Ruthin Craft Centre
The Centre for the Applied Arts

Little Hands – ‘Take Away’: Craft of Nature

Our Little Hands sessions are jam-packed with joyful learning, especially designed for little artists to explore their inner creativity, be curious and MAKE! 

Download your copy of the Little Hands ‘Take Away’ Craft of Nature activity pack here

Little Hands –Take Away: Spring Time

Our fourth Take Away pack celebrates ‘Spring time’ and is inspired by some of our previous Ruthin Craft Centre exhibitions:-

‘Flora’ Celebrates the world of flowers within the different realms of Craft. View images of the exhibition here

‘Five Sisters and a Family Tree’ A collection of decorative ceramic creatures inspired by Susan O’Byrne’s own family members. View the ‘FREE to view’ exhibition book here

Spring is the season of new beginnings – fresh buds bloom, animals awaken from their long winter sleep, birds begin to nest, lay their eggs and welcome their little chicks to the world.

Our SPRING PACK is full of sensory ideas and creative activities for you and your little one to do together at home. The activities in this pack Include: Exploration of materials, mark making, sorting, stacking, singing, listening, constructing but most importantly playing and having fun!

• Discover what’s inside the egg box?
• Making things out of egg boxes
• Making a cosy nest
• Exotic birds
• Bird songs

Download your copy of the Little Hands ‘Take Away’ SPRING activity pack here

Click here for a short Film showing you ‘How to’ get creative and make – and of course HAVE FUN too!

Be inspired by nature by getting outdoors, going for a walk, engage with your natural surroundings, see what you can find – and then MAKE!

Little Hands – Take Away: Light & Dark

Our third ‘Take Away’ of activities is inspired by our up and coming exhibition ‘MONOCHROME’. Whilst these activities have been designed for play and exploration with your ‘little ones’ – let’s be honest, there is still a child in each of us – so why not take a look whatever your age and have a go at joyful learning, designed for little (& Big!!) artists to explore their inner creativity, be curious and MAKE! Don’t let the Little ones have all the fun!

• JEWELLERY making – Exploring shapes and texture

• Play with SHADOWS – light and dark

• LIGHT box

• Explore MARK MAKING with charcoal on paper

• Exploring PAINT on 3D objects in Monochrome

• PRINTING onto 3D forms

All the details can be found in the ‘Take Away’ guide here

View our ‘how to’ film here
View our ‘my time’ film here

Nature inspired Mobile

Another activity for SPRING, created for us by Donna Jones, is designed for ANY AGE too. Why not have a go at crafting a ‘Nature inspired Mobile’.

All the information you need can be found here
Or view our film here

You can gather your materials from a garden or if you are out on your daily walk, braving the elements at the moment, and despite perhaps having to walk briskly! – do also remember to just take a moment to stop, breathe deeply and – as the poet W H Davies says, to simply look at all that is around us:-

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare

And don’t forget to also look up too and catch that “Spring light” and the wonderful blue skies, when they come.

Little Hands – Take Away: Crafty Christmas

This summer we offered you our Craft Kitchen recipes for ‘Little Hands’ and this Autumn we have devised a new ‘Take Away’ for you to try at home!



A package of ‘ingredients’ (materials), that you’ll be able to collect as a ‘Take Away’ and do at home safely with your little one. The package also includes a craft recipe for adults ‘Me Time’ too.

‘Crafty Christmas’

Our second Take Away of activities is full of Christmas joy inspired by the work of Silversmith Yusuke Yamamoto. Lots of dazzling fun and creativity guaranteed with this pack as you explore and experiment with geometric forms and uncover your own magical stories in gold and silver.

Unfortunately, collection of our ‘Crafty Christmas’ Pack has now closed. However, download our Take Away recipes for FREE here. You’ll just need to source your own ingredients / materials.

For added inspiration – view our Creative Play film here and our Star Tree Decoration: Some “Me time” film here. A step by step process demonstrated by Ticky and Donna

These activities require minimal resources and are easy to follow.

Look out for our next ‘Take Away’ theme. Coming very soon.

These ‘recipes’ are designed by
Ticky Lowe & Donna Jones and
Illustrated by Rhi Moxon
@TickyLowe @RhiMoxon

Little Hands – Take Away!

This summer we offered you our Craft Kitchen recipes for ‘Little Hands’ and this Autumn we have devised a new ‘Take Away’ for you to try at home!

A package of ‘ingredients’ (materials), that you’ll be able to collect as a ‘Take Away’ and do at home safely with your little one. The package also includes a craft recipe for adults ‘Me Time’ too.

