An online Christmas fair with artists, designers and crafters is set to take Welwyn Garden City’s online world by storm.
The Welwyn Garden City Makers Christmas Fair is the brainchild of glass blower Charlotte Wilkinson, who wants to offer exposure to local artists as the pandemic caused almost all Christmas fairs to be cancelled.
She explained: “Over the course of both lockdowns, I noticed a great sense of community spirit; residents recognised that local, independent businesses have been hit particularly hard and they wanted to help.
“This is the first time I have ever organised an event for makers, so it has been a learning curve and I am sure there will be a lot of points I could take from this weekend and improve upon for next time, but the makers have been fantastic and so enthusiastic while I pull this together. I really hope the weekend is a success for them.”
First-time organiser Charlotte said after she put the call out to Welwyn Garden City and surrounding villages, she also had a couple of artists from slightly further afield, such as Slewberry and a painter and printer from Baldock.
“Currently, there are 14 artists taking part and I am still receiving enquiries for new people to join which I will try and squeeze in!
“There are glass artists, painters, textiles artists, wedding stationers, jewellers, a photographer, and a candle and wax melt maker. I have been blown away by the talent of these artists and I am so grateful that they have chosen to take part in this fair.”
Charlotte’s own business Cat in a Crown is taken from her research as part of her PhD work at De Montfort University in Leicester, where she looks at the application of holograms onto handmade glass objects.
“Cat in a Crown is about creative freedom; I have my usual pieces that I keep in stock, but I also like to be more experimental so often have one-off pieces available.”
The fair will run over Saturday and Sunday and will be entirely virtual. Charlotte will post about each artist individually throughout the weekend, and if buyers like something they see, they were then directed to the artists own pages to ask for more information and to make any purchases.
You can see more here instagram.com/WGC_makers.
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