Green & Organic '08 Opening Night Fashion Show! Images by Sam Stockman

Janet Wootton

Janet Wootton is a communicator, both by profession and through her art. Her work has landscape origins and mainly explores the properties, surfaces, tensions & melting points of plastic-based materials and aluminium. The finished work ranges from transparent images of a sensitive but highly coloured quality, to rugged relief paintings of a distinctive constructional and linear nature where horizon lines are significant. There is a recycling approach in much of Janet's work, through the reusing and re-working of plastic bags and aluminium sheet and wood and their conversion into artworks.

David Booth

David Booth was born in Manchester in 1963. He is currently studying Fine Art at Derby University, where his work is receiving high praise. David works in painting , photography, sculpture and installation. In Green & Organic '08, David is exhibiting a large photographic print 'Sciatica', a reflection on a illness he has suffered from, it depicts the spine with 24 recycled chairs. His other piece in the show comes from an installation work 'Dark Water', using recycled plastic & a recycled canvas frame, the plastic gives the impression of the dark depths of water and the beauty in its movement.

Dora Winstone

Dora has been working with and collecting recycled envelopes for the past year in an attempt to create interesting images out of an object that we all discard everyday, trying to illustrate the range of colour, contrasting between the inside and outside of the envelope. She enjoys seeing the initial lines that are the thoughts behind the form, and love working with layers, be it through manipulating paper, paint or composition. Including personal aspects in her work is important, illustrating a friendly face or significant place. Travel has influenced her work a great deal in the past year.

Louise Williams

The subject matter of Louise's work tends to be decorative objects such as plants and flowers, cakes, sweets and jewellery. This current mixed media range combines painting, drawing and machine stitching with collaged materials such as giftwrap, newspapers, magazines, postcards and hand-made papers. The aim is to create colourful, decorative pieces, rich in pattern and texture.

Adrian Shaw

As both a scientist and artist, Adrian uses montage and other mixed media methods to explore the boundaries between technology, the environment and society. He is particularly keen on utilising ‘found’ or discarded objects- the detritus of our post-colonial, global society in his art. Often, he uses assemblages and installation9including painitng, text, printing and light based methods- photography, video in a trans-media approach. He is also, as someone of anglo-indian background interested in investigating identity, memory and diaspora, which he calls ‘universal tourism’. Stylistically he works in a ‘faux naive’ manner. Adrian lives in Nottingham and is currently completing an M.A. in lens-based media.

Carol Savage

Carol is disturbed by the violence, alienation and disconnection in modern society and drawn to the broken, aged and worn-out fragments we leave behind, or views of the world that may be partial or incomplete. For this series of prints she began with drawing small elements of the landscape, layering and manipulating them to create a new whole. These were then the focus of printmaking techniques with a green ethic. Ferric chloride is used to etch rather than the more toxic nitric acid, and biodegradable sunflower oil is used to clean up, rather than white spirit. The chine collee is litter and waste paper fragments.

Tamsin O'Sullivan

Tamsin is a self-taught mixed media artist focussing mainly on paintings, collages and altered art. She mainly works in acrylic with a mixture of vintage and recycled items. She uses a variety of materials including glitter, jewellery, keys, buttons, mirrors, ribbons and lace. She collects her materials from auctions, charity shops and craft stores. She is inspired by anything vintage and retro, tattoo art and pinup art. At the moment she is mainly making small paintings using copies of vintage photos of women from the Edwardian and Victorian eras.

Vincent McGrath

Vincent is a designer maker from Nottinghamshire with over 12 years experience in the stone masonry and granite trade, having graduated with a B.A. Hons degree an Industrial design in 2001. Vincent’s company, 1-Limited edition provides unique, one-off pieces of art from a select choice of high quality recycled materials, emphasising the use of natural resources that will last a lifetime thus providing an environmentally friendly and sustainable product.

1-limited edition website

Eireann Lorsung

Eireann makes prints, drawings, dioramas and paper constructions as a way of understanding the world around her and her relation ship to it and to the people she meets, using repeated symbols to represent these places, people and herself. Understandably, therefore, the work she makes can feel very personal. She tends to work on a small scale (partially because she’s been moving from place to place for the past few years), which lends a feeling of intimacy to the work. The media she is currently working in are etching and gouache/watercolours. She makes prints at the Leicester Print Workshop, and at the moment she is particularly interested in exploring the possibilities of chine collee for her prints.

