Emerging Artists Exhibition

In 2010 when I was based in Leeds I won a competition - The Leeds Emerging Artist Award (Designer Category). The prize consisted of £100 cash, a screen-printed award by the Leeds based artist 'Supersaveloy' and a funded exhibition. The exhibition took place in an amazing building in the centre of Leeds - The Corn Exchange.

As a focus for the exhibition I decided to use any timbers left over from previous commissions and to launch as many products as I could in the two weeks I took out of work to prepare for the exhibition. I called my exhibition 'No Waste'.

At the end of the two weeks I was really pleased with the products I exhibited. I find it a lot easier to design and make in set parameters and the no waste theme was right up my street – Scottish mother and father from Yorkshire. I used offcuts from a table commission, a leftover turning from a kitchen commission, two boards of walnut I’ve had so long I no longer remember where they came from, scraps of laminate and a board of thermo birch leftover from a garden project.

Unfortunately the retail spaces available at The Corn Exchange are two thirds empty, plus a recent refurbishment and clear out of existing shops and stalls has left it seeking a new identity. This and a last minute withdrawal of funding for marketing of the exhibition by artsmix, the competition organisers, made the five days of the exhibition really hard work. On reflection the exhibition was worth all the effort, but I could have been more organised to make the most of the poor footfall. By the end of the exhibition I had an address book taking names and addresses for our mailing list, I was more proactive with passer-by’s, I had my price list mounted and displayed and actively gave out my flyers to anyone who cared to take one. Should I ever exhibit again, I need to ask myself - what do I want out of this exhibition and to be mega organised and prepared.

I would like to thank everyone I spoke to at the exhibition for their lovely comments and for the people who bought stuff – wow, thank you very much. I would also like to thank Emily Farncombe Upholstery the winner of the enterprise award 2010 and co-exhibitor for her hard work and encouragement. I would also like to thank Jonathan at Camira Fabirics who kindly sponsored me 7 metres of Craggen fabric made right here in Yorkshire.