Congratulations to Rebecca Gouldson for successfully completing her recent commission.
PRESS RELEASE - BLACK COUNTRY’S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CELEBRATED IN NEW RANGE
Made famous by Queen Victoria who asked for the blinds to her carriage to be shut on her way through the area, The Black County is a place synonymous with Britain’s industrial age. However within the pollution and darkness, master craftsmen and women were creating many objects of desire including the famous Bilston enamels which were sought after across the world.
Celebrating the Black Country as a centre for craft and design is a new handmade range of products. Launched in November, Buy Black Country comprises of five unique products, designed and made by some of the UKs most influential designer-makers.
The designers have each taken inspiration from the historic collections within the Black Country’s many museums and art galleries. The result is a range of limited edition items which capture the history of the area and the breadth of traditional industry associated with the Black Country.
The first release from the range includes two elegant timber candlesticks which incorporate leather layers reclaimed from Walsall’s saddleries and leather workshops. Designer Sarah Thirlwell usually produces vessels and jewellery which incorporate recycled and reclaimed materials such as yoghurt pots and vending cups. Thirlwell then creates blocks of materials which are turned in the same way as wood using a traditional craft in a contemporary way.
Designer Rebecca Gouldson is usually known for creating richly decorated metal wall-pieces, which incorporate etching techniques. For the Buy Black Country range Gouldson has produced two enamel and copper brooches in collaboration with the Black Country enamel workshop. Inspired by the renowned enamel collection at Bilston Craft Gallery, the design uses an OS Map of Bilston as its design reference, creating an abstract pattern with recognisable street names delicately etched onto the facia.
Internationally recognised and known for his one-off pieces of acrylic jewellery, Adam Paxon was inspired by the world-class glass collection at Broadfield Glass Museum, Paxon has made a striking pin brooch which teases out the hidden qualities in the material by emphasising the ability of acrylic to act as a receptacle for light. Made from layers of acrylic, the pin is shaped and polished to look like glass, attaching to its wearer with an innovative spiral coil which makes the pin stand to attention.
Corinne Miller, Head of Arts & Heritage, Wolverhampton said "Buy Black Country is a unique range which celebrates the rich heritage of the area. We are delighted to have commissioned a number of high profile UK designers, all have been greatly inspired by the collections we house in the area’s museums."
"Our collections reference the industry and materials which the Black Country is associated with, including glass, leather and enamelling. Buy Black Country offers Black Country people and those with a proud connection to the area a chance to own and cherish a contemporary token of its history."
The first release of items will be on sale from 5 November, followed by a further two commissions in spring 2011. But Black Country is available from Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Bilston Craft Gallery; Walsall Leather Museum; the Black Country Living Museum and Broadfield Glass Museum and online at http://www.culturelabel.org/