There a just a few days left in October and we have made a new record number of visitors per month and very close to our first 1000 visits per month,  only 33 short in fact - from the June 16th launch  we had  200 + visits, July we reached 638 visits, August almost the same at  639 ?...September 823 visits.... October 967 so far ! - this is great for our creators to get exposure and Peak District Creations has had some great feedback about the site.  Only a couple of 'spam' attackes and one suspected 'phishing' trip... less said the better on the latter.

I hope that you will help the site and forward this link to your network.

The Buy Art event is on in Manchester - well worth a visit

All the best

Mat @ Peak District Creations

Image by Look Creations

Forthcoming exhibitions

Like many designer-makers, I am most busy in the approach to Christmas, the time when people are seeking out something individual and special, unique and hand-made to give as a thoughtful present. I’ve been working hard, drilling and polishing antler pieces, embroidering hat tops cut from my felt, planning coordinating colours of wool yarn from my hand-dyed stash and bright silk linings.. it’s all great fun but intensive work to keep up with demand.

I’ve joined New Mills Original and will be featuring in the new exhibition there that opens on Nov 5^th.

I’ll be at the curated Artists and Designer Fair in Buxton Octogon on Dec 3rd and 4^th, 10am-5pm.

I’ll also be at the Christmas selling exhibition at the Hollowford Centre in Castleton on Dec 12^th 12 noon-4pm.

Hope to see you there!

Linda Moss

A day off today... well almost. I thought I would take the time to have another look at Pooles Cavern, Buxton.  I can certainly recommend the trip down...well along rather than down. The light display was interesting, the entire experience was fun especially for my two children and their friends. Our cave guide Ashley Cooper  was very well informed and a great story teller - holding the interest of the children and the adults on the tour. It was at least 25 years since I went into Pooles cavern, whilst the cave itself hasn't changed - more thana few mmm growth on the pointy bits -  the experience has been enhanced - Is it time for a return trip to Pooles Cavern for you ?

Difficult to get a good image even at iso 4000 hand held - I hope to get a photographic trip down to play with some lighting effects and close up work. The colour lighting really was dramatic.

Mathew Look

Peak District Creations

Peak District Creations past the 3000 th visit over the weekend with 2100 unique vistors since its launch on the 16th June -  12,855 page views in 20 weeks thats not bad going ! On the search for some new creators to enter the fold.  Groups welcome, pass on the word.

Mathew Look

Image by Lesley Jackson.

Thanks to the guys at Hammer Design - Hathersage, the last bit of the website is now up, running and crying out for new creators to be listed - so if you are or you know of a creative type that would benefit from a little more exposure - PUT THEM ON THE MAP ! It covers the entire  UK, and I hope that it will become a usefull aid for searching for a visual aid when wanting to take in a few studios, or workshops or galleries. You geta link to your website pages - which could help boost your traffic.

If you make a product, sell it at numerous galleries or events, or want to tell others where you are located - send in the details on the contact form and I will uplaod them on the Creator Locator for a small fee of £10 - it is free if you take out a subscription.

Competition - If you send in your details with a 'news item' to enter this months competition, you could get a free subscription for 12 months of web site pages to promote your creations - that little lot is worth £100 !  Scroll down the news items to see the details.

I hope to hear from you

Mathew Look

Peak District Creations

High Peak

Derbyshire

Image from Dana Venetiarose

We are very excited to be adding a sophisticated new feature to the website. The Creator Locator. A postcode based search facility linked with google maps.

If you are planning to visit the Peak District, or anywhere for that matter as this function covers the UK, you can  search the area around a postcode and see which creators are where, where they sell their creations, where events are located linked to creators etc. All creator subscribers to the site are added to the feature free, if you are not a subscriber you can be added for a nominal admin fee of £10 which ensures that site visitors at least get the opportunity to locate you even if you don't have a Peak District Creations section for yourself.

What a great way to put yourself and your chosen galleries on the map.

