AS the seats are taken out of The Courtyard’s main auditorium it can mean only one thing – Hereford Contemporary Craft Fair is back.

This year will be the 21st year of Hereford Contemporary Craft Fair, which first took place in 1993 with around 30 exhibitors in Hereford Town Hall, and will feature the work of 60 contemporary designer makers , offering visitors a fabulous opportunity to get ahead with the Christmas shopping – or invest in a unique piece of work for themselves.

The stunning exhibition this year includes jewellery, textiles, furniture, ceramics, glass, stone carving, basketry, fashion and accessories and metalwork from both national and locally based makers.

Every year, a first-time Herefordshire-based exhibitor is given the New Exhibitor Award, and in 2014, the recipient of the accolade is Ben Esthop, who graduated with a degree in Contemporary Applied Arts in 2012. His beautiful vessels combining wood and coloured resins were a highlight of that year’s summer exhibition at HCA.

A former student at Aylestone High School, Ben had always wanted to pursue art as a career, but it wasn’t until his early 30s that he finally enrolled at Hereford College of Arts to study Contemporary Applied Arts.

“I knew I wanted to work in wood,” says Ben, whose work has attracted the interest of major galleries in London and New York. “In the first year they let us play with everything, then at the end of the year I discovered the lathe and I was hooked. I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

The unique technique Ben has developed was the result of his passion for working with wood and an obsession with Japan.

“I started looking at Japanese shapes and designs for a research project,” he said.

But it was the need to find a way of repairing the splits that appeared in the wood that he was working with that led to the use of resins. “I searched for something really durable and sticky that would go hard, and then these beautiful forms came from it – reflecting the indivisibility of beauty and utility.”

Following the HCA show, Ben went on to exhibit at the New Designers Exhibition at the London Design Centre and was honoured to be asked to return last year to exhibit in their One Year On show.

Another local exhibitor, from just across the border in Monmouthshire, is Louise Lovell, whose exquisite knitted jewellery is winning her widespread acclaim – she was featured as ‘one to watch’ in Knitting Magazine – but her creativity isn’t limited to her work ... her house was the subject of a feature in Period Living last summer.

One maker, ceramicist Bev Milward, will be showing new work at the fair. “At the beginning of this year I began to develop a body of abstract new work – highly decorative microcosms houses in glass domes, candlesticks and some two-dimensional collage pieces on porcelain. They are richly encrusted with details referencing personal and ceramic heritage,” Bev explains.

The makers this year were selected by a panel including Emma Daker - Exhibitions and Projects Development Manager for Craftspace; Jenny Watt - Newport House, The Cart Shed organisation and co-curator of Out of Nature Sculpture Exhibition; Bronwen Tyler-Jones – Herefordshire metal inventions and jewellery designer maker; Sylvia Stiff – textile artist, photographer, printmaker and freelancer of Scissors Paper Ink, offering assistance to small businesses including Brightstripe; Mel Potter and Leoni Linton of Brightstripe Cultural Health CIC who manage the Craft Fair.

“Fabulous, as ever,” said one visitor. “The high quality is notable and a real draw,” while another declared the fair “Inspiring and exciting. I’ve had a lovely time meeting people and talking to them about their work.”

And if that isn’t enough to tempt you, there’s the chance to win a £100 voucher to spend with an exhibitor of your choice. All you have to do is complete a visitor questionnaire.

Hereford Contemporary Craft Fair runs at The Courtyard from Friday, November 14 to Sunday, November 16, 10am to 5.30pm on Friday and Saturday, 10am to 5pm on Sunday.