Geoffrey Bickley exhibited with us 2 years ago in a show called All I Want For Christmas. He delighted visitors with his beautiful carved wooden bird sculptures including the one pictured below from visitor Deb Lewis; "Our oyster catcher hangs in our conservatory. We love it because it reminds us of the wildlife we see on our walks in Suffolk." A word from the maker: "I have worked with wood most of my life having trained as a Carpenter and have been carving since 1993 spe

"Several years ago I accompanied my husband on a business trip to Leeds. Left to my own devices in the City I came across the Leeds gallery and there I bought my first John Maltby statue, which features a family on a boat. It encompassed a number of firsts - my first major purchase; beforehand I had limited myself to under £50 per item. My first Own Art purchase. And my first statue - before that I had only bought studio pottery. You may have expected it to immediately b

We had a great time browsing through Leanne Horner's photograph collection of pieces she's bought from us over the years. Leanne is our Director Hayley's younger sister and over the years has shown fabulous support for the gallery and our makers. Thank you Leanne for sharing your collection with us and we look forward to welcoming you to the gallery again soon. "The Craft and Design Gallery in Leeds is celebrating its 35th anniversary and my sister Hayley Hudson (the Direc

We loved looking through images visitor and long time customer Michela Burrows sent of her beautiful collection that she has purchased from us over the years. Thank you Michela for all of your support shown to us and to our makers, we hope you continue to add to this already amazing collection of treasured pieces. Michela, a good friend of our Director Hayley Walker, posted her images on Facebook and wrote: "The Craft Centre and Design Gallery in Leeds are celebrating their

"Grandad Needham; a true Yorkshireman often found with soil under his fingernails from his big love of gardening and a pipe in his mouth, not to forget the endless pockets full of “spice” (that’s a Yorkshire term for sweets) that’d he’d offer to us on our regular visits. I have very fond memories of those visits; unearthing potatoes from beneath the soil in their big garden, picking blackberries and apples for Grandma Needham to make a pie with, collecting eggs from the hen

Last week we enjoyed a visit from Liz Goodman and her husband. They marvelled at our selection of collections on display and in particular our ceramics. After a lovely conversation with the couple Liz shared with us a personal story of a purchase she made here of a piece created by Lorna Jackson Currie which we're sharing with you below as we continue to celebrate our 35 year anniversary: "The story behind it is that 18 years ago, I was just coming out of an unhappy marriag