From Maker Wednesdays
Fanciful Fabric Printing
This month, the vintage loving Jacqueline Davies -a surface pattern designer and painter who was raised in Lancashire -
taught fabric printing / painting at Maker Wednesday. Using blocks of wood, we drew out shapes, cut them from foam and created patterns using our own printing blocks. We’d like to thank Jacqueline and the superb attenders who made bags and their own patterned fabric.
Shall we begin?
As a textile artist I am always looking for new skills to transfer and manipulate for my personal practice, being a huge lover of making in general, I find lots of traditional craft techniques spanning all mediums both interesting and relevant to my work as well as providing an exciting challenge with (hopefully) a beautiful and unique result. Read more
The Thoughtful Maker.
As a new graduate living in Colchester, I will be exploring topics surrounding craft/making in the contemporary surroundings of today’s society from a makers perspective on behalf of the Waiting Room. Read more
Brewing up a storm
Last night Andy Skene from Pitfield Brewery gave us plenty of inspiration, knowledge, and beer to drink, as he explained the brewing process and showcased his organic vegan beers for our weekly Maker Wednesday.
“Our beers have won many awards in competition against non-organic beers, and we continue to push the bounds of what organic brewing can achieve. Since 2008 Pitfield has been brewing near Moreton in Essex. Pioneering new ways to increase the appeal of handcrafted beer has been at the core of Pitfield’s philosophy for over 30 years.”
Portrait of a brewer
In preperation for tonight’s Maker Wednesday with Andy Skene from Pitfield Brewery, we wanted to share this fantastic video, Portrait of a brewer from Paul Bates.
Letterpress: The Year Ahead
We’ve had a busy couple of months behind the scenes at the St Botolph’s Letterpress. We’re coming on leaps and bounds in the print room, we put on the first of our annual letterpress themed exhibitions, and we also screened the great documentary Proceed and Be Bold! about maverick printer Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.
Now we’ve finally got a chance to catch our breath, it’s time for a look back at our programme of talks and events so far, as well as a look forward to who we’ve got planned for the rest of the year.
HackMakerSpace Showcase
We had an informal evening inviting locals in to view our developing Hack Maker Space workshop and artists studios.
DIY Stitch & Bitch
Stitch & Bitch were inspired by Fancymade’s DIY Watermelon shorts. So they held a Maker Wednesday session inviting local ladies and gents to come sew their own customised garments. Fish Claw rehearsed, the St Botolph’s Letterpress sorted type and the Board Game club went through their collection. We even had some life drawing artists in! A great night. Thanks to everyone that joined us.
Box Park with Broa
We had a superb team of volunteers to help glue, nail gun, sand, contour cut, and screw (not in that particular order) for our box building Maker Wednesday with fabricator Broa Sams. The boxes will be used for seating for various festivals and event held over the summer and storage for the Hack Maker Space.
Thanks to everyone who attended and got stuck in, plus big thanks to our host Broa for showing us the ropes.
Letterpress Takeover #3
Len Friend of the Crescent Card Co. in Maldon joined us for the third St Botolph’s Letterpress Takeover. Len is the chairman of Essex branch of the British Printing Society and he gave us a machine minder’s perspective on letterpress and how it can adapt to survive in a commercial world. He also be showed a short film documenting the production of a book, from setting, through to printing and binding.
Len’s been in the business for a long time, we got plenty of insights into an industry that is constantly being forced to evolve.
Photos: Lee Thomas
