Dide is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist, writer and composer/musician/opera singer. She’s interested in playing with genres for deeper causes, for instance, her solo music and visual art show ‘Grey matters, for THOUGHT’ for Mind Charity. She has invented a new method of composing music, currently titled ’Sound Scripts’, and often merges classical instrumentation with natural environmental recordings in her compositions, included in the New Museum of Networked Art’s ‘Wake up! Climate Change!’. She has written seven books, mainly of philosophical fiction and poetry, and has created works of art, from abstract sculpture to portraiture, using different media. She holds an Arts Territory Exchange Award amongst others and has been featured in The Sunday Times, on regional TV, on regional radio, at the Royal Festival Hall, Finnish press and local press. You can view more of Dide’s work on her website at www.didesiemmond.com
CraftCo
CRAFTCO is an outlet for contemporary crafts and applied arts from East Anglia, with changing exhibitions in our upstairs gallery.
The Great Eastern Craft Co-operative, or CRAFTCO for short, began in 1987 when ten local craftspeople formed a co-operative and opened a shop and gallery in Southwold Market Place. Five years later they bought a house in the High Street, originally a forge, which is now CRAFTCO.
With about 100 associate members, a core group runs and organises the shop. We meet monthly to discuss co-op business and consider newly submitted work. We are always interested in encouraging new makers. Our aim is to provide a permanent showcase for contemporary applied arts from East Anglia. Come and see our unique prints, ceramics, jewellery, textiles and toys. If you are interested in ordering any item, please phone 01502 723211 during opening hours.
Claire Nelmes
My practice rotates around the notion of change and the processes involved in change. My work often uses moving image, and multiple viewpoints to record a process. I make use of technology in a ‘low tech’ way, using mobile phones and cheap recording equipment to create work. I also use more traditional materials; canvas and paint, paper and crayons. I particularly enjoy working with non-artists in a non-arts environment.
Easterly Artists
Easterly Artists formed in 2018 as a mutually supportive not-for-profit group to promote art and the practice of local visual artists, and to encourage awareness and appreciation of their work. Members are all practising artists living and/or working within a 20-mile radius of Ness Point, the most easterly part of the UK mainland.
Suffolk Poetry Society
If you feel that the world today could do with more of the insights that poetry can bring, if you read it, write it, would like to write it but don’t know where to start, if you want a place where your voice might be heard, or if you simply love the stuff, then think about joining us – Suffolk Poetry Society. You’ll find a friendly community based on a shared passion and an inclusive programme that will meet your needs, wherever you are on your poetry journey.
Are you interested in sharing your poetry with others? Do you like listening to poetry? Would you like to find constructive criticism for the poetry you write? Would you like to participate in a wide range of Suffolk events with poetry at their heart? Suffolk Poetry Society is the place for you. This thriving group offers a warm welcome to poets and poetry lovers.
James Barrett-Nobbs
James runs Acorn Forge, a small metalwork business based in the heart of rural Suffolk. Over the years James has produced a wide range of items, in particular quality wood burning stoves, firebowls and chimineas, as well as a range of sculptures mainly made from recycled materials.
Website: www.acornforge.co.uk
People Power: A History of Portraiture
A talk series from Tanya Harrington
This monthly talk series on the fourth Thursday of each month, continues at cosy Mettingham Village Hall. The theme is ‘The History of Portraiture’ and looks at the Northern Renaissance, when artists strove for naturalism and detail, made achievable with new developments in oil technique – and yet these portraits are infused with a religious and sacred mood which speaks of the past.
Our next session is from 10.30am – 12.45pm on Thursday 27th February
Entry £10 (£5 for carers and under 18’s)
Designed as stand alone talks. All are welcome. Sessions include a 20 minute break for refreshments at the tea rooms just down the road.
Find out more at TanyaHarringtonTalks.co.uk
BBQ Stands at Beccles Quay- Artist Call-out
We’re collaborating with Beccles Town Council to install BBQ stands along Beccles Quay for sunny outdoor picnic days.
