Culture

After pandemic, local arts & crafts

In 1906, a small craft exhibition was held at Hinton St Mary and its success led to the formation of the Dorset Arts and Crafts Association in 1907. The association’s first exhibition was held at Blandford Corn Exchange in 1907. Since then, exhibitions have been held annually, apart from a break during the Second World War. The association was registered as a charity in 1967 and supports local artists and craft workers through the annual exhibition and through the awarding of an Arts & Crafts Grant to groups or individuals.

By Marion Spencer

The covid-19 pandemic may have brought many challenges and negative aspects to all our lives, but it also instigated many positive changes. One of these has been a resurgence of interest in traditional arts and crafts and an acknowledgement of the sense of wellbeing gained by learning a new skill or filling your home with original art and handmade objects. Members of Dorset Arts and Crafts Association (DACA) have been bringing their quality mix of traditional and contemporary creations to a wide audience for over 100 years and despite the challenges, still managed a smaller but highly successful version of their annual event at The Purbeck School in Wareham in 2021. Techniques and ideas from books and videos are all very well but there is nothing like the live experience. This August, visitors will be able to enjoy the full DACA experience once again with five days of demonstrations, exhibits of fine art, crafts and photography and children’s workshops, plus a selection of stalls where they can meet the makers and buy their work. Peter Thomas and Trevor Ball are long-standing members of DACA who champion the importance of learning by watching. Peter is a self-taught green woodturner and stick-maker who learnt the latter by watching his grandfather making shepherds’ crooks. Trevor also taught himself to work with the living wood, after observing Peter at his lathe and ‘getting the bug’. As a farm manager in Rampisham, Peter had always had an interest in wood and purchased his first lathe second-hand: “For the first few weeks all hell let loose, but I became absolutely hooked,” he said. Soon Peter had pushed the machine to its limits and decided to make his own using a five-horsepower grain elevator motor, some angle iron and MDF pulleys. Once he retired due to knee trouble, his hobby became a full-time cottage industry, working from his shed built of locally-sourced Douglas fir. His passion was never intended as a business but soon he had accumulated so much work he took some to a small event in the village and sold out. Gradually he attended more and more shows and gained a reputation in the craft. In recent years Peter has dropped the majority of shows, mostly selling directly to a loyal following, but he still enjoys the annual DACA showcase which he has taken part in since the early 1990s. Peter said: “With the history and length of DACA it needs all the support we can give, there can’t be many organisations with over a hundred years of history and the encouragement they give to young people , by awarding an annual grant, is fantastic. One of the other good things is the have-ago workshops, I ran one for several years, not turning but making a walking stick and they used to queue up.” Following his army career, Trevor had been a gamekeeper and woodsman on the farm Peter managed and was inspired by the work he showed at a countryside fair organised there in 2006. By the time he also retired, Trevor was just as passionate about turning. He said: “I had planned to be a furniture maker but the first tool I bought was a lathe. After that all the tools I bought were funded by selling what I made. I can remember bringing my first bowl up to show Peter, he must have been horrified!” Although Trevor considers Peter his mentor, neither believe in formal teaching because of their love of using living wood. Trevor said: “We both have the philosophy that the worst thing you can do is go for lessons, because you are brainwashed in to thinking there is only one way to do things. There is no set way, we even sharpen our tools differently. Peter is ambidextrous for one thing, which annoys me. I would

