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Events Archive

Cross Hatch Exhibition | 26th March – 2nd April 2026

designermakers21 warmly invite you to CROSSHATCH,  an exhibition celebrating the work of our first Incubator Studio Residency graduates. Hosted in our new dm21Gallery the exhibition open on Thursday 26th March, in the afternoon.  We are extremely proud of the three talented artists.  On Saturday March 28th at 2pm you can come and meet Poppy, Shelby and Sonia, enjoy a cup of tea to talk to them about their work, processes and ideas.

Shelby is an illustrator and ceramicist interested in diverting the mainstream and celebrating the unusual. Her work, featuring zines, ceramic pots and figurines are inspired by punk/alt music, retro objects, traditional tattoo art, folklore and the supernatural

Poppy Jackson makes work that explores the female body as an autonomous zone. Jackson’s practice spans live performance, painting, sculpture and printmaking, and often focuses on public space and architecture in relation to the body. Poppy is involved in developing CONVERGE: a performance art and Live Art platform providing connection and exchange between artists working with the body across Norfolk and Suffolk

Sonia Gomez’s Mixed Media Compositions are inspired by encounters with the natural world and the flora and fauna of her homes in Norfolk, Sri Lanka, and found on her travels. She uses colour, pattern and variety of materials to create gardens and seascapes, populated with surrealish birds and creatures, and playful details which reveal themselves upon closer viewing.

The Incubator Studio Residencies are sponsored and funded by the East Anglian Art Fund  with additional funding by the Diss Arts Society

Opening times: 10am-5pmThursdays to Saturdays. PV Saturday 28th March 2pm, all welcome

Location: dm21Gallery, ground floor at designermakers21

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art & craft exhibitions showcase

Showcase Exhibition | February -April 2026

We are delighted to welcome three local artists in the Showcase for February, March & April.

Displaying their work are Kim Croysdill, Cathie Fiddling and Helen Maxfield.

Kim Croysdill

Kim Croysdill makes beautiful calm ceramics, including vases and mugs, all finished with her own glazes. Kim also enjoys raku and pit firing creating simple, desirable pieces.

Cathie Fiddling

Cathie Fiddling creates effective mosaics from broken ceramics, often incorporating special pieces of interest and text to form her work.

Helen Maxfield

Helen Maxfield creates limited edition linocuts. Her inspiration comes from sketching trips in the Suffolk countryside and along the coastline. Designs start with observational sketchbook studies and evolve through the printmaking process back in the studio. In her work Helen aims to achieve images that celebrate both the beauty of the place and the natural qualities of linocut.

You can visit the Showcase any Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm upstairs in the main building at designermakers21. All works on display are for sale.

Opening times: 10am-5pm, Thursdays to Saturdays

Location: First floor Showcase Gallery at designermakers21

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Events Archive

Christmas Fayre | Saturday 29th November

Christmas Fayre at designermakers21, with 10 visiting artists stalls, alongside our studio members, and work by associates in the galleries.
Saturday 29th November 10am-4pm, with wonderful handmade gifts, festive drinks and nibbles!

Artist Stalls:

Mark Papworth – Leatherwork

Becky Whatley – Painting & Needle Felted Creatures

James Collier – Pargetting

Heather Richards – Ceramics

Roz Barnet – Textiles

Teresa Frampton – Painting & Book Binding

Kate Heath – Jewellery

Sue Hulme – Felting

Suzanne Campbell – Fused Glass

Matt Brewer – Jewellery

Opening Times: 10am-4pm, Free Entry

Location: downstairs at designermakers21, Diss

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Events Archive

‘Have a Go’ Day Saturday 25th October 11am-3pm

Come and try your hand at a variety of crafts practised at designermakers21. Explore our unique community, and learn a new skill.

Our members will be running fantastic drop-in activities between 11am-3pm. Unleash your inner creativity and have a go at…

  • Making a lino printed card
  • Pronto plate printing
  • Creating a community mosaic
  • Expressive mark-making

and, just in time for Halloween, get all spooky

  • Creating clay ‘beasts’
  • Designing Halloween inspired tetrapac prints
  • Making Besoms (think witch’s broom!)

£5 per activity, with all proceeds going to designermakersCIO fundraising.

No booking required, but at busy times you may be asked to wait before taking part in an activity. All ages welcome, children must be accompanied at all times.

Opening times: 11am-3pm

Location: ground and first floor studios at designermakers21

Categories
Events Archive

Showcase Exhibition | August – October 2025

We are delighted to welcome three local artists in the Showcase for August, September and October.

Displaying their work are Heather Richards, Becky Morgan and Sally-Ann Utting.

