I've long been an admirer of the work of Paul Klee, this stitched silk painting from the 1990's of 'Florentine Villas' being an early example of textiles influenced by his work ( I saw this painting in the Pompidou in 1980's and for a long time had the poster on my wall ). So the current exhibition at Tate Modern was unmissable - I went last night after work ( late night opening on Fridays). I debated whether to buy the catalogue in advance - after all I have 6 books of his work but guess what , I succumbed! The approach was very different from the Hayward exhibition in 2002 being chronological which gave an insight to how series developed. Also I've moved on in those 12 years and my tastes have changed a little although I've still a soft spot for the patterns of 'Pastorale' and Structural II 1924 126 (below)
While I was disappointed there weren't any of the Tunisian watercolours I love, there was a lot that was new to me, like the wonderful lively marks in 'looking out of a cave' 1929 281. And with using a lot of red in my own work recently , I was more aware of how he's used that colour as a focal point.
What really grabbed my attention however was the luminosity of the works from 1932 using a form of pointillism with form given with watercolour washes laid partially over the top. I loved 'Lowlands' 1932 9' reminiscent of the subtlety of the mudflats I've taken so many photos of!
The emerging form of a bird in the next picture to it (below) reminded me of the egrets at the Chesil Beach visitor centre
I think it was partially the marks that attracted me. One of the highlights of the Australia exhibition at the RA was a linocut by GW Bot ' Gethsemane' on tapa cloth, so much so I bought a lino printing press with the intention of replicating my stitch marks in a similar way.
But in the meantime, as a form of more instant gratification, I've been using pens to make 'stitch' marks on an offcut of a quilt painted with acrylics and gesso.
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Journal Quilts from scraps - something out of nothing
Red Scraps 2014
This years Journal Quilt challenge for Contemporary Quilt is for an 8 inch square with a line from side to side across it.This size is a bit small for my usual practice of using journal quilts as samples for larger quilts and it could be a bit testing ensuring it doesn't end up looking like a potholder or 'mug rug'! So I've been thinking a bit over the last few weeks about how to get the most out of this years challenge.
Last week I gave a talk ' A Journey in Journal quilts' to Guildford Quilters and as part of the process enjoyed the process of picking through 1l years worth of JQ's to identify themes, bringing back memories of making them , like looking through a photo album or sketchbook.
I talked about telling stories through JQ's; trying out techniques such as Photoshop, monoprinting, acrylic painting, stitching by hand and machine, embellishment;themes and joining in with challenges; finishing techniques and display options.
What I found when I chose my examples were quite a few where I'd used scraps and leftovers and remembering how much I'd enjoyed making something out of nothing! Some of these are shown below. Rather than repeat the methods I used, I've linked the JQ's to the relevant blog post.
So that's my theme for the year and my first example above is a sample testing stitches for my Cwilt Cymru 'Connection' pieces. Well I did say I'd used almost every last bit,but the scrap basket never seem to deplete despite the number of bookwraps I made last year!
Cyclopean Walls 2006
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Connection at Forge Mill Needle Museum
'Red Remnants' detail
'Red Remnants' 24" x 48"
'Red Ripples' 24" x 48"
'Red Ripples' detail
I'm thrilled to say that 2 pieces I made as guest artist with Cwilt Cymru for an exhibition on the theme of 'Connection' will be at Forge Mill Needle Museum from 11 February to 9 March. I won't get a chance to see the exhibition there but will definitely be going to Llandidloes Minerva Gallery when it opens there in the summer. Both quilts were made from the same ragged red and cream strippy coverlet I use for 'Red Flotsam' and 'Nautical Dawn' ( which is currently touring as part of the CQ Horizons exhibition). 'Red Remnants' literally used almost every last scrap from the previous 3 quilts! I would love to have the opportunity to show all 4 pieces together at some point.
And the 'connection' to Wales? My first job after I graduated was doing grassland surveys of Gwent in 1993/94 and I lived in Abergavenny, joining the local quilt group, helping with the quilting on their Castle quilt which featured in the local paper. The start of both my botanical career and quilting journey.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
Sand Ripples
The combination of high winds and high tides around Ferrybridge made for some interesting sand ripple patterns
Big Skies, High Winds, High Seas, Low Tides
An exhilarating weekend in Weymouth for Ian's birthday, with strolls on Portland between meals experiencing the varied weather and its effects, and a bit of sketching from and on tablets while it was still fresh in our minds.
First thing on Saturday the combination of high tides and high winds meant you could see the waves crashing against Portland from our cottage in Ferrybridge ( about a mile away!) It was a bit calmer ( still 30mph+ winds) and heading towards low tide when we went by bus to Jackson Gallery and Café for lunch - delicious mini pizzas and Florentines and views out over the sea
We headed down the hill to the Cove House Inn for a pint, very blustery and difficult to keep the camera still. You can see the high water mark right at the top of Chesil Beach ( going over the top in places) with sea spray like smoke.
After a lovely dinner at Floods on Saturday( red mullet baked with fennel -yum) , Sunday was a little calmer although still windy with incredible skies and cloud formations as the sun rose.
After a leisurely lunch at Blue Fish Café we walked back over the causeway, stopping off at the Chesil Beach visitor centre to admire the mudflats in the waning light and then headed to the oyster beds at Ferrybridge - I took so many photos!!!
Finally at the end of the Rodwell trail, the sea was so far out that you could see the remnants of the pier associated with the old Whitehead Torpedo factory and there were hundreds of seabirds where land met sea. There was a very high tide again as we left on Monday but nothing as bad as in January.
Update 5th Feb - video of waves crashing over Chesil earlier today.
The return of a helping hand
'A Helping Hand' , one of the pieces included in the touring exhibition 'Textile News :Freedom ' has arrived back home after more than 2 years on tour ( 'Sometimes Chains are Just Shadows' which featured on the 2012 Bernina Calendar, was sold!)
They certainly had an adventure - 14 places in UK, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Kazakhstan. When I saw the display at FoQ in 2011 , the variety of work was amazing and it's wonderful that so many people have been able to share that experience. Thanks Gudrun!
They certainly had an adventure - 14 places in UK, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Kazakhstan. When I saw the display at FoQ in 2011 , the variety of work was amazing and it's wonderful that so many people have been able to share that experience. Thanks Gudrun!