Origin - The London Craft Fair

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Origin is London's equivalent to Manchester's Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. It involves almost 300 designer/makers to see and engage with over two weeks. It is based at Somerset House. I visited Origin to see just what London's craft makers had to offer and also again to see if this could be an event that I would wish to participate in, in the future. There seemed to be a lot of jewellery makers and not enough surface pattern designers here for me although there were a couple that drew me in. These were Thornback & Peel and Carole Waller.

Thornback & Peel create beautiful screen printed pieces for the home. These include wallpaper, tea towels, cushions, deck chairs, baby linen, fabric, aprons, bags, t-shirts and hankies. My favourite designs were the deck chair prints and bug print cushions. These designs are fresh, stylish and contemporary. I liked the flocked bugs on the cushions, they contrasted well with the cushion fabric and stood out.



Images found at http://www.thornbackandpeel.co.uk/

Carole Waller is a textile artist. She makes painted clothes, and paintings on veils of cloth which become installations. I was mainly drawn to the unique print on her garments. They were bright and striking. The painterly colours seemed to bleed into each other. I was really interested in finding out how carole Waller had created this effect as I use dyeing processes and printing techniques in my own work and thought this information would be useful.

Whilst talking to one of her agents I discovered that she has workshops in her studio which focus on painting techniques onto fabrics. ' All courses teach painting and screen printing on a range of silks, cottons and wool fabrics with an emphasis on encouraging students to find their own visual language through the use of dyes, pigments, transfer printing, screenwork a variety of stencils including photographic'. http://www.carolewaller.co.uk/biography.htm. Her sales agent also mentioned that all the garments were hand printed and they do not use digital processes. I got the impression that Carole Waller was not really in favour of digital printing! I was also informed that she makes up all items of clothing as well as printing onto them. 'The garments are one off original pieces on unprimed fabrics such as silks, cottons, wools and linens - which are made into a collection of clothing ranging from shirts to dresses and coats. They are for anyone to wear, anytime, in any context'.

Overall I was surprised to find that I actually preferred The Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, to Origin, as there were more surface pattern designers there. I also discovered that I am now not sure if these events would be the right place for me to show case my work. I believe that Indigo, Paris, might be a better option as it is aimed at the commercial market. Both events were a nice experience for me and I would recommend anybody to visit especially if you are looking for beautifully crafted gifts.