ONE GOOD TURN: Peter Thomas at his lathe

are taking a woodturn for the better

SKILLED WORKERS: Peter Thomas and Trevor Ball and, below, Pete with one of his bowls sit and watch him for hours and he would try to bury me in shavings.” Peter has many people watch him work. He said: “They say, ‘can you teach us?’ and I will say ‘no, but you can watch’. We only use malformed, misshapen and diseased wood, which is so undervalued, all our wood is cut with a chainsaw so it’s rough-edged and not round, it’s an organic material, still alive. You give that to another wood turner and the first thing they will do is make it neat and round on a bandsaw, no character. We are giving another life to the tree and that piece of wood will respond to temperature and humidity. People pay a lot of money for a seasoned log from a rainforest. Ours is all locally sourced and sustainable. It dries as you turn it anyway, seasoned wood makes a lot of dust and is a lot harder to cut.” Peter also values the therapeutic effects of crafting and has welcomed a range of people with depression, anxiety or antisocial behavioural problems to his workshop to be inspired and experience the self-worth of holding something you have created. He said the transformation in people has been impressive. Both wood turners were founder members of the Dorset Coppice Group which aims to educate people on the sustainability of coppicing, using areas of woodland cut in a controlled way to provide wood, crafting materials and charcoal which has a surprising variety of uses. Members of the group demonstrate a range of woodland crafts at the DACA event, including basketry and hurdle making. Trevor said: “DACA is such a unique thing in the country, there’s not another one like it now, I don’t think. You get lots of youngsters, that’s one of the things I used to enjoy about demonstrating. I was always outside in the courtyard, and you get the nine to 12-yearolds and they’ll stand there half a day watching you and talking to you about it. If you can fire a little germ into them for the future, you’ve achieved something.” The two men have a friendly rivalry and have competed against one another for the DACA showcase trophies over the years. However one more thing that they are both agreed upon is that neither is satisfied with their work. Peter said: “I have never yet made anything I’m happy with. I would give up if I did. It is the satisfaction of the technical challenge that keeps you going. You are always looking for that next piece that will be the one.” Trevor agreed: “It’s the one thing that spurs you on, the childish excitement of looking at a piece of wood and wondering what’s inside.” What advice would these two mentors who don’t ‘teach’ offer to all the budding wood turners out there? “Don’t start with any preconceived ideas. Have a go and don’t be afraid of your tools, don’t be too timid, the chisels have a long handle so you can steady them with your body. “If you are turning an uneven piece, it is hard to see the edge when it’s spinning so if you hang a light colour cloth behind it, you will get a ghost image you can follow.” n The DACA Showcase event will be at The Purbeck School in Wareham on August 5-9.

48 The West Dorset Magazine, June 3, 2022 Culture Your chance to land share of £16.9m arts funding

West Dorset MP Chris Mr Loder is encouraging museums, galleries, libraries, and cultural venues across West Dorset to bid for a share of £16.9million in new funding from the Museum Estate and Development Fund. This cash boost is designed to help museums conduct maintenance work to improve their building infrastructure for the benefit of visitors, staff, to preserve culture in our communities. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is contributing the extra funding for the second round of the Museum Estate and Development Fund following Chris Loder’s invitation to Dorset last year to the tourism minister – to get more for West Dorset. Grants available in Round 2 are between £50,000 and £5million. The funds are already benefitting museums, with improved access to local history. They have helped to complete structural work, prevent flooding, and increase public access, so more people can visit their collections and enjoy our national heritage. Mr Loder said: “West Dorset has a rich heritage showcased in our local museums, galleries and libraries, of which we can all be proud. I welcomed the tourism minister to West Dorset last year to see for himself the rich contributions made by our local museums to our national story. “The extra £16.9 million in funding from the Museum Estate and Development Fund will protect and widen access to the historic collections in our museums and galleries. I urge museums and cultural venues across West Dorset to apply.”

FUNDING CHANCE: Chris Loder MP with Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston

