Seven exciting new guests at Studio 3 in the lovely Clevedon Craft Centre. They’d love to see you as would the other studio owners who make up such a talented group of jewellers, woodturners, artists, potters, crafters, photographers, florists and a leather smith.

JO WHITELAND EXHIBITING FROM 9th OCTOBER TO 12^TH NOVEMBER.

Jo is a very popular Batik artist from Jo Whiteland Batiks. Jo discovered her passion for batik whilst working with artists in Kota Baharu on the east coast of Malaysia in 1991. On returning to the UK she moved to Bristol and has continued to develop her style of batik, repeating motifs to give the works life, depth and a sense of movement.

The natural world provides an unlimited source of inspiration for Jo and her love of wildlife is reflected in her work and stems from her childhood, notably from her father John who  is a keen birdwatcher and fisherman.

As well as creating original batik paintings, Jo uses her designs on cards, cushion covers and lampshades.

Jo works on white cotton lawn fabric using traditional wax pens and brushes to apply wax and paint on dyes to build up layers to give depth and colour. A final dip in the dye bath creates the characteristic crackled effect.

You can check out Jo’s work here: www.jowhiteland.co.uk. And should you need to contact her, this is her Email: jo@jowhiteland.co.uk

I’m not going to miss out on this opportunity to say a bit more about Jo’s father John Pope who is one of the resident artists at Studio 3. I love his work and am the proud owner of several pieces.

John designs and makes a wide range of affordable ceramics including exclusive wall, mantle and pendulum clocks, stylised creature figures, decorative vases, bowls and dishes and more. Working mainly with stoneware clays his work is tactile, expressive and lovingly crafted, often influenced by the style and geometry of Art Deco forms and the natural world. He has exhibited widely in the west country and has sold pieces to many overseas visitors.

John has also worked very hard for the Clevedon Art Club and North Somerset Arts over the years.

2023 is the 21^st anniversary of North Somerset Arts whose bi-annual Arts Week takes place this year from the 28th of April to the 7th of May. Here’s the link to their website so you can keep an eye on what’s happening. https://www.northsomersetarts.org

JOAN HUDSON EXHIBITING FROM 12^TH NOVEMBER TO 14^TH JANUARY 2023

I’ve always loved Joan’s work but learnt more about her when I was creating a blog post for Studio 3 in 2021. Here’s the link if you fancy a read: https://bit.ly/3SAYGSx When co-founders Gail Clarke and Lucy Hepworth set up the gallery in 2019 Joan was an integral part of its creation but decided, because of Covid, to spend more time with her family. She is still a frequent guest artist and her beautiful cards are still on sale there.

Joan trained for her art degree in Bristol as a mature student but she has been painting, drawing and creating art all her life. All subjects interest her especially if she can introduce a sense of design into her work.

For the past few years, Joan has been studying contemporary art and the work of current abstract painters and she has been developing a looser, less representational style. She feels it is important to continue to develop and grow with one’s art and to keep work as fresh as possible. She also finds that it is essential to be very familiar with the subjects she paints and so, having lived in Clevedon for thirty years, she is constantly drawn to representing her wonderful town and coastline. Joan plans to keep on developing her more contemporary style with enthusiasm, energy and new ideas.

At time of going to press Joan hadn’t quite made up her mind about the smaller pieces she was planning to exhibit but these two beauties, both mixed media on board, The Bandstand 23” x 23” and The Pill 22” x 18” will both definitly be part of her exhibition.

CAROL TROCCHI EXHIBITING FROM 9th OCTOBER TO 28^th JANUARY 2023.

Carol creates “upcycled earrings” and all her pieces are unique, mixing old and new, up-cycling materials to make an exciting, eclectic and constantly evolving collection. Each piece is unique and individual!

Carol is a retired Headteacher and finds inspiration from colours, textures and ‘found’ objects.

She started making earrings initially to make them light enough to be comfortable! Then she started exploring materials which would normally be thrown away such as plastic carrier bags and cardboard packaging etc…as long as it was colourful!

Carol has now amassed a collection of such things as well as beads, findings and materials. This has developed into ‘themes’ as her interest has widened to encompass jewellery, wall hangings “or anything that jumps into my head when I wake up!!”

If would like to know more about Carol, she is on Instagram @caroltrocchi and Email: htbaytree

THE CREATIVE CLUSTER: FI HARRIS, CAROLINE WAIT AND SUZY HANIBUSS EXHIBITING FROM 10^TH SEPTEMBER TO  14^TH JANUARY  2023

FI HARRIS

Coming from a family line of dressmakers, including for the Swedish royal court, Fi was always destined to create. Her successful dressmaking ventures have included made-to-measure silk lingerie and lycra workout wear.

