NaviStitch and Sail Loft News

Here's what's happening in our creative space, the Sail Loft, the NaviStitch shop, and on Manningtree High Street over the coming weeks...

In the Sail Loft

It's the few days of our Pre-Loved Art Sale. We've seen lots of art find love again in a new home - there's still time to find yours!

For those of you wanting to find a new, unique piece and bag yourself a bargain to boot, it's in our Sail Loft until Saturday.

Coming up...

Our incredibly talented friend, who's no stranger to NaviStitch and our Sail Loft Gallery, Anne Plummer joins us with her most recent work in our Sail Loft Gallery next week. Her exhibition will be full of the amazing, realistically brilliant barges in local estuaries, and marbles that look like you could just pluck them from the frame! If you've seen Anne's work before, come and see her newest pieces; if you've not seen an exhibition of hers before, you'll be in for a treat. With us from 19th Feb to 1st March.

Keep an eye on all of our events in our calendar

And then...

From 5th - 8th March, I'm having an exhibition of my own artwork in the Sail Loft Gallery - entitled 'Memories of Morocco'. It'll feature new work inspired by the geometrical Islamic designs seen on a trip to Morocco earlier this year, created using watercolour and stitching with a pop of metallic.

I'll also include some new additions to the 'Aquaholic' collection of watercolour paintings that I previously exhibited on cotton rag paper with stitched elements.

Spring Exhibition News

Here's a shout-out to local artists for our Mixed Spring Exhibition! Whether you're a seasoned exhibitor or if you'd like to make this your first, we'd love to hear from you.

The exhibition will run from 15th March to 12th April with a preview night on Friday 14th March.

We're happy to consider work in any medium (including photography, textile and 3D) from professional or amateur artists. Download the application including all the terms; don't forget, the closing date is next Saturday, 22nd February 2025:

Don't panic!

Happy Valentine's Day for tomorrow!

We're open from 10am-4pm if you're one of those last-minute shoppers, or if you've suddenly realised unrequited love for someone! Plenty of choice in Valentine's cards and gifts for those with all tastes - call in and win the best Valentine title this year!

Fancy an Exhibition?

Are you a local artist or maker? Did you know that our Sail Loft is available for you to hire and exhibit your work to our audience ... and we've got space in May, July and August this year.

Whether you're experienced at putting on a show, or if you're just starting out and need someone to show you the ropes, we'd be delighted to hear from you. If you fancy a solo exhibition, we have 2 rooms for hire and you can choose one or both. If you want to collaborate, let us know. If you don't want to exhibit alone, we can help introduce you to others. And we've got lots of display materials that can help you make the most of our fabulous creative space.

Take a look at all the details, and get in touch if you've got any questions.

Making Memories...

If you're a new follower, or you haven't seen any of my work before, here's a little introduction to my loves, and how I got started:

My NaviStitch work encompasses my love of our coast, charts and stitch. I was inspired by an image on Pinterest of a family who had stitched their holiday road route as a red line onto a road atlas; this got my creative mind working. I have always loved the lines and colours on Nautical charts and although my first piece was just a line following the coast (see first pic above), this quickly evolved into nautical images and boats, and all of the nautical stitched art that you can see today in the shop, in other outlets or online.

Often customers will have a place which is special to them - where they live, where they sail, where they grew up or just somewhere that holds special memories for them. With that in mind, I offer a commission service, and hugely enjoy creating a record of special memories for people. You choose the chart location, image, thread colours and style of framing. Bespoke design service also available, if you can provide me with a good clear photograph of the required vessel, I can stitch your own boat and even on your own chart.

I'm in the NaviStitch shop most days - call in and see me, or get in touch if you fancy chatting about something you'd like

And finally

We've decided not to run the art trail this year in the way that we did in 2024, but to host a 3-week exhibition featuring 8 of our fabulous art trail artists at NaviStitch instead.

Although it's still some way off, if there's lots of interest, we might also run with a second set of 8 artists for another 3 weeks. Art Around the Walls as a 3-mile trail around Mistley, Manningtree and Lawford will be back in 2026!

Do take a look at our calendar for lots of other events happening this year: a new Maritime Market Pop-up, our Affordable Art Show, Magical Mystical Manningtree as well as solo and collaborative exhibitions and our own Spring, Autumn and Christmas events.

Until next time...

I wish you calm waters and plain sailing.

Sam