Thursday 25 August 2016

Judging, flooding and Christmas plans

The work of Louise Brownlow and a Samantha Robertson cup
This Christmas I want the shop to become a glittering, magical den and I immediately thought of Louise Brownlow's lovely decorative stitchery. I bought the pictured items many years ago and Louise is currently making dragonflies and butterflies and little fairies similar to the one pictured. Look out for them in Handmade Happiness in the run up to Christmas!

On Saturday I could not believe my eyes. My shop was flooded. The water had gushed down from the flat above, leaving an inch of water on my floor below. Luckily very few items of makers' work were affected. It could have been much worse. But it's an experience I wouldn't want to go through again!

Something I wouldn't mind doing again was being a judge for the PACS (Petersfield artists) exhibition. The exhibition opens today and yesterday saw me minutely examining the submitted craftwork to decide who got the award and who got Highly Commended. 

I chose a giant concertina book which showed a long drawing of all the historic houses on one side of the town's Sheep Street. Beautifully drawn and an ambitious undertaking. A pair of shoes, made from scratch, complete with kitten heels and looking very wearable got a Highly Commended from me as did a well-made handbag showing a woven panel and robust leather handles.

I recommend a visit to this exhibition in the Festival Hall. There is no selection process and there is an interesting (and vast) array of craft work and paintings. The entrance is at the back of the building and admission is free. 

3 comments:

Brenda Tilbury said...

Oh Jenny! What a shock to find a flood....coming to see you soon...xxxxxxxx

jenny said...

Hi Brenda, hope you are well. Looking forward to your next visit.x

molebags said...

Oh jenny, sorry to hear about the flood! Everything seemed fine on Thursday..