Piecing It Together: Meet Les Jones, Founder of Europe's Only Magazine Dedicated to the Art of Collage
Artist Les set up the only collage magazine in Europe from his Newcastle studio just after the pandemic, with daughter Molly on design duties and son Wilf helping too
Tell us a bit about how you got started with the magazine – what hurdles did you have to overcome to get here?
Just before the pandemic, my wife bought me a five-day Contemporary Collage course at Central St. Martins for my 60th birthday. Despite having worked in the creative sector for my whole career, I’d never done any collage. I went to the course, but unfortunately, it only lasted two days as the whole university was shutdown because of Covid.
However, those two days lit a flame and I went home and threw myself into making collages. After a few months, I looked around for some magazines about collage to get some inspiration, but I couldn’t find any. I thought that there was a big gap in the market and I decided to launch my own magazine. I launched the magazine in September 2021 with my daughter, Molly, who is also a designer and had recently re-located back to Staffordshire.
The idea from the start was that the magazine would sit at the centre of the business and establish our credibility. From there we would introduce complementary products and services such as workshops, collage challenges and an annual awards. In our first year running the awards, we received more than 1,500 submissions from over 500 artists.Where do you live and where is the magazine based?
I live in Audlem, not far outside of Stoke-on-Trent. It’s a pretty village with a canal running through it. Our studio is based in Newcastle-under-Lyme. It’s the same room I ran my design agency from back in the early 1990s, so I’ve come full circle.
Tell us about the magazine format and how people in Stoke can buy it?
Having started as a monthly digital magazine, we’ve now changed our format to a quarterly print and digital magazine. We have around 1,000 subscribers and our biggest market is the US. Anyone interested can subscribe or buy single issues of the magazine via our website.
You also offer collage workshops here in Stoke. For the uninitiated, what is collage and what can people expect at the workshops?
Collage is simply a medium, in the same way that painting, clay or photography are mediums. It’s what you do with it that matters. However, collage is perhaps one of the most democratic and accessible mediums. The bar to entry is very low. All you need are some papers (old magazines are great), a glue stick and a pair of scissors and you’re up and running. Working with collage is not only very satisfying from a creativity perspective, but it’s also very mindful. It’s easy to lose yourself for four or five hours without even thinking about it. We’ll be launching some new workshops in Stoke over the next month or two.
What are your ambitions for the mag and how are you working to get there?
We want to establish the magazine as the premium publication on contemporary collage and to push ourselves to feature the most innovative collage art from artists globally. We also want to establish Stoke as the UK centre for collage art with the magazine based in the city and the development of an annual collage festival. We’re starting this September with a one-day Contemporary Collage Conference being held at The Film Theatre at the University of Staffordshire.
What’s it like being a creative business in Stoke? What are the positives?
There are some amazing pockets of creativity going on but I think we need some creative vision from the powers that be to develop more creative spaces and to attract and keep more creative people into the city. I’d like to see a much bolder vision for the creative arts here in Stoke.
What developments here in the city are you excited about?
I think that Spode Works is a perfect opportunity to develop a site that could attract visitors from all over the world.
What are some of your fave creative brands from Stoke?
I have friends who run ceramic businesses in the city. Repeat Repeat is run by Mark Faulkner and Gillian Naylor – we were all at college together 50 years ago! They produce some really cool designs. I also know Jonathan and Ade who run Moorland Pottery – in recent years they have created a rich seam of business that started with their Stokie Ware.
Do you want to nominate someone local to be profiled by The Knot? We’d love to hear from you! Email james@theknot.group with your suggestions
What a brilliant idea and group of people. I wish them luck in the future and thank you for bringing your skills to this area.