Heather Richards – ‘I produce an expansive range of whimsical ceramics. Mugs, jugs, vases, MUSHROOMS, hearts, beautiful up-facing flowers that catch the rain for bees to drink and a great deal more’

Becky Morgan (The Tulip House) – I am a textile artist and create a range of wildlife cushions and art works which incorporate repurposed fabrics. I use natural fibres such a wool, cotton and linens and try to champion UK produced textiles. My work is scanned to produce a range of prints and cards. My focus on repurposing textiles has also led me to create a range of gloves and scarves using repurposed second hand cashmere.’

Sally-Ann Utting – ‘I produce recycled art, inspired by surface, pattern, texture and order. Reused aluminium beer cans as a material has been a significant component of my work. my process has led to a cycle of collecting, selecting, cutting, weaving, manipulating and placing materials, producing collage and sculptural effects.’

You can visit the Showcase any Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm upstairs in the main building at designermakers21. All works on display are for sale.

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Events Archive

Summer Expo ’25 | 7th – 30th August 2025

‘Summer Expo ’25’


An exhibition of art by local people, celebrating their talent and creativity.

Featuring a wonderful variety of work including: painting, collage, print, textiles, embroidery, sculpture, wood, metal, watercolour & ink & felt.

Exhibition celebration afternoon Saturday 9th August 12-2pm, all welcome.

Opening Times: Thursday-Saturday, 10am-5pm

Location: Upstairs Exhibition Space at designermakers21, Diss

Categories
Events Archive

Summer Artisan Fair | Saturday 21st June

Join us on Saturday 21st June, for the Summer Artisan Fair at designermakers21.

Entry: FREE

Times: 10am-4pm

16 invited artist/makers will be showcasing their work, all with a tantalizing selection of high quality handmade items for sale.

  • Leatherwork
  • Silver Jewellery
  • Ceramics
  • Pargetting
  • Textiles
  • Needle Felting
  • Pyrography
  • Embroidery
  • Printmaking
  • Collage
  • Resin Clocks

designermakers21 will be open 10am-5pm, with access as normal to our members’ studios, galleries and Showcase exhibition.

Categories
Events Archive

‘Being Woman’ Workshops at designermakers21 | 22nd March – 26th April

Would you like to explore a new medium, reanimate a skill, or immerse yourself in creating for a day?

Have a look at the programme of artist-led workshops running alongside ‘Being Woman’ exhibition at The Corn Hall in Diss. All workshops will take place at designermakers21. For more information, and to book a place on any of the workshops please visit the Being woman 2025 Eventbrite.

Workshops:

Saturday 22nd March – Unlock Your Creativity Day | 11am-3pm

Saturday 29th March – Moon Goddess Vessel | 11am-2pm

Saturday 29th March – Explore Self-Portraits | 11am-3pm

Saturday 29th March | Puppets, Petticoats & Paper | 10.30am-4.30pm

Three Day Egg Tempera Painting Course, Saturday 5th, 12th and 19th April | 10am-4.30pm

Saturday 5th April – Embroidered Illustration | 12.30-3.30pm

Saturday 5th April – Paint a Mythical Woman | 11am-4pm

Saturday 12th April – Nature & Conservation Ceramics | 10am-2pm

Saturday 12th April – Create a Clay Goddess | 10am-1pm

Saturday 19th April – Print a Mother Earth Linocut | 10.30am-4pm

Saturday 19th April – Cyanotype Goddess | 1-4pm

Saturday 26th April – Print a Female Inspired Lantern | 10.30am-2.30pm

Categories
Events Archive

Showcase Exhibition | February – April 2025

We are delighted to welcome three local artists in the Showcase for February, March and April.

Displaying their work are Becky Whatley, Cathie Fiddling and Keri Lowe (Fibre and Earth Studios).

Becky Whatley – Multi-talented, Becky is showing her fabulous pictures, which she creates with precision pyrography, and oil paint to finish. Becky also creates rather wonderful felted creatures.

Cathie Fiddling – Cathie makes attractive mosaics using broken crockery. Adding extra interest, and a little bit of humour with lettering in a very charming fashion.

Keri Lowe (Fibre and earth Studios) – Keri is a potter and sculptor. She hand builds with coils, slabs, and throws on the wheel. Her work is decorated using sgraffito. All are beautiful pieces of work, often functional, sometimes sculptural, with a focus on surface decoration.

Visit the Showcase upstairs at designermakers21 every Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm.

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events in Diss Have a Go activities

FREE ‘Have a Go’ Craft Activities | Saturday 15th Feb, 11am-3pm

Come and try your hand at a variety of Crafts practiced at designermakers21 for FREE.

Explore our unique community of makers and learn a new skill.

Activities include: making a community mosaic, printmaking, making a collaborative ‘clay-scape’, concertina sketchbooks, making a community quilt, metalwork and weaving.

No booking required, however at busy times you may be asked to wait before taking part in an activity.