The artists who have participated in Made in Kings Heath, past and present are listed here along with information about their work and contact details.
Melanie Keevil www.melaniekeevil.com
Miranda Sharpe – www.mirandasharpe.co.uk
Tom Millard
Monobrow – Andy 07521412057
Rita Patel www.ritapateljewellery.co.uk
Silversoles – Felted Textiles by Emma Jackson www.silversoles.co.uk
Sam Weeks – sjweedy@hotmail.com
Claudeine TS Art – Claudine TS Art
The Attic Art Studio – The Attic Art Studio
Ruth Green Design – www.ruthgreendesign.com
Katie Robbins – Ceramics www.ktrobbinsceramics.com
Stitches and Hos (Sara Fowles) – www.stitchesandhos.co.uk
Clare Wainwright Glass Art – www.Clarewainwrightglassart.co.uk
Helen Wilson www.helbentbooks.co.uk
Sarah Hazel www.sarah-hazell.com
Sue Bibby www.suebibbyembroidery.com
Emma Hardicker www.emmahardicker.com
Fiona Humphrey www.fionahumphrey.com
Jane Bradshaw janie_bradshaw@yahoo.co.uk
Giles Hughes – www.circa-arts.co.uk
Sarah Carlton-Gray scarltongray@hotmail.com
Felti (Sarah Leigh) – www.sarahleighartist.com
ARTIST STATEMENTS
Melanie Keevil Melanie makes ceramic wall panels that are layered with richly coloured slips and glazes and then stoneware fired to 1260°. These abstract pieces are inspired by the colours, surface textures and weathered architectural details found in the hilltop towns and mountains of Provence. Other pieces are inspired by the rock formations and coastlines of the Cornish and Welsh landscapes.
Through her love of experimenting with glazes Melanie has developed a range of porcelain pendants. Each pendant is unique and is finished with one of her favourite glazes including the beautiful but temperamental crystalline glaze. The objective of this fascinating glaze is to produce a visible crystal growth on the surface of the pendant. The pendants hang on waxed cotton and are light and comfortable to wear.
Melanie works from her studio in Kings Heath and has exhibited her work in several solo shows in London and the Midlands as well as contributing to many group exhibitions. (MiKH 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 & 2014)
Tom Millard: RBSA FRSA – SCULPTOR
I have worked with clay predominantly for the past twenty years. Now I model and construct with a variety of materials in a new studio dedicated to multi-media activity, returning to an earlier engagement with constructivism and kinetics.
I also enjoy an on-going project ‘WEATHER OVER LUNDY’ a photographic study of a special place over different weather patterns and seasons. (MiKH 2019 & 2018)
Monobrow are a Kings Heath based company who design and manufacture contemporary products from jewellery to furniture.
At “Made in Kings Heath 2014” Monobrow launched two new collections of jewellery: Ammonite and 45rpm. Both collections are manufactured using acrylic inserted into English pewter. The Ammonite collection is available as a pendant whilst 45rpm is available in pendant, badge and brooch formats. 45rpm can also be ordered as a bespoke item where the customer can choose their favourite classic vinyl single for the label insert.
The company also produce a diverse range of design commissions from one-off furniture to Arts and Crafts airvents, from record storage boxes to house number signs. (MiKH 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 & 2014)
Rita Patel Rita designs and hand makes jewellery from her studio in the heart of the jewellery quarter in Birmingham. She creates contemporary jewellery with an elegant and minimal style, using silver with accents of detail of gold and gemstones.
Rita Patel’s collections reflect her cultural interests and love of making. Designs include:
The Kiss collection reflects the sentiments of love and friendship.
The Lines collection has 2 continuous lines overlapping each other and coming full circle.
The Organic Seed collection is influenced by the shapes found in nature and the modern style of the Ellipse collection is inspired by modern architectural shapes. (MiKH 2019, 2018 & 2017)
Silversoles – Felted Textiles by Emma Jackson Emma is a textile designer maker who creates hand felted and embroidered textiles for interiors and to wear. Each piece is unique having been individually hand crafted using traditional and contemporary felting techniques. She uses a range of luxury fibres including merino wool, silks, soya and velvets to make her collections of scarves, bags, wraps, lampshades and cushions.
