Q&A with Open House owner and artist Paula Dunn

Tell us about the work you do and the types of materials you use.
My work tends to fall into three categories, landscapes, seascapes and urbanscapes and although I tend to  work on different scales it’s mainly my large pieces that people are familiar with. I work in oils, building layer upon layer, to afford an almost textural quality to the finished piece. I enjoy experimenting with techniques such as impasto, the use of palette knives and the application of glazes.

Where do you produce your work? Does your working environment form part of the inspiration for your art?
I’m lucky enough to have space at home to use as a studio but it is in the basement so I wouldn’t really say it was all that inspirational but it is practical and not too far away from the fridge, kettle or biscuit tin.

One year I needed to paint a canvas which was too big to get down into the basement so I hijacked our spare bedroom for the summer. Never again… spent far too much time gazing out of the window watching the birds, sunshine, the cat… anything but getting on with painting.

Is your art your main job?
Not yet, but it is my main aspiration.

How did you get started?
Some paints, a canvas and a beautiful photograph taken by my partner…

What work will you be exhibiting at the Saltaire Arts Trail?
I will be launching a whole new collection of work just for the arts trail and unlike previous years where we’ve hosted up to 9 artists in our house, this year I will be able to concentrate on exhibiting a substantial body of my own work.

Do you work in any other mediums besides the work you will be exhibiting at the Arts Trail?
Rarely - occasionally some pen & ink sketches.

Where else can we see and buy your work?
Maiden Bridge Art Centre, near Lancaster; The Old Grammar School, Otley; Biscuit Factory, Newcastle; also the Butterfly Rooms, Saltaire stock my prints and greetings cards.

Tell us about your most exciting or memorable commission?
When I first started painting in oils about 8 years ago I was invited to have a solo exhibition at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Headquarters in Bainbridge. The work I was asked to produce for this exhibition included large landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales with a central piece being a triptych of Malham Cove. This triptych was shown in the first year of the Saltaire Arts Trail and will be returning 6 Harold Place this year as this will be the last year we open up our house for the foreseeable future.

What was it about the Saltaire Arts Trail that made you want to apply to exhibit?
We are part of the furniture... our house, 6 Harold Place, has been an open house ever since the arts trail started seven years ago.

Have you participated or visited the Saltaire Arts Trail before?
Every time; we’ve been here longer than anyone, except Titus of course.

What is unique about it and how does it differ from other events?
The open houses are quite a unique part of Saltaire Arts Trail and as an artist and home owner it provides me with a great opportunity to talk to people about my work as well as to be able to promote the wonderful village which is Saltaire. It has also given me the opportunity to curate several exhibitions; to turn our house into an art gallery, changing a domestic space into a public space, even if only for a weekend.

Could you leave us with one more interesting fact about yourself or your work?
One of my earliest exhibitions was the “Vamos exhibition” at the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. This was a celebration of art inspired by Latin America and featured several artists originally from that continent. I was able to draw upon our trip to Cuba a few months prior to the exhibition to produce 6 pieces that were so well received at “Vamos” that I was asked to give a talk on them on the opening night.

Paula Dunn will be exhibiting at 6 Harold Place

Q & A with Makers' Fair exhibitor Anne Brooke of H-anne-made

Tell us about the work you do and the types of materials you use.
I create, mainly, Stitched Collages based on the things I collect on the walks I go on. I am obsessed with seed pods and ‘weeds’ and represent them through collaged paper and fabric that I then draw into with a sewing machine. All the things in my work relate to journeys, from the things I collect, materials I up cycle to the maps of the places I have been.

Where do you produce your work? Does your working environment form part of the inspiration for your art?
I produce my work in my studio at home. Here I have all the things I have collected, images that inspire me and it is the place I love to be.

Is your art your main job?
Yes but creating my own work isn’t my primary ‘job’. I am the Head of Art at Brighouse High School. I love teaching Art and sharing my passion with others.

How did you get started?
I have been teaching for 17 years now and over time developed an interest in textiles. After completing a distance learning City and Guilds level 3 I was not sure what to do next. It was 2 years ago that I decided to focus some of my time creating my own work. Initially I intended just to spend an evening a week playing in my studio, but after being talked into entering the Calderdale open exhibition in 2011, winning a prize and selling some work, I began to spend more time on my own work and slowly developing my stitched collages. I exhibited at Art in the Pen last year and since then I have been continuing my love of teaching through teaching my own workshops, giving talks and demonstrations at various groups and exhibiting at a number of galleries both in the north and the south.

What work will you be exhibiting at the Saltaire Arts Trail?
There will be a range of my stitched collages, handmade and printed cards and felt pods

Do you work in any other mediums besides the work you will be exhibiting at the Arts Trail?
I also have a love of photography especially when recording inspirational items.

