Maker Member Show 2025 Awards
President’s Prize
Life Rock
Weather Pattern
Gale Force
Merlyn Chesterman | Printmaking
Life Rock
Weather Pattern
Gale Force
Congratulations to Merlyn Chesterman who is the winner of this year’s Maker Member Show President’s Prize!
MAKE Southwest President Peter Randall-Page RA carefully considered all of the submissions for the Maker Member Show before selecting Merlyn’s work for the award. He was ‘blown away’ by her weather triptych, and called them ‘powerful and affecting’.
Merlyn Chesterman RE was brought up in Hong Kong and returned to England to study Fine Art at Bath Academy of Art in the 1960s.
Merlyn became a woodblock printmaker in 2000 after a visit to Northern China. She has work in the collections of the V&A, The Edward James Foundation at West Dean College, and with private collectors.
She has exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show and the London Original Print Show at the RA regularly, and with the Society of Wood Engravers and the Society of Painter-Printmakers. She was an invited artist at the Shanghai International Printmaking Show and conference, and studied on an Arts Council funded trip to the Purple Bamboo Studio at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.
Merlyn is also the founding member of a collaboration of woodblock printmakers known as Pine Feroda, who have also exhibited at the Royal Academy.
On accepting the award, Merlyn said the following:
“I have always liked the potential power of woodcuts. At scale, and with a good tailwind, an emotion can transfer from where it originates directly through the tool to the block, without much processing. That spirit then prints, again and again. It is risky, but it is worth it for when it works. These woodcuts have been created with the crisis in the Middle East never far from my mind, coupled with environmental concerns. I swim to Life rock, at Hartland Quay, frequently, wave size permitting. It has saved lives over the years, as it is never submerged. It is emblematic of safety and optimism.”
Selection Committee Award for Excellence
Congratulations to Kate Toms and PJW Woodworks who are joint winners of this year’s Maker Member Show Selection Committee Award for Excellence!
Kate Toms | Mixed Media
Tiny Figure
Mixed media artist Kate Toms says, “My most recent work has presented me with the challenge of working to a smaller scale and given me an excuse to revisit my love for the dolls house!
Her little figure was created over a wire frame using vintage fabrics and salvaged wrapping paper and newspaper, with simple processes of needlefelt and hand stitch.
“When we peer, we are forced to appreciate and consider the detail in things,” says Kate. “I hope my 'Tiny Figure' will encourage viewers to lean in and rediscover some of that wonder for themselves.”
“It is a thrill for me to see my work displayed alongside such a varied and glorious selection of makers’ work and an absolute honour to have been awarded the joint Selection Committee Prize.”
PJW Woodworks | Wood
Natural Inflection
Furniture designer-maker Paul Ward won the award for his handcrafted sideboard made from local Ash and Oak timber, which draws inspiration from daily wanderings across Dartmoor with his faithful companions at heel.
“Rooted in traditional craftsmanship but made using a mix of hand tools and modern techniques, this piece celebrates fine joinery, thoughtful detail, and the quiet satisfaction of well-made furniture,” says Paul.
The piece features textured panels and a drawer front inspired by the gentle wind patterns that ripple across Dartmoor's water ponds, and serves multiple practical purposes: designed to fit perfectly within an alcove beneath a wall-mounted drinks cabinet, it provides essential storage while creating a harmonious connection between functional elements in the space.
What makes this sideboard unique is its inclusion of a cozy, open-fronted pet refuge — a reflection of those shared journeys where paws and boots tread the same ancient paths.
“I’m thrilled to have received the Selection Committee Award for Excellence", says Paul. "It’s a real honour to have my work recognised in this way.”
Green Maker Initiative Award
Vivien Prideaux | Textiles
No Other Land
Congratulations to Vivien Prideaux, who is the winner of the Maker Member Show 2025 GMI Award!
Vivien’s piece, 'No Other Land', has been selected for the Green Maker Initiative Award for its embodiment of sustainable making, cultural storytelling, and environmental integrity.
At its core, the piece draws inspiration from Tatreez, the traditional Palestinian embroidery practiced by women for generations. Prideaux honours this heritage not only through technique, but through a respect for material, process, and meaning.
What sets 'No Other Land' apart is its holistic commitment to sustainability. Prideaux uses low-impact and sustainably minded methods throughout the making process - indigo dyeing, handweaving, and stitching with natural fibres - ensuring a minimal environmental footprint. These practices reflect a thoughtful, regenerative approach to textile art, in stark contrast to the wasteful processes of industrial production.
The piece is so much more than just its materials. It is a powerful statement on the role of craft in preserving identity, memory, and connection to place. By rooting the work in the handmade traditions of a displaced people, Prideaux challenges fast fashion’s disposability with a message of longevity and emotional durability. The garment is not just sustainable in its physical makeup - it is imbued with meaning and intergenerational value.
Though its fibres and dyes could return safely to the earth, 'No Other Land' is not made to be thrown away. Like Tatreez garments, they are made to be worn, loved, repaired, and passed on - their longevity not only environmental, but cultural and personal.
Special credit should also be given to the following exhibitors for their use of sustainable materials, methods, and techniques: SarahB, Jane Deane, Anna Pope, Ian Hankey and byAliceWood.
People’s Choice Award
Molly Lemon | Printmaking
Returning Home
The public have spoken… the winner of the People’s Choice Award for 2025 is Molly Lemon!
Molly Lemon is a printmaker specialising in wood engraving. Using traditional hand tools Molly engraves into woodblocks. The block is inked up with a roller and printed on her miniature Albion Press.
Wood engravings are most commonly black and white but Molly loves working with colour and she tends to use the reduction technique achieve this. Reduction printing involves printing from a woodblock and then engraving that same block again before printing another colour on top of the first layer, you repeat this until you’ve added all the colours you need to create your image.
Molly enjoys working en plein air as she loves being surrounded by her subject matter. Being outside helps her to create work with a sense of freedom and immediacy that she does’t get when working in her studio.
Molly also creates collages using her discarded print proofs which she finds a very playful and satisfying part of her practice.
Concerned with conservation and the climate crisis Molly aims for her prints to reflect the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world. Molly donates a percentage from each sale to environmental charities, since 2019 she has donated over £8,500.
