I am thrilled to introduce MarketPlace, a brand-new initiative for Sussex Craft Week 2026. Born directly from feedback during our inaugural 2025 festival, this platform is designed with a vital mission: to actively promote Sussex makers’ work and directly support their businesses.
When you visit a Craft Week MarketPlace event, you’ll discover a vast, vibrant selection of handmade, locally sourced items available to buy. I highly encourage you to attend them in person to experience the work first-hand – to touch it or hold it in your hand.
The variety for sale is incredible: ceramics, jewellery, woodwork, lighting, furniture, metalwork, sculpture, textiles, basketry and glassware – all proudly made in Sussex. Whether you want an investment piece, a custom commission, or beautiful domestic ware for home use, there is something for everyone. Prices span from accessible £20 items up to spectacular £20,000 collector’s pieces.
Here, I have selected just a few makers taking part in MarketPlace events, such as Hastings Craft Weekend, Farleys Yard Open Studios and Middle Farm’s
Summer Solstice Makers Fair. Discover all the events and browse unique items in the digital MarketPlace Window at sussexcraftweek.com
Jessica Wood
Spice of light
Madeleine Smith, Paper pod light 15x10cm (approx, sizes can vary slightly). £75
Smith is a paper artist who uses simple materials and contemporary origami techniques, such as folding and crumpling, to create illuminated sculptures that emulate forms found in nature. Inspired by the striking shape of the star anise spice, this table lamp is made using white crepe paper with applied sepia ink and honey-mustard-coloured inserts. Other colours are available, with darker papers emitting an ambient glow and paler ones a brighter light.
See more at the Hastings Craft Weekend MarketPlace. sussexcraftweek.com
Ching ching on china
Hannah Griffiths, Grackle Vintage plate and mosaic
Prices for custom pieces available on request
Originally trained as a painter, Griffiths now creates bespoke mosaics for public and private clients, from floors and splashbacks to coffee tables and garden features. Her inspiration ranges from African textiles and Moroccan patterns to Italian church floors. Her bird collection is inspired by Tudor portraiture. To frame these pieces, she developed a custom technique using vintage plates. She uses an ungrouted smalti method, in which tiny fragments of glass and ceramic are placed closely together to achieve intense colour depth. Each portrait begins with the eyes, a process that immediately establishes the distinct personality of the bird, varying from haughty to perky. This handsome fellow is the Greater Antillean Grackle, also known as the ‘kling-kling’ in Jamaica, ‘chinchilín’ in the Dominican Republic, or ‘ching ching’ in the Cayman Islands.
See more at the Hastings Craft Weekend MarketPlace. sussexcraftweek.com
Shimmering straw
Amber Joy, straw marquetry tissue holder Prices for custom pieces available on request
Describing herself as a ‘surface design artist and maker’, Joy is formally trained in furniture conservation and restoration, with a specialism in marquetry. She is a member of Heritage Crafts, and works in laser-cut marquetry and acrylic to create bespoke jewellery and homeware, as well as collections for heritage sites, such as Brighton & Hove Museums, Compton Verney, the National Theatre and Bodleian Library. This tissue holder employs the highly-skilled decorative craft of marqueterie de paille, where flattened stalks of rye straw are applied to surfaces to create shimmering, geometric patterns. Similar to wood veneering, this technique relies on the natural silica layer of the straw to reflect light, mimicking the sheen of silk or precious metals. Developed in France and Italy in the 17th century, and fashionable again in the Art Deco period, it is now very much back in vogue.
See more at the Hastings Craft Weekend MarketPlace. sussexcraftweek.com
Snappy dressing
Jenifer Corker, Lee Miller Rolleiflex Camera Brooch
Raw brass, 7x4cm (approx). £49.50
A multidisciplinary artist-designer, Corker studied fashion and textiles before going on to get an MA in Metalwork & Jewellery from the Royal College of Art. Her latest exclusive jewellery collection for the Lee Miller Archives celebrates the life of Lee Miller with witty pieces based on Lee’s personal items, such as her Rolleiflex camera, the 18ct-gold Cartier handcuffs gifted to her by husband Roland Penrose, and the knuckledusters she carried during WW2 for protection. This collection is designed and made by Corker in small batches from her studio. Each design is photo-etched onto raw brass, which, as an alloy, has natural variations, making each piece unique.
See more at the Farleys Yard MarketPlace. sussexcraftweek.com