Rosie and the Boys: Guestspot by Butterscotch and Beesting

A slight deviation from the normal interview, today's post is by the delightful Camilla from Butterscotch and Beesting....

A lot of my weekends are spent at craft fairs and markets, either working or noseying around. But the craft fairs I go to now are nothing like those of my childhood (and there were many, many craft fairs in my childhood) where my mum [http://www.hannewestergaard.com/] would try to sell her Modernist ceramics in a room full of knitted tea cosies and floral embroidery.

It’s not that you wouldn’t find knitted tea cosies at today’s craft fairs (or that there’s anything wrong with them; I’m a bit of a fan actually), but you’re more likely to see an illustrated ode to the Arran-sweatered teapot than the real article. Like this one by Chasing The Crayon…

White Rabbit Has Breakfast by Chasing the Crayon

Now it seems, rather than being the black sheep in a family of art galleries and design shops, today’s craft fairs and markets showcase the work of a new breed of ‘crafters’ who don’t take much notice of those distinctions. Their work crosses the divide of art, design, making and craftsmanship. So, for example, an original illustration might end up as a series of prints, fabrics, ceramics, wallpaper, badges. Knowing how to do that, how to interpret designs for different products, is a skill in itself.

So long live the reign of new craft fair, and those makers/designers/artists/illustrators/printmakers/sewers/ceramicists/jewelers/knitters/crafters who work crazy hours to get everything ready, squeeze it all into boxes and suitcases, spend ages setting up their stall, struggle with pricing, suffer cold toes, forget to eat lunch, and carry it all back again at the end of the day.

Here are just some of the work of those people I’ve met in my past few months on the craft fair trail…