brilliant Kate Schuricht. Kate’s pieces exude a confident calm, they are meditative but not shy, they stand out, they have presence. Stoneware allows for precision, it is a fine grained material and Kate takes full advantage of it. It is her use of colour too that is so appealing, a muted range reminiscent of egg shells. Kate produces work of great sophistication.
Jessica Jordan – Small Low Rimmed Vessel, £25.00
Topographical maps, tribal art, sheep paths around hills, cracks in parched earth, all these images spring to mind when I look at this piece by Jessica Jordan. This work has an elemental, organic quality that makes it instantly appealing and also unusual when you discover it is made from porcelain, that most pure and delicate of ceramic raw materials.
Adam Frew – Large Lidded Jar With Scribble Drawing, £90
I became a fan of Adam Frew’s beautiful work as soon as I saw it. This is a gifted maker if ever I saw one and I particularly admire his use of mark making to create his very distinctive decorative style. I suppose in the past he may have worked on paper and canvas, but Adam uses his porcelain in the same way. Adam’s forms are precise and fine and his mark making vivacious and energetic. Adam’s development as a maker is going to be fascinating.
Lisa Young – Arcane – Large Porcelain Bowl, £160
Lisa Young’s porcelain pieces are perfection. Beautifully thrown and then beautifully decorated with her very unique designs. Her style, to me, is very mid-century modern, her illustrative motifs evoking constellations, space travel, helixes with just a whiff of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis! Lisa’s work would add style and sophistication to any home.
Katharina Klug – Leaf Bowl, £36.00
Katharina Klug is a new addition to Seek & Adore, I saw her work only recently and was charmed. Like Adam Frew, Katharina explores mark-making on her beautiful porcelain pieces, utilising the porcelain very much as an artist might use a piece of paper or a canvas. Katharina’s lines are bold, like charcoal, and her lines have an immediacy and energy about them that give her pieces verve and a tangible energy. Katharina is a very welcome addition to the Seek & Adore designer-maker stable.
Janice Parker – Ding and the Grandfather Clock, £120.00
Janice Parker‘s work is entirely in the tradition I suppose of the figurative sculpture although she brings her own witty sensibility to the craft. Janice is a storyteller whose tales are told through the medium of porcelain and the immediacy of the line. Here is an illustrator who draws on her material and bakes and glazes it. She is also a mixed-media artist, incorporating metal elements to bring movement and contrast to her pieces. Janice is a one-off, a marvellous, creative maverick.
Timea Sido – Tangled Web Large Bowl, £74.00
Timea Sido’s technique is a mystery but she produces pieces of exquisite delicacy and complexity. These works are sculptural in the way they play with light and shade and positive and negative space. Placed in a window they subtly alter as the light changes, casting beautiful, intricate shadows. This is exciting, original work.
See Dan’s handmade ceramics selection here
Internship alert! We’re currently recruiting for Maker Cherisher, Online Merchandiser & Social Media/Blogger Outreach roles. If you believe in supporting makers as much as we do and fancy working in a vibrant start-up then why not apply? We’re looking for self-starters with a passion for arts and crafts. Full training will be given. And we promise you won’t just be making the coffee or doing the photocopies here!
For more details about each role and how to apply click here
Last Friday Maker Cherisher Becky visited the Desire Jewellery and Silversmithing Fair in London. Desire is reknown for its beautiful range of contemporary jewellery and silverware, and displays work by highly talented exhibitors who have been selected for their stunning and innovative craftsmanship, and are passionate about the work they create. Becky was able to meet lots of new designer-makers, but also had the opportunity to catch-up with some friendly Seek & Adore faces, including:
Nettie Birch
Nettie is one of our newest designer-makers. She likes learning, experimentation and challenges. She is self-taught and loves finding new techniques or using trial and error to figure out new shapes or designs. We adore her unique handcrafted jewellery made using the intriguing fold-forming technique.
Hannah Souter
It had never occured to Hannah whilst at school that people actually sat in workshops and made jewellery. Then whilst studying Fashion and Textiles someone mentioned she had an eye for intricate, small work and sent her off in the direction of the metalwork studios. Now her particular interests are shape and texture and she loves every minute of being in the workshop.
