Amber Akaunu, When You Cry, I Cry print
Earlier this year Liverpool-based Nigerian-German artist and a-n member Amber Akaunu produced a digital painting entitled When You Cry, I Cry in support of Black Lives Matter. The work is currently on sale at a reduced price on her online store, along with a series of abstract digital drawings printed on high quality A4 350 gsm silk paper. Also on sale is the artist’s digital painting titled Miss Mona Said “Black Lives Matter”.
Prices: from £10 www.amberakaunu.bigcartel.com/
Jeremy Deller, FUCK YOU 2020 Print
Together with Fraser Muggeridge studio, Jeremy Deller presents a new print for House of Voltaire. The print has been printed and produced in London with all profits supporting Young People Matter, Crisis this Christmas and Studio Voltaire, three charities supporting children, young people and communities who have been adversely affected during Covid-19. Each edition of this 170gsm gloss digital print is signed by the artist on the back of the print. Also in Deller’s FUCK YOU collection for House of Voltaire is a Christmas hat, wrapping paper and a stocking.
Price: £30 www.houseofvoltaire.org/collections/new-arrivals/products/fuck-you-2020-open-edition-print
David Shrigley, Greetings Cards and Postcards
Known for his incredibly distinctive style, David Shrigley’s work conjures up ironic comments on everyday situations and human interactions. A Turner Prize nominee in 2013, his Fourth Plinth Commission was unveiled in Trafalgar Square in 2016. Shrigley has collaborated with Brain Box Candy for this fantastic collection of cards, postcards, mugs, coasters and notebooks. There’s a wide range of hilarious drawings to choose from, particularly in the ‘Rude Cards’ category, which are guaranteed to brighten up Christmas day.
Prices: from £3.50 www.brainboxcandy.com/david-shrigley/
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Kerchung
Kerchung is Karen Cheung – ‘illustrator, artist, passionate maker and curious learner’. Each piece of Kerchung jewellery is carefully crafted by hand, infused with tongue-in-cheek humour and laced with a vicious edge. Porcelain clay is wrestled into shape, fired and sanded, then decorated by Karen in her tiny shed in the garden. For Christmas she has created a series of festive ornaments – but be quick as the last set sold out within 48 hours of going on sale.
Price: tbc www.kerchungcreative.com/christmas-ornaments
No Borders Shopper, Hilary Jack
The Paradise Works Multiples Shop includes editions and multiples created by artists who are based at the Salford artist-led studio community. Gift ideas include Hilary Jack’s No Borders Shopper, featuring the words of American aviator and explorer Amelia Erhart, Kieran Leach’s smiley face Coasting coasters finished in various pastel colours, and Katie Tomlinson’s How Much is That Doggie in The Window?, a series of glazed ceramic pooch portraits including Daisy, a pampered-pooch who has ‘lived her life inside the comfort of a Louis Vuitton handbag’, and Maximillian, a mutt with a ‘troubled past’.
Prices: from £20 www.paradise-works.com/multiples
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The Royal Standard Virtual Christmas Auction
Liverpool-based The Royal Standard is this year moving its annual Christmas auction onto Instagram by inviting artists who want to take part to upload works to their own Insta feed before 30 November and to include the hashtag #TRSxmas20. With a minimum starting price of £40 for original works and £15 for prints, those who comment with the highest bid will win the work. Artists will receive 100% of the sale price while The Royal Standard says if anyone who sells work though the scheme would like to make a donation to TRS that would be much appreciated. Bidding will close at midnight on 5 December.
Prices: from £40. See Instagram post above for full details or visit the-royal-standard.com
Gaada, Set of 8 Yule Cards by Various Artists
Gaada is an artist-led initiative currently based in a former Chapel in Burra Isle, Shetland. It works with communities in Shetland to develop meaningful and critical art activities including workshops, exhibitions, events, publishing and research. For Chistmas it has unveiled Da Gaada Gadderie (Shet. Dialect: gathering) – a set of 8 Yule Cards designed by artists who make work in the Gaada Workshop. The artists are Mari Johnson, Joyce Davies, Amy Gear, Vivian Ross Smith, Brian Sinclair, Rhys Mouat, Struan Haswell and Daniel Clark. Each card is printed with 2 colours using Soy-based inks on Munken 290 gsm recycled paper and comes with an envelope made from post-consumer recycled waste paper. Proceeds from sales will go towards workshop materials for 2021.
