Ernest Gimson: Nature, Design and Craftsmanship
Wednesday 10th September 2:15 - 3:15pm
Ernest Gimson (1864-1919) settled in the Cotswolds in 1894 with Ernest and Sidney Barnsley. Like them, he was an architect, but also designed furniture, metalwork, plasterwork and embroideries and found inspiration from the local plants and flowers. This talk will look at this aspect of his work, focusing on his drawings and finished pieces.
About
Mary Greensted is a former chairman of the Gloucestershire Guild and co-author of Ernest Gimson: Arts & Crafts designer and architect, Yale 2019, with Annette Carruthers and Barley Roscoe.
Cost £10, 30 places available.
Venue: Talks Tent (Red & Yellow Marquee) in the Pony Paddock, opposite the Artisan Food Court
BOOK HERE
A Flower Farmer’s Year
Thursday 11th September, 2.15 - 3.15 pm
Why would anyone with a sensible day job decide to exchange a comfortable warm desk for a freezing day of muck shovelling? All for the love of flowers. Admittedly, it took more than a few years of thinking about it, but Margie Hoffnung and her friend and business partner Sarah Corston, took the plunge in early 2024 and since then have set up Frog Lane Flower Farm in North Nibley. This talk takes us through the all the bits behind the scenes, our successes, setbacks, the steep learning curve and other joys of what it takes to bring you our fabulous, chemical free, sustainable, seasonal flowers.
About
Margie Hoffnung completed a 4-year Horticulture Degree at Writtle College, after working at Westonbirt Arboretum. Her sandwich placement was with Rosemary Verey, the well-known plantswoman, author and garden designer, with whom she continued to work for over a decade until Rosemary’s death. She also spent some years at Highgrove as both gardener and garden guide for HRH The Prince of Wales, as well as manning Jekka McVicar’s herb stand at flower shows like Chelsea and Hampton Court for several seasons.
She is the co-owner of Frog Lane Flower Farm in North Nibley near Wotton-under-Edge. FLFF grow and propagate seasonal, sustainable cut flowers and foliage without chemicals, and only use materials that can be recycled or reused. As eco-florists they never use floral foam or single-use plastic and take enormous care and pride in providing beautifully grown chemical-free flowers and foliage for local florists, wholesalers and private clients for weddings, funerals, private parties and events. We are members of Flowers from the Farm and Farewell Flowers.
https://www.farewellflowers.co.uk
Until giving up full-time work for flower farming, she worked for the Garden History Society (now the Gardens Trust) as their Conservation Officer from 2013 till May 2025, having completed a Master’s degree in the Conservation of Historic Gardens & Cultural Landscapes at Bath. In this role she liaised closely with County Gardens Trusts all round England and responded to planning applications which might affect listed historic designed landscapes, to make sure as far as possible, that these proposals did not have an adverse effect on those sites or their settings.
She is a member of the ICOMOS-UK Cultural Landscapes and Historic Gardens Committee.
She is the Chair of the Gloucestershire Gardens & Landscape Trust as well as being a regular speaker to gardening societies on a variety of topics as well speaking on conservation issues relating to historic gardens to heritage bodies and MSc students at UCL and the University of Buckingham.
https://www.froglaneflowerfarm.co.uk/
Cost £10, 30 places available.
Venue: Talks Tent (Red & Yellow Marquee) in the Pony Paddock, opposite the Artisan Food Court
BOOK HERE
How differently one must look at a flower: Flowers, plants and nature in the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds
Friday 12th Sept 2:15 - 3:15 pm
The Arts and Crafts Movement is well-known for its use of the natural world for inspiration, from William Morris onwards. Here in the Cotswolds Arts and Crafts designers lived close to nature, getting to know intimately the places they chose for their homes, and drawing on the natural world around them for inspiration across all media. We’ll be delving into the use of nature in the work of William and May Morris, Ernest Gimson, the Barnsleys and their friends, as well as C R Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden and the designers, makers and artists who lived in the Stroud area. From glittering stained glass to soft plaster, flowers appear, sometimes decorative, sometimes symbolic. We’ll look, too, at the gardens they designed, and where they went on their explorations into the countryside. Celebrate this flowering of enthusiasm for local nature in this talk by Arts Society Accredited lecturer Kirsty Hartsiotis, former curator of the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection at The Wilson, Cheltenham.
About
Kirsty Hartsiotis was the curator of the decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham from 2008 to 2023. She is currently a curator at Swindon Museums. At Cheltenham she looked after the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection, which includes the important private press archive, the Emery Walker Library. She’s curated many exhibitions, including A Very British Art Revolution; Ernest Gimson: Observation, Imagination & Making; and Crafting Change. She’s an Accredited Arts Society lecturer, speaking about the Arts and Crafts Movement, and she also lectures widely on her other passion – folklore. She’s also been an oral storyteller for over 20 years and has published a number of collections of stories. She was the newsletter editor for the Society of Decorative Art Collections from 2009 to 2023, is a regular columnist for Cotswold Life, and writes for diverse other publications on art history and folklore.
Cost £10, 30 places available.
Venue: Talks Tent (Red & Yellow Marquee) in the Pony Paddock, opposite the Artisan Food Court
BOOK HERE
The Willie Wonka of Woodwork
Saturday 13 Sept 2.15 - 3.15 pm
We are very fortunate to be able to present a most intriguing, fascinating and clearly entertaining talk by Fred Baier!
The Willie Wonka of Woodwork
(According to iD magazine)
This talk will be given by Fred Baier, British sculptural furniture designer, and studio practitioner. Fred is a recent past master of the Art Workers Guild and was a part time tutor at the Royal College of Art (RCA). He was also a visiting lecturer at art colleges up and down the country, in Europe, the US (spending 3 years in New York) and Australia. They’ve awarded him honorary fellowships from the RCA, Hereford College of Art and Northern Arts.
His 50-year career, creating pioneering furniture objects, utilizes convergent technologies and state of the art processes. His inspirations mostly come from industrial imagery, the built environment and theories of geometrics, structure and proportion. With a pinch of science fiction.
Fred will tell stories of his journey through ‘the great analogue/digital divide' guided by his "adjusted" Bauhaus theory that :-)
Form SWALLOWS Function.
Be assured, there will be a lot of stuff to get through in this seat of the pants ride.
FB website http://www.fredbaier.com
Instagram:- fredbaier_com
Master of The Art Workers Guild 2023
honorary fellow RCA & HCA
Article in The Design Edit.https://thedesignedit.com/fred-baier-form-swallows-function/
Cost £10, 30 places available.
Venue: Talks Tent (Red & Yellow Marquee) in the Pony Paddock, opposite the Artisan Food Court
BOOK HERE
