Meet The Maker Biographies

THURSDAY 24 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST John Smedley Ltd Scholar Lora Avedian and QEST Scholar Kate Colin

Lora Avedian embellishes fabrics with botanical details and will showcase hand-embroidery and fabric pleating techniques, whilst Kate Colin, who creates hand-folded homewares for interiors such as lampshades and cushions, will demonstrate paper-folding.

2016 QEST John Smedley Ltd Scholar – Embroidery & Textile design

London

Lora is a London based textile artist specialising in embroidery, who graduated with a Masters in Mixed Media Textiles from the Royal College of Art in 2017. She depicts elements of narrative through textile and craft processes. Lora uses traditional embroidery and embellishment techniques to make modern artefacts, which look as beautiful on the body as they do on a wall. She favours slow processes, focusing on short run and bespoke projects.

Lora’s work is grounded in history, inspired by antique textiles and folk costume, she often uses scrap and vintage materials to create her work. Lora has made couture textiles for interiors and fashion, through collaborations with companies such as The New Craftsmen, Barbican Centre and Howe. She has showcased her work at London Craft Week and London Design Festival. She also runs workshops throughout the year in various locations in a variety of craft techniques.

https://loraavedian.com/

Instagram: @loraavedian

Photo credit: Claudia Rocha

SATURDAY 26 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Allchurches Trust Scholar Katalina Caliendo and QEST Pewterers’ Company Scholar Epona Smith

Ceramicist Katalina Caliendo will show how she creates her Imbrication series, overlapping fingertip slivers of clay to create texture and form. Meanwhile, jeweller and silversmith Epona Smith will demonstrate hand-engraving techniques, which she uses to embellish her original creations.

2019 QEST Allchurches Trust Scholar – Ceramics

London

Katalina considers clay a material for both creating aesthetically interesting art objects and for facilitating vital explorations of our relationship to and place within, the material and natural world.

Her ‘sympoiesis’ vessels, created using porcelain mixed with mycelium and yeast and left unfired, are living sculptures which continue to change and transform. For her imbrication and coppiced works, finger-sized pieces are removed from one lump of clay and placed in overlapping layers; a single process which generates two separate forms – one through accumulation of mass and one through reduction – stimulating discussions on the connection between the human built environment and nature.

Katalina is continuing her innovative investigations of clay on a MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art. A QEST Scholarship will fund her additional research, including up to 5 site specific field-work projects throughout the UK in rural natural areas to excavate and transport materials to be incorporated into her ceramic sculptures.

“I draw inspiration from collaborative making processes and inter-woven dynamics that exist in nature. I intend to continue to research how craft facilitates vital explorations with our relationship to the world and how we situate ourselves within it.”

https://www.katalinacaliendo.com/

Twitter: kcaliendos

Instagram: @katalina_caliendo_

Photo credit: Rob Chadwick

THURSDAY 24 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST John Smedley Ltd Scholar Lora Avedian and QEST Scholar Kate Colin

Lora Avedian embellishes fabrics with botanical details and will showcase hand-embroidery and fabric pleating techniques, whilst Kate Colin, who creates hand-folded homewares for interiors such as lampshades and cushions, will demonstrate paper-folding.

2019 QEST Scholar – Paperfolding

Lanarkshire

Kate works with paper to create folded artworks, lighting and products. She exhibits throughout the UK and has taught and held demonstrations at the Barbican and V&A Dundee. Her practice is at a pivotal stage, but training opportunities in the UK are scarce. With the help of her QEST Scholarship she has been able to further her education and skills in the field of paper folding, pleated textiles and fan making with some of the world’s leading specialists in the field.

Her self-directed programme included taught courses and one to one study with folding professionals in Switzerland and Germany, an internship at Ciment Pleating in Hertfordshire, followed by a study trip to The Fan Museum in London, and a visit to the Musée de l’Éventail and leading fan makers in Paris.

