Twist & Make: Celebrating Contemporary Craft
Saturday 18 August, 2012
11am – 5pm. Free entry!
Phoenix Brighton, home of Art Junky, will be showcasing some of our favourite makers in our upcoming craft event, Twist & Make
This exciting event is the second of its kind, and this time we will be focusing in on craft in every way possible! There will be taster workshops and demonstrations from our Arts Courses tutors that will introduce new people to craft, whilst showing original, inspiring ideas and techniques to seasoned makers. Workshops will include embroidery, using clay and working with flamboyant fashion.
We know there are some fantastic makers around today, with craft experiencing a real revival in contemporary culture – from boutique to high street fashion, make do and mend ethics has crept into high-end art. We’d love to reveal and promote these creators in a boutique craft and makers market, which will be a major component of Twist & Make. We’re inviting 30 craft-makers to apply to show and sell their wares at the event.
As well as selling work, we are inviting makers who would like to show practical examples of how they create – sharing skills and ideas will be a big part of the event so your knowledge and expertise is appreciated! You could have a practical stall where you make whilst selling, or have something interactive – we’d love to hear your ideas!!
With delightful tea and cakes, retro fruit cocktails and a quirky, eclectic soundtrack by our favourite DJ’s, Twist & Make will have something for anyone who loves the finer things in craft!
Phoenix Brighton Arts Courses Drop-in Taster Workshops
Felt Making Taster with Maureen Jackson
To introduce our new felt making workshops (starting in Autumn 2012) with expert felter Mo Jackson we have a drop in activity, come and discover the fascinating and ancient craft of felt making. Be guided through some basic felt making techniques and take home your very own piece of felted art.
11am-5pm, £3 drop-in anytime
Illustrated Letters Taster with Angela McKay
Come and sit down and rediscover the long lost craft of letter writing with Phoenix Brighton tutor Angela McKay. Write a short letter and illustrate it with your imagination and then send it through the letterbox just outside the Phoenix. Stamps provided for UK mail and for the rest of the world the tutor will post it for you, for a little extra. Or just write for fun to family and friends on illustrated letter writing paper designed by Angela.
11am-5pm, £2 drop-in anytime
Giving Puppets Life Taster with Isobel Smith
Explore puppetry techniques with tutor Isobel Smith. Whether you've made a puppet on one of Isobel's course or elsewhere, or are simply curious about puppetry, you will gain valuable tips and techniques in this one-off drop-in workshop. We will explore some of the key principles of puppetry, starting with breathing. You don't need to bring your own puppet (but you can), everything you need will be provided. Please wear comfy clothes and be prepared to move about.
11am-12.30pm only, £5
Events
V.I.P. PUPPERAZZI Tea Party
Bring a puppet for free entrance to this exclusive launch event! Let your puppet enjoy a 'red-carpet'moment then mingle with fellow VIP's at Phoenix Brighton's Pupperazzi Club. Compare notes, share ideas, techniques and enthusiasm washed down with lashings of tea and a complimentary custard cream or two! This party launches Isobel Smith's new VIP Pupperazzi club at Phoenix Brighton, a monthly drop-in event.
2-3.30pm only, £2 to cover refreshments (or buy your own cocktails from the bar)
Performance
Grist to the Mill's Sneaky Preview - Puppetry Performance with Isobel Smith
Phoenix Brighton tutor Isobel Smith will perform excerpts from her latest work and share some of her puppetry techniques and ideas. Isobel is a visual artist crossing forms of installation, puppetry and performance, and a reviewer for Puppet Centre's Animations Online Magaizine. Her company Grist to the Mill received Arts Council England funding to develop 'Biting the Dust' a solo show, which was presented in-progress for Punched at the Nightingale Theatre, December 2011 and subsequently commissioned for the Little Angel Theatre, London, where it premiered 24 March 2012. She hopes to tour it in 2013. Kissing the Gunner’s Daughter was commissioned by Dip Your Toe, Brighton Fringe, May 2012. Created in collaboration with writer/dramaturg Dorothy Max Prior and musician/composer James ‘Foz’ Foster, it is viewed through peep-holes and cracks in a barnacle encrusted bathing machine and will be at Shoreditch Festival July 21st. Grist to the Mill will participate in Little Angel Theatre's 2012 INCUBATE programme in collaboration with The Baron Gilvan (artist, performer and tutor at Phoenix Arts Brighton). Isobel was recently appointed Puppeteer iSouthampton's Nuffield Theatre.
4-4.30pm, £2.50 entry
Installation
The Woolly Umbrella with Sue Craig
A celebration of naturally dyed fleece from sheep you've probably seen grazing around Brighton. Dyeing, Spinning, Knitting, Crocheting, Felting, Weaving and Yurting!
All day, free.
How to get involved
To apply to become a stallholder at Twist & Make please contact clare@phoenixbrighton.org for more details and an application form. Please note this is a limited event – a panel of staff will be selecting stallholders, depending on their wares, so we can offer as interesting and diverse an event as possible. Twist & Make endeavours to provide a varied and exciting craft market and selections will be made on this basis.
We look forward to seeing you there!!
