A Book About Adventures and Craftspeople

One of the speakers at Folksy Summer School was Nick Hand, of The Department of Small Works. Out of all of the talks over the weekend, his most captured my imagination, as he stood in front of his audience and told us about his cycling journey of discovery around the coast of the British Isles in 2009. During his journey he met many artists and craftspeople, and made photofilms of his conversations with them. In one summer he made over 100 of these films and uploaded them to the Slowcoast website.  

Accompanied by a photofilm about the little mesters (cutlery makers) of Sheffield, and a series of atmospheric photos of his adventures, Nick's talk filled that room of designer makers with a renewed passion for our own creative work, that simple and aged process of making something unique by hand. 

Nick mentioned at the end of his talk that he had written a book about his journey, and deciding that any book created with the same ethos as the crafters he met had to have a home on my bookshelves, I purchased a copy on my return home. 

It arrived beautifully wrapped, and I wasn't disappointed. It's full of stunning images and the makers' stories presented simply in their own voices, just as though they are sitting in a room with the reader, quite literally having a conversation. 

I love books created with attention to quality, authenticity and passion. Next time I need a creativity boost I'll be turning to this lovely hardback. You can find out more about Nick Hand and the craftspeople he met at slowcoast.co.uk and The Dept. of Small Works.






*This is not a sponsored post. I'm just an appreciative reader!