News

Making Space is hosting its first maker-curated winter craft fair on the South Coast!

Over the course of three days, Making Space will play host to artists showcasing innovative and beautiful pieces and the perfect handmade presents.

The wonderful Annie from Studio 12 (Annie Flitcroft Ceramics) will be there – bringing with her, a whole host of beautifully handmade ceramic Christmas angels, and her ever popular houses. Each of Annie’s pieces are entirely unique and crafted here at Hotwalls Studios!

So, pop down to Making Space between November 24-26, come into the warm, enjoy some mulled wine and festive snacks while browsing high quality gifts handmade by local craftspeople.

You can also pick up a bargain at their second-hand craft bookstall and buy gift vouchers for courses and classes at Making Space.

Who are ‘Making Space’?

Making Space are a craft organisation and registered charity based in Leigh Park, Hampshire, with impact across the UK.

They are quite literally ‘making space’ for people and organisations to become involved in craft, through a programme of workshops and experiences that are co-created with community partners and through consultation with local people. 

For more information about Making Space, visit their website: https://makingspace.org

Date: 24 Nov – 5-8pm | Fri 25 & Sat 26 Nov – 10.30-4.40pm

Cost: free entry

On the 14^th of November, Hotwalls studios waved goodbye to one of their much-loved residents as they moved on from Old Portsmouth.

The wonderfully charismatic Rebecca Thomas Robinson started her residency at Hotwalls Studios in 2020, travelling daily by hovercraft from her home on the Isle of Wight.

During her time in Studio 10, Rebecca has made lifelong friends and has made an astounding impact on us all.

Within her two years in Studio 10, Rebecca continued to develop her personal work, using ordinary, discarded, and found objects; creating hand stitched textile pieces and mixed media paintings. She explained that she ‘found the solitude of enforced lockdown valuable in growing, developing and experimenting with plant-based textiles and beautifully homemade natural botanical inks and dyes’.

Rebecca worked on many personal and group collaborative projects whilst with us; most notably the Arts Council funded ‘Pause, Reflect, Create’. In this project, Rebecca renovated, and hand stitched an heirloom quilt that she entitled ‘Coming back to life’, which is now part of the extensive Arts collection at Portsmouth Museum.

She explained that her highlights included working as Materials Manager for Alice Hume (Studio 9), on her astounding ‘interactive weaves’ ACE project, and more recent- exhibiting at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.

On her return to her tranquil island studio, Rebecca plans to develop and create work for her forthcoming solo show, which will see her return to the Round Tower in 2023.

Hotwalls Studios would like to wish Rebecca the best of luck (although we don’t think she’ll need it!) in all her endeavours and creative journeys moving forwards.

See Rebecca’s work on instagram: @rebeccathomasrobinson

Hotwalls Studios on Instagram and Facebook: @hotwallstudios

Dotted around some of Portsmouth’s most fantastic buildings there are 11 beautiful light up stars – Hotwalls Studios is proud to be hosting one of Motiv8’s stars and invites you to follow the wonderful trail around Portsmouth!

Each star along the trail is hosted by a significant building and is kindly sponsored by a local business. The trail is free, and open to everybody from Friday December 2^nd at 4pm. You can find a trail map at Central Portsmouth Library or Victoria Park café, to help guide you to the stars.

Inside the trail pack, there are questions to answer as you follow the stars, complete them all and you could win a prize!

Don’t forget that this is the perfect social media opportunity! Take a picture of one of these stars and share on Instagram with the hashtag #motiv8south, to be entered into a prize draw in December.

Motiv8 is a community-based charity, that creates the conditions for young people and families to access support at different stages of their journeys. They provide safe spaces with trusted adults to help young people and families develop the skills, tools and resilience they need to overcome challenges. They understand that each young person and families situation us different – therefore requiring different lengths and types of support.

Motiv8s approach provides flexibility and allows young people and families the opportunity to remain engages, access ongoing support and return to sharpen their skills as required- recognising that there may be further setbacks on their life journeys.

See motiv8.org.uk or email olivia.carr@motiv8south.org.uk, for more ways in which you can help, sponsor a star, and for more information.

Follow the link below for The Stars of Hope Christmas Trail!

Stars of Hope – Motiv8 Christmas – Motiv8

Date: from 02/12/2022

Cost: Free