City Break, Pt 2.

As I mentioned in the first part of my City Break posts, I was in a bit of a rush to get to the Louise Gardiner talk at GNCCF, meaning I had to do some speed viewing in the City Gallery. I think I first came across the work of Louise Gardiner through Flickr or Pinterest, on one of my many internet benders looking for interesting thread work and textile artists. The talk took place at the Manchester People's Museum and centred mainly on her work for the Collect showcase at the Saatchi Gallery. If you're interested there's a video on her website that was made specifically about the 5 canvases she created for the showcase, and gives you an idea of the level of work going into each one, and how she arrived at the concept.

Aside from how extraordinary her work is she was a really inspiring speaker, and a lot of the points she made about working as a creative really struck a chord. In particular how important it is to 'say yes to exciting oppportunities' and that only in doing so can you raise your game. Other wise words being that 'if you start thinking about the end you'll never begin' (so true) and a belief in the virtues of sherry and drum n bass when working on your machine (quite a contrast to my tea and Radio 4, perhaps I need to branch out).

I'd done a little free machine work at school, but nothing since, though I'd been meaning to give it another go. Needless to say when I got home I ordered myself a free-machine foot and now I'm itching to use it. (I took the advice of Caroline at Redneedle Sewing when making my purchase)

As for the rest of GNCCF, I have to admit, it's been three weeks since I was there and I didn't make quite as many notes as perhaps I should have done, so I'll keep it brief and give a little rundown of my favourite exhibitors.

• Lynsey Walters' hand stitched felt jewellery and accessories were beautifully crafted and showed real attention to detail and colour. (Google Image search her name and you'll instantly see what I mean.)
• Rosie's Armoire was a beautiflly presented stall, brimming with furnishings, bags and purses that are hand-printed with images of old letters and documents. One thing I love is old handwriting and paper so this was heaven for me.
• I'm really interested in weaving and there were a some really great stands from weavers, like Sarah Tyssen and Sue Christian.

Shamefully I'm very good at remembering the work I can relate to my own, but, no matter how much I liked it when I saw it ,if it's ceramics or jewellery or furniture I have a hard time distinguishing it afterwards. You'll just have to take my word for it that there were some really incredible exhibitors in all those mediums, I just can't remember which I liked best! The full list of exhibitors is here, so I'd recommend having a leisurely browse through because there's bound to be something you love, and we should all support handmade, and when better than Christmas?

Too early for Christmas references? Sorry, I'll get my coat.