Fine Stone Miniatures

Info:  We are a small Herefordshire based family business, Martin and Oliver being father and son, specialising in making extremely accurate miniatures of stone carvings for the connoisseur and serious collector, and our work can be found in many private collections around the world.

It is one of our aims that we operate our business in as environmentally friendly manner as possible. To this end, we are proud that we have taken the following steps: all of our incoming packaging materials are reused, or recycled; virtually all of our outgoing packaging materials are reused items, or are made with a high proportion of recycled material; we have reduced the amount of landfill waste produced by our workshops to almost zero (last occasion was in 2005) by finding ways of recycling waste material, either in-house by ourselves or through working in conjunction with others who are able to use the material constructively; our consumption of fuel and energy is closely monitored and we take care that it is not wasted through inefficiency or casualness; our vehicles have been chosen with fuel efficiency in mind and their fuel consumption is closely monitored.

Frailloop - Metal Sculpture

Info:  Recycling scrap metal with imagination and a MIG welder, Gavin Darby of Frailloop creates metal sculpture designed mainly for the garden and other outside locations. Garden gates, business signs, office focal points and of course the unique garden animals and flowers have all come out of the Nottinghamshire based Frailloop workshop.

Frailloop is my description of the world in which we all live. If you take more out than you put back, you break the loop, and it will all come crashing down. We should all try to recycle and reuse as much as possible. This is part of my effort. I cannot claim to be perfect, but I hope to do my bit. If I can make a difference for the good, I’ll feel better about myself.

Hubcap Creatures

Info:  Are made entirely from re-cycled materials. All the hubcaps are found, usually on the side of the road, and therefore bear the scars of their previous lives in the form of scratches and abrasions. I believe these marks add texture and history to the creatures they decorate, and so choose not to fill, overpaint or alter them in any way.

Irongarden Art

Info:  Specialise in modern, unusual iron sculpture for the house and garden. Our insect sculptures have been featured in national magazines and newspapers, and our wacky wire jewellery is very popular with those who have an eye for the unusual.

Recycled metal 'paintings' with a pot ring, inspired by music, floral, landscape themes. These plaques have been shot-blasted, which gives a clean natural metal finish. Unusual, unique, handmade containers with interesting shape, form and colour -- they have been cut from oil containers. Many of our chain sculptures include elements of recycled metal.

Jenny Ford - Sculptural Textiles

Info:  Jenny’s vibrant, abstract sculptures are created from intensively stitched velvets, silks and found media. Sizes range from an intimate gesture to a theatrical installation. Each sculpture is made to be discovered -- inside, round a corner in a contemporary white interior or, by contrast outside, emerging from an alcove in an ancient crumbling ruin.

Julieanne Long - Textile Artist

Info:  Living most of my life by the sea, it has had a big influence on my work, in the play of light on the water, and in the items washed up by the sea, the way they are transformed by the water and in the force of the constant rolling tides. I am also interested in natural forms, plants, seeds, trees and fossils, their structure and how these relate to stitch.

Ecology and recycling have been themes which have often run alongside my work, as I have frequently been appalled at the waste we as a society produce in the forms of packaging. Wherever possible, I have tried to use recycled materials in my work. Not only does this offset my guilt in someway about buying things with plastic packaging, but also I have to admit to a secret passion for plastic. Plastic is such a wonderful material to work with -- it can be moulded, manipulated, easily cut and painted. It provides the sculptural elements I want to achieve in my work. I love the juxtaposition too of stitch into plastic, the softness of the thread next to the hardness of the plastic.

The techniques I employ range from hand embroidery, especially needlelace techniques, knitting, felting and weaving, to the use of collage, found materials, plaster and wax.

Julie Starks - Environmental Artist

Info:  I create artwork that reflects my fascination with ecosystems, sustainability and the fractal nature of our world. Much of my work is based on looking closely at the ‘small’ worlds which surround us, sometimes to microscopic detail, emphasising the beauty of structure, texture and pattern. Using wood, metal, willow rods and other reclaimed materials I produce sculpture, seating and creatively landscape with living willow. My Photography details the life cycles of surfaces and plant structures, and is a constant inspiration for other artwork. I work for exhibition, to private commission and deliver creative projects within community environments.

I have worked with a diverse range of client groups such as Greenpeace, The National Trust, Westonbirt Arboretum, Bath International Music Festival and Womad Festival, as well as many Youth and Community groups across the UK.

Kathleen Standen Ceramics

Info:  My ceramics aims to explore issues around our changing relationship with the environment.

Industrial beachcombing was the starting point, first in Docklands, by the river Thames in London, and later in the fishing villages of West Cork, in South West Ireland. The forms are made using a combination of moulds and carving by hand, and are all inspired by machinery used in these locations (both current and redundant), such as winches and pulleys. The eroded and disintegrated surfaces take their inspiration from the fragile status of the environment whislt in our custody. The colours and patterns and glazes reflect elements in the city or by the coast.