Laura Bennett
Since graduating from university, Laura has set up her practice in the heart of Southsea. Inspired by nature and organic forms, her ranges of handcrafted jewellery are made by combining precious metals, stones and natural found objects.
Poppy Porter
Poppy has a passion for creating jewellery to embolden the wearer. She specialises in vibrant jewellery using a self-developed photo-inlay technique inspired by Formula 1 car design and Japanese kimonos. She works in titanium, silver and pearls and she creates pieces to help independent minded women radiate confidence.
Sian Bostwick
Sian was one of the ‘Ones to Watch’ at this year’s fair. She loves to create jewellery with a delicate style, inspired by the Kent countryside and influenced by her favourite fairy tales. Combining colourful titanium and silver, she creates delicate pieces of jewellery which are everlasting.
If these five makers have left you feeling inspired, why not take a look at our full range of handcrafted jewellery?
With the new season comes the latest interior trends and it’s wonderful to see our designer-makers’ cushions leading the way with their on-trend colours and designs. Bright and Bold, Wildlife and Botanic are key new looks for spring but we must not forget that all our hand-crafted cushions are made to last a lifetime and will never be ‘here today, gone tomorrow’. Take a look at our exciting range and discover why our stylish cushions are being seen in all the right places!
Explore his season’s hottest interior trends and our range of handmade cushions here
There is nothing quite like a finely made handmade textile to excite the eyes and the fingers and there are so many kinds, so many techniques, so many colours and styles to choose from! There is a fabric for every person, for every interior, for every occasion.
To me a textile has to have integrity and be well made. Handmade textiles have a completely different feel to those that are mass-produced. To sound ‘new-age’ for a brief moment, handmade fabrics have a living energy imbued by their maker’s imaginations and the energy of the making processes used to create them and they age beautifully. A handmade fabric is a decorative, beautiful, functional piece of art in all its many coloured, patterned and textured manifestations.
A cursory glimpse at the textile section on Seek & Adore will immediately reveal what a diverse craft this is. We have makers who weave their fabrics from single threads, knitters, those who take raw textiles and paint and dye them, and those who take existing fabrics to create new items. The list of techniques and applications is endless, and endlessly fascinating.
The textile trends this season are interesting and daring, in fashion there is an emphasis on neon brights, pastels, stripes and squares and in interiors yellow is the new pink (apparently!) and there is a move back to bold patterns on a white background and an enthusiasm for combining strong designs.
If you want your fashion and interior styles to be up-to-date but also entirely original then Seek & Adore is the place to visit. We are always ready to guide you to fantastic textile makers who happen to make work embodying the enthusiasms of the wider fashion and interior worlds. The work produced here is as original as any you will see on the Paris catwalks or the creations of the high-end interior designers because there is a unique creative mind behind every piece we sell. Be current, fashionable but ultimately unique this year by sporting or surrounding yourself with the best work of the finest UK designer-makers.
Interior Textiles
Heena Lad - Grey Long Pearl Square Cushion, £65.00
Heena Lad is hitting the ground running this year with the interior trend for mixing and matching patterns and her bold use of vertical and horizontal stripes would add sophistication and an understated elegance to any room. But Heena’s work contains a cheeky secret, look at her use of stripes on the reverse of the cushion as well! With Heena’s beautiful work you get two cushions for the price of one!
Sandy Powell - Felt Wall Flower, £35.00
Sandy Powell combines form and hue in her own very powerful and striking way. Here the colour of the season, yellow, and the demand for bold pattern are uniquely combined. Sandy’s work is 3D, tactile and ever-changing depending on the light. Here you can have a fashionable colour, a fashionable trend and a piece of fabric art all in one.
Isobel Anderson - Tudor Cushion, £52.00
Strong patterns against a white background, this is a massive trend in interiors this year so place yourself at the cutting edge of interior fashion in 2013 with this Tudor-inspired cushion. Isobel Anderson’s work is classic, dramatic, current and timeless. What I love about this cushion is how a design inspired by – and based on – a 16th Century Tudor building can be utterly current and contemporary!