“I strive to continually develop my skills and to make a contribution to the future of British craftsmanship through the creation of new work and the passing on of skills and knowledge to the next generation of makers throughout the UK.”

http://www.katecolindesign.com/

Twitter: KateColinDesign

Instagram: @kate_colin_design

Photo credit: V&A Dundee and Garry Maclennan

MONDAY 28 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Tom Helme Scholar Celia Dowson and QEST Radcliffe Trust Scholar Natasha Mann

Celia Dowson will showcase different stages of cast-glass production, from creating wax models to polishing glass fresh from the kiln. Meanwhile, Natasha Mann specialises in Moroccan decorative painting and will paint her geometric designs with egg tempera and natural pigments.

2017 QEST Tom Helme Scholarship – Ceramics & Glass

London

Celia’s artistic intention is to draw out the extraordinary in everyday objects. Informed by the movement and flux of nature, Celia’s glass work reflects the colours, changing light, and mystery of the natural world, while her porcelain vessels, embedded with mark and gesture, capture a dramatic and evolving landscape. Unique surfaces are obtained through thorough material research and testing.

Celia is a graduate of the Royal College of Art (RCA), where she specialised in both ceramics and cast glass. Prior to this she received her BA(Hons) in ceramic design from the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins. Celia was awarded the QEST Tom Helme Scholarship in 2017, which generously funded her final year at the RCA. She exhibits internationally and completed a ceramics residency at New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan, in 2019.

“The collections I make are developed through observing the natural world and qualities of atmosphere and place. I’m fascinated by industrial process and adapt traditional casting techniques to make objects that are not always traditionally functional and often allow only for reflection.”

https://www.celiadowson.co.uk/

Instagram: @celiadowson_ceramics

Photo credit: Emma Dudlyke

MONDAY 28 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Tom Helme Scholar Celia Dowson and QEST Radcliffe Trust Scholar Natasha Mann

Celia Dowson will showcase different stages of cast-glass production, from creating wax models to polishing glass fresh from the kiln. Meanwhile, Natasha Mann specialises in Moroccan decorative painting and will paint her geometric designs with egg tempera and natural pigments.

2012 QEST Radcliffe Trust Scholar – Moroccan Decorative Painting

London

Natasha is an artist who uses traditional methods to create bespoke pieces for interiors and fine artworks. Her work is predominantly inspired by traditional Moroccan architectural painting on wood, known as Zouaq painting. She studied this form of decorative painting during a year long apprenticeship with a Master in Fez in 2007. All her pieces are made from natural materials, using hand ground pigments mixed with egg tempera and 24 carat gold leaf. Her geometric designs are all hand drawn using a compass and ruler. She creates decorative paintings for interiors such as panels, murals and ceiling designs; small decorative objects such as boxes and lamps; and individual framed paintings and drawings.

Natasha holds a degree in Arabic and French from The University of Cambridge, an MA in Spanish and Moroccan Medieval Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art and an MA from the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, which was funded by QEST. On completion of her degree in 2014, Natasha was awarded the Barakat Prize for Islamic Art by HRH The Prince of Wales. In 2018 she was selected to take part in the Prince and Patron Exhibition at Buckingham Palace to mark the 70th Birthday of HRH The Prince of Wales.

https://www.natasha-mann.com/

Instagram: @natashamann.art

Photo credit: Julian Calder

TUESDAY 22 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholars Frances Pinnock and Thomas Merrett

Leatherworker Frances Pinnock will demonstrate hand-stitching techniques, which she learned making bespoke shoes and utilises to create her leather vessels. Meanwhile, sculptor Thomas Merrett will model a figure in wax in his signature, impressionist style.

2014 QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholar – Stone carving & Sculpture

London

Based in London, Thomas begins all his sculptures with drawing and sketches in clay, developing ideas before converting them into marble, stone or bronze. He trained at City & Guilds of London Art School and then at the Florence Academy of Art, after receiving his scholarship from QEST. Whilst in Italy he studied from the live model enhancing his skills in drawing and modelling of the human form.

