I was reading an article where the author described how he was completely overwhelmed as he stood in front of a painting in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. He told of how he needed to sit, control his breathing and to settle himself before moving away from the painting – it literally took his breath away.
This man’s reaction was textbook Stendhal syndrome, a psychosomatic condition where an artwork causes such a powerful mental and physical reaction in the spectator they can actually faint from pleasure.
As I have been going through the applications for #Cafdgg the quality of the applications has been spectacular, and whilst I haven’t fainted with pleasure yet I have seen some work that has made me stop and sigh with pure joy at the ingenuity, quality, design and manufacture of the pieces of art.
Our arts fair is free entry with donations to local charity #LifeSpace, so you can visit as many times as you want over the weekend bringing friends, family and visitors to the event.
In case anyone does feel overwhelmed by the sheer range and quality of the art exhibited, we have the Golden Cup Cafe where you can recover before buying the piece of artwork that made your heart flutter….
So when part of the ceiling fell down in my kitchen in late November I knew it was time to swing into action.
The plumber and I discovered a slow leak from the shower from whence the floorboards had rotted, the joists needed drying out before the damage could be assessed and the tiles once touched fell from the wall onto my waiting hands – I can only marvel at the range of teeth sucking noises my plumber and his mates have to demonstrate the seriousness of my damp plight…
I no longer had a working shower but I had a lovely bath I had not really used unless I had been over excitable in my fitness regime and needed a long soak to calm my aching muscles.
It has been a revalation having a daily bath; sometimes it is a quick wash in a puddle, some times a waist deep splash and submerging hair wash, whilst on rare occassions it can be up to the chin immersive soak taking my time to luxuriate until prune skin develops…
I make my own soaps, distilling plants from my garden to make essential oils and flower water that I use to scent my gorgeous soaps with. I make the experience of scented bathing enjoyable and will miss it when my bathroom will be redone in May.
However the thing that I have realised that one needs art in the bathroom to look at, I know have you thought of it before? We have art in every room apart from the bathroom – I know a beautiful wooden bath tray to hold soaps and a wine glass is great but if you are lying there you need something to look at besides your toes or a damp book.
This post is from Trend Build, however I thought it really useful as it is something I am working on to promote all the artists at #Cafdgg.
You may have seen that many Instagram users display their stories in tidy little circles and wondered how they did it. Or maybe you’ve heard others talking about their Instagram Highlights and been confused as to what they are.
Here, you’ll learn everything about Instagram Highlights, including what they are, how they may help your profile, and how to make the most of them.
What are Instagram Highlights?
Instagram Stories that you want to highlight on your profile indefinitely are called “Highlights.” It’s a terrific method to keep your most successful stories running if you put them in a Highlight, where they’ll remain accessible even after 24 hours have passed. The Instagram feature known as “Highlights” is a must-have.
An individual Highlight may be viewed and navigated in the same way as any other story, excluding the visitor’s list. The list of viewers disappears once the story you saved has been up for 24 hours, and all that remains is the views count.
You can create an unlimited number of Highlights, but each can only include up to 100 pics or videos. When there are too many to fit in one view, you may scroll left and right to see more.
How to Make a Highlight on Instagram
For those who haven’t done so before, Instagram lets you compile Highlights from either your most recent story or older stories. Therefore, you must activate the archiving function. The Stories Archive is normally turned on, but if it isn’t, you may turn it on manually as follows.
To access your account settings, go to your profile and click the menu button.
Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Story.
Turn on the option next to “Save story to archive” to save your story.
Once you have enabled archiving, you can proceed with making your first Highlight. Following is a rundown of the steps required to make your first Instagram Highlight by including the current story:
Go to the Instagram story.
Click the lower Highlight button.
To add anything new to your highlight, choose New from the Add to Highlights.
You may personalize the cover and give the highlight a name.
After that, choose Add, and then Done.
Alternatively, you may use an older Instagram story that you uploaded as the basis for a Highlight. In this way:
You may start a new entry by tapping New on your profile.
To create a new Highlight, choose the items you wish to include and press Next.
Set the cover art and give your Highlight a name.
When finished, choose the Add and Finish buttons.
So long! Your Instagram profile has been updated with your first Highlight.
What Can You Use Instagram Highlights For?
