Ian and Mags at FoQ

 Ian really enjoyed his  first trip to Festival of Quilts ( even if I did wear him out - he had to go for  a little sit down half way through the art quilts!) First call was a photo in front of my quilt 'Tunisian Door' then a bit of retail therapy - a book basket for Ian and more fabric for me from The African Fabric Shop, some Ndope indigo from John Gillow ( who said he didn't recognize me in blue being so used to me wearing pink! ) Tried to catch up with Susan Briscoe but she was either overwhelmed with customers or not there (found her eventually  on Sunday choosing fabrics at Heide Stoll -Webbers stand). After looking at some of the gallery spaces including 'Textile News -Freedom' (more in another post) and a spot of lunch we concentrated on the competition quilts finishing with an excellent lecture from Jenny Bowker on the Tentmakers of Cairo. I posted him on a train on Sunday giving me a bit more time to look around.

 ? 'My Rhino'

It was interesting to get Ian's perspective - he's seen my quilts and those of my friends and been to Hever a couple of times . He loved this rhino - one of several not in the catalogue- late entries? Neither of us were struck by the 'Best in Show'. When I see pictures of quilts from FoQ, even by people I know well I often think I could have been at a different show entirely! As my taste changes and skills improve, what draws my attention now is very different to when I first started going to FoQ. Sue and I were discussing in the car coming back how so many quilts are let down by poor compositions.

Not this quiet piece by Grit Traum  which was so well balanced and just the right amount of machine and hand stitch.  Lovely!

 Grit Traum 'Treska'



 Hazel Ryder 'After Anna'

Other pieces that caught my eye because of the materials used was the apt use of velvet in these ferns and the use of stitch on Carole's  'Branching out' - red on blue or blue on red

 Carole Belfield 'Branching Out' (detail)

 Louise Rall 'Pots and Pans' (detail)

I'm always drawn (pun intended) to those quilts with a 'painterly' quality in stitch as with this exuberant scribble of pots and pans or with paint and stitch as is this depiction of the villages in Spain and Morocco

Jose Beenders-Klomp 'El Sur'

This photo is of the centre of the quilt - there were a couple of plain quilted borders around it which in my view did nothing for it - perhaps they were added to make it up to 1m . That rule has a lot to answer for, there were many quilts with unnecessary borders or 2or 3 pieces hanging together although there were several pieces (mainly from Europe) that  were nowhere near the specified size. 

It was great to see so many entries from Europe , it's definately getting more international each year.   

Painting Dramatic Seascapes

 Just back from a few days painting in acrylics at Slapton (near Kingsbridge) in Devon.

 We went out sketching at various locations including the views from Dartmouth Castle and Prawle Point and then worked from the sketches back at the studio

 Tutor Susan Gray was excellent - very generous with demonstrations of techniques she'd developed and individual attention. I got a huge amount out of it, my painting becoming more abstracted and stylised as I worked only from sketches and memory  rather than photos. The variety of marks that can be made with painting knives was a revelation (although more practice is required...)   

 Very well fed - this blackforest gateau was to die for though the Sunday dinner of roast pork with proper roasties  followed by a selection of 7 local cheeses was amazing (Ian was very jealous when I told him) And then a pint or 2 of 'Otter' at the Queens Arms to discuss progress (and remember to take a torch to find your way back afterwards)

After such a  peaceful and creative time, it was sobering to  have to change route coming  home to avoid Ealing as the bus service was disrupted following the rioting. Horrific  to see photos and films of the damage to an area so close to us - cafes we use and my hairdressers with broken glass.

Pewter Pots and Paints

Every time we eat in the dining-room, I admire the pewter vases that my mum collected ( we used to have a vast ugly pewter tea urn but that was sold) . I've been thinking of sketching them for the 'Grey side of life' theme of Sketchbook Project 2012. I love the subtlety of form and light and shadow so it fits well too with the International Quilt Challenge I've  signed up to, the current theme being light and shade .  I've already used them in 'Lunaria' quilt ( see below before the honesty seed cases smothered it! ) but they deserve to star in their own piece!

 Then there's the Taplow Vase for 'Whatever Floats Your Boat' at Slough Museum

 I don't know quite how I ended up with this when something on the lines of this Picasso painting was what I had in mind. Time to revisit it I think.

But my immediate concern (apart from trying to keep cool) is sorting out my packing for Dramatic Sea and Landscapes in Acrylic at Slapton, Devon. Why does painting require so much stuff??!! My bag of clothes is small but I've an A2 art folder and  huge rucksack containing paints , brushes and easel -they're going to love me on the train!! I'm not taking my netbook so I'm having a blog and computer holiday too ( apart from looking at my emails on my phone) . Ian is in charge of supervising the Freesat installation in my absence - as well as a new roof we treated ourselves to a 40" television having put up with 'Retrovision' for 4 years (thanks to a dodgy aerial we've only been able to watch BBC1, BBC2 and CH4)

Service will be resumed in a few days!

