Shop with artist-centred organisations; buy exceptional craft from your sofa through makers’ online shops; get into the festive mood at a winter market; or treat yourself to a creative workshop where you’ll learn to make unique gifts yourself.
Kopf Pottery
Make your everyday more sculptural with unique vessels (from £50) by Plymouth-based Kopf, a studio pottery established by artist and a-n member Jackson Sprague. Playful forms and colourful glazes combine in functional, decorative homewares inspired by personal associations and, in the artist’s words, “the intimate drama of everyday life”.
3D printed musical instruments
Make your Christmas noisier with colourful, contemporary takes on traditional pipes, double flutes and ocarinas (from £20) by sound artist and a-n member Wojciech Rusin. Visit The Pipe Shoppe for playful pipes including ‘The Wobbly Finger’ and ‘Golden Zig Zag’; and with multi-instrument deals you’ll have formed a band by Boxing Day.
‘The Warrior’s presence is safeguarded for generations to come’ print
London-based artist and a-n member Charmaine Watkiss’ print edition (£350) for Liverpool Biennial is inspired by botanical histories of the Caribbean. It references the Anchovy Pear tree, which is indigenous to Jamaica and while once an endangered plant species, is now stable; as the artist puts it, “she’s a survivor”.
‘More Than The Eyes: Art, Food & The Senses’ book
Instead of overeating this Christmas, consume art in book form. In More Than The Eyes: Art, Food & The Senses (£32.99) writer and a-n member Ellen Mara De Wachter considers the ways in which food is used as a material in contemporary art to confront, subvert and quicken a range of sensations beyond visual perception.
Devonshire Collective
Shopping with Eastbourne’s Devonshire Collective supports their programme and the emerging and underrepresented artists they work with. Choose from limited edition artworks, such as Double Chamber Vase (£400) by a-n member Ashley Sheekey, whose work reflects their interest in the built environment, especially the overlap between public and private space.
Print your own gift wrap workshop
Learn a new skill and personalise your wrapping paper with printmaker and a-n member Pui Lee at Newcastle’s Biscuit Factory. In this creative session you’ll learn to hand print using lino blocks and stencilling techniques, and will leave with bespoke paper and gift tags to make your presents extra special this year.
Zoe Anker screenprints
Banish the gloom of dark winter days with one of Manchester-based Zoe Anker’s multi layered screenprints (£100). Made using hand cut paper stencils so each print is one-of-a-kind, these bright, abstract prints come ready-to-hang in neon frames.
Angel decorations
Create some sparkle with decorations by illustrator, printmaker and a-n member Karoline Rerrie. Her screen printed angels (£14) are made with a subtle glittering ink and recall 1970s folk imagery. Available through Birmingham’s Centrala Space – champion of artists from central and eastern Europe – whose shop also offers a wide range of gifts, from handmade knitwear and jewellery to books in English and Polish.
Brushes and brooms
Sweep up your Christmas crumbs in style with a brush or broom (from £29) by Carmarthen-based a-n member Rosa Harradine. Made from natural, sustainable materials, her work brings together traditional techniques with colourful details, to appear both contemporary and timeless.
Shop brushes. You can also buy Rosa’s brushes in person at Winter Makers Market at Former Horeb Chapel, Llandeilo on 7-8 December.
Winter markets
Get into the festive mood and buy directly from artists and makers at your local market. Mulled wine and mince pies optional. Here are a few of our favourite places to find many talented a-n members this winter:
One-of-a-kind pieces from artisanal ceramics to luxury handmade jewellery at Endless Love Creative Independent Art Markets, at Sheffield Workstation (16 November), Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle (30 November) and Edinburgh Fruitmarket (8 December).
Art, cards, jewellery, textiles and decorations at Creative Co op Xmas at Gather, Eastbourne, 17-18 November.
Ceramic artwork at Anglian Potters Christmas Selling Exhibition, 16 November – 8 December, Cambridge.
Gifts, decorations, prints, homewares, clothing and more at Thames-Side Studios Gallery Makers’ Market, London, 23 November.
Contemporary craft and design at MADE Brighton, 28 November – 1 December.
Top image: Karoline Rerrie, Colourful angel decorations
