Inspiration From Historical Textiles

Last weekend I enjoyed teaching a two-day workshop at my studio in Saltaire, West Yorkshire. The theme 'Inspiration from Historical Textiles' allowed me to dig out some of my textile treasures. My lovely students also brought some absolute treats of their own too. We spent the weekend talking about textiles, making cyanotype prints of textiles, drawing from textiles and stitching into textile. Obsessed; surely not!

Below are a few highlights. If you are interested in coming to one of my workshops you can find more information here.

White labels

A couple of weeks ago I found myself in the basement at Bradford School of Arts & Media, experimenting in the ceramics workshop. As the snow was falling and the building became deserted I settled myself with a mug of tea, my notebook and a lump of porcelain clay. I was in my element. I found it intriguing to be working with a different material, like speaking a different language somehow. A material that has a memory and 'remembers how you handle it'; a material that can be chalky like plaster or translucent like skin.

Rolled, turned, rolled and turned.

Smoothed and re-rolled.

Cut to size.

A series of labels,

numbered and dated,

from smooth white porcelain.

I have loved working with the porcelain and learning about how it behaves. This weekend I added the finishing touches with a little blueprint. The porcelain labels will form the finishing touches for my installation 'Linear Mapping', part of the Pinpoint II exhibition, which I hang this week.

Tangled up in blue

The last couple of weeks have been frantic. I have found myself dashing across the country in a whirlwind of blue, traveling, teaching and networking.

I was lucky enough to visit The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester last week with my Bradford students. I had a quick chat with the talented Julia Jowett, a natter with Viv of Hen's Teeth, and a catch up with my ex-student Kate Whitehead. Travelling over to Stafford I met up with Jennifer Collier and over to Unit Twelve to teach a cyanotype workshop with 12 lovely ladies. In a tangle of blue I headed east to Grimsby and the Fishing Heritage Centre to teach another workshop for The 62 Group, coinciding with Ebb & Flow.

Tangled and tired, I am having a little rest now, but it was so lovely to see you all.

Spectrum

These little pieces will be on show as part of 'Spectrum' at Unit Twelve. "This exhibition will showcase work that focuses on the interplay between colour and light, work that is bold, bright and graphic"... not what you would usually expect from my work. However I have returned to some little pieces of cyanotype I started experimenting with previously, patching together fragments.

The exhibition runs from 4th September to 29th November 2014.

Ebb & Flow

Today I visited Grimsby to hang my work for the forthcoming 62 Group exhibition 'Ebb & Flow'. For this exhibition I have worked on a sequence of three large cyanotype prints on silk. The tryptic, called 'Baptism', explores the euphoric experience of cold water swimming. Through personal observations, the sensual awakening of the body is traced as shimmering stitched marks on the surface.

You can see this and work by many distinguished artists in Ebb & Flow at the Fishing Heritage Centre and Grimsby Minster, Grimsby, NE Lincolnshire from 9th September to 2nd November 2014. You can see some photos and read about the special events on the Ebb & Flow Facebook page.

New blueprints

Some of my earlier experiments I can now show you.

Working in blue

 I have been a little quiet about this work.

It has been ongoing for a while now... ideas rustling about. But taking a very different direction I wanted to let things develop before sharing. So just a few peeks for now...

The work is complete, I now have to wait to see if they will be exhibited.

Studio discipline

Yesterday I started the day in despair. My work was awful and I had no time to start again. By the end of the day I was feeling really positive. Pinning the work up and stepping back it wasn't really as bad as I thought. John helped me to see there were some small alterations I could make.

On reflection I realised there are some simple little elements of studio discipline that are crucial to my creative process; making a cup of tea, putting on my linen apron, switching on my favourite radio station. Without these I am all 'at sea' and struggle to settle. This routine helps me to switch over to studio time.

I also find the rhythm of hand stitch a calming element of my practice, although I haven't the patience for large amounts of it. Small areas of stitch work well for me, as a way of blending together disparate elements.

from the other side

Sun & rain

Although we had the wrong kind of weather today, we still managed to produce some great sunprints. Jane, Anne, Louise and Louisa joined me for Cyanotype Essentials at my studio. I never ceases to fascinate me how a group of people given the same materials will create such different outcomes and I love the way we all work so differently... I suppose that is one of the reasons I teach.

I am having a little break from workshops for a brief period as the workshop planned for Harewood House next week is being postponed until later in the year. I hope to be updating the website soon with some further dates in Saltaire.

Walk 4

From home to Hirst Wood via cemetery and rope swing.

Huge birdsong.

Curling, flowery notes.

Sparkling and layered, competing to be heard.

Walking along the riverbank, ducklings and blue speckles of speedwell.

Leaf shapes - similarity, variety.

Vibrant green

Textures

Wild garlic; to look at, to smell, to touch and taste!

Bluebells. Endless drifting blue

A found bottle 'POISONOUS NOT TO BE TAKEN'

Ankle deep, then knee deep on nettles.

Names in the cemetery, some broken, forgotten? Tears of my own.

A rope swing with glee.

Slightly lost.

Fly tipping and a waiting cat

Across the railway and into blue carpeted woods.

A low-lying mist, scented with hyacinth

In love with blue

Some more images from my indigo dyeing with Clarabella.

...  if you are also in love with blue take a look at the breath taking work of Shihoko Fukumoto.

Found blue

From the river...

...some of these little treasures may make their way to Saturday's Stitch with Found Objects workshop. I still have two places available for last minute booking.

Unpicking indigo

 

I promised I would show this little piece of stitch resist I dipped in Clarabella's indigo dye vat.