Fi is a felt-maker, printer and creative experimenter. From her North Somerset studio, she plays with textiles, textures and techniques. Inspired by nature and colour, she creates unique felted pieces for hanging or wearing, limited edition screen prints and etchings and one-off marbled papers which she uses to make hand-bound notebooks.

Wet-felting involves using wool, water and friction to create a felt ‘fabric’. Pictures and designs are produced by laying down individual or small groups of fibres, much like painting but with more dynamic textures.

Screen printing is the process of pushing ink through a partially blocked mesh to produce a print.

Marbling produces unique patterns by collecting suspended inks from a marbling bath solution

In 2017, Fi joined the Level 3 Fibrecraft course at Bicton College, Devon. According to her tutor “Fi showed outstanding creative energy, in-depth research, commitment to detail, inclusivity and generosity of spirit”. At the completion of the course, Fi was awarded the prestigious ‘Craft 4 Crafters Student Award’ 2018. onto treated paper.

You can check out Fi’s work here www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FELTbyFI   And should you need to contact her, this is her Email: feltbyfi@gmail.com Fi is also on Instagram @feltbyfi

CAROLINE WAIT. ”BLACKBERRYDESIGNS”

Based in Clevedon and working from her garden studio, Caroline has been enamelling for over ten years after attending a weekend course where she fell in love with the process. Caroline loves spending time in the countryside and the seaside which has a big influence on her work.

Caroline works predominantly with enamelled copper and mixed media to create her ornamental pieces, which have a rustic appeal and quirky humour. During the lockdown, she began to explore mixed media sculpture and is enjoying exploring the new possibilities of merging the two mediums.

You can check out more of Caroline’s beautiful work here https://www.facebook.com/blackberrylanedesigns and should you need to contact her, this is her Email: carolinewait@yahoo.co.uk  Caroline is  also on Instagram @blackberrylanedesigns4

SUZY HANNABUSS

After a few years of making jewellery, Suzy discovered these wonderful handmade glass beads called lampwork glass beads.  She fell in love with them straight away and had to learn how to make them. She has been working with glass for over fifteen years now.

Lampworking is a type of glasswork where a torch is primarily used to melt the glass. The glass comes in rod form and many different colours. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing, stretching, and shaping many layers with tools and hand movements on a steel rod to form a bead.

Once finished with her design, the beads are slowly cooled in a digitally controlled kiln known as annealing. Annealing of glass is an important process of slowly cooling hot glass after they have been formed, to relieve internal stresses introduced during the making of the bead. These one-of-a-kind glass beads are then used in making her  jewellery.

You can check out Suzy’s work here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MoonlightJewellery and should you need to contact her, this is her Email: suzy@moonlight-jewellery.com  Suzy is  also on Instagram @suzy_hannabuss

LIZ MARSH EXHIBITING FROM 13th OCTOBER TO 1st FEBRUARY 2023.

Liz lives in Portishead and has discovered the joys of creativity through felting and art since retiring. Liz describes herself as a felt artist and particularly enjoys wet felting – often describing it as painting with wool. She is a member of the International Felt makers Association. Liz has tried to reduce her carbon footprint by using more British breeds of wool as much as possible.

She achieves many interesting textures by incorporating other fibres and embellishments.  She loves using silk fabrics (often hand dyed) with extra fine wool, a process called Nuno felting to make scarves, hats and handbags. If you’d like to know more about the Nuno felting process, check out the video below.

More recently, she has been Eco printing her felt and upcycled clothes.  Eco printing is a wonderful process of creating gorgeous, permanent prints in a health-conscious and environmentally mindful way without using traditional powdered mordants.

Liz is a keen member of the Clevedon Art Club where she is the membership secretary. If you’d like to know more about the club, check out my blog here:  https://bit.ly/3Fs4Npx

Or better still, why not go along and chat with them at their MEMBERS’ ANNUAL AUTUMN EXHIBITION which takes place between the 28^th of October and the 30^th of October 10.30. a.m. to 4.30. p.m. in the Clevedon School Science Atrium, Valley Rd, Clevedon,  BS21 6AH. As well as paintings and 3D work members will also have cards, prints and mounted original pieces for sale and entry is free.

If you are interested in a workshop to learn wet felting or in a commission, please make contact Liz at 07727 106219  or Email: jpmebm@gmail.com

If you’d like to know more about Studio 3, you can check it out here: www.studiothree.art and these are the contact details: Studio 3, Clevedon Craft Centre, Clevedon, BS21 6TD Telephone:  07557331967 Email: studiothree111@gmail.com They are also on Instagram @ studiothree_gallery

A quick reminder of the opening times which it’s worth mentioning are not the same as the Craft Centre: open Monday to Saturday from 10.00. a.m. to 5.00 pm and Sunday from 11.00. a.m. to 4.00. pm