Emma utilizes the memory of wool in her work to explore the fibres’ potentials to form sculptural, textured and raised surfaces. Inspired by organic forms and patterns her work has distinctive colours, striking shapes and exquisite textures. She manipulates the wool using stitch, nuno and shibori to achieve permanent shapes and patterns which echo her sources of inspiration. (MiKH 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 & 2014)
Miranda Sharpe Miranda’s jewellery ranges draw inspiration from microscopic imagery of bacteria and disease, finding beauty through the form and colours of these images. Miranda works predominantly with precious metals and vitreous enamels and occasional semi-precious and precious stones. Collections combine a range of repeatable items with limited edition and one-off pieces. (MiKH 2019, 2018 & 2017)
Stitches and Hos (Sara Fowles) Stitches and Hos are a motley crew of enthusiasts for all things knitting, crocheted or stitched. Founded in 2006 by four friends as the answer to the question “Wouldn’t it be funny if people were knitting here in the pub?” Stitches and Hos have been creating stitched chaos in galleries, events and festivals around the country ever since.
For Made in Kings Heath, Stitiches and Hos have produced a range of hand knitted and crocheted items using luxurious natural fibres. (MiKH 2018 & 2017)
Sam Weeks – After completing a Fine Art degree at UCE in 2001 Sam explored community arts work and then worked as an art tutor at City College for a number of years. having initially engaged in multi media live art and performance art projects her creative interests have moved to painting in recent years.
She now makes paintings and mixed media work on canvas, often in shades of blue, turquoise and orange. Although she has no consistent them or content in her work ti is usually inspired by a found object, colour swatch, textured remnant, image or emotional response – the continuity found in her work embodies her impulses to find equilibrium within composition, colour, form ,texture, light and dark, empty space and full. ” My creative process can be brief or drawn out on my journey to finding and capturing something of the elusive sense of balance and resolution“. (MiKH 2019)
Claudeine TS Art Claudeine is a young, emerging, mixed media artist who produces quirky small sculptures, illustrations, paintings, 3D assemblage art and more. She is an adventurous artist who loves to experiment using different techniques, media and styles to produce bold and beautiful artwork. Much of her work is inspired by a love of nature and she often combines traditional botanical artwork with her own alternative take on the modern world. Her current artistic focus is on the rapid decline of the bumblebee and other insects due to deforestation, pesticide use and the disappearance of flowers. (MiKH 2019)
The Attic Art Studio – The Attic Art Studio produces encaustic, mixed media artwork. Encaustic is an extremely durable, ancient painting technique dating back to the 4th century B.C. The process see melted beeswax, natural resin and coloured pigments combined to produce organic paint applied in layers, which are then bonded together using extreme heat. Adding other mixed media materials in, The Attic Art Studio has an obsession for the process and alchemy of art and for texture, colour and depth. The results are beautiful, luminescent, 3D paintings, resin blocks and sculptures that invite you to interact with their tactile surfaces.
Ruth Green Design Ruth is a printmaker based in Birmingham. Her brightly coloured compositions are inspired by mid-century design, and by the animals and plants of the British countryside.
High quality paper is used to make screen-prints in small, collectable editions. Each one is hand signed, and numbered.
Ruth’s prints have appeared in ‘Elle Decoration’ and the design book,’ Print and Pattern 2′. In 2011, Tate Publishing produced Ruth’s first book for children, ‘Noisy Neighbours’. This was followed by ‘Stanley’s Plan’ in 2014, a third book is planned for 2017. (MiKH 2018, 2017 & 2016)
Katie Robbins – Ceramics inspired by nature…made by hand
A lover of the natural world, especially plants and flowers, I combine my
passions to make everyday objects as well as heirlooms of the future.
My work is either made on the wheel or slipcast, and then hand-finished.
Simple in design, my shapes are always considered and the pieces are given a
contemporary finish with glazes and colour combinations which often find
their inspiration in nature. I use porcelain, often considered a luxury material, as it has a beautiful, tactile finish. (MiKH 2018, 2017 & 2016)
Sarah Hazell I am a designer in knit and crochet and author of several books. I have a passion for beautiful yarn and textiles and am endlessly fascinated by colour, pattern and texture.
In 2015, I launched my website where you can find small stand-alone collections with an emphasis on creating sustainable clothes and accessories. I work with a range of yarn suppliers in order to bring depth and variety to my work and more choice to the knitter or crocheter. My designs are available in a downloadable format and I talk about my inspiration as well as yarn and stitch choices on my blog and via my Instagram account, (@sarahhazel16).
I am an experienced workshop tutor and love to teach new techniques and inspire confidence in others. I have recently returned from teaching knitting in India, where I led a two week holiday, raising funds for the Knit of Peace charity. I also work with women in one of the projects that the charity supports. I have returned full of inspiration for a new collection and tremendous enthusiasm for sharing my skills. (MiKH 2107)
Sue Bibby Embroidery Sue Bibby designs and makes individually embroidered items. Using free machine and hand stitched techniques, she creates her illustrative pieces using satin and metallic threads and tiny fragments of silks and cottons to build depth and texture.
