Rogers Ink

October 14, 2019July 31, 2019Leave a comment

Carolyn Hird-Rogers, the artist and designer behind Rogers Ink is inspired by the dramatic landscape of the Yorkshire countryside and a love of mid 20th century Scandinavian surface pattern design. The moods of the Dales and Moors are expressed in the mono-print technique used to create hand inked papers. These unique papers are cut and collaged to build large landscape images and smaller greeting cards. The windswept and hill top stands of trees, cow parsley and dandelions are stylised, digitally drawn, printed, hand cut and added to the landscapes. These digital drawings then find there way into strong coloured landscapes on small notecards, beautifully presented in boxed sets of eight.

Badgers Garden

October 12, 2019July 30, 2019Leave a comment

Shoppers at Design@HEART have been enjoying Badgers Garden pickles and chutneys for the last few years, and we’re happy to tell you they’re back again this year. But did you know how they got their name? Here’s Jo to explain:

We used to have a naughty dog called Badger and if ever he didn’t come when called, we knew he would be eating the best raspberries from the canes. We started to make jam from those raspberries to gift to friends and family. As time past we grew more fruit and vegetables and that’s how we started.

Badger is no longer with us but we still grow produce in his garden that we use to turn into jams and chutneys. We have a wide selection of flavours to suit most tastes and we love to experiment with new ingredients.
Our spoon full of wonder is from garden to jar.

Amy Jade Prints

October 10, 2019July 31, 2019Leave a comment

Amy Jade Prints is Amy Thompson. She’s a first-timer at Design@HEART and we’re really looking forward to welcoming her and her lovely prints.

I use traditional printing methods to create fine art prints and products. These are often inspired by folklore, mythology and natural history.

After graduating with a degree in Illustration and Animation from Loughborough University I moved back to Yorkshire where I continued to experiment with technique, materials and design.

My process starts with a pencil drawing, which is then transferred onto lino before carving and printing. This hands on process means every piece is unique.

Saltaire Soap

October 8, 2019October 2, 2019Leave a comment

It’s a while since we’ve had a soap making at Design@HEART and so we’re really pleased to be welcoming Fiona Smith of Saltaire Soap and her environmentally friendly, skin friendly products.

I began making soap more than ten years ago, because skin problems since childhood made it hard for me to use commercially-produced scented soap and I wanted to design products that would be suitable for me. After experimenting on myself, friends and family for eight years, Saltaire Soap was born.

My soap is skin-friendly, made of high-quality natural ingredients, and scented with my own lovely blends of essential oils. It is made completely from scratch, the traditional cold-process way, without a pre-made base. All the recipes are my own. The ingredients I use are picked for their skincare and soap-making properties and include goats’ milk, orange juice, ground oatmeal, coffee, kelp, cinnamon and sea salt, raw tussah silk, powdered clay. I also use locally-brewed beer, which would otherwise go to waste, and local honey.

My processes are as low-waste as I can manage, and my packaging is eco-friendly.

Sarah Dunton

October 7, 2019July 31, 2019Leave a comment

If you’ve been to Design@HEART for the last couple of years you’ll have met Sarah Dunton. Her ceramics and prints have prooved very popular. She’s back again on 9th November, so here she is talking about her work:

I am a potter, printmaker, painter, illustrator and gardener. I originally trained as a fine artist at Leeds University, and since then I have continually worked as a painter and maker. I gain my inspiration from the natural world – plants and birds – and I also love to make images of people at peace and enjoying their gardens. This inspiration is a thread running through all the media in which I work. I learned to make pots at the Swarthmore Centre and now make these at home in my studio, hand-building my pots, so no two are the same. They tend to be decorated with birds and leaves. I have made many pieces to commission, including illustrations for the health service. pots for wedding presents, and paintings as gifts.

THE Creative S P A C E

October 5, 2019July 31, 2019Leave a comment

The Creative SPACE is the creative business of Laurie Bower. She’s bringing her beautiful handmade books to Design@HEART for the first time on 9th November.