Cecilia Davies

Cecilia has been exploring ideas of how global warming could impact our lives through an instant freeze. This project was inspired by the work done by the artists of the Cape Farewell project, who are trying to raise the public’s awareness to climate change through different forms of art media. The materials Cecilia has used to create her sculptures are paraffin wax, blue wax dye, various pieces of domestic furniture, and objects used around the home, mostly recycled. Wax is used to represent ice and snow textures: it bends and moves on its own like a frozen environment and it seems to gives her sculptures the sense of fragility. The furniture is used so people could relate to the objects and to create a sense of loss of the things we take for granted.

Sam Clift

The traditional adaptability of materials such as carpet and their presence in occupying a space is explored and is a strong contributor towards encapsulating the viewer. Its hybrid stasis for brief moments unwinds a journey of transformation, adapting to environments like an organism whilst developing its own sense of existence within a space. Artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly and Jessica stockholder hold a strong link to underpinning the current work.

Laurie Clark

Laurie is a multi-disciplined artist who studied at Manchester Metropolitan University. Whichever medium she is using, pattern and colour always feature heavily in her work. She is currently developing a series of paintings and mixed media pieces infusing vintage wallpaper designs, fabrics and nature. They are influenced by the patterns and colours of the Art Deco period and Arts and Crafts movement, in particular the work of Henry Macintosh and William Morris. Within these paintings she has tried to give a sense of age and history, leaving the impression they are fragments of a time gone by. She uses materials she finds lying around, stamps, old letters, tea bag paper and dress patterns. Each collage is hand sewn and uses a broad variety of materials to give a tactile and unique quality.

Joan Beal

Joan has studied for two hours a week at W.E.A. classes for two years. Last year, aged 72, she suffered a stroke. Her art played an important part in her recovery. She tries to use unusual subjects and materials for her work. The portrait was done using instant coffee. She does not comply with many rules: sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. She doesn’t worry about the failures. She just tries again!

Chris Abbott

A large portion of Chris’s art materials are recycled, bought at flea markets and car boots. One of his main influences has been Robert Irwin and his definition of art as “a continuous examination of our perceptual awareness and a continuous expansion of our eagerness of the world around us.” For Chris this has meant seeing things in a different light. An example of this is ‘childhood memories revisited”. He has attempted to recapture the simplicity of the time and to break through the constraints that time binds us to.

Alan Birchall

Alan Birchall 'Red Lion Pottery' is inspired by some elements of Oriental philosophy especially Zen & Wabi-sabi in relation to ceramics. He likes the concept of finding 'beauty in the impermanent, imperfect and the incomplete, in things modest & humble & in the unconventional'. He is also inspired by geological formations and flora in the surface texture of his ceramic work. His glazes are based on traditional oriental recipes and often incorporate native wood ash. He experiments with the wonderful effects that natural ash and the raw flame can produce in his wood-firing kiln. In the cabinets of Green & Organic, Alan will exhibit pots created using some locally dug red clay as a slip, ash glazes created from locally sourced coppiced and pruned trees or old pallets, and all fired in his carbon neutral wood kiln. Come along to see his really stunning and unique pots in Green & Organic.

Eco decorator - Peter Padun

Decorating is something most of us have undertaken at some time in our lives, often on a regular basis. In our own domestic situations, we generally have a casual approach to the health and safety implications of the materials we are using. Peter Padun, Nottingham based decorator has been working with these eco, natural paints for a while. He was impressed with the quality of natural paints, the health benefits - no smells, no feeling groggy and no headaches! People are surprised and have a keen interest when he mentions that there are natural paints & products available. Their initial skepticism is the cost of natural paints & products, these paints are not as expensive as they think and in certain cases are a lot cheaper than solvent based paints.

Meet Peter and find out more about eco, natural non solvent paints in this year's Green & Organic market!