Landscape
Our first Take Away package has activities inspired by our Eleri Mills: Egni exhibition. Eleri’s work is linked to landscape and expressed through stitch, paint and pencil – all wonderfully creative materials for artists of any age.

Collection of our ‘Landscape Take Away’ Pack has now closed.

Not to worry, download our Take Away recipes for FREE here. You’ll just need to source your own ingredients / materials. These activities require minimal resources and are easy to follow.

Look out for our next ‘Take Away’ theme. Coming very soon.

These ‘recipes’ are designed by
Ticky Lowe & Donna Jones and
Illustrated by Rhi Moxon
@TickyLowe @RhiMoxon

Eleri Mills Virtual Tour

View the Eleri Mills Exhibition Virtually!

Not able to see Eleri’s Exhibition? Here is a virtual tour of her Gallery 1 Exhibition along with a price list of works available to purchase. View here

Short excerpts of Eleri in the gallery, talking about her work are also FREE to view below:

01 Ways of working:
Eleri’s technique of stitch, paint and ink 

02 Poet in the Landscape:
A trip to India and a residency at Powis Castle

03 New York Days:
residency and exhibition at Columbia University, Manhattan

‘Little Hands’ Craft Kitchen – Play bake

Our fourth and final recipe for our cookbook is inspired by “Spoons” which we have featured in many of our Ruthin Craft Centre exhibitions over the years; beautiful crafted objects but functional too!

They featured in some of our previous exhibitions you can view here: ‘Aelwyd’ and ‘Forge’ with spoons beautifully crafted by makers such as Claire Cawte, Justine Allison, Micki Schloessink and Nils Hint.

Download our how to ‘Play Bake’ guide here

These ‘recipes’ are designed by Ticky Lowe and Illustrated by Rhi Moxon @TickyLowe @RhiMoxon

These activities require minimal resources and are easy to follow. Why not have a go?

‘Little Hands’ Craft Kitchen – Soap Kitchen

As part of our new ‘Craft Kitchen’ project, we are delighted to share our third recipe with you called ‘Soap Kitchen’ – Inspired by Simon Carroll’s exhibition in 2019 – ‘Expressionist Potter’

You can view the exhibition here

Simon Carroll enjoyed experimenting with clay and often decorated his clay vessels with clay liquid, called ‘slip’. Which he poured freely (almost in a ‘childlike’ way) onto jugs, mugs and pots to create bold, expressive marks and interesting textures.

Soap kitchen is an opportunity for little hands to experiment and investigate through the medium of soap and bubbly water!

Download our ‘how to’ guide here

These ‘recipes’ are designed by Ticky Lowe and Illustrated by Rhi Moxon @TickyLowe @RhiMoxon

These activities require minimal resources and are easy to follow. Why not have a go?

Look out for more ‘recipes’ throughout the Summer!

Forever Changes

The diversity of the craft of Textiles to encompass a wide range of materials, process and functions

An apt title for an exhibition, but also for the times we all find ourselves in now. Michael Brennand Wood’s 2012 exhibition Forever Changes explored Weaving, Embroidery, Lace pattern and flowers

View our Flickr film of the exhibition here

Michael Brennand-Wood: FREE view Book

Find out more about the maker in our FREE to view book that accompanied the show here

Michael Brennand-Wood FREE Resource pack

And why not use the Resource Pack we created for the exhibition to delve deeper into Textiles, and get inspired to get creative at home here

Jilly Edwards: FREE view book

In our Craft Counts voting Textile exhibitions were immensely popular within the final top 10.
To view each exhibition, click on the links.

• #5 (joint) The ‘Wit’ of the Stitch, 2016 here
Jilly Edwards: Joy – Yellow is the New Blue, 2018 here

• #6 Pauline Burbidge: Quiltscapes & Quiltline, 2016 here
• #7 Jilly Edwards – reflections & investigations, 2011 here

As Jilly’s two exhibitions* both made it into the final top 10 – why not find out what makes her Tapestry work so popular with another of our FREE to view books here

*shown within the 10 year period of the voting

Eleri Mills

Textiles and the art of stitch & thread will continue to weave their way through our exhibition programme – as will be seen soon with the forthcoming exhibition Egni: a decade of creativity, by one of Wales’ most celebrated textile artists – Eleri Mills

Here is a little taster film

Fflora

As Summer’s blooms now surround us, a chance to look back on some floral themes in our exhibitions and engagement work

Our 2017 Fflora exhibition explored this theme with a group exhibition of work by 16 makers in many materials

View the exhibition here

Iron Vein

Whilst outside in our courtyard during 2018 we had an abundance of flowers, in an unexpected material courtesy of Iron Vein

