Babs Pease Design

I met Babs a year and a half ago as a newcomer to BCTF.  She too was a newcomer and we were to be neighbours for three days and I'm pleased we were as we couldn't have had a nicer person to chat with in the quiet spells!  What's more, it meant that I could stand and look at her work which is truly lovely.

Babs Pease Design BCTF stand

Bab's lives out in the countryside in Scotland and so her work is often on a rural theme.  She is a painter and illustrator and a very accomplished print maker.  Her prints are lino cuts with such stunning detail in them, I particularly love this one of a sleeping fox...

Lino print fox design

...and this one of the rabbit.

Rabbit lino print

I love the gentle humour in her work too.

Hedge hog lino print

Zebra lino print

These are all examples of her larger art work but she has cunningly adapted her designs for smaller gift items and she has developed ranges of cards...

Babs Pease card range

...notebooks...

Babs Pease notebook range

...and mugs amongst other things!

Babs Pease mugs range

Should you wish to see more of what Babs does you can follow this link to see her Folksy shop or visit her website.

Melanie Tomlinson's Magnificent Menagerie

Melanie Tomlinson is an artist working with illustration and metal.  She creates stunning sculptures and dioramas using techniques she has honed over many years that involve her creating gouache paintings which after being printed on to tin are then formed into beautiful works of art.  I met Melanie at BCTF where she was exhibiting her brooches.

Melanie's stand at BCTF

I have to admit I am a bit of a stalker when it comes to Melanie's work and I am lucky enough to own a butterfly brooch of my own. I also have my eye on the dragonflies with the stunning cut out wings.

I love the wings of these insects, so intricate.

When looking at Melanie's stand two things really grab you, the colour and the detail in each piece.  When the brooches are all displayed together they remind me of beautiful iridescent specimens in Victorian collection trays and they draw me in.

A display reminiscent of Victorian collectors trays

beautiful detail

Her jewellery ranges are not just insect based, she has birds and fish too, all equally as colourful and intricate.  Should you want a closer look at some of Melanie's work you can find her website here .

Deryn Relph's fabulous furniture

Deryn is a textile designer with a love of colour, pattern and texture, who likes to think creatively about the use of textiles she designs and constructs.

It's funny, when you first arrive at BCTF for the set up day, all the stands are white and empty and everyone is surreptitiously sizing up their neighbours and working out what is going to be exhibited next door.  Well this was the case with me, Deryn's display stand was white and empty but then...WOW!

Deryn's fabulous stand

Deryn's stand needed to be white to let her furnishings do all the talking.  She describes her products as 'quirky knitted interior products in bright colours with a nostalgic hint of retro style' and there was a real element of fun on her stand.  Looking at her work couldn't fail to bring a smile to your face!

Deryn has a wide range of furnishings available

Deryn has specialised in knitted textiles for Interior use during her BA (Hons) Textile Design course and she makes all of her fabrics herself using UK sourced yarns in natural fibres.  She merges these skills with her previous upholstery and furnishing skills to create unique and contemporary furniture which would add a splash of colour to any home.

Reupholstered chair getting a new lease of life

Around the walls of Deryn's stand were photographs of some great chairs she has given a new lease of life to in the past.  All were a work of art in themselves in their splendid contrasting colours and patterns.  Deryn believes that nostalgia and evoking an emotional response to engage the user with an object play a part too - if something makes us happy, or we love it for the memories it brings then we are more likely to treasure that object for longer rather than sending it to landfill.  

   "Retro influences are often evident in my designs, inspired by my own childhood memories and happy times.”   

Deryn Relph

You can see a wider selection of her work on her website.

Angela Ibbs Stunning Mosaics

Over the next few weeks I am wanting to showcase just a few of the designer makers I met at BCTF whose work I love.  Many aspects of these maker's work have links in some way to my own work whether it be their use of vibrant colour or their links with nature.  All I think you will love.

Angela Ibbs mosaic owl

The first artist I would like to introduce you to is Angela Ibbs She enjoys using a wide range of materials, hues, textures and assembly methods to develop beautiful mosaics that are contemporary art pieces.  Angela gains inspiration from nature and human form through folk art and style movements. 

Fish wall art mosaics

I have followed Angela on her facebook page for a little while now and was thrilled to see she would be exhibiting at BCTF too.  Not only is her work delightful it is inventive and whilst you are taking in the designs you realise that some of the fish have cup handles for fins!

Some of Angela's wall art pieces

 

 The great geometric patterns that Angela uses in her work come largely from 70's crockery salvaged from charity shops and ebay.  Individual leaves and circles are nibbled out of the china to create intricate textured designs. Her website has a gallery showing the range of different designs she has worked on.

Stunning mosaic pendants

Angela translates the beautiful detail captured in her larger wall mosaics into her range of jewellery.  Each is a unique piece incorporating the geometric designs and colour found in her work.

Circles!

As anyone who knows me will know, circles are a bit of an obsession with me and I love the combination of vibrant colours, glass and circles in these pendants and bracelets and I hope to purchase one in the near future.  

"For me mosaic, as a medium, is an exploration of choice and selection to create an effective and durable solution, through picking, cutting, laying and combining materials. The art form also reacts with its environment through the reflection of light giving an extra fascination."  Angela Ibbs