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We are the UK's national charity for craft. We believe craft skills and knowledge enrich everybody.

29/10/2025

A new exhibition on the Victorian embroidery artist Mary Linwood runs until 22 February 2026 at Leicester Museums & Galleries, aiming to illuminate her life and work and restore her place in art history. The exhibition is curated by Ruth Singer (), a contemporary textiles artist who says of Linwood: “What fascinates me is how little known she is, even in Leicester.” The exhibition also features new works by Singer, reflecting on Linwood’s legacy.

With patrons including Queen Charlotte and Catherine the Great, Polly Dunbar asks why Linwood has not found a place in the history books.

This article is paywalled as part of our new membership model. If you're a member, head over to https://bit.ly/43sCt1b to read the article. If you're not yet a member, visit the same page to discover how you can gain access to extensive editorial, networking events and further craft content from just £7.50 a month.

📸: 1.) Pomeranian Dog by Mary Linwood. Photo courtesy of Leicester Museums.
2.) David with His Sling by Mary Linwood. Photo courtesy of Leicester Museums.
3.) Girl weeping over a starved goldfinch by Mary Linwood. Photo courtesy of Leicester Museums.

24/10/2025

'Five Artists Reflect On Their Waning Powers' is an automata by Paul Spooner made in 1983. The piece features five wooden male figures at a narrow bench, stirring coffee, smoking a cigarette, examining their nails, scratching their head and erasing their work. The automata is a lovely piece which we're thrilled to hold in the Crafts Council Collection.

This piece was recently used by The Courtauld to promote their Frank Davis Memorial Lectures 2025-26, as they explore and reflect on our changing relationships with digital technology.

🎬 Visit https://collections.craftscouncil.org.uk/object-w49 to watch a video of the automata in action!

📸: Todd-White Art Photography

23/10/2025

When a much-loved celebrity duo visits your workshop, you've got to honour them with their own bottle!

Glassblower Sam Sweet had the pleasure of hosting Jedward (PlanetJedward) in her studio for a workshop, and made this bottle to mark the occasion, featuring their iconic hair and a stopper in Irish green.

We spoke to Sam about the process and her love of glassblowing...

❓Sam, can you please tell us a bit more about what inspired this piece of work?
"Having just recreated my favourite Armani fragrance bottle as a tribute to Giorgio Armani, the concept was fresh in my mind when Jedward visited. Their incredible energy was so inspiring that I wanted to create something permanent to remember their positivity. I asked myself: if Jedward were to launch their own perfume, what would the bottle look like? It felt like the perfect tribute and perhaps the start of a series celebrating inspirational celebrities."

❓What do you enjoy about providing workshops?
"I love the entire glassblowing process – there's something magical about working with molten glass. What makes it even more rewarding is introducing people to the material for the first time. Watching students' faces light up as they experience the heat and flow, and seeing their designs come to life never gets old. That moment of transformation is incredible every single time.

❓What is it that you love about the process of glassblowing?
"I’m always excited about the potential that every gather of molten glass possesses. The fun for me is having a concept, trying it, and seeing what happens. From there, it's back to the sketchbook to work on the idea further, until the concept and result make something I’m satisfied with. When you reach that point where a piece is 'right', it feels like hitting the jackpot!"

Visit https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/directory/samantha-sweet-glass?utm_campaign=membership_promotion&utm_medium=social&utm_source=cc_facebook to see more of beautiful work by Samantha Sweet Glass.

16/10/2025

'A Place to Keep Our Ghosts', a site-specific installation by Jo Davies, now sits in the Unknown Tomb at Wells Cathedral in Somerset. Running until 1 November, the work is part of Wells Art Contemporary, an annual event set inside Wells Cathedral and its grounds.

We asked Jo Davies Ceramics to tell us some more about the installation.

❓Jo, please tell us a bit more about what inspired 'A Place to Keep Our Ghosts'.
"My site-specific installation ‘A Place to Keep Our Ghosts’ of seven urns for Wells Art Contemporary was made for the site of the Unknown Tomb inside Wells Cathedral. The Unknown Tomb stands empty: prepared, but never used.

The empty tomb has a sanctity that immediately struck me as beautiful and meaningful. It has the capacity to bring out our own grief by inviting us to impose our experiences of loss onto it. With this as a starting point, I created a group of lidded urns - each with differing 'characters' and a sense of humanity - as a familial group that are individual focal points for loss.

By keeping ashes, we allow ourselves to carry our much-loved ghosts with us wherever we are. These containers become hugely important in our grief-process, allowing us to keep them by our sides for as long as we need them.

I hope that the installation 'A Place to Keep Our Ghosts' will be a quiet, calm place to consider the losses in our lives and highlight the importance of the way we decide to keep, carry or place our ghosts through ritual objects or through burial in order to process bereavement."

❓What do you love about working with clay?
"That's a big question. I find clay to be an infinitely fascinating material. I love the meticulous work involved, the co-ordination required and the mental engagement it provides me. I am at ease with the work on the whole despite clay's precarious reputation but, principally, what keeps me coming back to it are the endless creative possibilities it offers."

Visit https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/directory/jo-davies-ceramics?utm_campaign=directory_membership&utm_medium=social&utm_source=cc_facebook to discover more of Jo Davies' work.

15/10/2025

🏆 Announcing a new initiative by Crafts Council: CC Loves, an award presented by our team to a number of makers at selected craft fairs to celebrate work which truly resonates with us.

By awarding , we aim to recognise that which makes craft unforgettable: excellence, innovation and personal connection. We’re also looking for environmental awareness and a clear and considered concept, that has been fully explored and realised.

Winners will receive an award placard, complimentary CC Membership and a shout-out on our social media channels.

We start this weekend at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester, where our Executive Director Natalie Melton will be in attendance.

Keep an eye on our socials for winner announcements!

14/10/2025

Running until 6 December at Ford Foundation Gallery in New York, 'Body Vessel Clay: Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art' features 'Two-Legged Vessel' by Bisila Noha, on loan from the Crafts Council Collection. See the work for yourself on the furthest right in the first image.

The exhibition explores how Black women artists have transformed the field of ceramics over the past seventy years, and we're thrilled to contribute such an important object to such an important exhibition.

📅 Until 6 December 2025
⏰ Monday - Friday, 11AM - 6PM.
📍Ford Foundation Gallery, 320 E 43rd St, New York
🎟️ Pre-register on the Ford Foundation website by 5PM a day prior to your visit.

Visit https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/about/collections/?utm_campaign=collections_loan&utm_medium=social&utm_source=cc_facebook to browse the wider Crafts Council Collection.

📸: Photos courtesy of Ford Foundation Gallery. Photographer: Sebastian Bach
1.) From left-to-right (all Bisila Noha): Reunion I, 2021, Terracotta / Reunion XII, 2022, Terracotta / Two-Legged Vessel, 2020, Black stoneware / *Two-Legged Vessel, 2020, Baney clay (*Crafts Council loan).
2.) Chinasa Vivian Ezugha, Uro (Performance documentation for SPILL 2018).

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Crafts Council, 44a Pentonville Road
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N19BY

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+442078062500

Website

http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/, https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/diversity-inclusion/community-guidelines

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