Frome-based felt artist, Gladys Paulus, has been selected to exhibit some of her felt masks at Four Corners of Craft: an Etsy exhibition for the prestigious London Design Festival, which runs from Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th September.
Gladys, who is a member of artists collective OWL on Catherine Hill, has been selling and promoting her work through on-line makers’ website Etsy.com for a couple of years now.
Over 40 Etsy makers from across the UK were recently selected from an open call which attracted nearly 1,000 applications, and she is not the only maker from Frome to be chosen to take part.
She says, “Out of nearly 1,000 makers, only 45 were selected. Imagine my surprise and delight at seeing fellow Fromey Tess Wakeling of Luma room also among the selection! Tess makes beautiful hand-cut paper lampshades and is a former member of OWL too. Together we will do our best to represent our town well!”
According to Etsy, the aim is to unite the best of UK craft with an exhibition in partnership with Tent London, the Crafts Council and arts organisations in England, Scotland, N. Ireland and Wales. This will be a diverse and exciting selection of contemporary craft from the four corners of our country, tied together by the quality of making.
Partner organisation Tent London says, “Created to highlight the wealth of making talent selling on the Etsy site, names to look out for include jewellery designer Suzanne Rogers, glass artist Juli Bolanos-Durman, felt artist Gladys Paulus and furniture designer Tortie Hoare.”.
Gladys, who has only just returned from a three- week trip to the USA where she taught a series of feltmaking master classes says, “It’s been a busy month, but I’ve just sent off my work to London so now all I can do is wait to see what the reaction will be once the exhibition opens.
“London Design Week attracts thousands of visitors so it’s a great opportunity for exposure. All the selected makers have benefitted from professional support and advice in the lead up to the exhibition through a series of webinars, and I look forward to applying some of those skills to my business.
“It’s not easy making a creative living, so every bit of practical advice and support is gratefully received. This is the first time I’ll be showing my work outside of Frome, so it’s an exciting time.”