Beccles Town Council have been concerned that people are using disposable BBQ trays at the Quay and thereby burning the grassed areas. To stop this happening the Council wishes to install three stands on which to place the disposable BBQ trays and thus reduce damage to the grass. The commission is open to W&BA members to submit their design ideas for the permanent stands which can withstand all weathers, including storms and potential flooding, and be used by the public to hold their disposable BBQs.
The idea for the commission was sparked by Cllr Christine Wheeler whose attention had been brought to the scorched grass left by people using the Quay area for disposable BBQs. This poses a risk and has a negative impact on the surrounding habitat, so she thought that permanent stands would limit the damage to the site, whilst also encouraging visitors to enjoy the space for picnics.
The Beccles Quay has boat mooring, access to nearby marsh trails, picnic benches and a children’s play area, making it popular with visitors on boats, as well as cross country running, walking or organised wild swimming events. The Quay has also hosted fun fairs and music festivals previously. The BBQ stand commission asks that the artists bring in inspiration from the Beccles Quay and town, to make it distinctly ‘Beccles’ in its look and/or materials. We envisage that the 3 stands could potentially have 3 different designs from 3 artists.
We are very grateful to Beccles Town Council and Cllr Christine Wheeler for inviting W&BA artists to submit ideas for this public art commission. The deadline for proposals has been extended to Saturday 31st October.
BBQ Stand Brief
When deciding on the successful design, both attractiveness and cost will be taken into consideration. Your design must be:
- Fit for purpose – the stands must be weather-durable and able to withstand any flooding which may occur around their base.
- Complementary to the environment – the Town Council has declared a Climate Emergency so would wish the stands to fit with this principle. (The Council is aware that BBQs are not environmentally friendly but consider that using stands is more appropriate than allowing the grass to be burned. We also recommend that those wishing to use the BBQ stands to source FSC approved UK charcoal).
- Embedded into the ground
- Brickwork as a base.
- Reflect the persona of Beccles Quay and its environs.
- Safe to use.
- Measurements:
- The disposable BBQ trays are 24.5 cms wide and 31 cms long. The flat base of the stand must accommodate two trays sitting side by side width ways. It should also be at least 31 cms deep.
- The stands should be set at a workable height, approximately a metre. (There are standard BBQ stands at Loddon Quay which will give an indication of an appropriate height)
- The brick bases should be 1.5 to 2 metres square.
Design submissions with a fully costed budget should be made by 31st October 2020 to the Town Clerk, Beccles Town Hall, The Walk, Beccles, NR34 9AJ
Featured image from TourSuffolk.co.uk
Charlotte Packe
Charlotte Packe is a lighting designer and artist who was born in Suffolk and studied at Goldsmiths College. She has been working with lighting since 1990, creating lighting installations and designing bespoke luminaires for private and corporate clients as well as manufacturing small batch runs for selective retail outlets
Always materials inspired, working on refining and paring back with a natural influence from nature and aiming to bring calm sculptural lighting working with warmth and restraint with carefully selected materials all to enhance light within our home.
‘Light is one of the most magical forces, it is the most important element in our world and therefore within our home. I am inspired and in awe by light and to be able to work with such a magical force and then to select materials which control, capture, direct and enhance – it is the best part of the world we live in.”
My work is inspired by materials, where light enhances its light source through design. With this comes the interaction and function of the light, be they for decorative or task lighting.
Website: www.charlottepacke.co.uk
Andy Maule
Working largely through self-exploration, my work is predominantly, although loosely, figurative. Not constrained by major commercial ambitions my inspirations have led me to work in a range of styles, from strictly representational (portraits, human figures, etc) to completely abstracted forms, and many variations between, and often including a slice of humour. My medium is mostly ceramic although I have also exhibited work finished in bronze, and decorated plaster. Many of my stoneware pieces fit well in a garden setting.
Website: www.andymaule.net