Guest Artists for 2024
Here's some information about our guest artists this year.
We're really looking forward to including their amazing work!
Furniture Maker
Edward Carefoot
Working from the wood yard on the Witherslack Estate in the South Lake District, Edward has always been influenced by tradition and nature which continue to inspire his designs and craftsmanship.
Following his apprenticeship in antique restoration, Edward has pursued his passion for creating contemporary furniture. His pieces are crafted from locally and sustainably sourced timber, reflecting the skills of the past.
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Textiles
Laura's Loom
Laura’s Loom celebrates the craft of hand-weaving and Britain’s tremendous woollen heritage.
From Laura's studio in the Yorkshire Dales, she produces a range of hand-woven fabrics in a wide array of materials, including but not limited to wool. One of her favourite fibres is silk. Laura says, "The process of taking a silk scarf off my loom, washing it, then ironing it until it glows is nothing short of magical!"
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Artist and Printmaker
Jenny McCabe
Jenny McCabe is an artist and printmaker with years of experience of making and exhibiting work. She works from her studio in Lancaster in the Northwest of England and she also teaches regularly in print rooms around the country.
Her focus is on the familiar birds in the gardens, hedgerows and fields that are often taken for granted. Using simple cardboard and metal and transforming these materials into artworks that tell stories through characters and compositions.
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Guest Artists for 2023
In 2023 we were delighted to welcome these three amazing artists and craftspeople:
Ceramicist
James Hake
​James work ranges from huge platters and bottles to delicate bowls and tiny lidded jars. Working at the wheel he produces work in a series of similar forms each with their own subtle variations. Many of his glazes are made using local materials, gathered from quarries and clay seams in the countryside around my studio. Glazes are applied spontaneously by dipping, pouring and brushing in different combinations. During the firing the glazes fuse together producing fluid dynamic
surfaces.
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Fine Art
Ben Mcleod
Ben's work is heavily influenced by the surrounding landscape of wherever he is. Be that in the Kent Estuary or the wider English Lake District, North Wales, Spain, South Africa and Lesotho or Scotland as examples. He paints as a response to living, working and walking in
the landscape. He often composes paintings with thick, textured paint - loosely applied. He wishes to convey a sense of place, and the physical process of mark-making he employs is an engagement with the environment around him. After sketches and photographs used as reference he prefers to paint and draw quickly and instinctively. His work is a visual diary, a desire to capture a sense of the vitality and living quality of the landscape around him - a response to knowing what it is like to be in the landscape - a personal response to seeing and feeling the effects of the light and weather. His art is not a complete rejection of Modernist ideology from his undergraduate studies, but
essentially he paints because he wants to paint. Sometimes that leads to more abstracted marks – but other times it means looking to capture more literally a slice of life before him. The formal qualities of his paintings and drawings are important - an aesthetic in
response to the aesthetic of the environment aroun.
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Textiles
Oubas Knitwear
OUBAS is a knitwear studio based in Ulverston. The studio designs and makes natural fibre textiles using digital machinery and traditional craft processes. Using regional fibre as well as fine merinos and cashmeres. The studio is now a small team of makers and creatives who produce clothing and homewares. They have a studio shop which is open daily Monday – Friday.
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Previous Guest Artists
Viv Calver
Viv Calver is a returning guest exhibitor who combines her love of sewing with a passion for Harris tweed, making beautiful bags.
"I source directly from the weavers on the Isles of Harris and Lewis and I love the narrative of how this cottage industry, dating back over 150 years, has developed into a thriving business for the islands, while remaining true to its origins."
Viv's work will be on sale and on display in our annual exhibition, at the Old School Room (aka Barwick Hall) at Witherslack from Saturday 24 September to Sunday 16 October.
Karen Lainson
Our second guest exhibitor is Karen of @Karen Lainson Ceramics whose ceramics are inspired by the animals around her, their moods and expressions.
Karen's work is going to sit so well in the Barwick Hall with our other potters and so much work that's inspired by our landscape and wildlife.
Looking forward to it.
Gina Farncombe
Gina is a teller of stories - mostly with paint. "The stories change as I go through life. At the moment I am preoccupied with tales of trees. For the last 45 years of my life there has hardly been a day when I haven’t put pen to paper or brush to canvas. Recently oil paint has been my addiction. Another 300 years on the planet would still not be enough time for me to understand the mixing of colour and the handling of paint."
We're really looking forward to including Gina's work in the exhibition this year!
Ceramicist John Calver has a lot to fire and glaze...
and Pip Hall has been drawing...
