I was so impressed with the diversity and quality of work at Future Icons Selects, during London Craft Week, I wanted to share my highlights from the show

Future Icons Selects was a particularly well curated show at Oxo Tower Wharf’s Bargehouse. If you didn’t get a chance to visit this year, the show brought together artists and makers working in a whole variety of materials from glass to paper, wood to fabric. Unfortunately I can’t mention everyone, but here are the pieces that stood out for me.

Designer-maker Tamasine Osher makes these elegant turned wood lampshades (shown above). She works closely with tree surgeons to sustainably source British wood from fallen trees that would otherwise become fire wood. Knots, bark and pin holes add character to her pieces.

Textile artist Katherine Wardropper creates intricate floral art from ribbons. Her pieces explore structure, colour and craftsmanship in silk. I particularly liked a series of artworks all in navy. (Meet another textile artist, Natasha Hulse here)

Laurent Peacock is an award winning contemporary furniture designer and maker who enjoys experimenting with different materials. I particularly liked his tables topped with pepper corns set in resin. He originally came up with the idea when making a spice rack for his home.

Architectural glass artist Kate Maestri works to commission for both private and public projects. Her artworks fuse modern technology with traditional, mouth-blown stained glass and screen-printed ceramic enamels to produce luminous colours. Her work ranges from a 200m balustrade for the Sage music centre in Gateshead as well as a residential stained glass front door.

Carl Fox is a London based leather craftsman. His process is heavily influenced by mid-century and brutalist architecture alongside modernist design, he uses geometric abstraction to create tactile pieces. Carl prefers to use leather left over from the luxury fashion industry, paired with wood veneer, often off-cuts.

Elin Isaksson designs and produces hand blown glass ware including accessories and one-off sculptures. She draws inspiration from fond memories of her homeland Sweden – including ice fishing and cross-country skiing – with a colour palette taken from the moody Scottish landscape.

Jacky Puzey is a contemporary embroidery artist whose work combines traditional embroidery skills with digital technology. At Future Icons Selects she presented these lively chairs, celebrating London’s growing population of parakeets. Jacky uses fur, feathers, tweed and organza as well as drawing, laser cutting and digital embroidery to explore her baroque style.

Natascha Maksimovic, working as Nat Maks, is an artist and wallpaper maker based in Margate. She specialises in the traditional skill of suminagashi marbling. Paper marbling has been listed as an endangered craft by The Heritage Crafts Association. Natascha is preserving this traditional technique at the same time keeping it relevant with a contemporary colour palette.

Kate Lewis creates extraordinarily intricate pieces under the banner The News Pressed. Her botanical collages are hand cut from newspapers resulting in a fusion of nature, current events, design and media. Kate started creating her work as a way of processing world affairs, she says, “This all started Spring 2018 when I could not take any more news. I was going about my daily domestic life: walking the dog, doing a food shop, watching the seasons change while bombs are going off and disasters are happening that I have no relation to or control over.” Snipping up the paper was her way of processing events.

Based in Oxfordshire, Waywood design and make bespoke solid wood furniture for domestic and corporate customers – including chairs, tables, cabinets and kitchens. They say “It is the commitment of the craftsman that breathes life into each piece.” I particularly liked the curved lines of this elegant armchair.