Jewellery by Rose Ashley, Jessica Howarth, Jennifer Ho & Marie Canning; textiles by Laura Jones, Serena Partridge & Rachael Nila Whittaker; ceramics by Mayumi Yamashita & Anna Krengel; mixed media by Rosie Wates & LEO; film by Maggie Hall

The 2013 Craft Tour celebrates work that is miniature but monumental in it’s ambition, exploring memory, the human condition, the beauty of nature and objects of remembrance, with participating artists from the UK, Berlin, Japan and the USA.

Rose Ashley, Jessica Howarth, Jennifer Ho and Marie Canning are jewellers who make exquisite miniature objects: Rose Ashley from Eden in Cumbria explores the mystery of the subconscious through symbols – wings, sails, trees, ladders and lanterns.

 Jessica Howarth from Edinburgh creates tiny village installations that double up as enamelled jewellery, based on her travels around India; Jessica Ho celebrates her mixed Scottish and Chinese heritage in hand-me-down stories, explored through drawings and tiny, intricately forged silver objects. Marie Canning from Liverpool works in porcelain and is inspired by the Victorian use of herbal medicines. Her small vessels can be worn, helping to keep the wearer safe and well.

Laura Jones, Serena Partridge and Rachael Nila Whittaker tell stories through textiles: Laura works from her home town of Bath. Her installation of tiny shoes are inspired by the tokens and objects from the Foundling Hospital Museum in London, evoking heart rending stories of children and their mothers; Rachael is based in Bolton, Lancashire and her stories are those of the microcosm of nature, explored through fragments that are enlarged and abstracted.

Serena Partridge’s passion for historic European costume is displayed in her finely detailed objects. Based in Malton, North Yorkshire, her disembodied clothes mirror classic stories and inspire fantastic worlds.

Mayumi Yamashita and Anna Krengel’s ceramics explore the tragedy of the human condition. Anna came to the UK from the USA as a student and stayed with a host family. Her subsequent strong friendship with Joan Tindall, her surrogate mother, is celebrated through hundreds of tiny funerary urns in which Joan’s ashes have been placed. Mayumi from Japan, fuses natural and industrial landscapes; her objects are made monumental by the tiny human figures that are placed onto them. Her work plays with the cycles of life and death, destruction and rebirth.

Kendal-based Rosie Wates’ haunting photographic images use her own family history of immigration from Russia to England in the early 20th Century. Staged in boxes, these tiny travellers stand, suitcase in hand and frozen in time. LEO was artist in residence at VARC (Visual Artists in Rural Communities) in Tarset, Northumberland. Based in Berlin and London, his work is cheeky but thought provoking, joining the cityscape with the rural landscape through the medium of graffiti, that furtively questions the role of ownership in the heart of rural Northumberland. Maggie Hall’s videos capture a sense of energy and movement that is mesmerising. Her work is often about the process of making: the drawing, painting, tearing, changing of materials from one to another, the alchemy of art.

Visitors will be invited to explore these exquisite Miniature Worlds: inspiring stories of what it is to be human and of the wonder of nature, through interactive devices, peepholes, microscopes and magnifying glasses. Find Events In: What’s Happening Near Me? To sign up to receive details of Highlights shows in your area please fill in your details Email Address Between: 17-09-2019 And: 18-09-2019

3rd– 6th May Newbiggin Maritime Centre, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland
NE64 6DB Tel: 01670 811951

17th– 19th May Askham & Helton Village Hall, Askham, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2PG
Tel: 01931 712292

24th– 27th May St Thomas’ Church Hall, Stanhope, Weardale, Co. Durham DL13
2UE Tel: 01388 528673 / 07776 243795

31st May- 3rd June BURC (formerly St. Paul’s Church), Spittal, Northumberland
TD15 1QY Tel: 0775 2403409

14th– 16th June Hamsterley Village Hall, Teesdale, Co. Durham, DL13
3QF Tel: 01388 488323 / 01388 488318

21st –23rd June St Mary’s Church, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, LA6 2AU
Tel: 015242 71320 / 07515 327598

28th-30th June Arts Outwest, The Kirkgate Centre, Kirkgate, Cockermouth,

CA13 9PJ Tel: 01900 829966

The exhibition welcomes FREE school visits on the Friday of each exhibition (except Spittal which is on the Monday) booking essential. One of the artists will be available on the Fri & Sat of each exhibition weekend to meet members of the public, to talk about and demonstrate their work. (except Spittal which is on Sun & Mon).

The exhibition will be open 11am – 5pm

For further information contact: Karen Babayan,

Contemporary Craft Tour Officer

 karen@highlightsnorth.co.uk

Tel: 017683 53464