Wheatear Strawcraft
Based in the Cotswolds, Wheatear Strawcraft is run by Ian and Emma Speechley.
Ian and Emma have been working with straw for many years; Ian’s initial interest started at primary school with Artstraws! Their particular interests are corn dollies, Swiss straw work and straw marquetry. In particular they enjoy bringing a contemporary twist to traditional designs.
Straw work is an ancient craft with traditions reaching across the globe and is now listed as endangered by Heritage Crafts. Ian and Emma aim to revive this low impact, sustainable craft and bring a mindful experience to their workshops.
They are members of Straw Craftsmen the UK organisation that promotes this traditional craft.
Find them on instagram: @wheatear_strawcraft
Elise Barron & Joe Toogood
Elise and Joe are Directors of ArtisOn and the friendly faces you usually see upon arrival for your workshops!
Elise Barron
Elise Barron is an experienced facilitator with a strong background in community engagement. She has led a variety of art and environmental workshops for diverse groups, including children. Elise’s passion for creative expression shines through in her work, where she blends artistic techniques with environmental awareness. She enjoys print-making and has recently developed a love for puppet making, which she’s excited to share with young artists. Elise is dedicated to creating a fun and inclusive space where children can explore their creativity and connect with nature.
Joe Toogood
Joe Toogood is a dynamic primary educator with a keen interest in the arts. As an avid cartoonist and knitter, Joe brings a playful and imaginative approach to teaching, encouraging children to explore their creativity through various mediums. With his background in primary education, Joe is skilled at making art engaging and accessible for young learners. His workshops are filled with fun, hands-on activities that inspire children to develop their artistic talents while learning valuable skills like storytelling and design.
Lisa- marie Newman
Lisa–marie Newman from Creative Avenue is an experienced teacher, member of the British Association for Modern Mosaic and Coordinator of the regional group BAMM North, which exhibits regularly.
After leaving a 20 year career as a secondary school Art Teacher, Lisa-marie volunteered at local pre-schools and community groups delivering workshops and sharing her passion for Art and Craft with others. Having always had an obsession with colour, texture and objects with a story; it was after a visit to York Open Studios in 2009, that Lisa-marie was inspired to make her own mosaics. Discovering a natural talent for the art form, she has been a practicing and exhibiting Mosaic Artist for the past 15, delivering workshops and undertaken commissions. Lisa-marie enjoys sharing her passion for collecting and handling beautiful tiles, materials and found objects and promoting the well-being it can bring to us all.
Lucy Lee & Edward Campbell
Lucy Lee and Edward Campbell are the founders of The Old Mill, an art studio and occasional exhibition space based in Palnackie on the Solway coastline in the heart of Dumfries and Galloway, which invites visitors to explore the connection between creativity, spirit and our natural environment.
Lucy is a mixed media artist, currently working with materials found in the landscape of her garden and surrounding area. She is working on building techniques and crafts that can be used as tools for connecting to plants, and our inherent human creative impulse. Working as a gardener and forager has encouraged Lucy to enquire about the nature of art making and in particular art materials and now uses them almost entirely in her own creative practice.
Edward, after working with Acrylics, Oils and Watercolours throughout his career, began to intensively developing his technique of working with plants to create art materials during the first lockdown in spring 2020. Through experimentation, and learning from a variety of sources, Edward has gained a rich and intuitive style of working with the plants, and over the past couple of years, has become the main medium with which he creates.
Their workshops are focussed on the making of creative materials such as paints and inks, and the historical and cultural context of creative materials.
Kay Latto
Sculptor Kay Latto works from her studio in Yorkshire. Kay has studied at Putney School of Art and Harrogate College and has exhibited widely in Yorkshire. Kay has also exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy.
Kay was delighted to take part in The Society of Portrait Sculptors FACE 2023 exhibition in London and this year she was selected to exhibit at the New Light Art Sculpture Prize 2024 Exhibition, Newcastle.
Follow Kay on social media or visit her website
• Instagram: @kaylatto
• Website : www.kaylatto.co.uk
Heather Croft
Heather fuses and paints vitreous enamel (ground glass) on recycled silver and copper bowls and jewellery. Her work is inspired by colour, an amazing azure blue or an oak green, the landscape and the people she meets.
Heather started enamelling and silversmithing 4 years ago and particularly enjoys seeing what people create during workshops.
She is the Guild of Enamellers North East regional representative hosting workshop tutors for the members in the area and is a member of Heritage Crafts.
Katie Davis
Katie has a BA Honours Degree in Fashion Design from Leeds Art University, after which she worked as a Military Tailor for many years before starting a family. She now teaches and specialise in fit – helping people make clothes that fit them individually. As well as this Katie run specialised workshops in all aspects of sewing and garment making.
Lynn Ward
Yorkshire artist Lynn Ward has been painting for over two decades, but her projects have spanned centuries.
Fiona Robertson
Fiona originally trained in Fine Art, and over the course of her career, developed a passion for textiles.
She is inspired by the beauty and diversity of the landscape that surrounds us, exploring this by taking photographs, recording the colours of the changing seasons and capturing the light at different times of the day. Through a series of sketches, she focuses on the rhythms, colours and textures that are very much a feature of her work, using both free motion machine and hand stitching to create her fine art embroideries.
Small pieces of hand-dyed scrim, hessian, silk fabric, and fibres are laid out to create an impression of the planned composition.
Once this is done, drawing is done by sewing machine, laying down tone and creating movement. Finally, hand stitching is applied, developing highly textured detail. Each piece of work can take several weeks to complete.
Fiona has exhibited widely in the UK and has sold work to private collectors in the UK, Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Jo Garlick
Jo is a North Yorkshire Artist who has lived in the Yorkshire Dales all her life and is fascinated by all elements of the natural world, especially wildlife. She studied at Newcastle University and received an Honours Degree in Fine Art. Since obtaining her degree, she has had work accepted by various galleries in Yorkshire and the North East.
Her love of art started at an early age – besides the drawing, painting and sculpture which she was naturally drawn to, her father had an old SLR camera which he allowed her to use, and Jo was fascinated by the many and various results she could get with differing compositions and light. Her interest in photography means that her camera is always at the ready to capture landscape and wildlife, inspiring her sometimes unusual pictures.
Jo works predominantly in soft pastels, and loves the versatility that the medium offers. Her favourite brand is Unison Colour Soft Pastels, hand-made in Northumberland, due to their excellent quality and great colour range. With the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors on her doorstep she has a wealth of inspiration on offer and uses the medium to create vibrant pictures, not only of British wildlife but also of a broad spectrum of landscapes inspired by the character and heritage of the area.