IN PREPARATION FOR 'SILVER'

This month the Contemporary Crafts Network will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a Silver exhibition at the Sam Scorer Gallery in the pretty and historic uphill area of Lincoln. We hope that lots of people will be calling in to see the range of beautiful work that is on show. What many people won't realise though, as they wander around the calm relaxing atmosphere of the gallery, is the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes when putting on an exhibition like this.

It all begins with the date - a given for this particular event as it had to be 25 years from the start of the CCN - but the plan had to be formulated years in advance for the correct gallery to be booked, ensuring we could use our favourite venue. The lighting, facilities and suitable space for displaying our work, along with the setting of the gallery and accessibility for the public, are all taken into account.

The theme of the exhibition is discussed and agreed upon and, being an artistic group, we often like to think creatively about alternative names for our exhibitions. This occasion, despite exploring other ideas, was one of the few times when the name was so relevant it practically presented itself so we stuck with it.

All shows have to be arranged around other events too, making sure no other exhibitions will clash and that the majority of our members can take part. Once this whole process is up and running there is also the matter of planning a rota so that each CCN member can be on hand in the gallery whilst the show is on, no mean feat considering the varied and busy lives of everyone involved.

Then all the vital creative work begins - key to a group exhibition where members use such a diverse range of materials and techniques. Some people like to take time with their creations, taking pleasure in seeing things evolve slowly and working meticulously as it develops. They are comforted by the knowledge that if something goes wrong they will have time to put it right or, if necessary, fully recreate. Others, however, instinctively leave it until much closer to the deadline, relying on spontaneity and skill to ensure that they can produce pieces of quality, working off the adrenalin rush of having a limited time to finish their work.

Lifestyle can play a part in this too as many members have other work that takes up their time or families to keep them busy so the creative process has to be fitted in around them. The materials used also dictate how long an item takes to be completed - some take a long time to be formed, fused, dried or polished whereas other materials can be manipulated much more quickly and finished off with a flourish at the last moment.

Whilst all this is going on there is, of course, the important task of planning the whole exhibition, of ‘showing’ our work to the outside world. Many of us beaver away quietly in workshops, in our own little worlds, creating things that originated as an idea in our heads and that no one else can understand until we create it into something tangible be that in glass, ceramics, metal or a myriad of other materials. 

An exhibition is a chance to allow people into our world, to show a little of what’s going on there. It could be said that there would be no point in making all this work if no one were to come and see it but it is so ingrained within artists to create we would probably do it anyway. However it’s always a joy when other people want to look at what we have been doing, are interested in the processes and appreciate the effort put into each piece. We like to see their reactions and hear their comments so that we may learn and develop our work further and the inner glow that comes from an occasional compliment can do wonders for morale, making us feel we are on the right path after all. 

 To that end we need to let people know about our exhibitions and members of the group are also responsible for publicity and social media, getting the word out to as many people and places as possible. This may involve designing and distributing a poster, writing press releases, notifications to ‘What’s On’ sites, compiling newsletters for the CCN data base, updating our web site, facebook page and twitter account. All of this goes on quietly and tirelessly in the background to keep people informed about what we do and where they can go to see our work when we put it out for ‘show’. This year, for the very first time, we have also had a video made of CCN members in their workshops and studios which will be shown during the Silver exhibition. This had to be planned well in advance and provides a unique glimpse into the world of the crafts person, revealing our processes, inspirations and personal creative journeys.

Making any group exhibition a success involves work from all its members and the CCN ‘Silver’ exhibition is no exception. We have all invested time and effort into making this particular event extra special as it is a celebration of what we do and of what this group has been about from its very beginning – creating unique, beautifully crafted work and showing it to the public. We really hope that for the two weeks our work is on display people will call in, take their time to look around and maybe speak to the artists about their work. They may not consciously realise the amount of effort involved in each step along the way; that the plinths have all been freshly painted, the display carefully planned out or the lights angled specifically to highlight the details of each piece. This is all as it should be, the focus is after all intended for the actual work on display, but the hope is that our visitors will then appreciate the skill and time involved in creating each unique item and also perhaps acknowledge the unseen journey involved in getting it there for them to see.

Silver runs from 23^rd July to 4^th August in the Sam Scorer Gallery, Drury Lane, Lincoln.

Private view and meet the artists - Saturday 27^th July between 2–4pm

The gallery is open between 10am – 5pm each day.