A lovely little half hour to myself just drawing.

Our gallery is usually a rather quiet, reflective space, but not this Saturday. This Saturday our gallery was full of activity and full of drawing.

Our exhibition ‘Georgia O’Keeffe: Memories of Drawings’ presents 21 drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe from key moments throughout her career, many of these were completed early on.

“I was going to begin to make drawings. I thought, well I have a few things in my head that I never thought of putting down. But nobody else taught me. And I was going to begin with charcoal and I wasn’t going to use any colour until I couldn’t do what I wanted to do with charcoal. And went on from there,” said O’Keeffe.

Taking a lesson from O’Keeffe’s passion for drawing with charcoal and the possibilities of expression through the medium, we invited drawing tutor Claire Sandars to spend a day in the gallery and to get people drawing.

Armed with paper, charcoal—thank you so much Daler-Rowney for supporting the day with a ready supply of willow charcoal—and a range of O’Keeffe inspired drawing prompts (flowers, shells, animal skulls and even an antler) we got to it and drew.

“I went along as I saw that [New Brewery Arts] was holding a charcoal workshop, and I haven’t picked up a piece in probably a decade; so I had a lovely little half hour to myself just drawing.”

We also smudged, looked and were expressive. One person made their drawing into a crown, and a family drew in a far more ‘performative’ way than we’d ever imagined.

Like O’Keeffe, drawing with charcoal freed up the drawing style and took us away from the still-life and towards more abstract shapes. But also like O’Keeffe, there is still more we want to do with charcoal.

Georgia O’Keeffe: Memories of Drawing runs until 15 June 2024. The touring exhibition comes to us from the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre, London.

A visit to Birmingham (or not)

Birmingham is famous for jewellery and metal working, in the 1700s and 1800s my family had brass founding premises throughout Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter making metal buttons. In the heart of the Jewellery Quarter is Birmingham School of Jewellery. This month there is plenty of making to see there, and far more exciting than brass buttons. 

Meanings and Messages. Kristy Lewis​, Self-Love Brooch​ - Carnelian, silver and steel

First - visit the Meanings and Messages exhibition at the Vittoria Street Gallery. The touring exhibition shows brooches by members of the ACJ (Association for Contemporary Jewellery), the exhibition focuses on the brooch as they form the ideal jewellery archetype for conveying meanings and messages. Brooches can be subversive and are often used by people in the public eye, by political figures or sovereignty to convey important messages. These messages may be hidden, subtle or occasionally more of an overt protest! 

But you don’t have to travel to Birmingham to see the exhibition as it comes to Cirencester in the spring (4th April – 18th June 2023). 

Then switch on for BBC’s All That Glitters filmed at The Birmingham School of Jewellery. The second series of the bake-off style jewellery competition starts on the 25th August on BBC2. Each week the eight makers will have their skills and creativity challenged. "From spinner rings to mismatched earrings, engagement rings to hairpins, each episode of All That Glitters sees the jewellers face two real-world challenges: The Bestseller, where they are tasked to design the latest must-have piece that everyone will want, and The Bespoke, where they create a one-off piece for some very special clients from all walks of life." - BBC. Judging the jewellers' work are two of the biggest names in the business, Shaun Leane and Dinny Hall, and it’s up to them who will be named jeweller of the week and who will be heading home. 

Again, you don’t need to head to Birmingham – episodes will be available on BBC IPlayer.  

And of course, if the glitter of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter just doesn’t grab you, but jewellery making does that’s fine. We have some great ways to get your sparkle-on here in Cirencester.  Our Beginners’ Silver Jewellery (5-week course) runs throughout November, and our autumn workshop programme is filled with silversmithing, enamelling and jewellery making with found objects or pearls and stones.

Make Your Own Silver Pendant - Charlotte Duckworth 
(Sat 3rd Sep, 10am - 4pm, £90) 

Setting Found Objects - Hayley Kruger 
(Thurs 29th Sep, 10am - 4pm, £90) 

Make Your Own Necklace - Stina Richardson 
(Sat 1st Oct, 10am - 1pm, £55) 

Roman Inspired Torque Bangle - Hayley Kruger 
(Sat 8th Oct, 10am - 4pm, £90) 

Kiln Fired Enamelling Weekend - Katie Sanderson 
(Saturday 22nd October - Sunday 23rd October, 10am - 3pm) 

Kiln Fired Enamelling - Katie Sanderson 
(Fri 25th Nov, 10am - 3pm) 

Considered Craft

Craft for your planet campaign by Friends of the Earth

Today I saw a Facebook post from Friends of the Earth about their new fundraising campaign which asks people to ‘Craft for your planet’. Scrolling through the comments there was much negativity to this campaign, even a feeling it is ill-judged - and the reason for this negativity? How can using precious resources to make more ‘stuff’ help the planet?