Where else can we see and buy your work?

I have a Folksy shop (H-anne-made) and current work on sale at NeST in Barnard Castle and at 2 galleries in Leigh-on Sea (till the end of the month)

Tell us about your most exciting or memorable commission?
My most exciting moment was selling my first large piece of work at Art in the Pen last year. The family that bought it had seen me at the Trawden show the week before and had wanted to see my other work. It was one of my first large collages that feature a number of seed heads, machine and hand embroidery.

What was it about the Saltaire Arts Trail that made you want to apply to exhibit?
I first heard about the Arts Trail through a link on facebook. After looking at the website and seeing the fantastic work that was on exhibition last year I thought I would love to be part of the next one, but thought I wouldn’t be selected. On hearing I have been selected was amazing especially after I read about the number of entries there had been. I am really looking forward to participating, but also seeing the trail for the first time.

What is unique about it and how does it differ from other events?
I don’t have a lot of things to compare it to that I have taken part in, just things I have visited. I love the mix of artists that will be there and the variety of places you will be able to see the work. Sometimes seeing work in galleries can make everything formal and you can feel from the work. Being able to meet the artists and make a personal connection with them is unique as is seeing the work. I am looking forward to my 2 children coming too as all the family activities sound fantastic and I love anything that engages young people with art and in the current climate makes being creative important.

H-anne-MADE are appearing at the Makers' Fair in the Victoria Hall

Exhibitions at SAT2013

Performance, Film and Print are just some of the challenging and inspiring exhibitions that will be part of The Saltaire Arts Trail. During this year’s event we will be showcasing unusual and interesting art at different venues throughout the village.

Textile artist Alice Fox presents “Gifts from the Pavement”, a collection of prints that record the textures, marks and shapes found on the streets of Saltaire. Set up in a pop up shop on Victoria Road, Alice’s work invites you to discover the unnoticed and discarded that is under our feet.

We also have two performance artists at this year’s event. Christopher Mollon will be at 13 Caroline Street on 25th May presenting: The Arc of Orange, interpreting specific geological block diagram and relating this to the objects he has found walking specific coastlines. The remaining objects and images recorded during the performance will be displayed for the remainder of The Saltaire Arts Trail. Also, on Saturday 25 May, Yvonne Carmichael presents “Chore-eography” at 44 Whitlam Street, Saltaire. Her performance invites you to take a fresh look at domesticity and women’s work through a series of domestic chores.

Entrance to all our exhibitions, performance and events are free because Saltaire Arts Trail is committed to supporting the visual arts and we believe that art should be available to all.

Our Biggest Ever Set of Family Activities

The Bank holiday weekend is a time for families to venture out in search of entertainment and activity.  Saltaire Arts Trail is the ideal destination for families seeking something more creative and we have it by the bucket-load with art and craft workshops aimed at bringing fun for all.

This year Saltaire Arts Trail has a space–age theme to our family friendly activities including astronomy, space travel, aliens and time capsules.  We work in partnership with local arts organisations to deliver quality activities such as felt making, den building and crafting. We are welcoming two new partners to our family activities – The West Yorkshire Print Workshop and The Print Project – both specialists in print making.  They are offering families a chance to get busy with two exciting printing techniques, screen printing and letterpress.

We are also welcoming a real-life astronomer, not from outer space but from Keighley Astronomical Society, who will be teaching you to build rockets that are ready to launch for blast off.  There’s more family fun with our “Alien Invasion” of Saltaire, so come and search the village for creatures from outer space. 

Remember that our activities are one small step for man, one giant leap for craft-kind.

Click here for the full list of Family Activities

Q&A with Danny Cameron from Cardinky

Tell us about the work you do and the types of materials you use.

I work as an illustrator & designer, my work often has a strong printmaking emphasis, as

I am somewhat of an addict! I was fortunate enough to be involved in a rescue mission to

preserve an antique Albion Printmaking Press we discovered in a skip! I have now restored

the press using a variety of found materials including a seatbelt! The majority of my hand

printed items are printed using this machine.

Recently I have been focusing on character design, particularly animals, trying to emphasise

their humorous qualities. I tend to prefer the medium of linocut as I enjoy the therapeutic

aspect of carving and the host of different marks you can achieve.

Where do you produce your work? Does your working environment form part of the

inspiration for your art?

I work from a small studio at home in a lovely little village perched on the edge of the Peak

District where I often go walking and cycling which gives me chance to unwind and think

about crazy design ideas!

Is your art your main job?

Yes, and I also run printmaking workshops as well as working for an Art’s agency delivering

children’s workshops.

