Makers Directory

I am a ceramic artist living and working in Hampshire.

My work is influenced by an interest in the natural world; a love of farm life and the surrounding countryside. I strive to capture something quirky and unique in each piece I create and I hope my work captures my personality. It’s important to me that each piece tells its own narrative. Working in stoneware I use natural oxides, underglaze stains and polymers on the clay surface, occasionally embellished with galvanised steel wire for a contemporary feel. My ceramic work is priced from £60-£500.

My work has been shown at Southampton Art Gallery, St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Mottisfont, (National Trust), Sherfield School and at The Grange, Northington (English Heritage).

I design and create bespoke handcrafted French Beaded flowers to treasure through stringing thousands of 2mm glass seed-beads onto fine craft-wire, with a combination of twists and wraps.

French Beading is a 19th century art form that has gone through waves of popularity. Believed to have originated in both Italy and France, the craft was predominantly favoured by women in order to earn a little money of their own and to decorate their homes. In the Victorian era French Beading became associated with the passing of a loved one as many memorials were created using the technique.

I research each bloom I replicate before I begin designing. Flowers have such a powerful impact on us, creating memories, improving our mental health and sending messages, so it is really important that my designs are as accurate as possible and that they capture the splendour of the blooms I replicate.

I make jewellery and ceramics inspired by the morphogenetic forms in nature: plant cell-structure; insect wings; honeycomb; barnacle clusters.

My pieces are, to me, wearable sculpture, or useful sculpture – an attempt to share my awe with others.

I work mainly in recycled silver and porcelain, and occasionally in other metals and clays.

Kate Bufton’s work is an ongoing exploratory development, manipulating the shape and form of old books. The physicality of old books is an important inspiration for her work. The stained pages hold many unknown possibilities. The rough textures and musty smells help with progression throughout her practice as she continues to explore their physical structures. By altering the original form of books through various cuts and folds they are transformed from a carrier of text to an object of art.

I am a teacher and artist living and working in Brighouse, West Yorkshire. I was an art teacher with a degree in Visual Arts and Culture, but 10 years ago I wanted to develop my own practice away from school and discovered an outlet for my ideas and creativity through completing a City and Guilds in embroidery, and my business, HanneMADE, was started.

I love mixing media together and the theme of journeys runs throughout my work, be they my own journeys collecting inspiration or my materials’ journey, as I upcycle where possible. I use a range of techniques in my work from mono screen printing, digital printing, college, many textile techniques, print… and I love to stitch, be that with my machine or by hand. I produce a range of pieces of work from unique framed pieces, pieces to wear (brooches and pendants) and greeting cards.

It was during the November 2020 pandemic that my dolls first came to life. Home-schooling was included in our daily routine despite my five year old’s turned up nose. In a creative attempt to encourage reading I had the extravagant idea of crafting the characters in a story we were reading to visually bring the story to life – a story I had written about two paper dolls and their paper adventures. Penelope and Presley were the first two puppets I created. Over the following year the demand for my dolls increased tenfold. What initiated as making dolls for our own play has very quickly turned into my dream job: in January 2021 my dolls were accepted by The British Toy Makers Guild and over the next 18 months my dolls with be featured in publications such as the Dollshouse and Miniature Scene Magazine which also features more about my foraging around the Thames in Greenhithe.

Julieann is a graduate of the Tapestry Department, Edinburgh College of Art and is a Crafts Council Award recipient. She has developed her love of eccentric weaving into three dimensions to create lively and whimsical woven wire animals, birds and figures suitable for indoor and outdoor display.

Julieann strives to capture the essence of her subject through quick sketches translated directly into sculpture. She now lives in Wiltshire and spends hours sketching in the fields around her home and studio from where she also runs workshops and courses.

Examples of Julieann’s tapestry and sculptural forms can be found in public and private collections nationally, including the V&A. In Spring 2012 she was commissioned to design and create 50 new wire sculptures for The Conran Shop inspired by the ethos “Less is More’.