His sculpture, drawings and prints have been exhibited in numerous Galleries and Museums and he has work in the permanent collections of MEAM (European Museum of Modern Art – Barcelona) and Worshipful Company of Founders, London. He is a member of the Society of Portrait Sculptors and has been a visiting tutor in the drawing and the carving department at City & Guilds of London Art School for the last four years.

“Through my work I aim to create a unique interpretation of the subject in front of me rather than just a skilful replication of their likeness.”

https://www.thomasmerrett.com/home

Instagram: @thomasmerrett

2018 QEST Radcliffe Trust Scholar – Windsor Chairmaking

East Sussex

Jason worked as an artist and tattooist before he discovered his love of chair making.  In 2014 he built his own workshop and started making chairs for private commissions.  His business, Hopesprings Chairs, based in East Sussex, now keeps him busy full time.

Jason’s QEST Scholarship enabled him to travel to Tennessee and learn how to make a ‘birdcage’ armchair, including peculiarities such as false mitre joints, from Curtis Buchanan, master chair maker in the American Windsor tradition.

As well as running his own business Jason also runs chair-making courses and teaches chair making at West Dean College in Sussex.

“There are fewer than 30 craftspeople chair making to a high standard in the UK. I am committed to ensuring its continuity by individual, characterful chairs and mastering skills I can teach to the next generation.”

http://hopespringschairs.com/

Facebook: Hopespringschairmaking

Instagram: @hopespringshairs

Photo credit: Alun Callender

TUESDAY 22 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholars Frances Pinnock and Thomas Merrett

Leatherworker Frances Pinnock will demonstrate hand-stitching techniques, which she learned making bespoke shoes and utilises to create her leather vessels. Meanwhile, sculptor Thomas Merrett will model a figure in wax in his signature, impressionist style.

TUESDAY 29 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST NADFAS Scholar Zoë Wilson and QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholar Frances Pinnock

Zoë Wilson, who carves geometric wall hangings from Welsh slate, will showcase geometric drawing, carving and gilding techniques. Meanwhile leatherworker Frances Pinnock will demonstrate hand-stitching, which she learned making bespoke shoes and utilises to create her leather vessels.

2017 QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholar – Leatherwork

London

Frances’ work is immersive and many layered and explores ancient craft practices upon skin as a medium within sculpture. She currently makes with a rare form of leather produced by the last remaining English Oak bark tannery, J & F J Bakers of Colyton, Devon. It is a slow and natural tannage that allows marks, scars and lifelines to be read upon the material’s surface, creating beautiful depths and tones within her work.

Frances received her QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholarship in 2017 for one to one training in the craft of traditional hand welted shoemaking. She divides her time between her own artistic practice and work as a leather craftsman for London’s finest West End shoemakers.

“My current practice explores the properties of oak within the ancient alchemy of leather tanning and ink making. My prints and sculptures demonstrate the effect of time on natural materials, each action performed by hand in honour of making traditions and material provenance.”

https://francespinnock.com/

Instagram: @francespinnock

Photo credit: Alun Callender

WEDNESDAY 23 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Radcliffe Trust scholar Natasha Mann and QEST Carpenters’ Company Scholar Joey Richardson

Natasha Mann specialises in Moroccan decorative painting and will paint her geometric designs with egg tempera and natural pigments. Wood artist Joey Richardson’s works range from large-scale installations to delicate forms; she will demonstrate airbrushing onto smaller pieces.

2012 QEST Carpenters’ Company Scholar – Woodturning & Glass Artistry

Lincolnshire

Joey is an English artist known for her delicate turned wood forms. Her QEST Carpenters’ Company Scholarship funded development studies in America.  Here she learnt to cast her wooden forms in glass, creating a new and exciting concept. This generated a wealth of opportunities to evolve her wood turning and experiment with mixed media. Augmenting her craft skills with a theoretical depth, she gained an MA in Fine Art (2018).

Nature and more specifically, wood, is the driving force in Joey’s sculptural practice. It informs her themes and guides her expressions. To Joey, there is no greater manifestation of life abundant. Wood warms and restores the soul.