Price: £12 www.gaada.org/shop
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Artists Support Pledge
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, artist Matthew Burrows MBE launched Artist Support Pledge to ‘create a small but dynamic market where all can contribute’. Essentially, artists and makers post their images on Instagram using the tag #artistsupportpledge and giving details of their works and price (no more than £200 or equivalent). If people are interested in buying, they message (DM) the artist. Anyone can buy the work and artists don’t need permission to join. Every time an artist reaches £1,000 of sales, they pledge to buy £200 of work from other artist(s). Eight months on and #artistsupportpledge is still going strong, becoming a global movement of connected communities of artist and makers across all countries, media and ethnicities. And as you might expect, there are lots of bargains to be found in the run up to Christmas.
Prices: various www.instagram.com/artistsupportpledge/
Laura Johnston Studios, Colour-changing Tree
Utilising the power of light to transform spaces, Laura Johnston’s practice includes large-scale public art commissions, kinetic and responsive sculptures, screens and light installations for the domestic setting. These Colour-changing Trees are offered by the artist as part of a buy one gift one scheme to support the decoration of a critical care unit this Christmas. Johnston is one of the artists and makers taking part in 36 Lime Street’s Winter Showcase, with the Newcastle-based studio group this year moving its annual open studios event online, enabling buyers to purchase work by contacting artists and makers directly or visiting their online shops.
Prices: £20 36limestreet.co.uk/event/36-lime-street-winter-showcase/
Sumuyya Khader, greeting card and prints
Liverpool based illustrator and artist Sumuyya Khader works in a multiplicity of ways within the sector working with major institutions, projects, publishers, social enterprises and artist-led groups. Her practice is a combination of illustration, drawing and print works that predominantly explore place and identity. Khader has numerous works for sale on her website, including a beautifully crafted A6 greeting card print. Also on sale are a series of A3 print risograph prints on 200gsm paper.
Prices: from £2.50 www.sumuyya.bigcartel.com/
Bluecoat Display Centre online shop
The Bluecoat Display Centre is a nationally and internationally recognised contemporary craft and design gallery that has been established since 1959. It sells, exhibits and promotes over 350 selected contemporary craftspeople each year working in a broad variety of media. In the run up to Christmas, their current featured artist is Helen Chatterton, whose work includes a Liverpool Map Face Mask, a set of 2 Boxed Lavender Bags, and a scarf featuring a map of Venice (available in two colourways).
Prices: from £15 www.bluecoatdisplaycentreshop.com/
Devon Guild of Craftsmen, online shop
Devon Guild of Craftsmen is an exhibition space for contemporary craft and design as well as a leading charity for craft education. Located in Bovey Tracey on the edge of Dartmoor, its large gallery and shop host various exhibitions and events, whilst encouraging people to support, make and learn about contemporary craft. Currently the Guild has approximately 300 members from all over the South West region, a number of whom are selling work via their online shop. There are a number of enticing pieces in their Christmas section, including Wooden Robin Christmas Decorations by Rosie Brewer, and Penny Carter’s handmade glass hoop decorations.
Prices: from £10 www.crafts.org.uk/shop/christmas
Images:
1. Amber Akaunu, When You Cry, I Cry.
2. Jeremy Deller, FUCK YOU, print
3. Hilary Jack, No Borders Shopper, 490x37cm.
4. Katie Tomlinson, How Much is That Doggie in The Window? – Maximillian, glazed ceramic, 35x30x26cm.
5. Da Gaada Gadderie (Shet. Dialect: gathering)
6. Laura Johnston Studios, Colour-changing Tree.
7. Sumuyya Khader, Greeting Card
8. Rosie Brewer, Wooden Robin Christmas Decoration
