Jemma Gowland’s project intrigued me.  Embracing the social issues of women throughout a life time.  With the average age of a woman in the UK being 82.9 years.  From 1939 to the present Jemma has created a single porcelain figure to represent each year.  Highlighting the memories, upbringing and changes in society, that made us who we are today.

Loraine Rutt’s project called Earth comprises a collection of world maps presented as faux archaeological objects.  Loraine’s work includes carbon-negative material diverted from landfill.  She invites us to question how maps influence our sense of place, belonging and identity.

Tal Batit , based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, created these quirky ceramics for Collect Open.  Tal mixes inspiration from ancient ceramic traditions and cultures with contemporary design. 

There were some beautiful sculptures in glass this year at Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections.

Dawn Bendick was also showcased by Collect to acknowledge the United Nations International Year of glass.  Her dichroic series of glass sculptures Time Rock Stacks takes inspiration from the shifting colours and textural variations of stone, that occur in natural light.  Her cast glass sculptures were produced in collaboration with Max Jacquard Glass Studio.

Designs below by Dawn Bendick at Joanna Bird Contemporary, Katherine Huskie exhibiting with The Quest Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.  Lastly, Anthony Amoako-Attah at Bullseye projects.  Anthony was winner of the Best Artist in the show.  He manipulates glass to look like woven fabric by screen printing and kiln forming with glass powders.  Anthony uses Kente designs and Adinkra symbols from Ghana. 

ESH Gallery represents International artists practicing traditional techniques that cross the boundary between Art and design.  I loved the stunning red creations in glass and metal by Giuliano Gaigher.  Runa Kosogawa has also chosen glass as a material to express her art.  Due to the fragility of glass she is able to convey a sense of transience, that characterises nature and life, in her work.

North Lands Creative is a centre of excellence for glass making in a small fishing village in Caithness, in the Scottish Highlands.  Representing 28 artists with a diverse range of skills and techniques I have selected just a few of the many talented artists to feature here.

Juili Bolanos-Duraman had collaborated on this interesting lighting sculpture called Lady Carrot.  Constructed in found and blown glass with cuttings, wood base and light. 

Laura McKinley’s  inspiration is the Italian technique, Incalmo, the joining together, whilst still hot, of two separately blown glass bubbles to form one piece. 

Laura Quinn was also featured in Collect Open.  Her blown, coldworked and lamp worked glass is cleverly combined with silicon to make her beautiful tactile creations. 

Agustina Ros was showing these delightful glass bubble creations in handblown borosilicate glass with gold fuming.

Kit Paulson works primarily with slender tubes of borosilicate glass heated with a torch through a method called flameworking.  She creates the incredible, fragile looking, objects of art. 

I loved the quirky type writer at the Ruup&form Gallery by Anne Butler .  Anne’s Objects of time series are produced in cut and layered parian porcelain. 

At the Design and Crafts Council Ireland  Jennifer Hickey  created Porcelain tulle to produce her piece entitled ‘The Heart compared to a seed’.

Nico Conti exhibiting with Qest uses digital technology to create 3D-printed porcelain. His works, based on classical forms, are printed in a beautiful fragile lace-like effect.

Zoe Preece represented by Ruthin Craft Centre  carves ceramic forms in plaster, before casting them in fine white porcelain. Spoons containing a precise balance of porcelain and flux are caught at a tipping point in the heat of the kiln chamber.

Also with The Ruthin Gallery were Justin Allison’s delicate porcelain striped vases. Craft Scotland featured the fine porcelain designs of Lara Scobie’s , with her signature style fine, black line decor and contrasting golden lining.

Han Collection showcases some of the best Korean contemporary art. Featured below are the designs of Kim Hyun-jong and Kim Jin-hyun.

Madeinbritaly  featured one of most colourful rooms in the exhibition.  This year it had a theatrical backdrop of shimmering glitter curtains to show case the designs of Elica Studio and  Ceramica Gatti 

The Cynthia Corbett Gallery had a beautifully presented collection of sculptures and textiles by Matt Smith.  Matt takes his inspiration from Classical historical figure sculptures and textiles.  Turning them into quirky contemporary designs. 

At Cube Gallery the hybrid Human-animal sculptures of Gary Betts, in resin clay with permanent ink.  Gary currently works on a Barge on the River Thames when he creates his humorous, enigmatic sculptures.  

Claire Curneen at Candida Stevens Gallery uses Catholic imagery from the early Italian Renaissance to inspire her emotive, porcelain, figurative works.

Craft Scotland featured the works of Susan O’Byrne. Susan applies thin layers of encaustic printed porcelain to create highly detailed surface veneers. She finds her inspiration from medieval floor tiles, victorian wallpapers and 18th century needlepoint.

Pik’d featured the unique ceramic sculpture of Toni Losey. Toni’s wonderfully weird, organic looking earthenware, is thrown and hand built. She creates amazing sculptures that really entice you to touch their (deceivingly soft appearing) surfaces.

Ikuko Iwamoto is a London-based Japaneese artist. Represented by Cavaliero Finn. Her intricate works this year featured a combination of wood and delicate porcelain spikes.

Textile artists Jasmine Linington at Craft Scotland is inspired by seaweed. Jasmin constructs textile pieces with fabrics, using digital and hand embroidery techniques. She was showing her SeaCell fibre textiles.

Helen O’Shea  is a Textile artist that creates art works using plastic waste.  She exhibited her Ocean Dandelion with the Design & Crafts Council Ireland.

I don’t usually include Jewellery – but couldn’t fail to appreciate the unique designs on view at Craft Scotland. Eileen Gatt. inspired by her travels in Alaska, created a range of designs based on Polar landscapes. Her miniature, wearable, Polar panoramas, are made from recycled metal and ethically sourced stones.

Lynne MacLachlan’s  pieces play with pattern and colour.  Using digital tools to make intriguing forms with visual effects and tactile qualities.

The finest contemporary silversmithing and metalwork was on display at FIVE. A new platform showcasing aritsts with a shared ethos, evolving around precision and fine craftsmanship to produce contemporary works, supported by Goldsmiths’ Fair.

All of Ane Christensen’s work begins with the simple geometry of bowl forms and flat sheet. She explores the subjects of illusion and balance. Simple forms are interrupted by visually complex, open and delicate structures.

Jessica Jue is known for her sculptural aesthetic. Jessica’s designs are deeply influenced by her Chinese heritage and Austrian upbringing, in which fluid and bold designs are created. Jessica sculpts her pieces with dramatic use of fluid and organic curves to create rhythmic movement.

Sheng Zhang’s designs are inspired by minimalist art, contemporary architecture and geometrical form.

Angela Cork’s ethos is to produce elegant and sculptural work that is also functional and well considered. Her aesthetic of elegant lines and purity of form produce objects both tranquil and complete in their nature.

I hope you enjoyed this quick visual tour of some of the amazing talent and skill that was on show. I have tried not to repeat too many artists from previous years posts – but some are just so good I just had to include them. Collect really is the highlight of the Craft Year and it’s so great to see it back again – so thank you to The Crafts Council for returning with such an amazing show!

All photos in this post have been taken with the permission of the Galleries or artists and are my own. So too are any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors etc. But please feel free to let me know if I have missed any relevant links or credits and I will amend.