I create individual handmade books, blank ones with beautiful covers and creative ones with my poems or quotes in. Books are touchable art, and I enjoy making stand-alone pieces, which are functional as beautiful notebooks, sketchbooks or journals. I embellish covers with machine and hand embroidery.

I use recycled paper and reuse packaging and my aim is to recycle completely once my current materials are used up, making my own ribbon and reusing paper from junk mail for the covers. Each book is hand sewn and finished.

A lifetime’s love of words, books, paper and making is now converted into a business. I also sell cards of my own designs. As an art student I was told I couldn’t draw, so I made instead (sewing, dressmaking, embroidery, jewellery, anything craft-based) and I bring these skills to my books.

I teach mindfulness and creativity workshops and incorporate a loving and attentive approach to everything I create.

TM Vintage Leeds

October 3, 2019July 30, 2019Leave a comment

Brand new to Design@HEART, Tom Mitchell brings his eclectic mix of vintage upcycled lamps. We think you’ll like them!

I started TMVintageLeeds back in 2016 from a love of old cameras, I am really a huge photography fan and it seems that a lot of old cameras become neglected and unused. I took this thought as an opportunity to turn them into something that I love and that other people can use and love too!
The box brownies have a lovely form and are so aesthetically pleasing to me that I thought they would make beautiful lamps. This initially started out with me making them for friends and relatives, morphed into the small craft business today. I love providing things at a reasonable cost so others can love them as much as I do. This is more therapy for myself rather than a business and I love working with beautiful items….and then I found more things that I love that are neglected, forgotten about or simply just unloved.

Inkylinky by Liz Samways

September 30, 2019July 30, 2019Leave a comment

After several years away, Liz Samways is back at Design@HEART this year, and we can’t wait to see her new jewellery and prints.

I’m a Leeds-based jeweller and printmaker, working primarily in silver and copper which is etched & engraved using techniques commonly found in printmaking. My work is inspired by the landscape, as viewed on a flat plane through the train window and aerial views, and is influenced by English landscape painters, printmakers, & surface-pattern designers, as well as my background in garden design. I love the textures, mark-making and unpredictability of the printmaking techniques I use, which I also translate into my jewellery and metal pictures to make pieces which will never be identical.

Where appropriate, I like to add colour using traditional materials – patination recipes, vitreous enamels, and sepia ink. Exploring the chemistry of these processes in itself provides inspiration which means life is never dull!

Carbon Art by Ceri Wood

September 26, 2019August 1, 2019Leave a comment

Ceri is another newcomer to Design@HEART and we’re looking forward to seeing her drawings and maps.

I am a Horsforth-based artist specialising in pencil-drawn bespoke maps and landscapes of the local area.

I have always loved monochrome art and the striking effects that can be achieved from simple media such as pen and pencil.

Pencil has always been my favourite medium and I have recently diversified from drawing landscapes to creating personalised maps of people’s favourite locations. The maps developed from wanting to create mementos that represent special places, but in a unique way that differs from anything else.

Commissions so far have ranged from counties to countries and have celebrated occasions such as births, engagements and weddings. It’s always exciting to find out what location I’m going to draw next, and my geography is improving with each commission!

Goss Bag by Annie Lawson

September 23, 2019August 1, 2019Leave a comment

Over the next few weeks we’ll be featuring some of our artists and craftspeople for our next fair on Saturday 9th November. First up is Annie Lawson of Goss Bag:

I am a cartoonist who has progressed into ‘cartooning in wool’. My knitted phone cases are flip-top design and are sturdy, being each one knitted by myself. There are also ‘key slugs’ to keep bunches of keys in, and knitted bumblebees that have not use other than embellishment. I have also recently added fabric holdalls to the sturdy bag range. My drawn cartoons also feature, in the form of greeting cards printed at home on elephant dung paper. I love making useful things that are beautiful and often humorous. ‘Keep it Material’ is my motto – I keep to a small phone! My studio is with East Street Arts in Leeds.

Design At HEART

Art and Craft Fairs at Headingley heart