Trash Blooms

Claire Harris is a Midlands-based textile artist and designer who studied both at Coventry University and then Liverpool John Moores University where she gained a BA(hons) in Fashion. A major componant of her design practice since then has been the use of unconventional materials which are stitch assembled into abstract wearable forms. She has recently launched a new range of eco-kitsch floral fashion accessories known as 'Trash Blooms'which utilise up-cycled fabric waste, rescued garments and vintage trimmings. The resulting pieces are edgy, tongue in cheek and exceptionally wearable. The pieces presented at the Green & Organic market will comprise of a mix of floral corsages, customised pre-owned shoes and bags.

Priscilla Morley

After a period of some research, and attending courses by Valerie Michael, Priscilla realised the adverse environmental implications of the use of chrome and similar materials in modern leather production. She also realised the joy of working with vegetable tanned leathers. It became apparent, that whilst vegetable tanning is seeing something of a renaissance, relatively few people in England work with this type of leather today. Under the banner 'God's Earth', Priscilla designs and makes practical items in leather, fabric & recycled materials. Her workshop has a range of equipment, from hand tools to energy saving, commercial machinery.

See her lovely handbags available in our cabinet exhibition & available through the market on Wed 10th September.

Caroline Saul

Caroline's work is process led, she creates her own new materials using obsolete plastic objects that are throwaway in today's society. She creates the new and exciting from these objects, challenging its' original function and use. She currently works with post-consumer plastic milk bottles to create sheet material by dying and heating. This new material is then transformed into sculptural vessels.

See Caroline's work in the cabinets during Green & Organic.

Oko & Momo

Manuela de Castro has created these fantastic handmade characters, created and produced using the physical limitation of the material available. The proportions of each design element are based in simple divisions(1/3, 2/3 and so on) so allowing every piece of material to be used in an economical way avoiding waste. OXO was born in winter to protect and warm up hands and hearts by being the delight of kids and big ones alike.

See Manuela's creations in our cabinet exhibition during Green & Organic!

Hanna Randall

Let us give those hideous flares and oh so questionable mini skirts a second life! Hanna is studying BA Fashion Design at Cambridge School of Art, her current collection has been created using charity shop finds and the spark of inspiration that she receives when she brushes her hand over that ghastly 80s not-sure-if-it-was-made-for-a-man-or-a-woman frock or another equally questionable fashion faux pas from yesteryear. Her garments are made with her own fair hands and a few helpers, so the only carbon footprint in the process is one sewing machine and the kettle when it is boiled on their tea break(organic tea obviously).

Hanna's collection can be seen in this year's fashion show - one not to be missed!

The Fancy Pants Parade

Aneka Cann creates customised lingerie/vintage nightwear using recycled fabrics, bows, buttons & lace which makes each item different from the next. Her designs are colourful, frilly, girly & very much inspired by the burlesque trend. She works with current fashion trends whilst utilising materials available from the 1950's-1970's and updated with extra frills. She makes her lingerie & nightwear in a range of sizes and style. Expect bows, frills & a good sense of fun and see her delightful clothing range in this year's fashion show!

Just B

Andrea Taylor graduated with a 1st in Sustainable Design and Practice from the University of Derby in 2004. Since then she has been working as an eco designer/maker of vessels, lampshades and recycled jewellery. In Green & Organic '08, she exhibits some of her latest explorations with paper based jewellery. Just B aims to demostrate that through craftsmanship, waste and non-precious materials can be transformed into ethically as well as aesthetically beautiful objects. She is very keen to investigate as many techniques as possible and is often amazed at the durability and versatility of this humble resource.

Alison Bailey Smith

Alison's work is mostly created from reclaimed materials including wire from televisions and sweetie wrappers to create stunning one off pieces. From millinery to wearable ornaments, Alison's work can be found in collections around the world.

See her work in this year's Green & Organic cabinet exhibition!

Vintage Reclaimed

Vintage Reclaimed is a young business creating bespoke jewellery and accessories from reclaimed vintage 'bits'. From watch cogs, to victorian pennies, each piece has a history of its' own.

See their work in our cabinet collection, in our market and in a special stall on our opening night (where you will be able to piece together your own 'charm'ing pendant!)

