Hampshire and Berkshire Guild of Craftsmen

Designer and Maker in Glass.

Andrew Boddington works in both traditional stained glass and modern kiln-formed techniques. Both private individuals and public organisations commission Andrew to design and make architectural glass features which are both beautiful and practical. He also produces innovative fused glassware such a bowls, plates and more sculptural items that play with light, colour and bubbles.

In late 2009 furniture designer and maker Mark Ripley was commissioned to produce a glass font bowl, a candle holder and inserts for the new sacramental furniture at a church in Reading. Mark approached Andrew to work with him having seen his Tectonic and Parabowla fused glassware incorporating the eye-catching air-bubbles.

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Mark Ripley gained a BA (Hons) degree in 3-Dimensional Design at Leicester Polytechnic where he specialised in furniture design and making. For the next ten years he divided his time between teaching woodwork to handicapped adults and developing his own work. Since 1990 he has been a full-time maker working from a converted farm building in South Moreton, Oxfordshire. The workshop was relocated to a purpose built space in Bramley, Hampshire, in 2004.  Mark has contributed to a number of books on design and woodworking and is a regular contributor to Furniture and Cabinet Making magazine.

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I gained my degree in ceramics at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and have been running my own pottery since 1973.

I make pots, tiles and sculptural pieces that reflect my love of nature and the environment, particularly Cornwall.

My work is sold through galleries across England, selected craft fairs and exhibitions with the Hampshire and Berkshire Guild of Craftsmen.

I welcome commissions as well as visitors to my studio.

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I love the pen on paper and the brush on fabric, sometimes combining the two. Traditional and more expressive works excite me.

I’ve written several calligraphy how-to-do-it books, mostly co-authored with Janet Mehigan, and I teach workshops across the country as well as local classes.

Fellow of both national calligraphy societies, SSI and CLAS.

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Jennie set up her first workshop in Surrey in 1993 but she has since moved to Project Workshops in Hampshire where she produces an ever-increasing range of tableware together with a selection of Vases, Pitchers, Platters, Lamp bases, Bowls and Bistro Tables in the distinctive Mishima Range.  

"Mishima is the inlaying of a contrasting slip into a pattern that has been impressed, stamped, or carved into the clay” 

All Jennie’s work is fired to 1280’c in a gas kiln and is suitable for everyday use. She sells her work at a few select Craft Fairs and Galleries and it is in private collections both in the U.K. and abroad.

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I studied Illustration, Printmaking and Painting at Southampton College of Art and St. Martin's.

I am a member of the Society of Wood Engravers [ currently Hon. Sec.]

My wood engravings have frequently been selected for the SWE Annual Exhibition and for the Royal Academy of Art's Summer Exhibition.

Commissions have included illustrations for the Folio Society and wood engravings for Hampshire Museum Service and The House of Commons Works of Art Committee.

I work mailnly as an independent maker of wood engravings and lino-cuts.The designs are developed from my original drawings.

Wood engraving is a method of relief printmaking whereby a design is incised into the finely prepared end grain surface of a close grained hardwood, such as box. A roller is used to apply oil based ink to the block. Pressure is then applied and prints taken.

I trained as an Industrial Designer and apply a minimal approach to my design problems, let form follow function, watch the proportions and let the natural beauty of the wood speak for itself. This shows in my commissions and the multiples that I make for galleries - mirrors, candlesticks, boxes, music stands and stools. Quiet well-made artefacts that are easy on the eye, comfortable in the hand and at peace in most peoples homes. When the tedium of controlled work gets through to me, or when a suitable piece of wood materialises, I turn a bowl, usually from green wood. I enjoy the spontaneity of lathework - chasing my interest in the wood, playing with my whims, adding a little texture or colour as I see fit, creating something unique in a day.

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After gaining a BA (Hons) in Fine Art (Sculpture) at West Surrey College of Art and Design, Ruta Brown also studied silversmithing before setting up an independent jewellery studio.

Directly manipulating precious metals using hand tools and heat, Ruta Brown has developed a comprehensive personal vocabulary of form and texture. This supports the creation of a distinctive visual language that is expressed in a range of jewellery and small objects.

Drawn to the textural possibilities that can be achieved, Ruta Brown has specialized in the technique of reticulation. Directional heat is applied to forged, folded forms, each piece individually fabricated, in exploration of the structural limits of the metal, mainly sterling silver with 18 carat gold as added decoration. The results are a variety of intricate forms, often also incorporating stones and pearls, details evoking weathered fragments of flotsam, or other marine elements from the shoreline.

