Contemporary Textiles Fair 2018

The Contemporary Textiles Fair at Landmark Arts Centre features some of the best contemporary textiles designers & makers in the UK, with over 70 stands in a great venue near Teddington Lock. There are no suppliers, no other craft disciplines - it is purely textiles, but what a variety of textiles there was! I was so impressed by the breadth of work on display and the diversity of materials, techniques and ideas used by the talented creatives there.

There were so many fantastic stands, but I wanted to highlight a few that stood out for me. Like most art forms, it's very personal and subjective. I narrowed them down to six:


Freyelli Textiles - "a collection of original painted and freehand machine embroidered textile art, and beautiful homeware" by Ellie Hipkin, a fellow Sussex-based artist. Ellie's work captures life on the Sussex coast beautifully, with all the colours of the sea and sky, while the clever use of freehand machine embroidery adds the detail of coastal plants and objects.





Karen Rao, Felt Artist - another Brighton-based artist, Karen "hand felts animal inspired headwear, clip-on ears and other fun and primitive felted accessories." I've seen Karen's work before, at events we've both exhibited at, and I just love it! Her felt-making skills are amazing, and the designs are totally mad and unique, but actually very wearable.













Tessa Jane - "a Fine Art Textile Artist, who loves to explore colour and surface". I was completely blown away by her work. Best described in the artist's own words: "My work is conceptual and focuses on that moment as you catch a glimpse of something fantastic; light on water; filtering through trees or the luminosity of an object. When you catch your breath because you have seen something (or someone) at their most glorious. Yet it is functional and like that of William Morris has a use." Beautiful and useful.









Sara Harris (jelliclebuttons) -  "Sara's work derives from a love of the quirky, oddball and otherwise unusual." This sums up her pieces perfectly! I fell in love with her soft sculpures, which are eccentric and so full of character, as well as being incredibly cleverly made. Her textile art pieces are also a joy - small treasure troves of found and pieced objects, fabrics and oddments. Wonderful.












Emily Sladen - Emily's work is "influenced by the wild and rugged environment of her island home." Based in the Scilly Isles, her work beautifully displays the colours and textures of the coastal area, and has a soft, delicate, harmonious quality that would work well in a contemporary setting. The lampshades are especially gorgeous...and very tempting!











Caroline Hyde-Brown - "A beautiful and atmospheric collection of embroidered landscapes using a variety of materials including felt, natural dyes & thread." Caroline's work has a wonderful depth to it, and is a clever combination of paint, stitch and natural materials.






The Contemporary Textiles Fair is well worth a visit for anyone with an interest in textile art and design.

Is it a good fair to exhibit at? It's hard to judge based on this weekend alone, as the weather hasn't been kind, and probably did affect the number of visitors to the fair. It didn't seem very crowded yesterday, and Saturdays are usually the busiest days, so I would guess most exhibitors didn't sell well. Exhibiting isn't just about sales, I know, but most fairs are a big investment - in time and money - for artists, so sales do help enormously!

If most visitors are, like me, going along to view other artists' work, or the venue, rather than as a potential buyer, then it might not be the best venue to exhibit at for selling. Having said that, there are no supply sellers there, so it might not attract other makers as much as some other shows. It felt more like a gallery show, with more textile art than I expected to see. That could attract buyers.

Organisers need to draw in potential buyers, and lots of them, for a fair to be successful long-term and to attract and retain high quality exhibitors year after year. Are there enough textile art buyers to sustain it, especially in challenging times for retail generally? I don't know, but I hope so, as it's a great event and I want to go back again next year!