Claire Newberry

Claire graduated from the University of Central England in 1989, having gained the prestigeous Royal Society of Arts' Young Designer into Industry Award. She then worked for a number of years as a freelance knitwear designer. Meanwhile she started designing scarves and interior fabrics for friends and family. The scarves and fabrics proved popular so she decided to develop it into a collection. Claire's latest designs use locally sourced Alpaca yarns which are extremely eco friendly to process and are luxuriously soft. The Alpaca herd is local to Claire's studio as is the spinning mill, the yarn is not dyed or finished with chemicals. Claire knits all her own alpaca using a hand operated 'hand-flat' knitting machine. What's more is that every scarf can be traced back to the Alpaca from which the yarn is from and the information about each Alpaca is attached to the scarf on a little information tag.

Claire's scarves can be bought from the Women's Network market on Wed 10th September!

Alys Power

Alys is a freelance jewellery maker based in Nottingham. She studied Sustainable Design and Practice at Derby University. Her current work uses materials which are reclaimed, recycled, reused and reinvented. The base materials are mixed with a variety of fascinating found objects to create unique accessories & jewellery.

See Alys' work at our market on Wed 10th September!

Tamsin Howells

Tamsin qualified from Nottingham Trent University in 2003 with a 1st in Decorative Arts, since then she has explored further her mix of vintage and resin accessories. Creating beautiful one off pieces from resin laminated vinatage and recycled fabrics & sweetie wrappers. In her collection at Green & Organic, expect sweet sweet birdy brooches & a fantastic vintage floral cuff. Her cuffs utilise a unique hinge, and when worn look distinctive and individual!

Tamsin's work can be seen in this year's cabinet exhibition during Green & Organic!

Christine Waygood

Using Jamieson & Smith wool, Christine creates her felted jackets and jumpers. She uses undyed shetland wool and uses the naturally occuring fleece colours. She has also started sourcing locally farmed wools for felt making and has been experimenting with them for bags and hand knitted garments.

See her work in the fashion show this year!

Kushdi for Kids

Kushdi for Kids was born out of a frustration with unethically produced cheap imports, making every shop look the same...The original concept behind this company was to look at things from the ethical perspective first. Organic cotton being one of their main materials used. Sarah Bainton had worked in printing for many years and realised the pollution caused by cleaning screens which immediately led to her using appliqued recycled fabrics for the imagery on her tees. She also uses low temperature fabric dyes, fabric is sourced from the nearest possible producer of organic cotton and all garment production is carried within 30 miles radius.

These kid's tees are a force to be reckoned with - see them in the fashion show on our exhibition opening night 4th September and at our market on 10th September!

Rebecca Morledge

Rebecca trained as an Illustrator at Derby University in 2005. She creates models using wire & recycled newspaper. She is currently exhibiting them in several places, but Green & Organic is lucky enough to have a few special models for our cabinet exhibition. Rebecca enjoys creating inspired characters that exude character.

See her work in Green & Organic's cabinets!

The Green Box Shop

The Green Box Shop was established in 2005 to give people a healthier and greener option for their everyday products. From eco shampoos to laundry liquids, these useful products will appear at our opening night - with samples available so you can see how good they really are! Michelle from the GBS will also be selling some of her gloriously guiltfree products at our Women's Network market on Wed 10th September - see our blog for details for September's event...http://viewwomensnetwork.blogspot.com/

The Green Box Shop

Adele Billinghay

Old glass has a particular magic of its own...Adele Billinghay works by this statement to produce beautifully unique glass accessories from reclaimed window and recycled glass. She is inspired by layers and age erosion, in antique glass, crumbling stone, gnarled trees and faded ancient paintings that have an alluring history. Using waste plate(window) glass can be a time consuming and temperamental material, but Adele also find the effects produced by this material fascinating.

You can see Adele's unique pieces in the cabinets during Green & Organic!

Woodland Treasures

Geoff King founder of Woodland Treasures, has been inspired by wood for over 25 years. Planting trees has also been important to him over the years as he is beginning to benefit from the satisfaction of seeing the wood from his garden transform into jewellery in his workshop. His workshop is based in an eco-renovated smallholding, all paper, packaging and boxes are recycled and he has always valued every scrap of wood for its potential, more so than precious metals and jewels. The jewellery is hand carved from small pieces of salvaged, recycled, storm-felled and local British hardwoods - never Tropical timbers. After hand sanding, it is finished with eco friendly Tung nut oil & ecowood oil.

