After what has been a most extraordinary 12 months, Christmas is almost upon us and we wanted to share with you some of our top picks for unique and beautiful gifts from the Michael Aldrich Foundation network of artists and makers.
Eleanor Owens was pivotal to our recent Image of the Week project and introduced old and young alike to the wonders of shrink pots. Eleanor’s beautiful Etsy shop is brimming with hand carved spoons and dishes made from locally sourced wood. Look out for sweet Christmas wrens and robins HERE
Jack Durling’s tender yet powerful sculptures of exploited species marry ceramic art with a strong conservationist message. He is a member of the prestigious Craft Council Hothouse programme and his black rhino sculpture was a stand out piece in our Image of the Week project. Jack’s work is available to buy from his online shop (new pieces being added all the time) and he has kindly agreed to offer a £5 discount to readers of this Guide and make a donation of £5 to the Michael Aldrich Foundation HERE.
If you have enjoyed Tommy Sissons’ writing this year, you can buy his debut poetry collection, Goodnight Son, from Waterstones HERE. Great stocking fillers are the first issue of Tommy’s magazine GRASS, a thought provoking mix of working class literature and art HERE and the Autumn Edition of The Poetry Review which features two of Tommy Sissons‘ poems HERE
Opened just a year ago, Heavy Gretel in Warwick Street in Worthing is a go-to shop for art, design and craft by independent makers. Skilfully curated by owner and jeweller, Hanna Mawbey, the shop is an exciting mix of prints, jewellery, textiles, homewares, ceramics and plants. To celebrate the shop’s one year anniversary in these most challenging of times, Hanna is offering a 10% discount to be used throughout November. Just sign up to the Heavy Gretel mailing list to qualify. With another lockdown upon us, Hanna has been busily adding to her online shop HERE.
Also from Worthing, photographer Steve Gallagher held his first solo exhibition this year and featured in the Brighton Photo Fringe. His beautiful images of seascapes and flowers are already attracting attention and can be found HERE
A passion for sustainability is the driving force behind Brighton design studio Gomi. Following a hugely successful Kickstarter during lockdown, Gomi‘s latest design, a portable charger is now available to buy. The environmentally-friendly portable charger is made from 100% non-recyclable plastic waste, with the power coming from repurposed batteries saved from landfill. Even better if you use the discount code ‘MAFGIFTGUIDE’ not only will you get £5 off one of these very cool chargers and help save the planet, but Gomi will also donate £5 to the Michael Aldrich Foundation. So win, win. BUY HERE
All the artists and makers featured here have kindly agreed to make a donation to the Michael Aldrich Foundation (Charity number 1047341) to help us continue with our work, promoting arts education, running community arts projects and supporting creative businesses. Buying from these artists and makers also helps support them and the arts sector generally.