Check out poet’s supermarket story

By Karen Bate

newsdesk@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Acclaimed poet and Radio 4 regular John Osborne is heading to The Royal Oak in Drimpton and A Gaggle of Geese in Buckland Newton to perform his new poetry collection about supermarkets and the people who use them. A Supermarket Love Story is a national project to some of the UK’s top performing poets to craft new shows especially for rural pubs, with the aim of helping landlords attract new customers, widen the experience for regulars, and help reinforce the pub as a central, vibrant part of community life. John Osborne is a Radio 4 regular and creator of the cult show, John Peel’s Shed. Through his latest collection of poems, A Supermarket Love Story, love will bloom, lives will continue as they always have, and you’ll meet two paramedics by the crisps. As staff untuck their shirts and sit on kick stools stacking shelves, we join them all for a storytelling feast and find that every aisle really does tell a different story. Weaving words to create wonderful worlds out of the most ordinary of situations, join John in two Dorset pubs this summer for a night of poignant, enchanting and heartwarming poetic tales. John Osborne will perform live at The Gaggle of Geese in Buckland Newton on Sunday, June 12 at 6.30pm. The pub kitchen is open until 6pm for roast dinners. Contact The Gaggle on 01300 345249 to book tickets. John will be at The Royal Oak in Drimpton on Sunday, August 7. Tickets can be booked on 01308 867617. Full details are available online at artsreach.co.uk

PUB DATES: Poet John Osborne’s summer tour

The West Dorset Magazine, June 3, 2022 49 Culture Enjoy seeing Bottom in the open air

This summer, Festival Players are inviting you to share in the colour, poetry, and magical mayhem of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’as they head to Halstock for a one night only performance with Artsreach. Expect exhilarating openair entertainment as The Festival Players perform Shakespeare’s popular fantasy comedy of love and jealousy set amongst the mortals and the fairies, featuring features magic and mirth to delight all the family. The Festival Players is now well established as a professional theatre company delivering the best in open-air Shakespeare and growing in reputation internationally. Supported by their patron, Dame Judi

Dench, the company is committed to presenting the very best in touring theatre. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed at 7pm on Friday, June 10. A bar and hog roast will be available from 6pm. Bring a chair or rug and dress appropriately. Tickets are available from 01935 897144 or online at artsreach.co.uk Artist officially opens new gallery

Halo Fine Art in Dorchester’s Brewery Square welcomed internationally renowned artist Doug Hyde for its official opening. The contemporary fine art gallery, formerly known as Dorchester Art Gallery, recently welcomed new owners and features a range of sculptures, signed limited edition and original artwork. Georgia Heggs, managing director of Halo Fine Art, said: “To be able to exhibit and sell work from an artist such as Doug Hyde is exceptional in itself, so to have him come to Dorchester to attend our official launch is a dream come true. We are blown away by the support we have received since opening.” Doug Hyde was named the UK’s most popular living artist by the BBC and coined as the UK’s biggest selling artist in 2005. Doug uses a smile as the starting point for his work, creating witty, uplifting pieces with whimsical charm, gaining a huge following around the world with celebrity collectors such as Emily Blunt and Roy Hodgson. Charlotte Spracklen, centre manager at Brewery Square, said: “We are all absolutely delighted to

officially welcome Halo Fine Art to Brewery Square with this exciting event. We pride ourselves on hosting a vibrant selection of retailers that bring so much life to Dorchester, and Halo Fine Art has firmly made its mark. It is an honour to welcome Doug Hyde to the Square to celebrate this momentous occasion.” In addition to Doug Hyde, Halo Fine Art showcases other UK leading artists including Duncan MacGregor, and worldclass names such as Fabian Perez and Sherree Valentine Daines. For more information about Brewery Square, visit: brewerysquare.com Join the ranks for Restoration Comedy at festival

A hilarious production awash with deceit, passion, swordfights, and surprises galore set to visit Beaminster Festival on June 26. Professional theatre company Rain or Shine, hailed by The Stage as ‘one of the best companies touring open air theatre’ is set to delight family audiences with The Recruiting Officer, a rakish Restoration Comedy by Irish playwright George Farquhar. One of the most popular plays of its time, this is a delightful romp through 18th century Shrewsbury and follows the mischief of crooked army recruiting officers Captain Plume and Sergeant Kite,as they embark on a journey to persuade men to take the Queen’s Shilling by any means, legal or otherwise. Suitable for audiences from age six to 106, Rain or Shine will perform at Beaminster Manor on Sunday, June 26 at 2.30pm. Tickets on the door or from beaminsterfestival.org, 03336 663366. Audiences are requested to bring low-backed seating or rugs, and a picnic.