CRAFTS COUNCIL - CRAFT YOUR WELLBEING
Caroline Jackman, Head of Craft Business Skills, Crafts Council
Sandy Buchanan, Furniture Designer
Tanvi Kant, textile artist-maker, jeweller, educator
Friday 1 July, 13:00 - 13:45
There is proven evidence that creativity enhances health and wellbeing. Two crafters share their experience on how their craft has enhanced their lives and those around them.
PANELLISTS
Caroline Jackman (Head of Craft Business Skills, Crafts Council)
Caroline has over 20 years’ experience working in the arts and working to support the business and creative development of artists and makers from amateurs to established professionals. She has successfully run galleries, community festivals, national conferences, and international and domestic business skills training programmes.
Sandy Buchanan (Furniture Designer)
Sandy Buchanan is a furniture maker and sculptor based in SE London where he produces bespoke pieces for private clients, interior designers and architects.
Prior to this he was geoscientist working in Oil & Gas for almost a decade. A series of redundancies, a dislike of the toxic corporate culture and a growing unease at what the sector was doing led to a series of mental health issues and Sandy found himself turning to craft and making as a form of escape. He rapidly realised the mental benefits of having a creative outlet and the ability to pursue meaningful work, setting up his practice in 2018.
Meaningful work is the foundation of Sandy’s practice and represents a form of mindfulness. This carries through every piece from the sourcing of fallen timber, to the way it is prepared and celebrated, the way the natural and organic is married with clean and crisp craftsmanship. If all is done mindfully the result will be an honest and meaningful outcome.
Tanvi Kant (textile artist-maker, jeweller, educator)
Tanvi is a textile artist-maker, jeweller and educator with a focus on transforming reclaimed textiles through unashamedly simple hand-techniques.
She has over 14 years’ experience in delivering workshops and participatory installations within a variety of settings including public spaces, galleries, museums, higher education, women’s charities and residential care homes. Tanvi regularly delivers workshops in elemental techniques of twining, plaiting, coiling and mark-making in embroidery. Her aim is to demonstrate how readily available materials can be transformed by responding to and working instinctively with materials and colour. A focus on experimenting over working towards pre-defined results helps to uncover a core personal language that often draws out the personality of the maker.
Noticing the stillness and focus participants’ gain during her workshops she has reflected on how the making process and knowledge that our bodies hold when focusing on textile craft techniques allow for a settling of the mind and encourages meaningful social interactions.