Gabi Bolton - Sacre Coeur Cushion Yellow, £50.00
Yellow is big this year and has been described by many interior experts as ‘the new pink’. This cushion by Gabi Bolton encapsulates this trend but also another key theme for this season, the juxtaposition of bold patterns. This cushion is beautiful, fashionable and wonderfully quirky. With its combination of key colours your home will be on trend for a number of seasons and your style a talking point!
Zoe Acketts – Aqua Tufted-Squares Rug
Rugs are an underappreciated way of bringing drama to a room. We tend to concentrate on cushions, throws and curtains to achieve strong effects and accents but here is a way to bring bold patterning and confident and uncompromising design into your home. Zoe Acketts’ work is exquisitely made. I would be tempted to hang one of her rugs on a wall …
Deryn Relph – ‘Card’ Red/Pink/Green Square Cushion, £67.00
Deryn Relph has an irrepressible spirit and I couldn’t pass this opportunity to include her work in a blog about handcrafted textiles. We can always follow trends but we can also be mavericks, lovers of colour and glamour and retro style. Deryn encapsulates all these things. Brighten your home with one of her joyful and life enhancing pieces.
Wearable textiles
Ekta Kaul – HAIKU Multiway Scarf – Wide, £95.00
Ekta Kaul’s work is serene and exquisite. In this piece she hits a big trend for 2013, stripes, but her use of different gauges of stripe which on closer inspection turn out to be squiggly and not straight lines is a beautiful and original development. It is Ekta’s attention to detail that drew me to her work in the first place and here she hits the bulls-eye yet again with the addition of some vivid red detailing. Ekta’s work would lend any outfit a stylish and sophisticated elegance.
Gabrielle Vary – Locomotive Blue Knitted Lambswool Scarf, £89.00
Squares are another big trend for 2013 and there is still time to buy a beautiful knitted scarf by Gabrielle Vary to see out this winter and to ensure you will still be fashionable when next winter starts. It is Gabrielle’s very distinctive and daring using of colour that attracted me to her work and who wouldn’t be drawn to a scarf like this? Be fashionable, colourful and unique as we wait for the cold weather to subside.
Sallie Temple – Blossom Silk Scarf, £65.00
Pastels are a key trend this year and Sallie Temple manages to combine two trends in this beautiful ‘blossom’ scarf: pastels and stripes. This is a very pretty and delicate piece to wear on cool spring days or summer evening events or walks. Sallie loves weaving because every piece she produces is unique, so you can be certain if you invest in one of her scarves you will be sporting a true one-off!
Cally Booker – ‘Flow’ Merino/Silk scarf in Purple, Orange & Magenta
Neon colours are massive this year, the bold the bright and the brash! It is the year to go a bit crazy if you have the nerve, verve and personality. If you want a touch of the neon in the handmade but less garish and more approachable then I can think of no one better than Cally Booker and her wonderful range of hand woven scarves. The scarf I have chosen is a vibrant mix of orange, magenta and purple, perfect to brighten up the last restages of winter and to keep you warm in the still cool spring mornings and evenings.
Charlotte Grierson – Indian Summer Striped Crinkle Scarf, £140.00
As I have mentioned, stripes are key this season in the fashion world and here Charlotte Grierson effortlessly embodies the trend in her own unique way. Like all our makers Charlotte is not swayed by fashion, she makes pieces from what moves and inspires her but it just so happens that her combinations are hot at present in the wider world. With a piece by Charlotte however, you will be buying something current for 2013 but ultimately timeless as her work is not swayed by the constantly shifting sands of the fashion gurus.
Helen Chatterton – City of London Scarf, £75.00
Helen Chatterton takes extant pieces of tweed and also combines fabrics she has printed to create beautiful, wearable fashion statements.
A unique take on this season’s obsession with squares – a Helen Chatterton City of London scarf. Be ultra-fashionable in a left-field way … Who else will be wearing a city ‘square’ rather than a Louis Vuitton square? Wit and spring/summer 2013 fashion combined!
See Dan’s handmade textiles selection here
Spring fever always gives us the urge to make a change in our home or to even move house. But don’t worry, a breath of fresh air is much easier to achieve than that. We’ve brought together five of our designer-makers whose work simply transforms any room; making it easy to spruce up your home for spring. There’s also some great handmade gift ideas for Mother’s Day…
Meet the makers behind the work & see our suggestions for freshening your home for spring here