A Barton upon Humber coffee shop is supporting international World Water Day on Tuesday. (March 22)
The popular Ropery Coffee Shop, part of The Ropewalk arts complex, is happy to provide tap water for their customers without any charge.
But on Tuesday it will be asking customers to make a voluntary donation for their tap water which will go towards fighting the global sanitation and water crisis.
This year World Water Day takes as its theme Water for Cities to encourage everyone, from governments to individuals, to address the challenges of urban water management.
“We have always had a strong commitment to WaterAid, which supports World Water Day, and this is just another way of raising money for this very worthwhile cause,” said The Ropewalk’s managing director, Liz Bennet.
“For some years now we have supported the work of WaterAid through various fundraising ideas and asking for voluntary donations for tap water on this day seemed a natural progression,” said The Ropewalk’s managing director, Liz Bennet.
About four years ago The Ropewalk organised knit-in for knitters from all over the area who gathered to knit blue squares which were then sent off down to WaterAid in London to be sewn into what was the world’s first ever knitted petition.
Since then The Ropewalk has supported the charity by channelling money raised from its Book Swap shelves in the Coffee Shop and knitters who sold cushion covers and hot water bottle covers in the Craft Gallery.
“In January this year we were delighted to send to WaterAid £421 which paid for a school sanitation block and a puppet show to teach good hygiene practice,” said Liz. “And we are continuing our support through the Book Swap scheme.”
In a further development, the Coffee Shop has been registered as a refilling station for tap water joining more than 500 pubs, cafes and shops throughout the country who offer the facility.
“We always try to be as green as possible and at the moment we are the only facility within a 40 mile radius to offer this resource to members of the public,” Liz continued.
A refilling station is a cafe, shop or pub which provides tap water for free. A member of the public can come in to any refilling station and get a re-useable bottle filled with tap water at no charge. Details of all refilling stations can be found on www.tapwater.org
Spring Awakening
In the Box Gallery this month we have been inspired by the weather, and have put together a display celebrating spring. The focus is on the rebirth of nature, selecting pieces which represent the bloom of new flowers and joyous animals. The range of work within the exhibition is from a variety of makers working in different crafts all embodying our theme of spring.
Here is just a selection of the pieces we have on display in the Box Gallery.
Paul Collinson | Gary Saunt | Kat Saunt | Steve Upton
This exhibition shows work by a group of East Yorkshire and Hull based painters whose practice involves, either incidentally or wholly, the used of photography or computer software.
This can be in the organisation of the idea, the capture and use images as subject matter, or in the very creation of the artwork itself.
What all the painters do have in common is that need, the “agitation”, to produce something that has a presence.
Obviously my specialisation is in ceramics, but over the last 3-4 years I have diverged into 2D abstract and flitted back and forth between the two often combining techniques across both. A constant theme throughout has been the printed letter/text and the interplay between positive and negative space therein. The older letter bottles are relief printmaking in clay and from them blossomed the larger industrial 2D abstracts onto old metal shelves and disused wooden pallets. Another ever present has been my trusted blowtorch, which has enabled me to produce interesting surfaces and textures in the clay through forced drying and also letting me introduce dirt into the painted surface in the form of trapped carbon. It is important for me to be true to the material and allow it to be inherent in the final pieces.
Topics and style vary, from heavily textured, distorted pots, to letters bottles discussing elements of jazz, to political and social commentary and stuff about bikes? The large abstracts initially explored the rhythms between the letters but then began to migrate into the self-portrait in the form of big selfies and some of these themes then translated back into the pot form.
Throughout my career my work has cycled back to the same themes – surface and form – and these are essentially what this exhibition is about.
Customisable jewellery by Jackie Selcraig
Jackie Selcraig does not abide by the taught rules of creative design, for her it is very fluid and unstructured. Governed instead by play Jackie begins by siting down and experimenting with the composition of the bits and pieces she has collected over the years. Enjoying mixing colours, textures and materials, the aim is always to create something different, unique and unusual.
Modjool started with the Build Ring, since then, it has grown into a whole family of interactive jewellery, attracting fashion conscious customer eager to take advantage of the versatility of the range. Modjool is a system of statement jewellery, which features ranges which can be worn individually, mixed and matched or combined magnetically. The wearer can adapt the appearance by simply changing colour, shape, size, material or style all within the same jewellery collection.
Shape is bold, geometric, statement jewellery. The pendants can be magnetically attached to any of the colourful Click Range using a special bail.
Build is fun customisable jewellery. The silver ring and necklace base pieces can be transformed by adding a variety of colourful beads and stoppers. You can create a different look every day. Mix the colours up or choose a neutral palette for something more sophisticated.
There’s something about the contrast of textures of the different metals and etched parts that is so compelling. Metal is not always a hard shiny intractable thing – it can have a softer look, have variable colours created by the act of heating, can be a way of drawing in the air.
Jill Stewart was brought up in rural Northumberland, surrounded by nature and colour, always noticing the tiny details that surround us. After city adventures and unsuitable jobs, she started to make things, and developed unique ways of working in brass, copper, silver and titanium. The clocks developed after she was challenged to make larger items than jewellery, and to really develop a colour palette using the effects of heat on different metals. After cutting out the shapes, a large flame is used to solder parts of the design together, but also makes copper go beautiful unpredictable shades of dark red, and changes the look of other metals, especially the etched parts. The handmade look is important, that you can tell an actual person worked closely with their materials here, not absolutely sure how each process would turn out.
Harrison’s Garden
If John Harrison had a garden, how might it have looked?
In 2017, artist Luke Jerram took that thought and turned it into an amazing and imaginative exhibition that has been touring the UK. His idea was to create a ‘an imagined garden’ of clocks clustered into species, forming ‘flowerbeds’, ‘islands’, ‘pathways’ and borders’. Luke’s array of around 3000 timepieces has now visited the beautiful National Trust properties of Nostell Priory, Gunby Hall and Penrhyn Castle.
And in January 2019, Harrison’s Garden will reach its final destination at The Ropewalk. Bringing Harrison’s Garden home has been organised by the Better Barrow Community Project and Luke has kindly offered to donate the clocks to their fundraising cause to erect a statue of John Harrison. The clocks will be auctioned at the end of the exhibition – for further information visit betterbarrow.org
Harrison’s Garden was originally commissioned by Connect! and presented over 5 days at Devon’s Thelma Hulbert Gallery in 2015.