Crafting and making, by its very nature, is alchemy, it transforms one thing into another. Craft transforms mud, minerals and rocks into ceramics, glass or jewellery. Craft uses resources such as water, chemicals and energy to enable this process. Craft creates more things in the world.

The responsibility to take better care of our environment is shared by the craft sector. It is possible to craft considerately, to create without squandering resources to do so, and more and more craftspeople are deliberately considering the impact of their making on the environment.

Some are taking big steps. Last month jeweller Emma Aitchison ended use of gold plate, her decision took into account the chemicals used, the impact of extracting gold for plating and the process of plating itself, as well as the difficulty in recycling gold plated jewellery (you can read about it here). Crafts Magazine recently looked at the environmental impact of ceramics (Crafts issue 284: The Change Makers September/October 2020), and at makers working to clean up ceramics. Artist Alice Fox harnesses natural processes and works with found, gathered and grown materials, and Jane Bevan uses natural and found materials, which she collects on her daily walks in the ancient woodland near her home in Derbyshire, Jane gathers and uses materials such as thorns, bark, seeds, feathers and acorn cups.

Pine needle bowl by Jane Bevan - Image from @janebevan01 on Instagram

Such big steps can be too big for many makers, but there are small steps we can all take. We asked some of the craftspeople we work with about their actions towards a better, more considered craft practice, and there was a huge range of deliberate actions taking place; from using green energy to heat studios and fire kilns to recycling materials to the point of zero waste. Of course there is more that can be done, but the first step has to be even thinking through the materials and resources used in a craft practice.

So what can we do as an organisation? At New Brewery Arts we too use green electricity throughout our buildings and studios, our accommodation was built with low energy use at its core. We can also consider the materials used in our classes and work to find out the impact of their production (extraction, manufacturing etc.) and disposal. We can ask makers about their choices and promote the positive actions many are taking to reduce their environmental impact.

We play a part as consumers too and we need to better consumers. We can ask the craftspeople and the shops that sell their work how materials are sourced. We can buy differently; for example commissioning a piece means it is made without generating waste in the form of ‘speculative’ products that may not sell. And we should all keep in mind Vivienne Westwood’s words (I have quoted them here before) when we are deciding what to buy, and “buy less, choose well, make it last.”

By choosing craft that considers its impact we ‘Craft for our planet’.

Craftsmanship, balance and forward motion

It is 2021, and in a usual year we’d be starting courses and classes next week, we’d be opening a new exhibition and the year would be opening up in front of us. But this is not a usual year and the third lockdown means none of these things are possible.

I often start the year with a blogpost about the shows, events and exhibitions I’m excited about visiting, but that seems like tempting fate. Instead of planning my exhibition calendar I’ve been spending a little too much time on social media over lockdown and the other evening, I came across an Instagram post that made me smile. More than the cat videos that also make me smile, I have found my mind drifting back to this image again and again. So today I allowed myself to ponder why it resonated with me. It sums up my thinking about New Brewery Arts in 2021 in some unexpected ways.

Craft – oh boy, there’s some amazing craft in the image – the man is surrounded by his hand-made bamboo fish-traps. It was the craftsmanship that caught my attention first. He’s encircled by the product of his skill, dexterity and hard work. The materials are, no doubt, locally sourced and he’ll be selling these traps to local fishermen to use locally. I bet that the whole making, selling and use takes place in no more than a 10-mile radius. A perfect example of a local, circular, sustainable economy. Plus, the craftsmanship blew me away (I tried basket making at a class here, and I now appreciate the skill in every basket I see).

But there is more in the image than the craftsmanship in the traps, I see the skill in loading the bike too – there’s balance. It was this idea of balance in 2021 that got me thinking. In this year we are all going to need to take on difficult loads, the skill is in making what may be unwieldy, difficult and cumbersome balance. As we continue to respond to what comes - the changes, new rules and possibilities - we can manage the burden better if we can find balance..

Finally, the photo represents forward motion. Whatever happens in 2021, we go forward under our own steam. There is, it seems to me, no other choice. Each day we pedal on and at some point this year we’ll find ourselves somewhere exciting with fresh potential ahead and new challenges to enjoy.

So, for 2021, I hope for craft at our backs, a huge wealth of skill, dexterity and hard work surrounding us. I hope we can bear the load with a delicate sense of balance, poise and steadfastness. And I know we will face the year head-on as we travel through it.

That is why I couldn’t shake the image from my mind – it sums up all I hope for 2021. Bring it on.