With Instagram’s Highlights feature, you can give your followers a hand-picked selection of their favorite posts to peruse. They are crucial if you use Instagram to promote your blog or online shop.
A few examples of possible applications for Instagram’s Highlights feature are as follows:
Showcasing a variety of your published content kinds
Featuring several types of things you have available for purchase.
Maintaining a uniform aesthetic across your Instagram account.
Providing easy access to small pieces of data to people.
There are many more possibilities; perhaps, the aforementioned examples have sparked some creativity in you. In addition, you can browse all of your saved Instagram stories in one place and organize them geographically into a Highlight.
Simple Ways to Upgrade Your Instagram
Instagram’s popularity and features continue to expand. You probably forgot about Instagram Highlights when it first came out since it was simply one more new feature. Instagram often steals the greatest features and concepts from rival applications, and highlights are a prime example of this.
Every year I do our Contemporary Arts Fair Dsicover:Gather:Give I get ridiculously excited about sharing with you our inspiring artists who will be exhibiting with us and this year is no exception.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you on social media photos of our first time exhibitors, our exhibitors who we welcome back after a break and one or two of our exhibitors who will always have the option of exhibiting with us as a thank you for the support they gave me when I first set up #Cafdgg in 2015.
Warwickshire Open Studios is a wonderful not-for-profit organisation run by artists for artist and I cannot think of a better place to pique your artistic desires….
Warwickshire Open Studios artists have welcomed visitors to their working studios from 2000 and has steadily strengthened its links and is now the premiere Open Studios in the country with over 400 artists displaying their work over 149 venues over 16 days and the largest free event regularly allowing over 30,000 visits.
I know their aim is to make art accessible to and for all – so close to my heart with #CAFDGG – and offering a diverse range of venues bringing together artists who range from professionals to a Sunday dabbler, but each have a passion for their art.
It is run entirely by volunteers and the current Board members are:
If you can’t wait to see some of our fabulous #Cafdgg artists this coming November 18th to 20th we have a selection of artists who are exhibiting as part of WOS, so go and see them to say hello…
Ali Perry Venue 132
Alix Almond Venue 84 and 122
Ann Donnelly Venue 31
Christine Hodges Venue 56
Claire Brierley Venue 30
Claire Henley Venue 31
Claire Seneviratne Venue 78
David Shepherdson Venue 101
Fiona Kingdon Venue 111
Jaqui Smithson Venue 84 and 145
Jane Moore Venue 86
Jo Wade Venue 19
Martin Sanders Venue 16
Melissa Keskinkilinc Venue 51 and 137
Sarah Methuen Venue 16
Sharon Highway (Mallory Journals) Venue 16
Sonya Vengrova Venue 147
Sue Barclay 134 and Venue 137
Further information can be found here if you want to plan a visit wostudios.org
After our contemporary arts event Discover Gather Give I put aside a few weeks for reflections, review and assessment, listening to the comments made by visitors, artists and volunteers and how I felt the event went.
It was the first actual live event after my husband had died last year during the Covid lockdown and he was an incredible support both mentally and physically in putting the event together. I really was not sure how I was going to feel about doing the event without him, however I cannot shout loudly enough my thanks for the support both expected and unexpected from family, friends and our marvellous exhibitors; I am truly grateful and touched by your kindness.
It was a grand weekend, with our exhibitors really pulling out all the stops to make the event visually sumptuous, elegant and a joy for visitors to buy at every exhibition space.
The Private View had a solid number of visitors enjoying the WILD EVE https://www.wild-eve.com/drink-the-wild long drink with the best sourdough bakery in the area making our delicious food https://www.morbakery.co.uk and even though it was Bonfire Night near two hundred people joined us over our very jolly evening with a number of sales taking place.
Over the weekend there was a constant flow of visitors milling around. I was at the door hand sanitising visitors as they entered and chatted to many as they left the beautiful town hall with bags and packages of all sizes commenting ‘I’m so glad you are back’, ‘I’ve been waiting to buy from Claire Henley’ and ‘We love coming to see the artists as they are a really good standard of work’, ‘It is great to see so many quality artists together’, plus many more positive comments and welcome back’s!
I realised that our visitors had really missed our high quality live event as there is nothing like talking to an artist who shares their enthusiasm and passion for their artwork, to talk through commissioning a piece of work from them or buying a card to remind themselves about the artist – thank you for your support of our event and especially of our inspiring artists.
