The Bag Lady

What is the appropriate response to being told that the Victoria and Albert Museum would like to purchase your work for their permanent collection? For textile artist Laura Marsden her response was one of overwhelming excitement that she simply could not contain.

Marsden is a sort of guerrilla lace-maker. Instead of demurely contemplating each pull of the needle, she stitches with great speed using thread recycled from strips of plastic bags and sculpts the ‘lace’ panels into what seem like delicate and ephemeral pieces. Up close however, the intricate lace transforms into tiny uneven and energetic knots. I imagine an expert would snootily call her work ‘unaccomplished’, but being a slave to tradition does not interest Marsden. After completing her degree at Chelsea School of Art she purchased a book called The Encyclopaedia of Stitch that she used as research into traditional techniques. Pairing this knowledge with a desire to recycle existing material, such as plastic bags, Marsden has invented a new method which she is currently patenting.

The V&A Museum have recognised in Laura an innovator. Sitting along side their historical lace in the textile storage room are two of her ‘Ruffs’. These necklaces are based on lace ruffs of the 17th century and made with plastic V&A gift shop bags that Marsden has been collecting for years when visiting exhibitions. As you can imagine she is quite a collector of bags, the green and white Marks and Spencer’s being her favourite!

The limited edition collection has been created exclusively for The Shop Floor Project and includes The Ruff, The Diamond Necklace and The Flower Corsage. The pieces from the collection are designed to be worn as well as collected.

View the Collection here

"Tea for Two" FREE OFFER for May Day Weekend!

To celebrate May Day weekend we are offering a Sexy Legs Milk Jug by Tina Tsang (worth £37) for all orders over £200*

May Day weekend is a glorious time of year for us, conjouring up visions of maypole dancers, picnic rugs and afternoon cream teas by the lake. Or if it's raining going to our favourite tea terrace at Brantwood overlooking Lake Coniston and order numerous cakes and scones! Come to think of it, is there anything more lovely than a picnic which lasts all afternoon and into the early evening leaving you delirious with relaxation .
A Picnic by Sir David Wilkie1822

*The Offer is available from now and ends 5pm on Monday 5th May. The milk jug will be sent automatically with any order over £200. Alternatively if you would just like to purchase a milk jug or any of the Sexy Legs Collection please feel free to visit our Ceramics Dept.

Have a lovely May Day Weekend!

Like Walking Through the Corridors of a Museum

The new Jewellery Department has opened this week and we hope you all enjoy browsing through. As with everything within the shop we wanted to try and re-create a sense of a 'real' interior and inspiration for this department came from calm afternoons spent wondering the corridors of museums and the beautiful film Russian Arc.


We envisage (and hope) you'll take some time out for yourself and wonder through, exploring the pieces that take your interest without anyone rushing past or disturbing you. We wanted to capture that unique stillness that we find in museums such as The Sir John Soane's Museum, The Pitt Rivers and the Geffrye Museum. We could spend all our time in these spaces.

The Exhibition Room Re-Opens

Since we first started designing The Shop Floor Project we always wanted to create an exhibition room, somewhere in the shop that is just dedicated to showcasing a collection of themed and temporary shows. To date there have been five shows and the sixth, Mallace in Wonderland by Bethan Lloyd Worthington, has just been launched. We are currently curating the year's programme with two spectacular group exhibitions for the summer and winter.

Forthcoming Exhibitions

May / July 2008
Officially British Summer Time Featuring UK designers with a distinct take on all that is British.
(Curator: Denise Allan)

Sept / Oct 2008
Art In Craft The influence of ethnic craft on contemporary art practice. Various Artists/Designers. (Curator: Samantha Allan)

Nov / Dec 2008
Northern Exposure A look at various international designers working north of 55 degrees latitude. (Curator: Denise Allan)


Exhibition Archive includes:
A Winter Maze Various Designers. (Curator: Denise Allan) Oct -Dec 2006
Landscape Prints by Denise Allan (Curator Samantha Allan) Sept - Oct 2007
Still Life Table, Various Designers (Curator: Denise Allan) Oct- Dec 2007
Bauble, Various artists. (Curator: Samantha Allan) Oct - Dec 2007
Cardboard, Giles Miller. (Curator:Denise Allan) Feb - Mar 2008

INVENTORY OF ARTISTS

We have been asked to give a comprehensive list of all the artists and designers that we've worked since our launch two years ago. I have always liked inventories and one of my favourite books is the the Tate Collection which is just a text book full of dates, titles and brief descriptions, but I love it! I suppose it is no surprise then that I find Japanese artist On Kawara's work equally exciting, archiving transient things such as time and place with his paintings and mailings. I first saw his work at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, UK but the MOMA have a great collection.




Below is our inventory which will hopefully grow and grow.

