Inspired by MADE London

On Thursday evening after work MOH and I headed into town towards Great Portland Street and ONE Marylebone - a Sir John Soane church and also the venue for MADE London, the design and craft fair. I'd been invited to the private view evening ahead of the show's opening the next day. It closes today, so if you didn't get to go along, don't worry I've got lots to share with you - and there's always next year.

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While I was waiting for MOH to arrive I amused myself by taking pictures of the venue and London's traffic whizzing by.  It wasn't long before he arrived and we made our way across the road and into the show.

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There were four floors of amazing makes for us to explore. We - as tradition dictates - started on the ground floor and immediately I saw this intricate plate/bowl by Waka Artisans. The detail was amazing.  

WAKA ARTISANS

WAKA ARTISANS

As we turned the corner we couldn't help but admire these modern side tables by Forge Creative. Aren't they great?

FORGE CREATIVE

FORGE CREATIVE

Already inspired it was time to hit us with some colour. These lampshades, vases and plates by Aline Johnson definitely do that. These vases are a great way to display tulips, the colours too focus your attention on the flowers.

ALINE JOHNSON

ALINE JOHNSON

ALINE JOHNSON

ALINE JOHNSON

I was quite taken with the glass plate (or dish, or what have you) bottom left in the photo above. As well as the colour way, the thing that really caught my attention was the matt-ness of this piece. So different to its shiny cousins alongside it.

We weren't quite done with colour yet either. 

This rainbow display of knitwear by Ollive Zwitserlood was simple but effective and eye catching.

OLLIE ZWITSERLOOD KNITWEAR

OLLIE ZWITSERLOOD KNITWEAR

These ceramic picture boxes by Maria Wojdat were also a favourite of mine.  I was curious about how these were made. Maria explained that each piece of clay is cut to size, sprayed with colour and fired and then placed in its frame. The combinations of colour ways are endless.

MARIA WOJDAT

MARIA WOJDAT

I realised Thursday evening that I have a weakness for ceramics as I stopped at almost each ceramics stand. The simple lines and clean display of these by Justine Allison really appealed to me. Of course, I have no need for them but that doesn't stop me liking them!

JUSTINE ALLISON

JUSTINE ALLISON

These hooks made by John Egan made me smile. Their shape amused me and John explained that he likes to use as much of the tree as possible and these are shaped from branches. There's a clever design feature two as they glide onto a fixing on the wall meaning that they can get close to the wall and look as great as these. The multi-coloured wood (fourth and seventh from the left) was my favourite and I was surprised to learn that it was Yew.

JOHN EGAN

JOHN EGAN

JOHN EGAN

JOHN EGAN

We spent a lot of time talking about the eye catching hooks, but John also produces some fantastic furniture, take this bench for example. It uses the natural shape of the wood and I think John's one of the few people who relishes the aftermath of a storm as that means a supply of new materials to work with.

After making sure we'd seen every stand on the ground floor, we headed downstairs to the Crypt and the two floors of makers in these areas. This bright and cheery bird by Amanda Anderson certainly welcomed us into that space.

AMANDA ANDERSON

AMANDA ANDERSON

We saw lots in this part of the show and spoke to many of the makers and I will share more of what I saw there in future posts soon.

With the stands in the Crypt looked up we headed back upstairs and then up another floor to the mezzanine floor. Immediately it was these pictures by Ann Nazareth that caught my eye. They're made of spun paper, and Ann clearly has a lot of patience...

ANN NAZARETH

ANN NAZARETH

The sheen on these spoons made by Stuart Jenkins caught my eye, and like many of the makers he encouraged us to touch and pick up his items. They look heavy, but aren't as heavy as you'd expect and the ladle which I tried would definitely add a touch of class to any soup. I left trying to find a way to bring something like this into my life - so far, I've failed but I'm still working on it!

STUART JENKINS

STUART JENKINS

This jumper by Sasha Kagan also caught my eye. I'm a lapsed knitter but something like this could tempt my knitting needles out I'm sure. I liked the design, the colours and the bobble details on the rib. Sasha kindly offered me the opportunity to try it on and I was tempted. There were two things that stopped me though - the temperature on the mezzanine floor, and because I had a black top on and I thought there was a high chance I'd end up with white fluff all over it.

SASHA KAGAN

SASHA KAGAN

SASHA KAGAN

SASHA KAGAN

This cardigan too caught my eye. For me it has a touch of art deco about it - what do you think?

The yellow straps of this bag by Rosie Moss caught my eye and I soon made a beeline for it. After a while I spotted the gloved hands and I very nearly left with it. In fact there were so many things I could have left with had I been so inclined. I did make a purchase which you might have seen on my Facebook and Instagram feeds already, but more on that another time.

ROSIE MOSS

ROSIE MOSS

We also spoke with Rosie about our fascination with hares, something she shares too. And that pink hoppy cushion is a fab example of her work.

ROSIE MOSS

ROSIE MOSS

We were almost done and the glasses of fizz as we wandered around kept us going, thank you to Tutton and Young for inviting me along. It was an inspiring show with so many makers that were keen to talk about their creations.

The last items that I'm sharing today are these Moth Balls and Bee Bug Balls by Claire Moynihan. They have a museum feel to them, but when you look more closely they're not quite what they seem.

CLAIRE MOYNIHAN

CLAIRE MOYNIHAN

Claire hand embroiders British insects onto felt balls. She processes local alpaca wool to produce the felt balls and stitches three dimensional insects onto their surface. They are just beautiful.

CLAIRE MOYNIHAN

CLAIRE MOYNIHAN

I definitely left feeling inspired and proud to be British and of the talent we have, which was clearly evidenced by the items and the people we met throughout the evening.

 

Disclaimer: I was given free entry to the MADE London show in return for this review, however all words and opinions are my own.