Artist in Residence

Poet in Residence – Jo Bell

Spring 2019 – 2020

Jo is one of the UK’s most acclaimed poets

She will be holding a series of events and workshops at the bookshop throughout the year

Event details will be posted on the bookshop’s website and social media pages

Poet Jo Bell – seen recently on TV as the face of Nationwide Building Society – has just been confirmed for a year-long residency at Scarthin Books.

An award-winning poet and former director of National Poetry Day, she has been a poet in residence for Glastonbury Festival and a guest at a Buckingham Palace reception for outstanding poets. Jo’s books include ‘Kith’, ‘How to be a poet’ and ’52: Write a poem a week’. She’s actively involved in The Poetry Takeaway, writing tailor made poems at Festivals and was featured on Nationwide’s advert ‘Voices Nationwide: Building the Building Society’.

Jo says: “I’ve loved Scarthin Books for many years; when the poet laureate asked me for a poem about bookshops, Scarthin was my subject. For the next year I’ll be working there as a writer deeply embedded in a community of readers. We’ve had two sell-out workshops already. I’ll be doing further sessions using books from the shelves – on archaeology or knitting or science. We’ll showcase poets like Helen Mort and local presses like Longbarrow. I’ll also be doing more ‘tailor-made poetry’ days. People have already commissioned free poems about happy marriages, dyslexia, suicide and the gift of a stem cell donation. A long residency is a chance to really build a relationship with this thoughtful, playful place and get some good new work out of myself and others. Also the cafe makes amazing homity pie.”

Jo’s credits: Former director of National Poetry Day, winner of the Charles Causley Prize, four times on the National Poetry Prize longlist, broadcast on Radio 4 and commissioned by outgoing poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who described her as ‘one of the most exciting poets now writing’

Follow our pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates.

Previous Artists

Jan Flamank

Our Artist-in-Residence for 2018

Jan is a visual artist and writer, living in Sheffield, but with her heart in Derbyshire. She is inspired by peoples’ stories, the natural world and social history, and has exhibited her work in the UK, Ireland and Italy. She is a founder member of Reveal, with 4 other women artists, and leads art workshops and courses from her small attic studio.

Jan also runs popular creative writing courses at Scarthin Books and Haarlem Artspace, and has worked as a writer and artist with diverse organisations, including schools, charities, the NHS and hospices. She has written and performed her observational comedy show in community theatres and venues across South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

“I am so delighted to be Artist in Residence at Scarthin from March 2018, and am buzzing with ideas about what I want to do. I will spend time each month in this fabulous bookshop, and make new work that is inspired by the place, the people and the wild array of books! I use mixed media in my artwork, and having time in the shop will give me further incentive to include text and stories in my work, and be influenced by the treasure that fills every room there. Some of this artwork will be visible in the shop, but there will also be work that is hidden, awaiting discovery as people browse the shelves and corners of the shop…..”.

You may find rooks and little spring colour cups created by Jan around the shop. The colour cups were inspired by all the colours of the books, and to celebrate the eventual coming of spring. The rooks were inspired by the new bird wallpaper in the bathroom, and they are one of Jan’s favourite birds, and mostly overlooked by many people who think of them as large, black and uninteresting…

Jan’s first session was on Sunday 11th March. She will be joining us next on Sunday 13th May, from 11am until 3pm to exhibit new artwork inspired by some of our customers and quirky traits of the bookshop. Keep an eye on our events section here and on our social media sites for further dates, where you can chat to her about her work here. You can also contact her directly via: j.flamank55@gmail.com

Some examples of Jan’s previous work and newest pieces at the bookshop…

: Image (c) Jan Flamank 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank, 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank, 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank, 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank, 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank, 2018

: Image (c) Jan Flamank, 2018

A Year (or two) in Books – with Liz Wellby, Fine Artist

Our Artist-in-Residence 2016-2018 | The Story Continues…

It has been 2 years since Liz Wellby became our first artist in residence; in that time she has has created upwards of 40 digital drawings, including views of the exterior, interior and a growing gallery of staff portraits, exhibited her work with us as part of the annual Derbyshire Open Arts weekend, recorded the visits of a number of visiting authors and run several workshops for those wishing to get started with digital drawing on their phones and tablets.

Now that Liz is settling into her new studio just up the road in Carsington, she is beginning to translate her digital work into a series of monoprints, lino and woodcuts.

Liz will still maintain a relationship with Scarthin Books; think of her as the Shadow Artist-in-Residence, so still expect her to be sat in your favourite chair, sketching on her iPad.

A huge thanks to Liz from all of us here at Scarthin Books for her wonderful contribution to the fabric of the bookshop.

A writer in residence is not such an unusual occurrence in a book shop, but following on from our successful collaboration with author Alex Sparrow (The Hempcrete Book: Designing and Building with Hemp Lime), we have decided to invite an artist into the fold. Over the next 12 months (beginning April 2016), Derbyshire based artist Liz Wellby will make regular visits to Scarthin Books and develop a narrative and a new body of work based upon her responses to our book shop; she will draw and photograph the interior, exterior and people who make Scarthin Books such a busy, stimulating and inspirational place.

Liz is a versatile and experienced fine artist. Following the completion of a Fine Arts degree at Loughborough University in 1990 and subsequent post graduate studies, she returned to the Derbyshire Dales, where for the last 25 years she has worked as an artist in residence, teacher and maker.

Living and working in Derbyshire is important to Liz, providing a significant visual resource for her work. The themes of home, countryside and the domestic environment can be seen in her drawings, print work and sculpture.

” I am really looking forward to this collaboration and the opportunity to create a range of new digital images and explore a number of print techniques. Working in quite a public situation will be an interesting challenge, but talking to people who enjoy visiting Scarthin Books should provide me with a different type of stimulus ”.

We will regularly post images via Facebook and create an online gallery to record the residency. Completed pieces will be displayed in the book shop and at the end of the residency we will bring the body of work together for an exhibition.