View our Flickr film of the exhibition here

Helaina Sharpley

Our Raising The Bar programme in 2017 worked with maker Helaina Sharpley crafting a meadow of wire flowers in the courtyard exhibition created by the students

Here Helaina shows us all how to make a Clematis flower by drawing with wire

View the film here

Read the latest Raising The Bar blog here

Julia Griffiths Jones

Another maker – Julia Griffiths Jones, also uses wire to document the world around her. You voted her exhibition – Room within a Room at #4 in our Craft Counts voting

View the exhibition here

And you can find out all about Julia’s work and her inspiration, found in European textiles, in another of our FREE to view books – Stories in the making here

‘Little Hands’ Craft Kitchen – Play with your Food

As part of our new ‘Craft Kitchen’ project, we are delighted to share our second recipe with you called ‘Play with your Food’ – Inspired by Charlotte Hodes’ exhibition in 2019 – ‘After the Taking of Tea’

You can view the exhibition here

What better way to introduce your child to fruit, vegetables and herbs, than by getting creative and up close and personal with them in the kitchen!

Download our ‘how to’ guide here

These ‘recipes’ are designed by Ticky Lowe and Illustrated by Rhi Moxon

@TickyLowe @RhiMoxon

These activities require minimal resources and are easy to follow. Why not have a go?

Look out for more ‘recipes’ throughout the Summer!

Carving out space

Our 2013 group exhibition ‘carving out space’ also considered Drawing as a means of further exploring more 3 dimensional craft works and thinking more about Makers’ practice.

View our Flickr film of the exhibition here

Carving out space FREE Resource pack

With ideas on how to look, think and explore further yourself – download our FREE Resource Pack here

Gordon Baldwin

The exhibition also looked at different materials and the importance of geographical locations to the work of makers.

Ceramicist Gordon Baldwin, in his 2013 solo exhibition of ceramics, talked about the importance of a ‘sense of place’ to his work.

View his talk here

Laura Ellen Bacon

Voting in Craft Counts placed Laura Ellen Bacon: Inunndation at #9. Laura works with Willow and for her 2014 exhibition at Ruthin, wove this often traditional craft material in new and exciting ways to create an installation which flooded our Gallery 2 space.

View the exhibition here

Whilst with us in residence, we collaborated with Loggerheads Country Park where Laura took the Willow back out into the wider environment. Inspired by the geography, working with groups to create and craft new spaces.

View the film here

Laura Ellen Bacon: FREE view book

If you would like to explore the wonders of willow and more about Laura’s practice take a look at another of our FREE view book publications here

‘Little Hands’ Craft Kitchen – Sound Kitchen

As part of our ongoing ‘Little Hands’ programme we’ve cooked up a storm of creative activities for you to try at home with your little ones. The first ‘recipe’ is called ‘Sound Kitchen’ – exploring different kitchen materials and experimenting to see what sounds you can craft & create.

Download our ‘how to’ guide here

View our short film here to inspire you!

These ‘recipes’ are designed by Ticky Lowe and Illustrated by Rhi Moxon

@TickyLowe @RhiMoxon

These activities require minimal resources and are easy to follow. Why not have a go?

Look out for more ‘recipes’ throughout the Summer!

Hey Clay! 2020

Hey Clay! is a national celebration of clay, giving everyone the chance to unleash their inner potter.

This years Hey Clay! event for Ruthin Craft Centre is a virtual, online exploratory session giving you the opportunity to play with clay whatever your age and your location during lockdown!

Hey Clay! is part of the Get Creative festival (9–17 May), a national campaign to support everyday creativity which is run by Crafts Council, Voluntary Arts, Family Arts Campaign, What Next?, Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 64 Million Artists and Creative People and Places.

The Get Creative campaign is about encouraging everyone to try something creative. Its aim is to give people the chance to try something for free that they may want to pursue more regularly.
Ruthin Craft Centre – celebrating Craft and the art of making

#HeyClay! #GetCreativeatHome
Facebook Twitter and Instagram

Hey Clay! Ceri Wright

Join Ceramicist Ceri Wright in her North Wales studio, where you’ll be shown how to experiment with all forms of hand building – with pinching, coiling, slabbing and modelling techniques demonstrated.

With these skills you can then create whatever takes your fancy!

Learn with Ceri using the links below:

Intro to Hey Clay 2020
Intro to Materials
Textures
Slab building
Coiling intro
Pinch pots
Dinosaur

Ceri is using household items and objects – so no specialist tools are required.

No clay? How about using air drying clay, plasticine, play dough or salt dough instead, even marzipan if you have some to hand!

Whether you want to make a simple pot, an alien, or tiles of flowers /plants and imprints to remember this period of time – the sky’s the limit!