You can see Geoff's work in this year's cabinet exhibition!

Rhea Clements

Rhea Clements is a knitwear designer currently studying at Nottingham Trent University. She uses machine and hand knit techniques with yarn and silver wire to create accessories. Each scarf is simplistic and refined, shaped with individual knit techniques for decoration which appeals to all ages. She works with sustainable fibres such as pure wool and bamboo.

You can see Rhea's work in our cabinet exhibition, opening night fashion show & at our Women's Network market!

Laura Manning

With a degree in Metalwork and jewellery from Sheffield Hallam University, Laura Manning graduated last year. She is now developing her work using recycled waste materials. She utilises vintage buttons, milk bottle plastic and other throwaway materials combined with her silver craftsmanship. She is inspired by the ingenuity and resourcefulness of children that she discovers from initiating workshops.

You can see Laura's work in this year's cabinet exhibition!

Kim Bevan

With a BA hons in Fine Art from Northampton University, Kim went on to study her MA at Leeds University. She has been inspired by the written word and its use in art, consequently much of her work explores the way of concealing and revealing words to the viewer. Most recently in the form of artist books, her interest in helping to conserve the environment and in producing books combined to produce these beautifully unique little notebooks. Created using old envelopes, she has developed a way of utilising the outside of the letter.

You can see Kim's work in the cabinet exhibition this year!

Our Carol's green 'finger'-tips!

Growing your own, even on a small scale, has benefits for the environment. If you are bitten by the green bug you don’t have to wait until spring to begin. There are plenty of things you can sow in a pot or in a small space in your garden right now.

It is possible to have your own leaves for salad right through the winter, things that are not available in the shops, or come at a price, especially if they are organic. Sow Japanese leaves like mizuna, mibuna, pak choi, or old fashioned leaves like corn salad (also called lamb’s lettuce) American land cress, winter purslane or rocket. These latter vegetables were the staple health giving winter leaves of Olde Englande. Now they are the staples of fancy restaurants.

Other salad veg like radishes, spinach and swiss chard will also mature if you sow them now. Swiss chard leaves are the ones that add colour to bags of mixed leaves in supermarkets, but they can be left to grow bigger and cooked. A very pretty variety of these which looks fab in the garden is ‘Bright Lights’.

Japanese over-wintering onions will provide very early spring onions and, if left to get bigger, will provide sweet tasting salad onions in May before the ordinary onions are ready. Red varieties do well and are decorative too. The sets are in garden centres now, along with garlic which can be planted in November. Cover it with a sheet of glass propped on bricks to keep it from the winter wet. Remove in March and harvest in May to June. You can easily be self-sufficient in garlic.

You can also sow more ambitious veg like peas, cauliflower and broad beans. The secret with peas is protection . A lot of creatures like them so they need protection from mice (chicken wire buried over the row) slugs (clean unused cat litter sprinkled around the row) and birds (old CDs on string or fluttering carrier bags) Broad beans are not quite so vulnerable but mice and birds like them too. They will be harvested early next year. Once you have tried your own fresh-picked peas or broad beans, there is no going back. Look for varieties which recommend autumn sowing. A lot of these can be grown in large pots or gro-bags if you only have a yard or balcony. But don’t forget to use peat-free compost! And water a lot.

Once you have eaten your own veg you might start looking around for an allotment or begin digging up the decking. However, you can grow a lot of salad in one square metre. Try it!


Tips by Carol Savage!

Penney - "I would love to do Green standup"!

Penney Poyzer of BBC's No Waste Like Home and author of the book of the same name saved our skin last year, by stepping forward and hosting our busy fashion show, she was such a hit with the crowd and really made a difference to the night. She has wonderfully agreed to be part of our campaign this year and will yet again grace the stage to present some cutting edge eco fashion designs. We asked her a few questions to get to the bottom of her green love affair...!

What triggered your desire to campaign for a more eco society? Was it a single incident or have you always felt it?
My interest started in childhood but it was about 12 years ago when I really started to understand that resources were going to be a major issue for all societies.

