Esther Curtis illustrated ‘The Art of Survival’
E!orts are being made to preserve some of our most historic cra"s for future generations. Steve Wright meets four cra"ers keeping alive some fascinating, historic and now li#le-known practices
Esther is a Bristol- based freelance illustrator with a background in magazine design. Her editorial illustrations have been featured in Project Calm, Mollie Makes, In The Moment and Words to Live By, among other publications.
‘As a self- confessed magpie, I’d love to see the craft of illumination make a comeback. More gold foil in the world can only be a good thing!’
believe in demystifying the arts and cra !s and encouraging the artist in every man, woman and child. And I feel that wallpaper making and other endangered cra !s need to
survive as a tonic against the increasingly perfect mechanised production around us, which re"ects li#le of its makers or its making.’
These are the words of Hugh
Dunford Wood – artist, designer and one of a tiny handful of surviving UK practitioners of the ancient art of
handmade wallpaper making. Hugh creates his own wallpaper at his studio, from designs that draw on his own 45-year collection of sketchbooks.
Dunford Wood wallpapers are instantly recognisable thanks to their unusual, mo#led $ nish – a key outcome of their traditional mode of preparation. ‘ This irregular texture is testament to the integrity of the production,’ Hugh explains. ‘ Minor imperfections are inevitable, due to the characteristics of hand-block prints, and quite distinctive from the uniform "atness of silkscreen or machine-printed papers.’
A graduate of the University of Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art, Hugh learned his wallpaper technique following the Arts and Cra !s tradition pioneered by William Morris, as an apprentice of Peggy Angus in the 1970s. As an artist/
‘The Red List arose from a need to draw the public’s a!ention to those cra"s that were on the brink of extinction, in the style of similar initiatives for endangered species.’
designer, he has been commissioned by royalty and Hollywood stars, and has sold his work worldwide through Harrods, Paul Smith and Joseph in London, Bergdorf Goodman and Macy’s in New York and Yohji Yamamoto in Tokyo.
He’s also one of perhaps !ve or six UK artist/designers still making their own wallpapers by hand. That puts wallpaper making onto the ‘ Red List’ of endangered cra "s, as drawn up by the Heritage Cra s
Association (HCA), which supports and promotes both the practice and passing on of heritage cra "s as a fundamental element of our living heritage.
‘ The Red List arose from a need to draw the public’s a#ention to those cra "s that were on the brink of extinction, in the style of similar initiatives for endangered species and languages,’ explains Daniel Carpenter, the HCA’s Red List Research Manager. ‘The UK has always been a world leader in safeguarding heritage and championing the arts, yet – while our museums and galleries are full to the brim and internationally renowned – we have been le behind in what is known as ‘intangible heritage’. Our living traditions, skills and practices, which govern how things are made, form a crucial part of our national story. However, some are on the verge of being lost.’
But just why is it so important to protect these examples of intangible heritage? ‘ Without living heritage, not only will we lose the means to interpret the material remains of our history,’ Daniel expands, ‘we’ll also lose the ability to create the objects and buildings that will be treasured in the future.
‘ Intangible heritage is a resource for future generations to use, to adapt and make relevant, and to create their own livelihoods in ways that make sense to them. Lose it now and they simply won’t have that option,’ Daniel re$ects.
through all of her original recipe books and trying out each of the techniques and processes described within. ‘Some of the materials speci !ed were so obscure that we had trouble discovering what they actually were – they had changed names at least once over time,’ he recalls.
For Pedro, the appeal of japanning is both aesthetic and intellectual. ‘ Japanning and other historic paint techniques demand a completely
di erent mindset. For me, it’s like a trip back in time. If you come into this cra " thinking like a modern house painter, expecting to go and buy a tin of paint ready to use, and are not patient enough to let it dry properly in between coats, you will fail in a big way.’
There are challenges, of course, in practising such a li#le-known art form. ‘ Perhaps the biggest problem is continually ! nding enough customers who still want a japanned surface, or even know what japanning is,’ Pedro explains. ‘Another major issue is to manage the client’s expectations, and to be very clear that an authentic japanned surface will di $er greatly from a modern spray lacquer. Lastly, when it comes to most historical techniques, the materials I require are so seldom used nowadays that we are o"en close to losing them forever.’
Pedro stresses, though, the importance of maintaining his and other historic cra "s – from both a personal and a wider social point of view. ‘If you do not keep these cra "s alive, the knowledge and the materials will not be available for future generations – and when it comes to major conservation and restoration projects, there just won’t be the expertise there any more.
‘ We preserve our historic buildings for posterity, but the techniques that went into creating these very same buildings and interiors are intrinsic to them, and of our cultural heritage. When I took part in the recent project to reinstate the 80 missing dragons at the Great Pagoda of Kew Gardens, I seemed to be the only one on the panel of experts who had experience of using the copper verdigris glaze – a very fashionable ! nish at the height of the chinoiserie craze, when the Pagoda was built in 1762.’
