Five makers whose colour palettes pop

As we gear up for the Cockpit Winter Open Studios, we’re looking at some of the threads that connect our wonderful Cockpit makers.

This week, we’re looking at five makers whose colour palettes will make you look, think and smile. 

Read on for geometrical handweaving, vibrant silicone jewellery, bold socially-aware prints, luminous glass and a modern take on paper marbling.

Dalia James

As a handweaver, the connection between Dalia James and the cloth she creates is fundamental to her work. She explores the relationship between colour and geometry, with an artistic philosophy that has been shaped by the writings of William Morris and Josef Albers. Her work often references early 20th Century design and artistic movements.

Jenny Llewellyn

Contemporary jewellery designer-maker Jenny Llewellyn celebrates colour with her pioneering silicone jewellery. Inspired by the luminous vibrancy, shapes and movement of underwater life, Jenny’s work is characterised by handcrafted, organic forms of precious metals combined with bold bursts of silicone.

Yolande Mutale

Illustrator, printmaker and textile artist, Yolande Mutale, explores the social dynamics surrounding her mixed cultural identity, combining bold colours and humorous drawings to communicate a more serious message. She uses printmaking techniques as a vehicle to project a message of celebration and discontent.

Michèle Oberdieck

Michèle Oberdieck explores colour, balance and shape in blown glass inspired by natural forms and organic processes. Focusing light, Michèle combines gradations of transparency and tone with a more opaque element, capturing a sense of movement and fluidity, such as the luminosity of colours found in the sky as day turns to dusk.

Mamor Paperie (Lucy McGrath)

Designer-maker Lucy McGrath breathes new life into marbling, experimenting with modern colours and techniques to inspire a digital age. Using methods that have barely changed for centuries (marbling was commonly used for book endpapers in the nineteenth century) each sheet is completely unique. She says, “I love the element of randomness in marbling – you can mix the colours, but once you’ve dropped them onto the size, you have to relinquish control and simply guide the patterns as they appear.”