Monday 18 August 2008

Ruthin Craft Centre

Whilst in Ruthin for the weekend we visited the newly opened Ruthin Craft Centre its a great building, very modern, and is home to three galleries, six artist studios, a retail gallery and residency workshops. It is very similar to Manchester's craft centre in its aims. The exhibition that caught my eye was Andrew Logans magnificent jewelled portraits of Gandhi, Sian Phillips, Zandra Rhodes and Maria Callas and all of the dazzling sculptures he has created! I loved how the Mosaic tiles and glass twinkled in the gallery creating a really magical atmosphere! His work has a great sense of humour also, which makes you smile as you walk around the many portraits on display. As well as sculpture there was a large amount of jewelry on display, which is also available to buy!

I was also very happy to find work by Julie Arkell on sale in the retail gallery. I discovered her work at the knitting and stitch show in Birmingham last year and fell in love with it! Julie has created a world of people, creatures and surroundings from papier-mâché and mixed media including wool, fabric and old jewelry. Her 'Folk Art' creations are a joy to look at and a real inspiration to any crafter! I love the fairytale themes and handmade authenticity of her work and one day hope to be able to afford just one piece of her papier-mâché world.

2 comments:

Deb said...

i love julie arkell. i will remember to bring the book i have of her work to the next lo-fi event! dx.

Carolinejhm said...

Orrr great! I almost bought the book myself, don't know why I didnt! x