Ruta Brown has exhibited widely in Britain and also in America, Japan, Egypt and Switzerland.

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After studying ceramics at the Istituto d'Arte per la Ceramica in Faenza, Italy, I set up the Piccolpasso Workshop in Hampshire producing handmade tiles.

Each tile is formed and decorated by hand, so each one is unique.

The decorative technique I use is called 'Majolica', brushing colours and basic colour glazes onto a lovely tin base glaze.  This gives each tile freshness and depth of colour.

The tiles can be used in kitchens and bathrooms. They are practical, resilient and decorative. They can be arranged together in a line or panel and mixed with plainer tiles, or as a striking panel feature behind a small basin in a cloakroom or by a fireplace.

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Trained as a teacher, specialising in textile arts, Liz taught in infant schools for ten years. Self taught as a potter, she divided her time between teaching and ceramics, becoming a full time potter in 1988 and moving to her first purpose-built workshop and showroom in 1992. Her early work focused on domestic reduction stoneware, using a combination of latex, sponging, trailing and wax resist to create decorations reminiscent of textile designs and this still continues. In 2001 she built a 30 cubic feet salt kiln, again producing domestic ware and individual pieces. Commissions are taken. Visitors are welcome by appointment. Liz was elected a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association in 1997.

My aim at Lasham Furniture workshop is to produce furniture of quality, tailored to the customer's needs. Since this takes much time and skill, it is bound to be expensive, and so the result ought to be a treasured possession, now and in future generations. I think this is best achieved not by trying to be completely original all the time, although I am always looking for new and better ways of doing things, but by always combining beauty and practicality. If an item is functional, well proportioned, simple but elegant and excellently made and finished in carefully selected timber, it cannot fail to please in any age.

I weave with many natural yarns but especially with hand-dyed silk, a versatile yarn which ranges from matte and slubby to shiny and iridescent and dyes wonderfully to give a vast range of colour. I use simple weave structures to allow the silk in combination with many beautiful new man-made yarns to produce interesting textures, draping and handling qualities. All my scarves have unique characteristics and each one is subtly different, making them very exciting for me to weave and a one-off scarf for the wearer.

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My work is about touch and play. I like it to invite you to handle the object, to explore the surfaces, interact with it and I want this to be a pleasing experience. It may contain secrets or surprises, should be well made, and is likely to have moving parts. The jewellery may often be worn in different ways and I like it to be comfortable, secure and enjoyable to wear. Nearly all of my work contains balls of some sort, I do not know why!

I trained as a doctor and worked in hospital before moving to General Practice which is both very challenging and satisfying. I became a part time partner in a large practice in 2002 and continue to work as a G.P. particularly enjoying interaction with patients, colleagues, staff as well as the practical aspects of the job.

I am a regular visitor to museums, exhibitions and galleries, and use landscape, architecture and the natural world as a basis for structure and ornamentation as well as a source of inspiration for the objects that I make.

'It is a delight to unlock the natural beauty of wood, harmonising form and function to give practical solutions that are a joy to live with'.

Extensive training in furniture design and craftsmanship has included time at the John Lloyd Workshop in Sussex, the Barnsley Workshop in Hampshire and with Williams and Cleal in Somerset, all internationally renowned for best teaching practise and world class furniture. My fully equipped workshop is in a rural setting and conducive to creative design and outstanding results... achieved through simple lines and memorable detail, giving pieces a uniquely timeless quality.

Specifically, my offer comprises:

 - A collaborative approach to design, ensuring work meets specific requirements

- High standards of craftsmanship with an emphasis on traditional hand skills

- A wide choice of sustainable hardwoods and finishes

- Inscriptions and inlays to celebrate an event or personalise the piece

- Close attention to customer satisfaction throughout the process and thereafter

As a Chartered Environmentalist, I am keen to minimise any harmful impacts arising from my work. All native hardwoods used are from managed estates in the South of England and approved for felling by the Forestry Commission; all imported hardwoods used are verified by the Forestry Stewardship Council as being from a sustainable source.

Originally trained on the acclaimed Ceramics course at Farnham, and until 2009 resident potter at Salisbury Arts Centre, I am now enjoying the greater creative freedom of a private studio.  I make porcelain and stoneware pots that are as happy being displayed as being used, aiming for a comfortable balance between the sound craft traditions my training gave me and a fresh, contemporary appeal.   Because I enjoy trying new things, I usually work in short series, whether of everyday ware such as mugs and bowls, or showpieces which offer scope to vary pattern or glaze from one piece to the next.  I occasionally stray into figurative work too.

