Last week I enjoyed being part of the British Craft Pavilion, part of the London Design Festival. It was a brilliant and busy four days, and despite my protests beforehand that I don't like London much anymore and that I'd rather stay at home, it was actually a lot of fun.
The event was curated by Hole & Corner magazine who put together a typically thoughtful and unique selection of makers. I was honoured to be included amongst other talented ceramicists including Linda Bloomfield, Dove Street Pottery, Pottery West and Kana. The joy of mixed craft events is that I also got to admire some very beautiful handcrafted knives, quilts and furniture.
The pavilion was housed at the Truman Brewery, which played host to several other London Design Fair events too. The building is a complete rabbit warren and I could not honestly tell you all the different events and people that were there. However Cold Press Gallery on the top floor, stood out for me as being insanely beautiful, as did the Craft Scotland showcase, which had some incredible textiles.
My somewhat homely display was a last minute decision. I used some old wooden pigeonholes and a table from home and piled them high with pottery. The side wall seemed a little empty so I hung some beetroot across it. I've always liked to reinforce the connection between pottery and food, but it seemed to bewilder many people. "Why beetroot?" they would ask while taking a photo. Why not? I shrugged, wondering what are all those people going to do with a picture of beetroot anyway?
