We’re celebrating summer with the news that yet another cohort of design and craft talents have joined our membership. From the delicate to the dramatic, these designer/makers are producing thoughtfully hand-crafted and exquisitely designed objects. Working in ceramic, glass, jewellery, paper and textiles; inspired by nature, geography, industrial history and the built environment; our dozen new members are making diverse pieces, with something to suit every taste.
As usual, our news story is linked to each new full Professional member’s profile page here on our website; while Graduate and Associate members’ names link to their socials.
Professional* Members
In Middlesex Claire Ireland’s ceramic compositions take inspiration from her studio location in post-industrial surrounds, while London-based glass designer Kate Maestri is renowned for large scale and very colourful architectural work. Also in London, Jed Green creates intricate jewellery assemblages in a wide variety of materials that hold secret messages, and Kendall Clarke’s Japanese-influenced woven artworks incorporate paper yarn, metallics and cotton.
Alma Boyes brings decades of knowledge about ceramic production and tableware to her sculptural vessels and swirling colours, while Belinda Coyne creates singular art pieces in metal that incorporate the iconography of map-making. Both Alma and Belinda are in Brighton. On the Wirral Rachel Peters hand builds statement ceramic forms with distinct rhythmic signatures.
Graduate Members
Both of our new Graduates are drawing from nature for inspiration, but in very different ways. Rachel Barnard brings a previous career in optometry and a fascination with ecosystems to her experimental porcelain pieces, crafted with other unexpected media in her Hove studio and during her current residency at UCA Farnham. While in Dorset William Guiroli is fresh from a degree in sustainable product design at Falmouth, and launched his distinctive Naturalismo furniture collection with our friends at GreenGrads.
Associate Members
We have three new Associates with diverse and intriguing practices. Ana Bridgewater in London trades as AbalonUK and creates lighting and other forms for porcelain, with a distinctly contemporary approach drawn from biophilic design. Rachel O’Connell is expert in the traditional and highly skilled craft of marbling, which she applies to paper, leather, ceramic and other surfaces under her brand ROCWORX. While Su France takes inspiration from her surrounding Lincolnshire landscape to create both jewellery and prints that evoke botanical forms and the shoreline.
* For years we’ve talked about “Full” members which may have happy connotations of too much cake (is that is possible?), but doesn’t really explain the membership tier. So we’re now calling this level Professional – these are designers and makers who have attained a level of considered creativity that meets our selection panel’s rigorous requirements; makers who can sustain a living, whether full- or part-time, from their practice.
The Design-Nation team is very happy to welcome our new members, and looks forward to supporting them on their individual creative journeys. Our next deadline is 1st August – download an application pack here.