I’ve been lucky to always inhabit a world in which Selotape, string, paper and cereal boxes are plentiful…. And to have been surrounded by lovely folk who’ve encouraged me and put up with the mess! After initially training as a Theatre Designer, and working for several years in the Art education sector, I use these […]

Laura Thomas is an award-winning woven textile artist and designer producing striking artworks for the contemporary interior. Educated at Birmingham City University, The Royal College of Art and ASF-Weave, Laura established her studio practice in 2003 when she moved back to Wales. Laura divides her time between public and private art projects, design consultancy, curation, […]

Little Burrow Designs is the whimsical repurposed sculpture world of mixed media artist Claire Read. Each piece, or “storybox”, is created entirely by reworking vintage and antique objects and curios, often with a combination of vintage textiles. Most storyboxes are one-off, unique sculptures. A few are possible to recreate, although will never be identical, and […]

The influence of the coastal environment of West Wales, my childhood landscape, and the natural beauty of Dorset, where I now live, permeate the sculptural ceramics that I produce.
A background in precision engineering has trained me to work with a meticulous eye for tight tolerances, refined lines and defined angles.
My interests in nature and contemporary architecture have been incorporated to create pieces that contain the essence of natural forms in shapes that have clarity of line and beauty in simplicity.
All my work is handbuilt using slabs of stoneware clay and I construct each piece individually without the aid of moulds. The modelling and carving of the finer detail ensures each piece is unique. Following bisque firing to 1000°C, I apply my own glazes and finally fire to 1250°C.
I gained my BA Ceramics degree at West Wales School of the Arts in 2007.

Melanie Tomlinson works with illustration and metal to create vibrant and intensely detailed artworks that reflect her deep love and passion for nature. She is particularly interested in the role of traditional folk narrative to explore the complex relationships between communities and the natural world. She has developed and refined her specialist techniques for printing […]

I create sculptural forms, wall pieces and jewellery. I use textiles, found objects, collected personal and family memorabilia and recycled materials mixed with new.

Much of my work is stimulated by the materials, both their physical appearance and qualities, and the story of their original uses and functions, and often, my own associations with them. Influences include Grayson Perry, Andrew Logan, Tim Walker, a 70s childhood, music and friendships.

I come from a Theatre Design background and apply my scale-model techniques to create small mixed-media playful sculptures of mice, made entirely from salvaged and recycled materials. I make numerous commissions and ‘one-off’ pieces, which are either freestanding, housed in a driftwood box, or positioned under a glass dome. The sculptures are highly detailed, with every aspect considered to a high standard, these can be personalised to meet a client’s specifications.
Prices vary, depending on the detail and complexity of the piece; they range from £15-£65. My clients often commission pieces for their own home, or as gifts for special occasions. The colours, materials and detailing frequently appeal to children as much as to adults.
I’ve always had a fascination with stories and histories, and collect profusely. I work with fragments of fabric, paper, wood and metal, with which I aim to fire up the imagination and encourage audiences to engage playfully with my work.

Nikki Browne has developed a range of ‘Sungates’ – innovative glass sculptures that define and enhance the surrounding landscape or interior space. With a hand-engineered steel core, each piece uses the time-honoured techniques of stained glass making but with a contemporary twist, juxtaposing hand knapped blue and green slate with the finest quality mouth blown glass to create a harmonious whole that encompasses both strength and fragility.

The joy of carving is that it is difficult. You can’t stick a piece back on and you are always constricted by the size of the block. This calls for ingenuity and a fluidity of expression that does not exist for me in other materials.

I use predominantly lime stones like Bath stone because I like the warm colours and Serpentine because you can polish it.

The carvings are sometimes cast into bronze or iron resin to make limited editions I do public and  bespoke commissions, show in galleries and have many pieces on Facebook.

Rebecca works with colour, form and a continuing fascination with the idea of ‘vessel’. She uses a variety of techniques to explore these themes, such as raising, press forming, fabrication, etching and patination. All the vessels are a result of a combination of photos, drawing, models and intuitive making. Having discovered patination while at college, […]

My extraordinary objective is to realise the necessities and requirements that would be involved in ‘fairy life’: to provide everything a fairy would demand during its daily existence. I have named these ‘Fairy Aiding Inventions’, invented by ‘Brain’ (me). They are theoretically functional items for the mildly eccentric. I try to express a sense of […]

Shirley creates wall hung and freestanding sculptures and shadow frames, using white earthenware to hand form flower components, small creatures, birds and fish. Texture is embossed into the surface. Under glazes and oxides are applied to give layers of colour. These are then assembled together with driftwood, wire, reclaimed maps, vintage magazines and other interesting […]