I will be putting on our next #Cafdgg over the weekend of November 18th to 20th 2022 at the Town Hall, so do pop it in your diary now
Over the weekend of October 30th to November 1st when we would normally be doing our fab Arts Fair at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall due to COVID-19 we went online by setting up a YouTube channel Discover Gather Give Arts Fair https://bit.ly/35QHRNh .
It was a huge success for our first cyber outing with over 7,880 views of over 80 videos sent in by our artists. The videos ranged from shorts of 15-30 seconds to longer pieces of up to 30 minutes. The range was incredible, and they are still online now, so do pop over and look through them.
It is fascinating to dig into the analytics and find out that unsurprisingly we had more female viewers than male, although they put in a good show of nearly 40%, and our age range of 18-24 and 55-64 years were the most popular, with the 30+ years coming in a close third.
One fact that really surprised me was where our viewers came from; the UK and USA were to be expected but Belarus, Philippines, and Chile? So surprised and pleased that we can access the global markets.
It brought home to me that as artists there are no limits to where you can sell your work, it is just getting your name out there and how accessible you are to your potential collectors.
So I have decided that I will do another online fair in February 2021 using the skills I have learnt curating this year’s event – least of which is not to get the giggles, drop my phone whilst recording, sit in a squeaking chair or mince my words up into gobbledygoop!
If you want to join us, then email me on judith@discovergathergive.co.uk
COVID-19 has changed everything so far this year, along with extremes in our reactions to it – shield and stay completely at home withdrawing from society or go with fate in continuing as near normal; both are understandable and I empathise with the fear of becoming ill, loosing someone close to you or feeling the need to keep going. Life has changed completely and is unlikely to go back to the pre-covid times of popping into the #Cafdgg hooching Private View or Golden Cup Cafe for a coffee and cake whilst visiting the busy arts fair at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall.
There have been no live events for our Artists so far, no teaching or lectures, no workshops or demonstration and no open houses. Their ability to meet with collectors and buyers face to face has dried up so I felt I could support our artists by putting on an online fair over the weekend of October 30th to November 1st when we would normally be doing our fab Arts Fair at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall so I set up a YouTube channel Discover Gather Give Arts Fair https://bit.ly/35QHRNh
The aim is for you to see the artists and their work, to be inspired in your present giving – for yourself or others – to get in contact with them directly to buy and to build an artistic relationship with them. Artists are real people and that relationship based on knowledge and trust is vital in keeping artists working and enhancing our lives with their beauty and time honed skills.
I put out the call and have been mesmerised by the videos the artists produced, some showing how they make their work, others talking and showing their finished pieces, a lecture, a slide show and speeded up double fast art in action – something for everyone to enjoy time and time again.
We finished up with setting out a premiere every 30 minutes from 9.15am to 7.15pm for three days, with over 85 hours of glorious art. A huge thank you to our artists for their time and effort in supporting Discover Gather Give Arts Fair in 2020, and here’s to a better 2021!
So I have never worked in a real cafe or bakery, I missed out on the whole waitress or kitchen staff thing as a student choosing to work in Austin Reed as a summer job meeting some characterful customers and staff, but that is another post…..
A huge part of #Cafdgg is our friendly and glorious Golden Cup Cafe, where you can meet friends, ponder what to buy from the fab artists exhibiting with us or even just pop in over the weekend to enjoy the coffee, tea, cakes and buns. It is the heart of the Arts Fair.
I decided it would be interesting to work in a full time deli and bakery so I have spent the last two weeks working in the kitchen of the Temple wee Deli and Bakery in Northton in the Isle of Harris, https://www.instagram.com/thetempleharris/ what a learning experience!
The team started work at 5am making the breads and delicious goodies opening its doors for the first time at 9am on 1st August with a long socially distanced queue waiting for the artisan sourdough breads, rolls and baguettes, with freshly roasted coffee, pastries, croissants, delicious sandwiches, soups and a whole wall of homemade jams, chutneys and scrumptious food.
I learnt how to make plaited Machair buns, flavoured with Wild Rose and Chamomile or Meadowsweet, all picked locally from the Croft or Machair where windblown shell sand built up over thousands of years to give the Hebrides a narrow but productive rim of floral heavenliness.