Her sculptures are held in numerous permanent and private collections. Inspiring others, Joey lecturers and demonstrates her techniques globally. She has been awarded the prestigious QEST Award of Excellence (2015) and made a Court Assistant of the Turners Company.

“Joey’s practice investigates the emotional and symbiotic relationship humans have with trees. There is often an autobiographical element in her work which has strong links to the history of the place and the origin of material.”

https://www.joeyrichardson.com/

Twitter: 1JoeyRichardson

Instagram: @JoeyRichardson7

Photo credit: Julian Calder

SATURDAY 26 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Allchurches Trust Scholar Katalina Caliendo and QEST Pewterers’ Company Scholar Epona Smith

Ceramicist Katalina Caliendo will show how she creates her Imbrication series, overlapping fingertip slivers of clay to create texture and form. Meanwhile, jeweller and silversmith Epona Smith will demonstrate hand-engraving techniques, which she uses to embellish her original creations.

2020 QEST Pewterers’ Company Scholar – Jewellery & Engraving

London

Taiwanese jewellery designer and maker Epona Smith gained an MA in Jewellery & Silversmithing from Birmingham City University. She has since worked in the jewellery field and 5 years ago discovered a passion for Florentine hand-engraving. She established her own business, Ning Art Jewellery in 2019 and also works as an engraver for Tiffany & Co.  She is a Professional Member of the Hand Engraving Association and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths (IPG).

Having now mastered hand-engraving, Epona is keen to build on her skills and is fascinated with the range of colour and effects that enamel can bring to a hand-engraved work. QEST funding will enable her to undergo one-to-one training with Jane Short in champlevé and basse-taille enamel skills, which will allow her to enhance her hand-engraved work with colour and pattern. Over the next few years, Epona hopes to establish her own studio, with a mix of showroom and workshop, where people can see her work and appreciate the intricacies of the making process.

Instagram: @eponasmithjewellery 

2020 QEST Sanderson Design Co. Scholar – Decorative Painting

London

Rachel designs and paints murals and has developed her own range of custom-printed mural wallpaper. She is particularly interested in the techniques of 18th century Chinese artisans who produced continuous panoramas for Western markets. Though not widely practiced in the UK today, these chinoiserie techniques have influenced Rachel’s original work and she is interested in reinterpreting this rich visual tradition to develop a new, contemporary aesthetic.

In 2017 Rachel worked with master historic decorative painter, Alasdair Peebles, to recreate the lost Chinese wallpaper that once hung in the upper drawing room of Sir John Soane’s country house Pitzhanger Manor, Ealing. Her QEST Scholarship will fund specialist one-to-one training with Alasdair in his London studio, with a focus on mastering traditional 18th century chinoiserie painting techniques.

“I’m interested in the dual capacity of wallpaper to take centre stage in a room, and to act as a silent backdrop to everything that takes place in that space. It has the power to completely alter a place, a mood or an atmosphere, which I find very exciting. With the support of QEST, I’m keen to take my painting skills to the next level and expand my repertoire of decorative effects, to produce wallpaper designs of unlimited ambition.”

https://www.studiospelling.com/

Instagram: @studiospelling

2018 QEST Howdens Scholar – Wood & Metalwork

London

Tom originally trained in traditional cabinet making at the London College of Furniture.  He then continued his education in 3D design at the University of Brighton, following on to an MA in product design at the Royal College of Art. It was at the RCA, studying under Ron Arad, that his interest in converging his traditional training with modern digital design and manufacturing techniques was born. This laid the foundation of his practice, Object Studio, perusing ever more complex forms pushing materials and processes to their limits.

This foundation of skills, primarily in the manipulation of timber into precise organic forms, partnered with his pursuit of embracing both modern digital craft with time honoured traditional crafts, led Tom to his QEST Scholarship into the investigation of the casting of metals, and the surrounding crafts; pattern making, sand and investment casting, welding, chasing, finishing and finally the patination of metals.

https://www.objectstudio.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/object_studio_london/

2018 QEST Scholar – Tapestry Weaving

Cornwall

Weaving complements the grid-based images of Cornwall-based artist and designer Hannah. Her narrative-led designs are applied across a range of print textiles, including ‘Furoshiki’ (wrapping cloth) by LINK, a Japanese collective that works with artists from around the world.