MATERIALS FREE Resource Pack

To discover more about CLAY why not take a look at some of our What is Craft? Resource Packs.

Explore an extract from the MATERIALS resource pack – here

PROCESS FREE Resource Pack

To discover more about CERAMICS take a look at an extract from our PROCESS resource pack – here

Claire Curneen: FREE view book

We focused on the work of maker Claire Curneen – read more about her work in our FREE view book here

and take a look at the exhibition at Ruthin – here

Susan O’Byrne: FREE view book

We focused on the work of maker Susan O’Byrne – read more about her work in our FREE view book here

and view the exhibition here

Wendy Ramshaw: FREE Flicker Film

You may also like to re-visit some of our many jewellery exhibitions, where even though the ‘jewels’ are often small in scale they can also create ‘Rooms of Dreams’.

View our flicker film of Wendy Ramshaw’s exhibition here

View more Jewellery Exhibitions!

Surface & Substance here
Newfoundland here
Fritz Maierhofer here
Barbara Christie here

Not Too Precious: FREE view book

Jewellery is often ‘precious’ in terms of memories and meaning; whilst it can be so in terms of material used – it doesn’t have to be:- Take a look at our Not Too Precious exhibition here.

Also a link to another FREE view book here too.

David Poston: FREE Resource Pack

Necklace for an elephant and other stories. The title for this feature came from another of our jewellery exhibitions, exploring the work of maker David Poston.

Why not download the FREE Resource Pack from his exhibition here to explore the craft of jewellery – and find out more about that “necklace for an elephant”.

Kevin Coates: FREE view book

In our Craft Counts voting, you placed jeweller Kevin Coates’ exhibition at #8 with a Bestiary of Jewels. You can view the exhibition here

Why not find out more about Kevin’s work in our FREE view book – ‘A Notebook of Pins’ here

Necklace for an elephant and other stories

The art of making and the craft of Jewellery – self-expression, personal associations and memories evoked by materials, movement and textures of jewellery…

Why not take another look at the Jane Adam jewellery exhibition ‘Never the same river’ – currently ‘on show’ in our galleries via the 3D gallery tour – here

Rodney Peppé Resource Pack

Another exhibition that explored the creative fun and delight to be had in making models and telling tales was Rodney Peppé here

Rodney Peppé’s Resource pack is available for you and all the family to explore here

Making models and telling tales…

We asked you, our audience, to vote for your favourite exhibitions from the past decade in our Craft Counts project in 2018/19, and the winner was:- Reggie’s Roller Palace by Olivia Brown

Enjoy another look at the exhibition here

And we thought you might also enjoy a FREE view/read of the exhibition publication too here

Automata

This exhibition (and many more we have shown) looked at Automata and the craft of movement. You may also be interested in:-

Martin Smith: Little Machines here
SMILE here

…and perhaps have some fun once more with the moving magic of the hand crafted machines of Martin Smith.

The Bird Machine / The Coin Machine
Party Popper Machine / The Heart Machine
The Spinning Heart Machine
Wishing You Well / Applause Machine

Ruthin Craft Centre VR

So whilst the centre is physically closed at the moment we offer you a chance to take a journey through the galleries and the exhibitions that are still ‘on show’…

Ruthin Craft Centre VR here

Kaleidoscope

In these times of change we are all now looking at things differently so we thought you might enjoy a very different view of Ruthin Craft Centre.

View Kaleidoscope an Aerial film by Stephen Heaton here

‘From Nature’ Resource Pack

As many of us now find we have more time to look around us; to be grateful that Spring at least has not been cancelled we thought you might find some of our resource packs helpful in suggesting activities for all the family and help to explore Craft and making.

Our ‘From Nature’ Resource Pack is available to download here

And you might want to take another look at some of the
exhibitions featured in the pack:-

Dail Behennah: Fieldwork here
Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape here
Carving out Space: here
Laura Ellen Bacon: Inundation here
Catrin Howell: here

To book your place please call 01824 704774

Come and learn at Ruthin Craft Centre with wonderful, knowledgeable tutors in a relaxed learning atmosphere.
With lunches available from Café R with courtyard terrace and plenty of free on-site parking – it really is a wonderful environment to meet like-minded people and study. Courses are non-residential however excellent accommodation abounds in Ruthin and nearby. View the Visit Wales website for details. www.visitwales.co.uk

Unless otherwise stated, all talks, events and workshops must be 
booked in advance. Fees are required to be paid in full at the time
 of booking. Cancellation of a place by a course member does not
 automatically qualify for a refund. Some courses may be altered
or cancelled if there are insufficient enrolments.