The wildflowers of the machair are at their best during the months of June, July and August, reaching a fantastic crescendo in late July, with over 100 species identified as flowering in Harris one July day. Amongst the machair display are daisies and buttercups, thrift, clover, orchids (you might spot a heath spotted orchid, bog orchid, frog orchid or even a greater butterfly orchid), harebells, vetches, gentian, centaury, eyebright, chamomile and thyme.
Tufts of frothy Meadowsweet grow along the single track roads in profusion, scenting the air with its sweet floral aroma and the wild roses hunker down to protect themselves from the South Westerly winds.
Plants here are tough and low; the thyme is inches tall growing into carpets of purple on the sandy dunes with the roses growing into very prickly low thickets. Harvesting the flowers for the buns and preserves is great fun and local knowledge is imperative.
We looked back through the payment system and realised the gap between serving each customer was three and eight minutes – no wonder I was rushed off my feet!
It was a fantastic adventure and I am very thankful that the team of Ianthe, Matt, Connie and Amanda for letting me work with them to see how a full time bakery and wee deli function.
I realise that passion, organisation, co-operation and respect for each others skill base is paramount to a successful venture, using locally grown and sustainable fruit, vegetables and herbs, working consistently in producing the entire range of delicious goodies, the importance of keeping the customers informed through social media and for me, regular coffee from https://tindonkeycoffee.co.uk
It is definitely not the job for the work-shy or night owls, but worth every moment when you hear the audible sighs and lips smacking from the customers and recognising them as they return day after day, literally eating their way through the Wall of Loveliness!
I am sure they have sorted supply and demand by now, but as I left on my last day we had one solitary bread roll left….
In the first few weeks after curating the glorious Contemporary Arts Fair Discover:Gather:Give I am slowly settling down and giving myself time to reflect on the event; to me one of the most important undertakings to achieve.
I read with interest all the exhibitors reviews, remember the comments made by visitors as they arrived and left carrying bundles and bags of artwork, of the social media responses and suggestions from friends and family – every single one essential to enable me to develop #Cafdgg into a live and relevant event.
I value and learn from each comment sometimes more from the brutal than the kind, as it takes an experienced exhibitor to compare #Cafdgg with numerous other events they have attended to widen my eyes and for that I am grateful. All reviews are welcome as I can learn something from every one.
For me the most effective way of learning from the reviews is to let them sink into my mind as I do other things – the moment before I fall asleep, whilst gardening, doing tai chi or walking up a mountain and inevitably a solution will float through and I can assess the validity of it before the process starts again.
It is like making a piece of art; you know your starting place and yet how do know when your thought process is complete?
Each time I curate an event it takes weeks of thinking, envisaging what it may look like on my virtual mental tour before I even start on the actual planing. The time between now and March is vital as for each event I plan the change in focus of it – more jewellery and woodturning, different price points, less painting and illustration, introducing basketry, silversmithing or blacksmithing, or adding demonstrations and workshops – all ideas to be dashed or built upon.
In March 2020 exhibition spaces will be allocated to the artists who have applied to exhibit with us and it is the correlation between my plans and the artists skills that pulls together the setting up of a flowing, inspiring and enjoyable event for both the visitors and artists alike.
At the moment I am open to all of the ideas as they float into my head as I, snooze, walk, dig and do the White Crane as I rest and recuperate.
In my research at Art Fairs, Festival, Craft events and Markets I am always looking to learn how they do things. I chat with as many artists as possible, organisers and volunteers and from each event I visit there is always something that sparks an idea that can inform how I curate Discover:Gather:Give, and this year it has been about branding and bling.
Thanks to Dave Pearson https://creativepearson.com I feel #Cafdgg has a strong, clean, recognisable and easily identifiable brand. Our branding offers security, shares the personality of our business and its credibility. Emotionally we connect and share values with our visitors who in turn offer loyalty by returning to visit on a regular basis.
The more I talk to organisers in this time of unknown and political unease the more I realise the importance of a trusted brand and for visitors to anticipate the standard of art works they are coming to see, the experience of the event plus their continual support of artists by buying the work on display, commissioning a piece after the event or attending a lecture or workshop – it is that level of engagement and on-going patronage that #Cafdgg inspires .