Sue keeps a sketchbook for ideas and all her embroideries begin with close observational drawings. Inspiration comes from the natural world (birds and flowers are a favourite) gardens and everyday domestic life. (MiKH 2018 & 2017)
Clare Wainwright Glass Art Clare Wainwright has been working with glass for about eighteen years beginning with Tiffany style (copper foiled) work before learning the techniques of glass fusing. Her work in small to medium sized decorative items typically holds a contemporary feel through the use of inclusions such as shells, glass nuggets and other found items. These are frequently supplemented by the use of acid etching and the fusing of images and patterns into the glass. With inspiration drawn from the sea, her use of glass set into driftwood is a stunning combination.
Clare has also created a beautiful range of fused dichroic glass jewellery. (MiKH 2017, 2018)
Felti (Sarah Leigh) Through the medium of felt making, I design and produce tactile lighting in many forms, and sculptural, statement pieces that draw upon my love of nature and its rich source of textures and forms. No two pieces are identical, reflecting the nuances of felt making, the properties of the fibres used and their relationship with light. (2018)
Helen Wilson I’m a Birmingham based book artist who’s passionate about handmade books. I trained in book making in the UK and in New York. I use traditional and modern methods of binding with high quality and function in mind. My unique book cover designs are mixed media coupled with quirky quotes. Many of my books are made with beautiful contemporary papers. No two books are the same so it means you end up with a unique, quirky hand made book. (2018)
Fiona Humphrey: Fiona is a printmaker-artist who creates original linocut and collagraph monoprints and limited editions, working from her studio first in Kings Heath, and now in Leicestershire. Her work combines bold graphic mark-making with subtle free-inking tones to explore hidden landscapes, people and birds through abstract and semi-abstract form.
Fiona is an elected member of the Leicester Society of Artists (LSA) and a full member of the Leicester Print Workshop. Current and recent exhibitions include: the Print Prize, R.B.S.A.; Small Print International (touring 2016-2017); the LSA Annual Exhibition at the New Walk Museum and Gallery. (MiKH 2016, 2014)
Sarah Carlton-Gray Sarah’s range of handcrafted silver jewellery makes a unique gift for those that have an independent and discerning taste. Her individual pieces have a free flowing design inspired by flora, the beach and the ebb and flow of the sea. Sarah’s wide range of bespoke designs include: necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and torques.(MiKH 2016 & 2015)
Giles Hughes I’m a Birmingham based artist, illustrator and collector. Most weekends I can be found searching flea markets and junk shops for hidden gems. I’m especially interested in vintage ephemera: old magazines, adverts, cards and posters. Anything that catches my eye, from classic motorcycles, old badges and rusty tinplate toys is fair game. Much of what I pick up finds its way into my sculptures, journals, note books and greetings cards. I have worked commercially as an author, artist and illustrator, and enjoy painting landscapes and seascapes when the opportunity arises. (MiKH 2017 & 2016)
Jane Bradshaw I am excited by colour and texture and am fascinated by their effect on how we see and experience the world around us. My love of gardening has allowed me to explore the visual and tactile, but increasing impatience with the pace and unpredictability of plants led me to look for other creative paths. One winter when I couldn’t get to the allotment …..I knitted one and a textile habit was born!
I love layers and the way a textile piece can grab you from across a room and draw you further and further into its inner detail and complexity- a bit like being drawn in to explore a garden. Working with print on fabric and paper gives me backgrounds to layer with colour, fabric and stitch. Recently I have been exploring dyeing and printing onto transparent and translucent fabrics which gives a huge range of layering possibilities. I am delighted by the way colours interact with each other in an often unexpected way.
Jane’s work has recently been displayed at Midlands Arts Centre, NEC and Royal Birmingham Society of Arts. (MiKH 2015)
Emma Hardicker Emma is a printmaker and painter. She produces beautiful stylised designs, from her studio in Birmingham. She is inspired by both nature and architecture, and is always looking to create pattern and engaging artworks. She sketches her designs in pen and ink, then uses traditional silk-screen printing methods to produce the eye-catching designs on paper and textiles.
Emma studied BA Textile Design, at Nottingham Trent University specialising in print, graduating in 2003. Over the years her work has been sold worldwide in galleries and shops such as Liberty of London, The V&A and John Lewis. She has also produced commissioned work for many private clients, including well known institutions such as The RHS, Transport for London, The NHS, Deans Court Chambers, and The Biohub. (MiKH 2018 & 2017)
Made in Kings Heath 