Many of our projects address the need for our makers to get together; sometimes in a formal way through events such as Makers Days and at other times it just happens that the people involved hit it off and before we know it an informal group has emerged with very little intervention on our part!

Feeling isolated can be a real problem when you live and work in a remote area and anything that can be done to help with this is a really positive and essential aspect of the work we do.

Informal groups have sprung up from Makers Days, our visit to Stroud International Textile Festival, from our Making Progress mentoring project and many of the research visits we have arranged.

Emails and social networking go a long way but sometimes you can’t beat a good blether over tea (and cakes!).

Our latest visit to London and Craft Central brought this home once more.

Members of Craft Central are part of a network of UK makers who can rent studio space in two wonderful buildings in Clerkenwell and participate in many of the events organised there including Open Studio selling days and exhibitions as well as business support and workshops. For obvious reasons a large number of the makers live and work in London but some (and that includes several from Scotland) use the organisation as their London studio, giving them an affordable way of reaching new markets but also the opportunity to meet other members.

Makers that I spoke with said that having the support system of the others in studios near by is one of the most important aspects of membership.

Our makers don’t often have such a luxury so we need to do all we can to put our own systems in place.

Through our Mentoring to Market programme we are delighted to be able to now have the opportunity for our makers to become members of  Craft Central and to benefit from a London base, new contacts and networks.

We will be featuring more on this development on the website but it is one positive way of increasing our profile and gives our makers a chance to work together and with a new group of people.

As we stopped to take a break at the end of a hectic day – and yes more tea and cakes were involved – we reflected on how to make the very best of our London connections.

We are so fortunate to be based in an area that inspires and gives our makers’ work such a strong identity and now we can dip into city life and all the new opportunities that this will bring.

Throughout the next few months we will be strengthening our London links and in May 2011 we will be showing our makers work to this new audience with our Highland Showcase.

I can’t wait to see the results!

After such an inspiring trip it was back to battling snow, delayed trains, flights and the cold road home and the reality of the distances involved between  London and the Highlands. Hopefully we can do something to make this less even if we can’t control the travel aspect!

Pamela Conacher

November 2010

www.craftcentral.org.uk

Frock Coat by Isle of Mull Weavers

In the depth of winter, we planned a Makers Day with An Tobar on Mull.

May would be lovely we agreed, as we battled against snow and gales and thought of spring, sunshine and calm seas! Little did we know that the Highland weather would do us proud, and yesterday we once more faced snow, gales and disrupted ferries!

Not deterred, over 35 makers gathered in the comfortable surroundings of AnTobar and enjoyed a day of good company, delicious food, inspiring stories and enough information to keep everybody planning and thinking for many weeks to come.

Mull has been a popular destination for HI-Arts staff this year. Indeed, if you have not been to Mull enquiries are made to your holiday plans with ‘are you going to Mull then?’ On Thursday both Avril and myself were there, John Saich came along as he is writing a feature for the website and Fiona Fisher just happened to be there on holiday with her parents so, in exchange for her lunch, she helped out – and on the drive in I passed Iain in the Screen Machine!

This group approach obviously worked as participants at the makers day were left in no doubt as to what and who HI-Arts are – and putting faces to names always helps!

Our Makers Days are a great opportunity for people who live in isolation and rarely meet up to do the all important networking – or blethering! I think we will need to extend our lunch break to two hours as the noise level just keeps on rising as people find out what friends and colleagues have been up to. I always think that this is really the essence of what the days are about and love it when people get back and let me know that, without the opportunity, they would never have heard about this exhibition, that supplier and a new retail outlet!

Our Argyll day really was inspirational as our range of speakers brought home what it is to be a maker and live in this area – and why, despite the odds, we keep on doing it!

Two talks by representatives of Art Map Argyll and Cowal Open Studios started the day off on a really positive note and is was so good to see groups using their own initiative and skills to really make a difference with very little outside intervention.

Mhairi Killin’s very moving talk about how her life came full circle and brought her back to weaving silver and metal on Iona was a fitting end to the first half of the day.

A practical workshop about setting up a website from Nicola Henderson followed the very tasty lunch and many participants benefited from hearing about how to successfully sell online.

Alex from Mull Weavers really inspired us all by showing how chance meetings and journeys can lead to great things – and he had us all wanting to save up our money and buy a gorgeous coat made from organic tweed!(please see photo above)

On the ferry back both Avril and I felt that the day was a tremendous success and the combination of wonderful surroundings, positive people- and Mull- was a winner! We will be back – and more than likely for our holidays too!

Pamela
8th May 2009

Links:

• HI Arts craft pages

• An Tobar

• Art map Argyll

• Cowal Open Studios

• Cove Park

• Isle of Mull Weavers

• Mhairi Killin

• Nicola Henderson’s Notes on Online Selling