At Magic Village Christmas Sale 2

At Magic Village Christmas Sale 1

Textile and Mixed Media
Ana d´Oliveira

Handmade Ceramics
Anna Westerlund

Paper and Mixed Media
Emília Reis

Magic Village Christmas Sale

Magic Christmas Village Sale | an arts & crafts exhibition sale
at Maggie's Tea Spot.

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Be inspired on a cold winter afternoon:
For lovers of beautiful things, come and enjoy a Winter afternoon in magical Sintra. Have a cup of tea at Maggie's Tea Spot, located in the heart of Sintra Village, whilst looking at the special gifts collection of unique, handmade pieces, created by three artists. Perfect for a cosy tea & scones afternoon with family and friends, while choosing very exclusive and special Christmas gifts. Limited Edition. A must definitely go and see!

Invited Artists:
Ana d’Oliveira
Textile & mixed media

Anna Westerlund
Handmade Ceramics

Emilia Reis
Paper & mixed media

Opening day: 21st Nov at 16h
Exhibition/sale ends: 10th Dec
Maggie's Tea spot schedule: from 10am to 6pm
Closed on Wednesdays
Address: Rua Costa do Castelo, 1
In the heart of Sintra Village

Cathy Haynes on the Fear of the Amateur

Cathy Haynes on the Fear of the Amateur

I’ve just chanced across a copy of The 1951 Gadgets Annual. It gives five hundred useful and ‘ingenious hobby ideas’. They include how to build a ukulele, turn an old felt hat into a shoe-sock, pose live fish for photographs, ‘titivate’ a bath mat and draw a silhouette portrait of the wife (‘… pose the wife between a sheet of paper and a strong light … Draw round the outline of this shadow, and let the wife relax …’).

Gadgets, with its mania for the homespun and its assumption that it’s not talking to the wife, is fascinating. But, as I flick through its pages, I am distracted by an unexpected sense of disquiet over its espousal of all things amateur. True, I’m suspicious of its invitation to ‘Be Your Own Electrician’ and chemical engineer – I think there are laws against that now. But something else is troubling me. Who, I ask myself, would dare make a wedding present of a papier-maché fruit display? Who would sport a miniature homemade flower vase on their lapel? Who would try to bamboozle their guests with ‘The Puzzling Bran-Canister’ trick? Not me! For I am suffering from a form of cultural cringe, a symptom of a contemporary collective embarrassment toward handicraft and hobbies.

Nowadays we believe we can buy much better things than we could produce ourselves, and getting what we want requires no more effort than a barely prehensile prod at a keypad. We have become consummate consumers, gourmets of culture, super-spectators, and our sophistication as audience-critics has out-stripped our making and performing skills. But the old hobbies, games and handicrafts haven’t disappeared. Instead they’ve changed from something we do into something we watch. TV programmes on DIY themes from cooking to home makeovers to ballroom dancing have professionalised the amateur: the old parlour games are played by professional entertainers, while amateur performers compete for the affirmation of fame and a professional contract. And so, whether we judge ourselves lacking the wit of TV quiz panellists at one extreme or gawk at the humiliation of talent show competitors at the other, most of us daren’t risk it ourselves.

We fear the amateur in case it causes us to loose face and look uncool. But at the root of the word amateur is the Latin amare, to love. An amateur pursuit is something we have genuine passion for, regardless of how we look to the outside world. By abandoning it, we lose the pleasure of doing something that is playful, creative, absorbing, and solely for itself.

Gloves

Wall Hangings

Embellished felt on silk
(Detail)

"Wall Hangings"

Mind & Body


An appliqué technique embellished with, metallic threads embroidery, beads, fused fabrics and raw silk sculptures.

"Looop Happening"

Ana is exhibiting, in Lisbon, at
"The Looop Happening" in December 10-16.

" Wall Hangings"

The Wall

An appliqué technique embellished with, fused fabrics, Nuno felt and metallic threads embroidery.

"Damned if you sew damned if you don't"

Exhibition in Jersey at the Harbour Gallery- 12/02/08 to 6/03/08

Exhibition in Jersey at the Harbour Gallery

More lampshades

Sea Garden

Wall hanging (detail) embellished with crochet encrustations, fused fabrics, beads, ribbons, glass stones and mixed media techniques.

Music to my ears

"Music to my ears" is a textile work on dyed silk velvet, using an old cd, fused fabrics and metallic thread stitches.

Shatush Faces

An appliqué technique on dyed fabric
with encrustations, beads and ribbons.

Lampshades

Raw silk lampshades embellished with encrustrations of fused fabric and beads with unusual yarns, applied using mixed techniques.

Silk corset

A sculptured corset.

"Minimah" Puppet

Papier mâché puppet.

Fuel for thought

"The world we live in today expects very little in terms of quality. Disposable consumption fuels the world's economies."

My work aims to find recognition for the value of "unique" handmade objects that, eventually, last longer for the pleasure and benefit of our senses, as well as the promotion of individual creativity leading to the development of new original styles and techniques.

In addition, this kind of activity can also be an effective stress management aid, as it allows for a balanced and harmonious personal development to take place.

This can act as powerful creative outlet, simultaneously leading us to an exploratory self-discovery process, leveraging our imagination, making art a key part of our lives.