Artisan Shop
 | OPEN 10am - 4pm Tuesday - Sunday (not Mondays), or see Virtual Tour. |
Supporting local artists (70% of price paid to practitioners, 30% to shop). | |
Compact boutique of high-quality handmade goods with modest prices. | |
Commission / alteration options: ask or email anne@creek-creative.org. | |
Makers & Artists offering new (sale/return) stock call Anne 01795 535515. |
SUPPORTING ARTISTS & MAKERS
As part of our service to local and resident creative practitioners and artists, we provide a convenient outlet for their work in our Artisan Shop, which is situated on the right as you enter the Upper Gallery from the Main Entrance lobby (off Abbey Street). Unlike most shops we take only 30% of the retail prices of the handmade goods on offer, so that each designer-maker or artist receives a full 70%, which reflects on the time-consuming nature of their work, aids their sustainability, and gives a welcome boost to any of our start-up practitioners attempting to establish their name. As a not-for-profit ‘CIC’ that 30% (actually 25% after tax) covers running costs, and any surplus is invested in facility improvements.
Our range of unique products and unusual gifts includes affordable, hand-crafted, high quality silver jewellery, ceramics, prints, paintings, amongst many other witty, unexpected and attractive items. Some of our current top sellers are the following local practitioners: Anya Brooksbank / AG47 / Benedicte O’Connell / Lynn Knight / Lusie Haggis / Journey / Olga Taylor / Mike Palmer / Barabara Wiggins / Lindsay Wilkinson / Elvis & Kresse / Sue Black / Annie Capp / Charlotte Baker / Khoamahom / Seviyor / Jan Lewis (Raspberry Studio) / Yvonne Rigby (CKJ Artisan).
EMPORIUM CONTINUUM (WEDNESDAY 4TH – SUNDAY 29TH JANUARY) + CHRISTMAS EMPORIUM MEXICANO (TUESDAY 22ND NOVEMBER – FRIDAY 23RD DECEMBER) + ‘CHRISTMAS ORIGINALS’ CARD DESIGN EXHIBITION (TUESDAY 8TH – SUNDAY 20TH NOVEMBER)
Our Mexican-style Christmas Emporium (opening dates: 22/11/22 – 23/12/22) took us up to Christmas Eve, offering ‘special something’ gifts from a ‘cuerno de la abundancia’ of local artists & makers’ high-quality and unique seasonal wares in the Upper Gallery. When we reopened on Wednesday 4th January we welcomed everyone back with an ‘Emporium Continuum’, comprising of refreshed stock from local artists & makers (as always) but with none of the Xmas content.
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Video Left: Christmas Emporium Mexicano as a brief video memory (1.5mins only) – it closed Friday 23rd December 2022, which seems a long time ago now.
Video Right: brief video recap (1min) of ‘Christmas Originals’ – a combined graphic / commercial art group exhibition and festive season promotion (8-20/11/22). Local Artists were invited to put on a #GroupShow of their Christmas card design original artwork / creative process along with the resulting printed cards on sale.
EXTENDED ARTISAN SHOP RESIZED (EMPORIUM WAS OPEN TUE 4TH – SUN 30TH JAN 2022)
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Our extended Artisan Shop 'January Emporium' has reverted to normal size after occupying the Upper Gallery during all of January 2022. The shop stock continues to be refreshed frequently with the numerous top-quality, and unusual, handmade items we offer, as can be seen on the reunited Gondola display (left). |
| Customers please note that 70% of the price paid goes directly to the makers/artists (as before), with the shop only retaining 30% (25% after tax), which, as we are a Not-For-Profit organisation, then goes towards Creek overheads and improvements. |
CHRISTMAS EMPORIUM 2021 (TUE 30TH NOV – FRI 24TH DEC) HIGHLIGHTS
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Our unique arts & crafts orientated Christmas Emporium 2021 closed 4pm Friday 24th December. This year we had an orange theme (as seen with main spotlights off) to enhance everyone’s Christmas shopping experience.
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CHRISTMAS EMPORIUM 2020 HIGHLIGHTS
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The 2020 Christmas Emporium opened from Thursday 3rd to Saturday 19th December 2020 in the Upper Gallery / Gallery Kitchen Cafe, with an excellent selection of top quality, handmade items & gift ideas from the many contributing local Artisans. Here are some highlights with more photos available in our ‘Christmas Emporium 2020’ Facebook Album.
CHRISTMAS EMPORIUM 2019 HIGHLIGHTS
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The 2019 Christmas Emporium opened from Tuesday 3rd to Saturday 21st December 2019 in the Upper Gallery / Gallery Kitchen Cafe, with a fabulous range of top quality, handmade items & gift ideas from the many contributing local Artisans. Here are some highlights with more photos available in our ‘Christmas Emporium 2019’ Facebook Album.
CHRISTMAS EMPORIUM 2018 HIGHLIGHTS
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The Creek Creative Christmas Emporium #PopUpShop opened from Tuesday 4th to Friday 21st December 2018, here are some of the highlights with more photos available in the ‘The Christmas Emporium’ Facebook Album.
ONGOING IMPROVEMENTS (2019 – #LOCKDOWN1 & #LOCKDOWN2, 2020 – #LOCKDOWN3 2021)
To restart our Artisan Shop post-#Lockdown1 (closed Saturday 21st March to Tuesday 4th August), the shop was significantly revamped along with its refreshed range of handmade items produced by local Artisan makers.
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The shop desk / payment area moved to inside the Front Office (serving via the restored glass hatch) to improve customer flow and Social Distancing (>1m) and #WearMasks in force while in the shop, cafe and gallery areas (unless seated).
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Our ever-evolving Artisan Shop featured the Gondola display island with four quadrants combined (photo above right) for the first time in January 2019, and is currently deployed as two-lengthways-pairs in the Artisan Shop Takeover, as it was in the Christmas Emporium (see 2018 & 2019 Highlights sections). It was then joined by the four nestable “TS Module” cupboards (above left), all of which were designed and built in-house to display the wide range of excellent handcrafted wares & unique gifts made by many local Artisans & Makers.