Hannah travelled to Japan with her QEST Scholarship for a course in ‘Kasuri’ (a technique where threads are bound before dying to create patterns in the woven cloth) at Kawashima Textile School in Kyoto and research at local workshops and museums. In Tokyo, Hannah also visited a specialist in ‘Chu-sen’ screenprinting for ‘Tenugui’ (cotton hand towels) with LINK, for ideas to expand their collaboration.

“Although Hannah’s weaves consistently adhere to the grid design, the compositions are creatively liberating, feeling more like hand-drawings rather than complexly woven patterns. The “architectural elements, stacks of shape, repeating vertical lines and rich colour palette elevate the designs” from the methodical weaving techniques to an engrossing sense of place.” – itsnicethat.com

https://www.hannahwaldron.co.uk/

Facebook: HannahWaldrontextiles

Instagram: @hannah.waldron

Twitter: HannahWaldron

Photo credit: Tim Laing

TUESDAY 29 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST NADFAS Scholar Zoë Wilson and QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholar Frances Pinnock

Zoë Wilson, who carves geometric wall hangings from Welsh slate, will showcase geometric drawing, carving and gilding techniques. Meanwhile leatherworker Frances Pinnock will demonstrate hand-stitching, which she learned making bespoke shoes and utilises to create her leather vessels.

2014 QEST NADFAS Scholar – Stone carving

Hampshire

Zoë Wilson is a stone carver. She completed a degree in Fine Art (painting) at Birmingham City University, before discovering a love for working with stone. Appreciating the importance of a solid foundation, she embarked on a three-year apprenticeship working on every aspect of traditional stone masonry such as fixing, construction, restoration and private commissions.

To further develop her skills Zoë undertook a second apprenticeship in letter carving.  She then gained a place at City and Guilds of London Art School, graduating in 2016 with a first class diploma in Historic Stone Carving.  Her QEST Scholarship supported her during her studies.

Since graduating Zoë has been accepted as a member of the Worshipful Company of Masons. She is currently self-employed, working on her own practice creating unique, hand carved stone artwork and on private commissions.

“I find adding to my skills helps to keep me inspired and excited by what I do. I think my passion for creating is a very deeply rooted part of me and carving is my outlet for that.”

http://www.zoewilsoncarving.com/

Facebook: Lapidis.art

Twitter: Zoehitsrocks

Instagram: @ZoeWilsonCarving

FRIDAY 25 JUNE, 11AM – 4PM

MEET THE MAKERS

Ground Floor, North Dome

QEST Scholar Kate Colin and QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholar Jonathan Wright

Kate Colin, who creates hand-folded homewares for interiors such as lampshades and cushions, will demonstrate paper-folding. Meanwhile, Jonathan Wright, creator of bespoke handmade globes for Bellerby & Co, will showcase cutting and applying gores and painting a globe.

2020 QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Scholar – Globemaking

London

Jonathan has worked at Bellerby & Co. Globemakers for 8 years, during which time he has trained a new generation of makers and cartographers and led the development of new techniques and practices. His QEST Scholarship will enable him to undertake the Graduate Diploma Arts: Conservation of Books & Paper course at City & Guilds of London Art School. Here he will be building on his current globemaking practice and the new skills he learns will enable him to expand into globe conservation.

Over generations, globes have endured but their purpose has constantly shifted. The globes Jonathan now produces focus on the representation of personal histories through bespoke cartography. This comes with a duty to ensure these heirloom objects stand the test of time, for which an understanding of the chemistry of deterioration and conservation techniques are vital. Due to the complex mix of materials, conservators from a range of different specialisms are usually required to undertake globe conservation and knowledge has often been sequestered. Approaching this discipline from the perspective of a globemaker will allow him to build upon research and presents the chance to make a meaningful contribution that can be passed on to future practitioners.

https://bellerbyandco.com/

Instagram: @GlobeMakers