Craft & Making

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Bermondsey once manufactured one third of the country’s leather, so it shouldn't be a surprise that neighbouring Lewisham has its own history with hides. 1 The 19th century Riverdale Mill was a leather mill before it switched to corn.2 (Walk along Ravensbourne River and you can still see the mill’s water wheel.) 3  Then there’s the historic Leathersellers’ Company, which supports schools in the borough and provided Cockpit’s leather hub, while also supporting new leatherworkers. Keeping this legacy going, contemporary makers at Cockpit transform leather into all manner of bold accessories, designer bags and unique artworks. 

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The refurbishment of Cockpit Deptford includes the addition of a new, purpose-built woodworking hub, and Cockpit has long been home to many talented wood artists, creating everything from musical instruments to homeware. Darren Appiagyei, founder of Inthegrain, crafts bespoke collectable pieces, each carrying their own story. “My practice,” he says, “is simply about embracing the intrinsic beauty of the wood, be it a knot, crack, bark or grain. As a wood artist my passion is filled with discovering and exploring new woods and I am highly inspired by Ghanaian wood carving, the rawness and exploration of texture.”4 

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The artist behind the Head Heart Hand mural, Amber Khokhar, is fascinated by shapes and what is known as sacred geometry. Ever cut across a grapefruit or looked into the petals of a flower and been amazed by the patterns, precision and perfection of its design? Artists such as Khokhar find inspiration in the natural world for their own artistic creations. The triangle, the central shape of this mural, is in fact a key symbol in many religions. Spiritually, it is also said to signify balance, harmony and consciousness. 

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In Deptford, a diamond can mean different things. For some, it’s a one-in-a-million kind of person: perhaps someone like Father Diamond, the late parish priest of St Paul's Church, who started the Deptford Festival and gave his name to the Diamond Way street sign.5 For others, it might be HMS Diamond: the 40-gun warship built at Deptford Dockyard in 1652 only to be captured by French privateers in 1693. 6 At Cockpit Deptford, where champagne diamonds make golden bands pop and black diamonds wink on delicate neck chains, it means commitment. 

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From the Wall of the Ancestors on Pepys Estate7 to the naval figures on Deptford Town Hall, Deptford’s history is carved into its buildings and public spaces. However, these intricate renderings in stone, wood and other materials are not totally a thing of the past. Classically trained carvers like Cockpit’s own Clunie Fretton maintain these legacies and also create new ones, be they statues, sacred motifs or heraldic coats of arms. Fretton, with partner Felix Handley, has worked on The Houses of Parliament and St. George's Chapel, Windsor – and, for the V&A, recreated a famous carved lace cravat by 17th Century Deptford resident Grinling Gibbons.8 9 

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Beloved by pop artist Andy Warhol, screenprinting or silk-screening is a very physical process, as anyone who’s ever tried it (perhaps at one of Cockpit Deptford’s workshops) will know. A mesh layer is stretched across a wooden frame, and then paint is spread over stencils and screens to print individual designs. Cockpit maker Kethi Copeland uses the form to render iconic and everyday London buildings, beginning with on-site sketches and progressing to multi-layered prints. 

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Warp and weft are the threads that are woven together on a loom or other weaving frame. Warp is the vertical thread, while the weft is the thread that is woven horizontally between the warp. Weaver, artist and teacher Charlotte Grierson is one of Cockpit Deptford’s on-site textile artisans. She uses a large hand loom, known a Dobby loom, which dates back to the early 19th century, to create her woven art pieces and handwoven scarves.10 

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Rubber kidneys and throwing ribs may sound like the chosen implements of a medieval surgeon, but they are actually the tools of a potter, used to smooth and texture their ceramic creations before they are fired into finished pieces. Ho Lai is one of Cockpit Deptford’s resident ceramicists, but rather than aiming for perfect shines and finishes, her playful artworks subvert expectations through experiments in texture, colour and form. 

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There is a lot of maths in making, from measuring the dimensions of a clothing pattern to counting the time a pot should stay in the kiln. But there are other sums, too. How do you price your work? How do you balance the books? How do you measure success? Can you afford that studio, that course, those supplies? To support the work of makers in London, Cockpit Deptford awards funded places to craftspeople working in various media. Applications open twice a year. 

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From one-off fashion to works of art, Cockpit’s textile designers stretch the realms of possibility and form through their creations. For maker Annalisa Middleton that has meant exploring embroidery and the possibilities offered by goldwork, which she describes as ‘a type of high relief embroidery, using metal wires, traditionally used for military dress uniforms.’ Her subject matter, though, is anything but army regulation, with folklore monsters, science fiction and strange creatures informing her fashion and artworks.11