We have visited the New Craftsman Gallery on every yearly trip, usually times three, we have made from Bristol to St Ives since 1987. I am sure I must have accompanied my parents from the late 60's numerous times too as they adored St Ives, Cornish art and greatly appreciated contemporary interiors and beautiful hand made things in general.
When I think about the New Craftsman Gallery I always recall the numerous friendly greetings we have been met with over the years. As we walked through the door, holding a box of our recently completed, 'hot off the press' marquetry sample boxes, on a sunny day during the last week of August, at the tail end of our holiday, that's exactly the warm reception we received.
Stepping across the gallery threshold, the atmosphere, as usual, immediately changed from the madness that is Fore Street on a hot summer's afternoon, with numerous people milling around and eating pasties whilst browsing shop windows, to a cool, serene, creative space with walls that seem to have absorbed the heritage of it's artistic past. After a friendly chat and some positive feedback we were told that the gallery director was out of the office for another 40 minutes. I thought to ask if we could leave our boxes for an hour and we then went off to the Tate for a coffee. This proved to be a very good decision because when we returned Ylenia Haase was waiting (our boxes already mingled with some beautiful pieces of jewellery in the central gallery cabinet), ready to greet us with a very warm smile and bags of compliments. To make a very happy week away in Cornwall even happier, she announced that she loved our boxes as much as we do and wanted to include them in the upcoming exhibition, 'Past, Present, Future'.
We thanked Ylenia for her enthusiasm, for being so generous with her comments and for giving Cubi our very first order, as well as the opportunity to show our boxes in such an amazing gallery as the New Craftsman, with all its history of supporting new artists and makers.
Making began on our return a couple of days later when Jonathan stepped back into the workshop the morning following a late evening drive back to Bristol. Kettle on, radio on, making then starts with selecting the veneers for the box tops, cutting the marquetry shapes by hand, assembling the designs and glueing them in place, permanently together. A traditional cabinet scraper is used to get an even finish, never easy when you're working with a natural material with grain direction to consider.
Next the solid walnut is selected, planed and cut to size ready for shaping, drilling, sanding and finishing. The cases have many stages along the way, each process completed with much care and attention to detail before the wood is sealed and the final wax application can begin.
Hinges assembled and interiors added complete the making of our unique, handmade ring boxes ready to post to St Ives, the most beautiful town in the South West in our opinion.
Twenty very stylish ring boxes will soon be on show and available to buy from New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall. Beautiful quality woods, stunning marquetry designs and skilled craftsmanship combined together to make useful, mini works of art and heirlooms of the future.
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