Celebration of Craftsmanship

[Jacob]

I had the pleasure of going along to the exhibition again this year. I am fortunate in that I live nearby and can get there most years.
Betty Norbury started it 25 years ago and my first visit was in 1998. I've been most years and have saved the catalogues.
Betty's original concept was and remains, essentially a showcase for professional designers/makers in as much variety as possible. .....

If that was so then why the concentration on this very minor and specialised range of goods; luxury high price arts/crafts woodwork, stylistically "post modern"? There is a lot more stuff being designed/made out there!

 

[Yojevol]

I had the pleasure of going along to the exhibition again this year. I am fortunate in that I live nearby and can get there most years.
Betty Norbury started it 25 years ago and my first visit was in 1998. I've been most years and have saved the catalogues.
Betty's original concept was and remains, essentially a showcase for professional designers/makers in as much variety as possible. .....

If that was so then why the concentration on this very minor and specialised range of goods; luxury high price arts/crafts woodwork, stylistically "post modern"? There is a lot more stuff being designed/made out there!

She identified her market and the present organiser has stuck with a successful concept. There is limited floor space at the location so there is a limit on the number of exhibits.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

........
So we shouldn't decry the use of the tools available. They are mostly being used by professionals who are just trying to make a living and getting a great deal of satisfaction out of it.
It's a great exhibition. It has a great variety of items, most of which do not rely on CNC. Most visitors, invitees or fare paying passengers, go and admire the design aspects; not worrying about how it was made. A fair number, like me, admire the craftsmanship. I'm the one down on my knees looking at the table structure or surreptitiously pulling a drawer out to admire the dovetails and sweet motion.

Here's looking forward to next year's Celebration
Brian

All of the above, with jingly bells on! =D>

Mrs W2S - like most 'lay-people' - has little idea of the practicalities, and therefore the huge number of person-hours that go into some of these things, and thus the necessarily high prices. She enjoyed the visual and tangible pleasure to be got from some of the exhibits - and the simple 'fun' of the rocket for example, as well as talking to some of the makers. She would have been interested to learn a bit more about the construction methods and the thinking behind some of the design/construction details. If there were space and time available to do a little more of this kind of 'education' I think all would benefit.

 

[Yojevol]

She would have been interested to learn a bit more about the construction methods and the thinking behind some of the design/construction details. If there were space and time available to do a little more of this kind of 'education' I think all would benefit.

Perhaps the most significant development this year is the formal presence of no less than 5 Furniture making schools. The implication being "if you want to know more about all this, come and talk to us"
Brian

 

[Doug B]

Popped along to the exhibition on Bank holiday Monday, it’s the seventh time I’ve been in the last ten years & it was certainly one of the better ones I’ve attended.

There was some wonderful work on display, not all to my taste but it was good to see the general standard of workmanship was as good as I’d seen there.

This was a drawer unit my good mate Jon had entered, he also had a table & a stool but for some reason my iPad won’t let me upload more than one photo at the minute :evil:

My phones camera definitely doesn’t do the piece justice.

There was some CNC’d work there but it not as much as I’d expected overall I was impressed enough by what I saw to do the 260 mile round trip next year as it’s always inspiring to see quality work up close, plus a curry at Spice Lodge is the cherry on top.