creativethorp.com

We’re very excited about 2010 – we’ve got a full diary of events this year. Our Spring schedule began with the Country Living Spring Fair in Islington , and continues (for trade customers and galleries) at the British Crafts Trade Fair in Harrogate from 11-13 April. We then have two shows in May – firstly we’ll be at Grand Designs Live at the Excel Centre in London from the 1-9 May, followed by the Craft and Design Experience show at Henley upon Thames. We hope to see you at one of these events – you’re guaranteed a warm welcome on our stand!

On March 25th, Steve had a successful reading at the Boxfield Gallery in Stevenage to support the launch of a new exhibition featuring a range of artists including Kim Major-George, whose images inspired his Life poetry pamphlet. He will also be speaking to the Chiltern Writers group on May 13th.

TRADE NEWS – As above we’ll be at the British Crafts Trade Fair in Harrogate from 11-13 April, but if you’re not going to be there and you run a gallery or shop, you can still stock our products! The 2010 creative thorp trade catalogues are now available for download on our Trade Page HERE.

Contact – mary@creativethorp.com, or steve@creativethorp.com or phone 07949553029.

At last the snow has melted and we’ve come out of hibernation – preparing for our Spring schedule. Notable events already in our diary include the Country Living Spring Fair in Islington from 24-28th March, and (for trade customers and galleries) the British Crafts Trade Fair in Harrogate from 11-13 April.
Mary still has an exhibition in the Tearoom at Waterperry Gardens until the end of January, and has work at Arteria with Gallery 23 in Lancaster. In the new year she has new exhibitions in the planning, and we will be publishing a fuller schedule of shows in the near future. Steve’s will be reading at the Boxfield Gallery in Stevenage to support the launch of a new exhibition featuring a range of artists including Kim Major-George, whose images inpired Life (see below). He will also be speaking to the Chiltern Writers group on May 13th.  Details of a new poetry publication will also be posted here soon soon!

Contact – mary@creativethorp.com, or steve@creativethorp.com or phone 07949553029.

After an eventful and exciting Autumn schedule of shows and exhibitions the creative thorps are looking forward to some downtime. Over the last few weeks we’ve met some wonderful people and had some lovely feedback about our work.

We’ve got a few more creative events to tell you about. First, this coming weekend, the 5th and 6th December, Mary will be at the prestigious Handmade in Britain Christmas event in Bath and Steve will be at the Swalcliffe Christmas Market in Swalcliffe Church on the 5th December. From today (1st December) and for two months, Mary has an exhibition in the Tearoom at Waterperry Gardens, and on 10th December from 5.30 p.m., Steve will be reading from his new poetry pamphlet life at the Cafe Bookshop at Cranfield University. Mary will also be exhibiting as part of Snug@23 at Arteria with Gallery 23 in Lancaster. We’d love to see you at any of these events!

In some ways, this is the most exciting weblog entry from creative thorp.  We’ve just updated and re-launched our website and we are really pleased with it. The look and feel is familiar, but it is cleaner in design and far quicker to navigate than before. Now you can purchase cards, art card boxes and poetry gifts directly from the website via. a secure Paypal system. Not only that but there is a new art gallery section where you can view all of Mary’s current images that are available as prints and canvases.

This follows the opening of our online shop at the Etsy website in February. Etsy is a wonderful place – “your place to buy and sell all things handmade”.

We have also a number of forthcoming events and exhibitions. First we’ll be attending the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate from the 5th to the 7th of April. At the end of April we’ll be exhibiting and selling at the Garden Show at Firle Place – a beautiful venue in East Sussex, and in May, Mary is one of a small number of artists in residence at Waterperry Gardens as part of their Artweeks Exhibition.

Finally, Steve’s new poetry pamphlets – the third and fourth in the well-received editions series are launched in April, in time for the shows and exhibitions. More news on these soon – but in the meantime you can find out more about series at the editions weblog.

NEW JULY 2008 - Mary Thorp has just released a new range of her images particularly suitable for large prints and canvases – view them HERE! We’ve also just got back from delivering pictures to The Old Chapel Gallery in Pembridge where Mary is part of the Summer Exhibition from 2nd August! Click HERE for more details.

A lot has happened since our last post. We’ve been busy expanding and are now selling our art, cards and poetry in a number of new galleries. These include some of the most interesting and attractive outlets across the country. You can check these out by clicking on these links:

Iapetus in Malvern, The Old Chapel Gallery in Pembridge, Fisherton Mill in Salisbury, Walford Mill in Wimborne, Waterperry Gardens in Oxford, The Gallery at Bevere near Worcester, Melin Tregwynt in Pembrokeshire and the shop at Westonbirt Arboretum. And not to forget our established outlets in Pembrokeshire – you can find links to these galleries by clicking here – more to be posted soon!

Meanwhile Mary has a small exhibition in the cafe at Fisherton Mill, and will have work in two summer shows. The first is at Tracy Watkin’s wonderful Coterie Design Space in Haverfordwest. The Coterie summer show runs from the 1st July, click here for details. Mary will also be showing work as part of the mixed summer show at the Old Chapel Gallery in Pembridge (where, incidently, Steve’s favourite Black Fox cider is made by the Dunkertons Cider Company). Mary has also had work selected recently to appear in a large commercial project with a well known national brand! More news of this soon.

Steve’s new series of poetry pamphlets entitled editions has been very well-received. You can find full details of these beautiful new products in the poetry page of this blog. You can also download an editions 2008 flyer and order form. To subscribe to the editions series, simply print off the order form, fill it in and send to us with payment.

(click on the thumbnails to see the full cover images)

Mary and Steve Thorp both have events at the Nant y Coy Arts Centre in Pembrokeshire towards the end of 2007. On November the 10th, Steve is leading an all day creative writing workshop entitled “a way of being free” - and Mary has an exhibition of new photographic images in the Cafe Gallery from 22nd November until 31st December.

Steve’s workshop will be a unique learning experience that will invite you to explore creative ways of exploring and expressing the idea of ‘freedom’ through poetry and prose. The workshop is part of Nant y Coy Art’s programme of events, exhibitions and activities. See their website at www.nantycoy.com for further details and to book a place on the day-long workshop for only £15. You can also download a publicity sheet for the event by clicking here: A way of being free!

Meanwhile Steve led a Sunday Conversation at Nant y Coy entitled “The Poet in the landscape”. You can see a new poem from the talk on the poetry page of this blog.