Maggie Smith and making as a second career

Congratulations go to Maggie Smith who won the Made in the Middle Innovation Award chosen by craft&design magazine. There is a great article on her work and career in the current issue.

Basketry is a second career for Maggie and we have used her story as a case study for the information panels in the exhibition.

A significant number of makers come to crafts practice as a second career. The majority will always have had an interest in making, largely as a hobby. Many have completed degrees in other subjects, such as Janette Matthews or Clare Willard, or worked in other sectors, frequently because an arts degree or making career wasn’t originally considered an option.

At the outset people approaching a new career in craft are often self taught, or have attended occasional workshops as an introduction to their area of interest, like Mandana Thompson. A number of Made in the Middle exhibitors referenced a need to seek a solid foundation to develop skills and acquire knowledge of advanced techniques. This development of skills and critical thinking has historically been provided through adult education or further education courses. It is through these routes that makers can find the confidence to pursue their making on a more professional level.


Case Study: Maggie Smith

Maggie’s interest in basketry began in the 1980s whilst working as a full-time therapist. Having always enjoyed making as a hobby, Maggie was keen to increase her skill level. A longstanding interest in craft and natural materials led her to undertake a series of short courses over a number of years. Maggie began with a weekly evening class which inspired her to participate in keeping this traditonal craft skill alive.

In 1997 Maggie transferred to part-time work to begin a City and Guilds course in basketry at an adult education college in London. Maggie’s main motivation for embarking on a longer term course was to extend her critical development and design skills. She completed the second stage of the qualification in 2004.

Continuing to work part-time, Maggie developed her contemporary basketry, which was widely exhibited. This led to her selection in 2009 for the Crafts Council’s Emerging Makers development programme. With this validation and the experience of exhibitions Maggie has now made the leap into full-time self-employment as a designer maker in basketry.

Of course, you can see Maggie’s work in the exhibition and go to her web site if you would like to see more www.maggiesmithbasketry.co.uk

We’re interested to hear of other makers who have taken up a creative career as a second career.

Follow the link to read the article on their website.

Where would you expect the best art galleries to be? Maybe somewhere in London, Leeds or big cities like that? Certainly not in a little town in the middle of Lincolnshire! But that’s where the National Centre for Craft and Design proves us all wrong; it is a fantastic art gallery with wonderful exhibitions located in the small town of Sleaford.

The latest exhibition opening on the 28th April until the 1st July is called ‘Made in the Middle: Contempory Art from across the East Midlands’. There is a real variety in this exhibition from artwork that doubles up as musical instruments to ‘naughty but nice’ pottery. The contributing artists are all from the Midlands, including from Sleaford itself, local potter Kate McBride who has recently completed work for Downing Street.

Kate was also a mentor to another artist, Anne Collette Hunt, which was something she told us that she really enjoyed doing. Kate’s work for ‘Made in the Middle’ is titled ‘Naughty but Nice’, of which she explained, “All of my ladies are doing quite naughty things like smoking, although everyone says smoking is really bad for you but these ladies actually think it’s quite nice so it’s really very naughty work.” She also added they were all naked and she emphasised parts to make them not look too pretty because she wouldn’t want it to look at all twee or too perfect.

The private opening of the exhibition was on Friday the 27^th April and all of the guests really enjoyed the evening and seemed in awe of all of the fantastic contempory art. Liam and Sebastian, two furniture designers, were extremely impressed with one piece in particular, a chair, which they said was very much to their taste. They also thought that it was “great to see what other people are doing, the craftsmanship is excellent”, and added, “it’s very nice to see that there is a lot happening in the area and not just in big cities like London.”  All of the other guests shared much the same thoughts and where equally glad that the NCCD brings art like this to the East Midlands.

Guests also thought that there was a fantastic variety and were taken with pieces like metal vessels and fragile ceramics which “looked like they could blow over in the wind.” Others had a lot of fun with some pottery instruments, set out with drumsticks to play them, which were popular with the younger visitors.

Liz Cooper from the NCCD told us that the exhibition could encourage people have a go at making their own art. She explained, “We’ve actually got a theme running through the exhibition which is about roots to a career, and one is that so many people in this exhibition have come into the arts as a second career. What we’d like to think is that when people come and see a show like this it might inspire them to think ‘I don’t always have to be doing the same thing, I could be doing something creative’”.

So as always the National Centre for Craft and Design has produced another fantastic exhibition and the private opening was a much enjoyed evening. The gallery really is a jewel in Sleaford’s crown and this is emphasised by the local art that is showcased in ‘Made in the Middle’.