What do you hope will come of your current work with the Leicestherday Trust and can you tell us a bit about the work you are doing?
The work with the Trust is fantastic. We are running workshops over the summer aimed at low income groups, we have been treating the environment as a sort of middle class preserve, but higher prices for food, fuel and water hit poorer pockets first. I'm also working with Muslim women and trying to bring Asian green activists more in the light of mainstream. We have to work together and that means talking first and understanding each others cultures, what is important to us. We have one planet and one set of resources and we are in a race against time. (Leicestherday Trust)

What would you say is the easiest/simplest thing which people could change today to help our environment?
I would say grow your own food. Food and fuel are inextricably linked - the more we pay for food the more we pay for fuel. You can even grow lettuce and tomatoes in a window box. When you grow your own food you get rid of the problem of packaging, and it makes you feel good! It is a truly addictive habit and is better for the bank balance than retail therapy!

You really gave our fashion show and opening last year a massive boost with your enthusiasm and fantastic comedy - what did you think of the show and do you reckon we can top it this year?
I thought the show was fabulous! The designs were gorgeous, original and the materials amazing and I can still see some of them in my mind's eye. The models did a great job. I think even more of the same! I had a ball and I'm glad the comedy was OK - well I am more glad I didn't turn it into a farce! I met a guy just the other day who had been in the audience with his wife last year - their daughter was one of the designers. It is a small world.

I've got a dark secret, I would love to do green stand up - and doing the MC ing was good practice. I am really looking forward to this year....

You can see Penney MC ing at this year's Green & Organic Opening night 4th September 6-9pm! It will be one not to miss so put it in your diaries now! She will also be presenting to our monthly Women's Network on 10th September - if you would like to book a place on this then visit our women's Network blog / if you would like to join the network and become a member(you only need run or work for a business that could benefit from networking with other Nottingham based companies, oh, and be a woman of course! :)

Bottlegreen - Supporters of Green & organic

Bottlegreen have kindly give us some samples to help our eclectic opening night on 4th September and our eco extravaganza market on 10th!

Crafted by the wine makers at Bottlegreen Drinks Co. World Domaine is a stylish new non-alcoholic drinks range made from 100% organic fruit juices and exotic herbal infusions. World Domiane offers a truly natural taste unlike any other soft drink currently available. Comprising of a sophisticated blend of organic fruit juice, natural Cotswold spring water and herbal extracts, it contains no added sugar, artificial sweeteners or preservatives making it an ideal option for those looking for a delicious, healthy, non-alcoholic drink. Arriving in 3 wine inspired flavours –White, Rosé and Red.

Bottlegreen's website

Green Love Returns!

Green & Organic returns with more GREEN LOVE!
In September 07, View from the Top in collaboration with SUSU Organic brought green and organic issues onto the High St in Nottingham. With the fantastic help of local independent companies and people like Penney Poyser of BBC’s No Waste Like Home! The show celebrated a diverse selection of businesses from eco printers 'I dress myself' to 'Red Earth Organics' with their organic food produce. The gallery showcased fashions, art, food, home goods, and other great products from designer-makers and ethical companies.


We had a fantastic response, nearly 200 people turned up for the opening night. Many more visited the exhibition and we were so grateful for the goodwill we met everywhere. Green and Organic 2008 promises to be bigger and even more exciting with at least four opportunities to get involved. This is not just about exhibiting your work, it’s about getting a message across and all participants are asked to shout about it. Get involved. It’ll be great fun and what could be more rewarding than saving the planet?

THIS YEAR - THERE ARE FOUR OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU TO GET INVOLVED !

1.Green Artists Exhibition (walls) - 3-15th September 2008 – selection in person 30th August 10-5pm.
Download details & application form here.
2.Green Designer Makers & Artists Exhibition (cabinets) - 3-15th September 2008– selection by post – deadline July 30th -
Download details & application form here.
3.Opening Night and Fashion Show Thursday 4th September 6-9pm compered by BBC presenter Penny Poyser – selection by post – deadline July 30th.
Download details & application form here.
4.Green Designer-makers, Fair Trade & Vintage Market Saturday 6th September – selection by post - deadline July 30th -
Download details & application form here.

We are also looking for people to get involved in other ways including sponsors, helpers, and food & wine producers to provide samples on the opening night. Give us a call with any ideas 07951 997528.