Crafty Looks
I have always loved making things and creating spaces that make me happy, and my book Maker Spaces came about because I wanted to see how other makers live and work. I believe there is a strong, beautiful and important link between makers and the home and work spaces they inhabit.
Over the past few years, we have seen a revival of DIY crafting, combined with exciting advances in technology, all of which have made a huge impact on the ways in which makers live, work and connect with each other and their audiences. More and more makers are working from home, embracing new technology. The Maker Movement has also led to a renaissance of craft-based cottage industries, where artisans practising traditional skills use technology as an enabler.
Clockwise from left: Lovingly presented wares in Modern Relics, the gallery of jewellery designer Alix Blüh in San Francisco.A display on the counter in the gallery, with items designed by Alix’s friend and fellow maker Kimberly Austin. More beautiful objects in Alix’s gallery, hanging from a branch. Alix’s desk, in a small studio space above the gallery, surrounded by tools and trinkets she has made
I know how affected I am by the space I occupy, by the amount of light, by colours, by design and by the things around me. In my book you will see how maker spaces place a high value on methods, materials and process. Beauty, craft, homeliness, technology, history and the search for meaningful work can be found in the fabric of how these spaces are made.
‘Our home, our spaces, our work are all a part of us. It is the way makers see the world, the way our brain works,’ jewellery maker Alix Blüh explained to me. In order to be creative, we need to feel balanced, happy and inspired in our spaces.
Clockwise from left: The light-filled attic studio of interior stylist and felt artist Inge Cremer, in the town of Gorinchem in the Netherlands. Washi tape stored on hooks made from old coat hangers. Objects arranged on the studio floor for inspiration
My personal maker space is a home that I share with my husband Stef – an artist and technologist – and our four young children. My own craft and photography-based making is combined in our family with my husband’s making. The coming together of art, craft, design and technology puts our family and home (where we live and work) right in the middle of the Maker Movement. Making and creativity are at the heart of our family life.
Clockwise from top: Textile artist Vicky Trainor’s studio – nicknamed ‘the linen garden’ – in a 1930s semi-detached house in Northumberland. Rows of bunting made from vintage fabric and lace hanging above Vicky’s sewing machine. Vicky’s colourful vintage cotton reels, all perfectly organised
We have a large art cupboard full of supplies that the children can dip into whenever they want to – our family motto is ‘create something every day’. Stef also brings his love and knowledge of technology into the home; a home of 21st-century mini makers. Maker Spaces shows what this could mean for the way we live our lives creatively, in beautiful, inspirational maker spaces.
Maker Spaces, by Emily Quinton, with photography by Helen Cathcart, is published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £19.99.
Over the past few years, we have seen a revival of DIY crafting, combined with exciting advances in technology, all of which have made a huge impact on the ways in which makers live, work and connect with each other and their audiences. More and more makers are working from home, embracing new technology. The Maker Movement has also led to a renaissance of craft-based cottage industries, where artisans practising traditional skills use technology as an enabler.
Clockwise from left: Lovingly presented wares in Modern Relics, the gallery of jewellery designer Alix Blüh in San Francisco.A display on the counter in the gallery, with items designed by Alix’s friend and fellow maker Kimberly Austin. More beautiful objects in Alix’s gallery, hanging from a branch. Alix’s desk, in a small studio space above the gallery, surrounded by tools and trinkets she has made I know how affected I am by the space I occupy, by the amount of light, by colours, by design and by the things around me. In my book you will see how maker spaces place a high value on methods, materials and process. Beauty, craft, homeliness, technology, history and the search for meaningful work can be found in the fabric of how these spaces are made.
‘Our home, our spaces, our work are all a part of us. It is the way makers see the world, the way our brain works,’ jewellery maker Alix Blüh explained to me. In order to be creative, we need to feel balanced, happy and inspired in our spaces.
Clockwise from left: The light-filled attic studio of interior stylist and felt artist Inge Cremer, in the town of Gorinchem in the Netherlands. Washi tape stored on hooks made from old coat hangers. Objects arranged on the studio floor for inspirationMy personal maker space is a home that I share with my husband Stef – an artist and technologist – and our four young children. My own craft and photography-based making is combined in our family with my husband’s making. The coming together of art, craft, design and technology puts our family and home (where we live and work) right in the middle of the Maker Movement. Making and creativity are at the heart of our family life.
Clockwise from top: Textile artist Vicky Trainor’s studio – nicknamed ‘the linen garden’ – in a 1930s semi-detached house in Northumberland. Rows of bunting made from vintage fabric and lace hanging above Vicky’s sewing machine. Vicky’s colourful vintage cotton reels, all perfectly organisedWe have a large art cupboard full of supplies that the children can dip into whenever they want to – our family motto is ‘create something every day’. Stef also brings his love and knowledge of technology into the home; a home of 21st-century mini makers. Maker Spaces shows what this could mean for the way we live our lives creatively, in beautiful, inspirational maker spaces.
Maker Spaces, by Emily Quinton, with photography by Helen Cathcart, is published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £19.99.