By Georgina, KSHSSA Newsroom

KarinaThompson_60BeatsAMinute_PhotoAndyKruczek on Flickr.

If you can’t get to see Karina’s work at the exhibition here is an image (via the Made in the Middle flickr group).

Karina Thompson has written about her work in Made in the Middle:

60 Beats: How and why?

If I live to 70, my heart will beat approximately 2.6 billion times.  ‘60 beats a minute’ examines one on those heart beats.  It features six images of that heart beat; there wasn’t anything special about that heart beat; it was just the one that got caught.
It got caught at 8 seconds into 21 minutes past 6 on the evening of the 17th of October 2011 when I had an echocardiogram.  An echo as it is often called is an ultrasound test of the heart.  Most people are more familiar with this technology in the form of ‘baby scans’.
I don’t have anything wrong with my heart; at least nothing unusual for a 46 year old.  The reason for the scan was to get the images for a body of work.  The scan done by my partner; that’s what she does; it’s her job.  She spends her working days looking into people’s hearts.
The run of six images is a four chamber view of my heart.  It’s a standard view in an echo.  You can see the valves opening and then closing.  You also need to know that with this view, the heart appears upside down.
The piece is basically a playful exercise on those six images.  It’s an examination of that essential muscle reflex that happens over and over again.

You can a still see and buy work from some of the makers in Made in the Middle at Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum until Saturday (28th April).

Also on Saturday the 28th, the touring exhibition opens at it’s second venue, The National Centre for Craft & Design in Sleaford.

And on the same day at the The National Centre for Craft & Design…

Making it Relevant
A Professional Practice Symposium
An ideal opportunity for students interested in forming a career in contemporary craft and those who are already makers to gain advice, share ideas and be inspired!
Saturday 28 April 2012
10.30am - 4pm

The exhibition tour schedule is here and now includes Herefordshire.

Image: ‘Stream’, brooch by Yoko Izawa. From the exhibition.

Here’s a brief overview of the Accidental Pathways seminar afternoon we held at mac birmingham by DMWM (Click on the title to read this on the DMWM website)…

On Wednesday 14 March 2012 DMWM, Craftspace and mac birmingham ran a collaborative seminar event for craft sector professionals to explore the impact craft has on other sectors and the potential opportunities for working with industry.

The event included fascinating talks from a variety of different sector professionals including:

Sarita Wilkinson from Nokia Design who talked about Nokia’s long-standing history of enabling makers through open briefs and collaborations with a focus on a recent project involving Made in the Middle exhibitor, Esther Lord.

Textile Artist Karina Thompson and Mike Harris Managing Director, Northern Europe, Pfaff Sewing Machines, ‘In conversation’ discussed Pfaff Sewing Machines sponsorship of the arts and support for makers, with a focus on the six year association with Karina.

Paul Laikin, Director at Unanico gave an overview of the company’s recent collaboration with Made in the Middle exhibitor AndrewTanner to create the English Hedgerow ceramic design and associated smartphone application.

Glass Artist Vanessa Cutler, talked about her experience and knowledge within the field of architectural glass and waterjet cutting and how this area of her practice has developed.

In addition please click here to download an ‘In conversation’ article between Silversmith Esther Lord and independent curator Kate Stoddart. Following Esther’s recent collaboration with Nokia to explore forms and surfaces in metal, Kate and Esther discuss the impact of the project on her personal practice.

The seminar event was is in connection with Made in the Middle Contemporary craft from across the Midlands

Wednesday 11th April 2012

1-3pm

To register for a place at this event please contact mac birmingham on 0121 446 3232

A free event highlighting pathways into creative professions for 14-24 year olds. Makers and representatives from creative industries will present an insight into careers linked to making and the promotion of craft. Any careers advisors or representatives who would like to host a stall are invited to contact Craftspace on info@craftspace.co.uk

Come along to mac birmingham, sign up for tours, presentations or get making with Craftspace Collective.

Follow the link for the full prgramme.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/stirring-the-swarm/id499841767?ls=1&mt=8

stirringtheswarm:

I have made a very special exhibition piece for Made in the Middle, which is Craftspace’s 18 month touring exhibition which launches at mac Birmingham on the 13th of February 2012. I am creating small installation called The Entomologist which is a new interpretation of Stirring the Swarm from the…

Wolverhampton duo Pottinger and Cole are furniture designers, but they are moving their practice into exhibition design. In addition to exhibiting in Made in the Middle Pottinger and Cole were selected to design and build the exhibition display. These images show the development of the designs.