Work Currently On Show in Harrogate and Faversham

 

  'Birchington Breakwaters' winner of Fine Art Quilt Masters  2017  is currently in the  Winners Gallery  at the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate

 

Tomorrow , I'll be at the opening of the  Christmas pop-up market at Faversham art gallery ' 19. Preston'  which is showing ' A Helping Hand' (above)  which  went all around Europe ( and Russia and Kazakstan!) as part of Textile News 'Freedom'  exhibition . I  will also have 6 'Text Collages' on display ( below) .

 

Marine Inspiration from Knit and Stitch

 Last week I helped out on the Quilters guild stand at the Knit and Stitch show at Alexandra Palace  and before and after my stint ( it was open until 7 on Thursday)  got to look round the galleries. A very good year, there was a lot of interest particularly with a  coastal theme. I  loved the intricate detail  in  the latest work ' Findings' by Alice Fox - I did  rust dyeing with her a couple of years ago and am doing another at  Eastbourne next June based on the seaside. She very patiently answered  questions on how she' d drilled holes in the limpets (with a Dremel )

 I spent some time absorbed in  the exhibition by Debbie Lyddon. I first saw her work at the Landmark in Teddington and have followed her blog ever since. The feeling for the landscape she's in  is integral to her work, I just love it.

 Also inspired by beachcombing and the seaside, the very varied pieces of work by 'UnFold' were so inspiring, reminding me of the 100 mussel shells I collected while in Puglia with Dorothy Caldwell  and also  ideas on how I might continue the work I've started using ' postcards in a more systematic way to explore textures and a sense of place.

 So  our  10th trip back to Weymouth staying at Mariners View is timely. Today after a very leisurely start ( we didn't leave the house until 12!)  We walked  out to the Chesil Beach Café and fortified by excellent lunch followed by coffee and Florentines we strolled back on the path of the old railway, beachcombing on the way.

Highlights of Knit and Stitch Ally Pally

Liz Hammond - 'A Poplar  and the Moon' . E.A.S.T

  5 days of creative textiles! 1 day at Knit and Stitch, 3 at CQ  Winter School at Alston Hall  with Alice Fox ( more in another post) and a day at home catching up and putting some of what I learnt into practice.
The first thing  at Knit and Stitch was 'Between the lines' by East Anglian Stitch Textiles - I was interested in how the faux chenille/ slashing  was used in Liz Hammond's piece.

 I liked how  the shadows  were integral to Jo Beattie's 'Precious memories' embroideries.

 Among the quilts on show as part of Zero 3 'signature' I particularly liked Cindy Kearney's 2 pieces

  Good to see the second part of  Prism's Coded, Decoded - once again it was the work of Consuela Simpson that caught  my eye and the graphic qualities of Alice Fox's black and white pieces so different to her tide marks.

 I treated myself to lunch in the Londesborough room, and then after a bit of retail therapy ( fabric from C2C and African Fabric Shop, linen threads from Empress Mills ) before a 2 hour workshop with James Hunting 'Transfer a drawing to cloth using couture techniques'. The method he uses (  drawing on silk organza  which is then stitched through) I probably wouldn't use  but the explanation was clear and he gave lots of tips for hand stitching. Most of all it was a fascinating glimpse into his working methods - lots of pieces and samples to look at in detail. The way he builds up couched lines to make interesting marks and suggestions of shapes  and leaves his tacking in to give glimpses of colour  produce such rich results.

Quilts returned and a curation exercise

On  Saturday I went to  a meeting of Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles ( arriving an hour  late because of booking my BBC Proms tickets !)Besides being an interesting meeting, I also collected 2 quilts that have been away for a while in different exhibitions. I unfurled them  as soon as I got home, good to see them again in situ!

'Nautical Dawn' was part of the CQ 'Horizons' exhibition, going to FoQ, Ledbury and Prague.
 'Fleet mudflats'   was in the open competition at FoQ and then  in 'Halfway Between' by TVCT exhibited at  Knit and Stitch Olympia (where it was used in the advertising !) and the National Needlework Archive

 

 

 

In the afternoon of the TVCT meeting, we had the chance to look through the latest CQ suitcase collection 'All in days work'. Some fascinating pieces, made more powerful by the stories associated  with them.  We then had a curation exercise,  working to  a theme, choosing just 10 -15  from the 40+.  A valuable experience, and  as someone pointed out, reassuring  to think that if your work is rejected it might be nothing to do with the quality of work but because it doesn't meet the brief or work with other pieces chosen.

I did make me grateful that 'Nautical Dawn'  was included in the Horizons  exhibitions - it was so singular in it's  colour  that it was displayed on  it's own at FoQ, it could easily have been rejected. 

 

The model Jane and I had constructed for  Halfway Between had another airing as I attempted to explain  my thought processes. I had  initially chosen  groups of 2 or 3 pieces that worked together ( theme, contrast,  colour , shapes, sizes) and then worked  at getting a pleasing flow  not forgetting  practicalities like where the entrance  was, sightlines and electrical points. A lot of it  seemed intuition or gut reaction but  wasn't . I've probably been analysing   what works or not from all the exhibitions I've been to  and treated it like any other  composition.  

 



Spring Knit and Stitch, Olympia

A week has now gone by since the Spring Knit and Stitch Show at Olympia  and I've just about recovered! On the Saturday I went with my mother-in -law Sheila to have a good look round  but Sunday was stewarding day.

I went in early before it was open to the public  so I could take photos of the TVCT 'Halfway Between' stand. It looked fantastic and I'm so pleased that my dolls house mock-up proved useful .

It was quiet to begin with but soon there were lots of interested people having a look around. The show attracted quite a wide  range of  knitters and stitchers and I think our stand with it's variety of textiles appealed to that audience.

No photography allowed(we encouraged people to buy the catalogue)  but in a quiet time I got Sue to take a snap of me with  my 'Fleet Mudflats' ( as used  in advertising and  show catalogue!) .
There's still the opportunity to see 'Halfway Between' at the National Needlework Archive

I spent the Sunday afternoon with my white gloves on , stewarding the 70 or so  quilts of Contemporary Quilt Specialist Group of Quilters Guild Of British Isles. Lovely to see such a wide range of quilts (including older ones) made by my friends and with my white gloves having a  fine time sneaking a look at their backs. I've written a post for the 'fire' blog on this topic. 

A little retail therapy did not go amiss - some fabrics to dye with indigo later in the summer and a range of threads including luscious linen ones from  Namolio.