Decorated, patterned or simply glazed, all my work reflects my preference for simple, strong form.   Recently decoration has made a reappearance; I enjoy playing with tonal contrasts, perhaps highlighting areas with pattern or drawing attention to the swell of a bowl or the inside of a cup with a splash of eye-catching colour.

I studied at Southampton and Birmingham Colleges of Art and at Shoreditch College. I design and make a wide variety of decorative and relief carvings and sculpture in wood and stone and have fulfilled commissions for numerous organisations including the Nautical Institute, Lymington and Botley European Twinning Associations and the Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust. Church commissions include carved limewood lecterns for Tyberton Parish Church, Herefordshire and St Mary's Church, Alverstoke, Gosport, a wood carving of Christ for the Parish Church, Purley, Surrey and two carved stone heads for St. Peter's. Bishops Waltham, Hampshire.

I make functional and sculptural ceramics including garden pottery in a variety of clays. Exhibition work is thematic with an idea or technique explored and developed often with distilled imagery and subtle symbolism. Commissions have included work for Associated British Ports, Hampshire County Council and Ian Hamilton Finlay, the Scottish artist/poet.

I have written a text book, 'Pottery and Ceramics' published by Macmillan. I was educated at Stafford School of Art, Madeley College and The Open University.

I studied textiles at The Roehampton Institute in the early 1970's and later spent several years at The Handweavers Studio in north east London. I have now been weaving and teaching for over twenty years.

For the last few years I have concentrated on making rugs, throws, cushions and most recently, wall-hangings. I love colour and I have been using the warp-faced double repp weave technique to create blocks of colour in my designs.

I have exhibited at the Ashcroft Arts Centre, Walford Mill, The Black Swan Guild, Southampton City Art Gallery Shop and Fisherton Mill. In 1996 I won my first commercial commission of four large wall-hangings in a solicitors office block.

Tibor has been working with leather since 1990. It started out of his interest in traditional crafts and in the natural materials used in those crafts. In the beginning of the '90s he had the chance to learn the basics of the craft from one of the last harness and saddle maker masters of his country.

On and off Tibor has lived in the United Kingdom for over 8 years, relocating with his family most recently in August 2009 in the view of settling here permanently. Since 1998 he take part in craft fairs, both in Hungary, his home country and in England. His work is exhibited and sold in art galleries in Great Britain.

"Our personal belongings, all the articles we surround ourselves affect our everyday life greatly. They have an influence on our moods and on our feeling for harmony. Natural hides possess unique elasticity, warm colours, a soft touch." Tibor says.

"All these qualities make natural hide an excellent material for making different articles either for personal use or creating valuable gifts. Artefacts made of good quality leather might accompany us for many years in our everyday life, especially if made by using the traditional hand stitching techniques that I apply in the making."

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The desire to make pots that will be used and a love for decoration has led me to work within the Majolica tradition. The combination of the rich colour of the red clay with the glossy whiteness of the tin glaze and the vibrancy of the fired oxide mixtures provide a sustaining interest for me.

My brushwork is inspired by European painted ceramics from the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and Persia. But I also draw inspiration from textiles and other crafts and also from nature itself. 

I started designing and making jewellery in 1972 having obtained a degree in printed textiles and wood engraving at Winchester School of Art. Later I attended the Sir John Cass and first exhibited with the Goldsmiths' company in 1977, first at Loot, and then at the Goldsmiths' Fair. Later I joined the Hampshire and Berkshire Guild and the Designer Jewellers Group. I have shown at the Barbican as well as all over the UK and Internationally. I work from Hampstead Norreys making precious jewellery working closely with my clients after submitting drawing and designs to create work that is truly individual: I work primarily with precious metals, unusually cut stones, diamonds and pearls.

"Jewellery is a companion that carries stories, emotions, traces and imprints of life."

Contemporary pieces with clean simple lines. 

Precious stones are allowed to be felt and seen as much as possible.  

Antique glass and stone beads are used for their fabulous colours and tactile qualities. 

Above all, the pieces have to feel right. There must be a balance between form, texture and weight.

But it is the textures that make pieces unique. By adding a polished edge to a matte piece, or fine indentations into a soft, satin finish, the jewellery takes on a life of its own. Some of the work incorporates textures from nature such as leaf patterns and bark. I mix a range of techniques including chasing, repoussé, carving and enamel-work.

"Jewellery has to be beautiful to look at. But I want mine to be beautiful to touch as well."