‘We preserve our historic buildings for future generations, but the techniques that went into creating these very same buildings and interiors are intrinsic to them.’
Rachael Linton’s love of gilding grew from a childhood fascination with medieval illuminated manuscripts. A New Zealand-born artist and designer, now based in London, Rachael began her gilding career when she started applying gold, silver and copper onto her paintings. ‘I was interested in how metals energise workspaces,’ she explains.
Today, Rachael o!en prepares her paints and varnishes according to traditional recipes, using lapis lazuli, malachite, hand- collected oak gall, dammar [a hard varnish resin obtained from coniferous and hardwood trees] and frankincense resin. ‘ Medieval monks painted illuminated manuscripts with intense dedication and devotion, using gold to represent the divine. This concept resonates with me. Somehow pu"ing gold onto an item gives it a deeper meaning.’
Rachael has gilded a Hindu temple, a Sikh Gurdwara and the Queen’s Robing Room inside Westminster – as well as Christian, Catholic and Muslim religious objects. She’s also been featured in a documentary, teaching gilding on the Cu y Sark, made by the Heritage Cra !s Association and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
Rachael’s introduction to professional gilding began when Restall Brown & Clennell, a traditional English furniture company based in Lewes, asked her to work on some of their furniture. ‘ For a few years I gilded their tables and chairs, while teaching myself everything I could about water and oil gilding.
‘ Recently, I’ve been focusing more on the lineage and traditional cra !s
around gilding. Frame restoration,
verre églomisé [ gilding on glass] and chinoiserie are of particular interest to me. Gilding is such a rich practice both practically and theoretically – I feel very blessed to work with it. I’ve gilded and restored items that are so steeped in history… the stories they have to tell can be breathtaking.’
BACK TO NATURE
‘ Ten years ago, I was applying for postgraduate courses in anthropology and realised I’d had enough of urban life: I needed to be outdoors and start working with my hands.’ Lorna Singleton is one of the nation’s few remaining swillers, making traditional baskets from oak. But this wasn’t always her life’s path.
‘I’d spent many years volunteering on coppicing projects for several conservation organisations and decided to look into opportunities to do this as a career. Luckily, the coppicing apprenticeship, the Bill Hogarth MBE Memorial Apprenticeship Trust, is based in my home region of South Cumbria and North Lancashire. I a$ended the apprentice recruitment week and was hooked straightaway. Camping in the woods, swimming in the lake, spending all day learning new skills and then si$ing around a ! re with music every night – it all seemed completely natural to me.’
Then, in 2010, Lorna learned to make oak swill baskets with basket maker Owen Jones. ‘Again, I was hooked instantly. Although I wasn’t o%cially apprenticed to Owen, I’d spend days with him trying to learn the cra " whenever it !$ed for us both. I also tried many traditional woodland cra "s and learned a lot about coppice management. When I graduated in 2013, I knew I wanted to work with oak.’
Lorna’s is something of a unique cra ". ‘A basket made of oak seems such a strange idea. ‘Swill oak’ isn’t something you can buy from a timber merchant, so I have to source the material I need for my baskets and, together with Owen, I manage a private woodland near Grizedale
Forest in Cumbria. I love this connection to the source of the material: I know I’m having a bene!cial impact on the ecology of this ancient woodland, and working it as people have done for centuries.’ Lorna teaches courses in basket
making skills and styles, as well as giving talks and demonstrations. As such, she is both securing her own livelihood and doing her bit to help the techniques she loves to survive. ‘ It’s immensely important for this cra " and style of woodland management to continue. In an area where the majority of employment is in tourism, and there aren’t thought to be many prospects for young people, coppicing and its related cra "s are a key rural way of life.’
THE SHOOTS OF CHANGE
As it lobbies to prevent these cra "s dying out, the HCA has extended its e#orts beyond the Red List. It has forged a partnership with Airbnb to o#er a range of experiences hosted by cra "speople. Guests spend time with practitioners of cra "s on the Red List, learning about their way of life and the skills and techniques. As part of the link-up with Airbnb
Experiences, world-renowned photographer Rankin captured three Red List cra "speople – marbler Lucy McGrath, wheelwright Greg Rowland and clogmaker and spoon carver JoJo Wood. ‘ There are so many cra "-based skills that take years to properly
hone and develop, and which are in danger of dying out,’ Rankin says. ‘ We must not let this happen. Shooting with Greg, JoJo and Lucy, I got a unique insight into their work – and into why we should !ght to keep cra "s like these alive.’ So, how can you help? Becoming a
member of the HCA will assist the organisation to continue its work – and will add your voice to a growing campaign to o#cially recognise our intangible heritage. You can also donate to the HCA’s
Endangered Cra s Fund, which will be used to help cra "speople to overcome some of the obstacles preventing them from passing on their skills. Also, you can support your local cra "speople by buying their products and championing them in your community.
Last word to Daniel: ‘ What are we as people, if not the sum of our knowledge, skills and practices?’