A new Add Me to the Creator Locator Contact Form is under construction to enable the information to be captured and communicated quickly to PDC HQ with a PayPal Payment Button - we will then add the map pins and away you go.

It is early days and I expect we will have some teathing issues - any comments please do let me know through the contact form

Competition

What is your Peak District Ingredient for your unique creations ? Do you use home grown vegetables or fruit in your product, or perhaps you create impressionist landscape images inspired by the Peak District. Maybe you have a small clay pit which supplies your ceramic  table ware materials.

If you make use of; take inspiration from,  or have a special Peak District ingredient we want you to share it through our news feature. Remember, Peak District Creators are not always residents of the Peak District, so if you visit the area frequently and sell your products in and around the peak District, send your news article.

Write a short news item min 250 words and send it via the contact form to me. Each week I will select the best articles for the news feature and at the end of October the article which had the most page views will win.

Rules - Judges decision based on google analytics and is final. Images for inclusion must be 'free for use by Peak District Creations' website. Its a bit of fun so don't get too worked up !

Mathew Look

Peak District Creations

Image by Dana Venetiarose

Elizabeth Forrest, Lettering artist - agread to give an insight into her work and method.

"I make pieces of work using hand made paper. I basically set aside a morning or afternoon to make it, in my kitchen. I use basic equipment- plastic bowls, trays, buckets and a liquidizer to make the pulp. 

I recycle paper that has been through a computer printer (i.e that has print on one side) and rip this or shred it into postage stamp pieces which, when soaked in water and then liquidized, forms the paper pulp.

I mix handfuls of pulp into a tray of water and then dip in a piece of fine mesh (actually mesh cut from a roll used to repair car bodywork) to bring out a layer or ‘sheet’ of paper pulp.

I think the attraction of paper making is that no two pieces turn out the same and you cannot absolutely guarantee the results.

So I like to make a big batch of paper, in different sizes, and decide later which ones are most successful.

The paper I make is mostly quite thick and heavily textured (although I do also make thin fragments, depending on the idea I am working towards), so it can take a long time to dry out naturally, depending on the time of year.

I like the way it dries out sometimes in an undulating way, as if it has a life of its own, although this can be controlled with careful pressing.

I don’t add pigments to colour the paper during the paper-making stage but paint the prepared paper with acrylic and gouache paint after drying.

I normally have an idea of what I want to achieve with the piece worked out in rough drawings by this stage. And usually the text I’m going to use will have come to my notice first. Although not always.

Two pieces of work which I can use as examples are ‘Time Passes’, a large wall hanging and ‘A woman’s guide to men’, a piece using a found book cover and fragments of hand made paper.

Follow the lnks to read more about each example and take a look through the Pages for Elizabeths works including som enew additions for the site

Frustrating how the weather has changed so much these last couple of weeks. From glorious sunny days with full red and orange sunsets to the damp grey with little more than a hint of sun up & sun down we have now.

Having spent so much time in the workshop over the last few weeks I missed all my chances of the decent sunsets and had to make do with for me, a more typical High Peak sun down.  Unfortunately the Brown Hare which had been sat bathed with the glowing evening light in the gap of the old stone wall decided I had got too close for comfort and ambled off ! It may have been a nice image with that added interest.

Image from Eccles Pike looking toward Bowstones in the Peak National Park  - I quite enjoy the compositions of 'outside looking in'. Eccles Pike falls outside the National Park and yet it is surrounded on three sides  by views looking accross to parts of the National Park. The topographical millenium bronze on its top gives a good idea of the wealth of landscape around Eccles Pike from Kinder Scout to Axe Edge & Combs Moss and Mam Torr.

I will get that Hare another evening, probably in grey mist !

Mathew Look

Olinda Everett - My next exhibition will be at the Arts Gallery in Cromford Mill, 12^th to 17^th November, as part of the Derbyshire Arts Cooperative

The Gallery is open from 9am to 4:30pm and further details are available from this link Website Link