What was it about the Saltaire Arts Trail that made you want to apply to exhibit?

I have visited many times and love the unique atmosphere in and around the village, it

feels like time travel. A friend had visited the Arts Trail last year and was raving about it so I

couldn’t resist applying.

Could you leave us with one more interesting fact about yourself or your work?

Many of the facial expressions seen in my characters are achieved by drawing from my own

face pulling various ridiculous expressions in a mirror. My Bear character was originally

inspired by the Bob Dylan video for ‘Sub-terranean Homesick Blues’ in which Bob can be

seen holding up a collection of hand written signs.

Cardinky will be exhibiting as part of the Makers' Fair

Q&A with Andy Poplar from [Vinegar & Brown Paper]

Tell us about the work you do and the types of materials you use.

As a contemporary glass etcher I take vintage or iconic pieces of glassware and try and bring them to life with the tools of typography, wit and my own slightly askew way of looking at the world.

Where do you produce your work? Does your working environment form part of the inspiration for your art?

I’m based in Harrogate and work out of two studios – one in which I design, the other in which I etch.  But the most important part of my work is done inside my head.  Whether it’s waiting for some traffic lights to turn green in Otley or visiting a museum in Venice I can pretty much pinpoint the exact location for each and every idea for a piece that I’ve come up with so far, and I believe that if you look at the world from the right angle…close one eye a little and give it a chance to…you can find inspiration in absolutely everything.   

Is your art your main job? 

Well, technically I started doing this when I was a full time stay at home dad, but being as my daughter starts school for real in September I guess the answer’s yes – yes this is my main job. Trite as it may sound though, it’s not a job - this is pretty much what I do to keep myself entertained as much as anything else.  If anything, it’s therapy.

How did you get started?

Briefly:

Advertising Creative gets burnt out by the industry.

Quits.

Becomes stay at home dad.

Has an idea about etching glass.

Sets out to mend his head with [vinegar & brown paper]

What work will you be exhibiting at the Saltaire Arts Trail?

They’ll be etched vintage lab glass & milk bottles, ink wells & sweet jars, Victorian mirrors filled with quotes and a few one off special pieces.

I’ll also be doing a limited edition of 10 small etched lab bottles of an exclusive new design* to celebrate this years Saltaire Arts Trail.  

Do you work in any other mediums besides the work you will be exhibiting at the Arts Trail?

Aside from the etching, I do have an ongoing book project called ‘The Library Of Verisimilitude’ that will one day get finished.

One day.   

Where else can we see and buy your work?

There are several stockists of [vinegar & brown paper] throughout Yorkshire, including The Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge, PASH in Easingwold, Handmade in Bradford, LimeLace in Harrogate, Chirpy in Chapel Allerton, Lost & Found in Holmfirth, Rural Arts in Thirsk.  You can also find me slightly further afield in America, Australia and Finland (I know – Finland).

My largest stockist is super cool Brighton based www.rocketstgeorge.co.uk

But the only place you’ll find the full range is at www.vandbp.co.uk

(Where I also take commissions).

Tell us about your most exciting or memorable commission?

I’ve just completed a commission for three large etched apothecary jars to go in one of the gardens competing in this year’s RHS Chelsea Show.  (Which is pretty cool – hopefully Alan Titchmarsh will spot them.

I’ve also done commission pieces for two bona fida rock stars.

Both from two of the biggest bands of the last 25 years.

(Think Manchester in the 90s).

What was it about the Saltaire Arts Trail that made you want to apply to exhibit?

Just before I began [v&bp], I remember picking up a flyer for SAT and thinking – wow, this is the kind of place that real, proper Makers and Artists display at, one day this is the kind of event I’d like to do.

Have you participated or visited the Saltaire Arts Trail before? 

Last year’s Saltaire Arts Trail was the very first event that I had ever done, I was very nervous and had no idea what to expect. Since those three days in May 2012 (Many thanks to 6 Harold Place) things have not stopped going a little crazy for [vinegar & brown paper].  It’s all been a bit weird to be honest.

What is unique about it and how does it differ from other events?

Both the Open Houses and the Makers Fair manage to attract simply the finest mix of Artists and Maker’s in the North – everybody wants to be at Saltaire in May. The atmosphere literally tingles with creativity.

Could you leave us with one more interesting fact about yourself or your work?

I have a (very) short story in the fastest selling book of short stories ever published in the UK.  (I believe the book’s success had less to do with me and more to do with the fact that one of the other authors first initials were J.K. - though as with everything - I could be wrong).

*design thought up whilst waiting for traffic lights to turn green in Otley.

[Vinegar & Brown Paper] are part of this years Saltaire Arts Trail Makers' Fair