Antony and Alison, exhibition of fabrics Sept, 2007
Denise Allan, Hand made jewellery, Hand Painted Furniture, currently on show in Jewellery & Furniture Dept.
Samantha Allan, Artists books, currently on show in Book Dept.
Johanna Basford, Hand printed wallpapers that depict large repeat intricate designs on botanical themes. Currently on show in the Wallpaper Dept.
Glenn Boulter, Artists books, currently on show in Book Dept.
Daydream, Arts magazine, first edition. Currently available in the Book Dept.
Finsk, Footwear by Finish designer Julia Lundsten - designs inspired by the landscape and natural forms of her native country. Currently on show in the Shoe Dept.
Fisk and Fern, Hand made 'moleskin' and screen printed notebooks by New York based design duo. Currently available in the Book Dept.
Guestroom, Cosmic Transformer, annual publication. Currently found in the Book Dept.
Daniel Heath, Hand printed wallpapers and fabric incorporating designs that are inspired by Edwardian circus imagery. Currently on show in the Wallpaper Dept.
Alena Hennassey, Hand made bags, on show in Bag Dept from 1st Feb 2008
Karen Henrikson, Sculptural millinery from the London based designer. Currently found in the Millinery dept.
I'm Smitten, American design company producing t-shirts and cards using imagery from European folklore. Currently on show in the Book Dept.
Kieran Jones, 'Flat Pack Re-Arranged' A set of 4 limited edition pamphlets exploring the theme of the 'readymade' and 'authorship'. Currently found in the Book Dept.
Reiko Kaneko, Hand made artist ceramics, Drip Candlestick currently on show in Ceramic Dept.
Minna Kantonen, Limited edition of artist book. Currently found in the Book Dept.
Knox NY, Hand made Leather bags from New York, currently on show in Bag Dept.
Susie Lloyd, Well known for her jewellery made for the theatre and fashion shows, you can now commission Susie to create bespoke pieces for yourself. More information available in the Jewellery Dept.
LMNOP, The London based collective limited edition range of hand printed t shirts. Currently on show in the t-shirt dept.
Laura Marsden, Recycled 'plastic bag' lace jewellery, currently on show in the Jewellery Dept.
Patricia Nicolas, Hand made jewellery, currently on show in Jewellery Dept.
Jenna Rivers Future Craft Studio, Hand made crochet Star Necklace, currently on show in Jewellery Dept.
Selvedge, Contemporary textiles magazine. Issue 18. Currently available in the Book dept.
Belynda Sharples, Digitally printed wallpapers with designs influenced by modern themes such as airports and caravan parks or scenes of the English countryside. Currently in the Wallpaper Dept.
Shofolk, Handmade leather and vintage textile boots 2006/7
Natalie Thakur, Hand made leather bags, currently on show in Bag Dept.
Tina Tsang, Hand made artist ceramics, Blaue Blume (Sexy Legs Tea Cup, CAke Stand, Milk Jug) currently on show in Ceramic Dept.
Erica Weiner, Hand made Jewellery from New York, Bumble Bee necklace, Bird in Cage Earrings, currently in Jewellery Dept.
Jenny Wilkinson, Interactive 'painting by numbers' wallpapers, currently in the Wallpaper Dept.

I'm Dreaming of a Collaboration

I have a habit of trying to organise people into working together. Although I find it hard to work with other people when it comes to making a piece of work (something that will be put to he test later this year with a collaboration in the pipe line) I can't help but dream of the outcome of certain people working together.
Image: Back of Warehouse (from Industrial Landscapes series), Denise Allan.

My current mission began when the lovely Lucy May Schofield came to the Tin Shed show and said how much she loved Denise's 1950's Industrial Landscape Bureau which housed Lucy's books. She also said how much she was inspired by Erica Weiner's jewellery (in particular the Milagro Heart necklace that she purchased!).

Image above: Roadkill, Lucy May Schofield
So my mind began to whirl. Three really interesting artists, one who currently turns furniture into small dioramas of abandoned dockland, one who creates intricate books that fold and reveal unusual images and another who casts found objects into nostalgic, and often morbid, pieces of jewellery.

I would love to get them together and curate a project very soon and am looking into the possibility of it. The only real problem is the Atlantic ocean, but we will find a way! I'll keep you posted.
Image left: Erica Weiner's New York Studio

The notion of collaboration is a really interesting one. I suppose to some degree every piece of work is a collaborate effort. I strongly believe that nothing of any interest is created within a vacuum and the more references made to other ideas, cultures and disciplines within art, the better. This leads me to link to possibly one of the most influential artists within my own practice, Gordon Matta Clark. Clark collaborated with many different people, but just as interestingly, he collaborated with existing structures. James Attlee wrote a really interesting essay on the issues that arise in the collaboration process, using Clark and the collaborative exhibition Anarchitecture as the subject matter.



image: Splitting, Gordon Matta Clark