I believe that we can no longer just expect visitors to turn up at the Town Hall door, we need to bring them in to enjoy the experience, to be encouraged to engage with artists and to feel the excitement in discovering new and challenging art work. Nothing makes me happier as I walk the event to hear an artist sharing their creative process with a visitor, and later seeing a wrapped parcel leaving the artists exhibition space under the arm of a contented patron.
All too often the events I visited relied on past successes with the same or similar art work; getting that balance between the new and established artists is such a difficult note to get right where both the artists and the visitors feel the event has been a success and further to quantify that success in real terms such as sales on the day and follow up sales. With a strong brand I believe one can introduce new artists whilst keeping the standard of art work at an exceptional level.
#Cafdgg is not a super trendy, white cubicled event full of highly priced statement pieces on plinths; it has a curated balance with both traditional art and pieces to make you think, feel and cannot ignore. Our brand stands for art for all, of passion and the joy in the making, sharing, creating and collection of art. It is unique in the region for being a free entry event with such an array of art open for you.
I started by asking can one have too much bling and no other event has anything like the Golden Cup Cafe, for me it has just the right amount of bling to keep it the positive side of tasteful kitsch; although it is becoming a close call with my golden serving platters for our Private View…
The popular and free to enter family friendly Arts Festival continues to go from strength to strength when it takes place from 1 – 2 June at the historic Stratford Town Hall. This year the Festival has attracted 40 award winning artists and craftspeople who will be showcasing a selection of high-quality paintings, prints, jewellery, textiles, photography, sculpture, ceramics and designer furniture. Now in its 6thyear, the Festival is an unmissable fixture in the craft, art and design calendar and cultivates eclecticism and authenticity with an unparalleled passion and flair within the region’s artistic community.
Escape Arts will be hosting workshops for both children and adults over the weekend at the Old Slaughter House in Stratford-upon-Avon. Visitors can recreate their pet in the style of Lichtenstein or Warhol on the Saturday and on Sunday ceramic artist Ros Ingram will teach visitors how to create terracotta garden hens.
Curator, Judith Layhe-Cook said “Each year I discover some fantasticinnovative emerging artistic talent and this year is no exception! I want our Arts Festival to be open to all, for our visitors to have engaged with the artists and their work, to have bought something that makes their heart sing, to share a coffee and cake with friends, to relax into the supportive atmosphere and for each and every visitor to go home a little happier and inspired”.
The Golden Cup Café is open throughout the weekend selling tea, coffee and homemade cakes served on a collection of golden vintage china. Once again, the Arts Festival is supporting ‘Shakespeare’s Puppies Appeal Guide Dogs for the Blind’. Any donations would be gratefully received.
The private viewing is held on 31 May between 6pm & 8.30pm. The Festival is open to the public on Saturday 1 June from 10.30am – 5pm and Sunday 2 June from 10.30am – 4pm. There is no cost for the Saturday workshop although donations are appreciated.The Ceramic Day Workshop costs £65 per person.To book please visit www.eventbrite.co.uk.
I went to a forty year reunion of my jewellery colleagues last weekend and it brought into sharp focus how our lives had diverged from the path we expected to take as fearless frothy youngsters.
We had plans to disrupt the jewellery business; we were going to merge the traditional into the modern, to celebrate the best design and manufacture of both worlds and to pass down our hallowed skills to eager bright eyed apprentices through Goldsmiths Hall.
Out of our year of twelve, four have stayed directly in jewellery design and manufacture, one in silversmithing and I carried on to study gemmology specialising in Diamonds and Pearls; many went into teaching and all with fascinating lives.
Reflecting on the process of change I realise that three things are fundamental in my life choices – family, friendship and design.
I have communicated through design with the people I love; giving a present, a card or the gift of an experience – all are based in sharing and fostering artistic and open minds.
It is with that passion to share that I started #Cafdgg and want to continue developing, disrupting the accepted way an arts fair is run and promoted.
I adore seeing the exhibitors arrive at the Town Hall all bags and fluster filled with gleeful anticipation of the weekend ahead, the slow process of settling and setting up their displays to their satisfaction. After the Private View on the Friday night I take a quietly reflective moment to enjoy the incredible work on show.
I am so proud of what the artists have achieved and realise that if my colleagues visited they too would appreciate the joy of good design.