Out of Australia and thoughts on mark-making

 Took the afternoon off work yesterday to see the exhibitions of prints and baskets associated with the Australian season at the British Museum. Besides being very interesting in themselves, it got me thinking about the nature of making marks and how to make them personal and relevant.
The artists that particularly struck a chord  were Fred Williams composing aerial views of landscapes with calligraphic  marks (especially liked the use of tiny multicoloured blobs of paint) and many of the contemporary Aboriginal printmakers. These abstract representations of their  lives , beliefs, customs and ceremonies are full of meaning and the marks that make them up individual, unique to the maker( even  the tools, like the Tiwi 'pwoja' comb of Pedro Wonaeamirri ) . Untitled No 1 by Kitty Kantilla , is a vivid represenation of Cyclone Thelma aproaching the shore. It reminded me of the stitch patterns I've used to create waves or ripples but without that depth of meaning!!

So how do you go about developing a language  of meaningful marks, personal to you?

In this small quilt (accepted for 'Liberte Freiheit Freedom' exhibition to be premiered at Festival of Quilts ) the marks are the lines on my hand. The linoprint was inspired by an earlier print exhibition at British Museum!

Less literal, this example from 'Take it Further' Challenge theme of 'lists' where I'd manipulated an old shopping list in Photoshop and printed it on colour catchers has a lot of potential. Mind you I said that at the time 3 years ago - sometimes things take a little while to sink in....

Much as I enjoyed Jo Budd's class at CQ summer school, I wonder whether I would have benefited more from Helen Parrott's class - Margaret's account of this covers a lot of the same ground as these current ponderings (which have taken 2 hours for a relatively short post!)  

Patchwork Professional 03/11

Waiting in for the scaffolders to arrive (roof is now finished) has it's bonuses. Look what the postie handed over - my copies of  German art quilt magazine "Patchwork Professional". Not only is there an article showing my work and a workshop on 'painted doors' but I'm on the front cover. I'm  in very distinguished company:  Kathy Loomis, Mirjam Pet Jacobs and Uta Lenk among others. I'm overwhelmed!!

Composing Peeling Posters

I think I'm beginning to get the feel for abstract compositions, so moving on from refining the pieces from Jo Budd's workshop, I've made a start on my CQ 'text' Journal Quilts. I've been observing and recording the changes in the peeling posters on the Great West Road for quite a while now (and helping it along by ripping some bits off too which I've squirreled away!) I realised though that in concentrating on the textures I'm omitted capturing any  words so had to rectify that. It's used mainly for  fly-posting adverts for party venues so that's what I'm working with.  

I've been printing photos onto cotton inkjet sheets and also colour catchers coated with Ink Aid. These tear very satisfyingly - I'm enjoying the effects of  those curling edges and your eye trying to work out whether it's a photo or for real! Now  I need to work out how to mount and stitch them. On canvas? distressed old quilt? (just bought another 'cutter' on ebay) Hand or machine quilt?

What really caught my eye when I was taking photos were the areas of posters bulging out through gaps in the fence. A journal quilt is just too small to do this justice -this calls for a huge piece!!

Interestingly the current issue of Surface Design is on paper - I dipped into it while delivering my quilt to Greenwich for FoQ reading about Mary Hark.

Composing

Writing this  trying not to pay attention to the crashes and bangs as scaffolding is being brought through the house ! Having has indoor rain every time there is a downpour( particularly bad yesterday)  we're having the back roof done. Apart from dodging showers to cut down the overhanging tree where the scaffolding  is going and clearing out the conservatory, been spending the weekend gathering my art materials for acrylic  painting course at Slapton in a couple of weeks time and revisiting the pieces I started to put together at CQ Summer School.

On Friday Ian and I were in the RNIB Box for the First Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall  Fantastic atmosphere and music ( hear it here on iplayer)  The  Brahms Festival Overture made me nostalgic for my University days in the college choir when I sang the same piece  on the same stage for the graduation ceremonies. The Liszt Piano Concerto No 2 was pretty special but what blew me away was the Janacek Glagolitic Mass - even the organ solo was fantastic (I'm not usually a fan) ! Both the Liszt and Janacek had many  passages of just a few notes or scales taken up by different instruments and voices , continually repeating but changing. The Glagolitic Mass also had close harmonies contrasted with  sounds veering on discordant.  I was thinking all though this of  how that also  works in textiles- repetition with subtle changes, sections pleasing and harmonious but needing the odd juxtaposition of something surprising.

Another Prom on Thursday - Sibelius, Bartok  and Janacek again, looking forward to it.