The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and The Shropshire Guild have come together once again to organise this wonderful event to be held over the weekend of Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of October.
Gorgeous 2011 offers visitors the opportunity to meet and buy items hand crafted by an exceptionally talented group of people mostly living and working within the county.
For the third year, Gorgeous will also feature a food hall filled with local companies offering delicacies from the region including locally produced chocolates, cakes, wine, preserves, fresh local vegetables, cheeses and meat.
Companies in the food hall include Riverford Organic vegetables, The Whiskey Tasting Company and preserve and chutney makers, Heathers Harvest.
Chairwoman of the Guild Sophie Eades said “visitors to Gorgeous will be treated to a multi sensory experience – not only from when they first walk into the food hall to be greeted by delicious smells and tastes, but then to move onto the exhibiting designer makers and see the quality and diversity of workâ€.
Sophie continued “Shropshire has a wealth of innovative creative talent, and on show at Gorgeous 2011 will be over 35 creative and imaginative designer makers from the region”.
From hand crafted designer furniture to inventive, creative ceramics, finely made jewellery in silver and gold featuring semi and precious stones and hand woven textiles – Gorgeous 2011 will be a proverbial feast for those who appreciate design led crafts.
We will also have a series of demonstrations running over the weekend”, Sophie said “which is a great way for people to actually see and understand the creative process”.
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust’s CEO, Steve Miller commented “Gorgeous is one of the highlights of the Ironbridge calendar of events and we are very much looking forward to welcoming some of the region’s best artists, makers and food producers to Enginuity where they can showcase their remarkable productsâ€.
Steve continued “the Food Hall has now established itself as a great location to give yourself an affordable treat, whether it’s a portion of artisan cheese, a jar of homemade chutney or a tempting cake, it can all be found there. Across in the main Craft Halls I am always thrilled to see the quality of the work on display. Whilst our artists and makers work with many different materials and use different skills their passion for their work, innovation in their designs and mastery of their craft always shines through.
It is wonderful to be working with the Shropshire Guild of Contemporary Craft once again, especially in this the 25th Anniversary Year of Ironbridge Gorge being designated as one of the UK’s first World Heritage Sites . I am very proud that the Museum and the Guild work together to promote the spirit of creativity and innovation that helped make this part of Shropshire as important to the world as the Great Wall of China and the Pyramidsâ€.
New member of the Guild and first time exhibitor at Gorgeous, Sara Piper Heap from Gobowen said “I’m really looking forward to the show, it’ll be my first time exhibiting at Gorgeous. I’ve visited the event before and thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of exhibitors and crafts”.
Metalsmith Sara continued “I come from a mathematical background and this shows in my work – I practically struggle to make work which doesn’t involve circles. I love simple clean lines and regular geometric shapes in both my jewellery and my metalwork pieces”.
Sara’s aim is to create display pieces for the table that are visually striking, designed using simple clean lines and regular geometric shapes. Whilst endeavouring to be sculptural, the aesthetic appeal and clarity of form is of primary importance in her work, however an element of function must also be present.
Sara has been working with metal for the last five years. She graduated in applied Arts specialising in Jewellery and Metalwork from Glyndwr University in 2010.
Another exhibitor at Gorgeous 2011 is Jennifer Colquitt from Dudley. Jennifer makes finely decorated and textured porcelain panels coloured with oxides and lustres. Jennifer said “the themes I use are trees, leaves and flowers derived from either direct observation or images I’ve discovered in medieval manuscripts. The variations are endless with these topics”. Visiting France on a regular basis has given Jennifer the opportunity to study richly decorated carvings that she has observed in the Romanesque churches.
Jennifer continued “my main preoccupation is with making decorative wall panels and firing them successfully. Currently fine quality porcelain clay is used; it is fascinating as a material as it combines fragility with great strength as it has to withstand high firing temperatures”.
Entrance to Gorgeous is £2.50 per person, under 12’s go free. Gorgeous will be open from 10am-5pm on Saturday 8th and 10am-4pm on Sunday 9th of October.
Further details are available from the Shropshire Guild’s website at: www.shropshireguild.co.uk or the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre on tel: 01952 884391 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk.
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