Friday 24 October 2014

It's been awhile

Life has been full and very busy this summer so apologies for not keeping up with the news.
I was happy to be invited to have a solo exhibition during July August and September at the Minerva Gallery in Llanidloes, Wales and it was super to see my Arctic and Beyond work all in one place.
The whole body of work began with my trip to Arctic Canada in 1998 to visit the Inuit seamstresses in Baker Lake.  Seeing this textile did take me back to a wonderful inspirational trip. It created and interest in ice, snow, and glaciers that I continue to constantly revive.

I was also very pleased to have a solo exhibition at Midsomer Quilting, a wonderful shop, and gallery space in Chilcompton in Somerset.  Worth a visit if you are in this part of the country.  It also gave me an opportunity to see again some favourite pieces from the past.... some from the 'Within 4 Walls' series, and work done based on endangered trees and forests.  It is always good to see the work done in the past to appreciate how one's work has evolved over the years.  These are two pieces I hadn't seen for several years and they brought back wonderful memories.  On the left a Scottish/Canadian piece and the right 'Remembering Cabot' from a visit to St. John's Nfld. to the Cabot Quilters group many years ago.

I can't forget the Festival of Quilts and I was busy there for several days, judging and helping on the Art Textiles Made in Britain stand.  Our show was called 'Identity' and was very well received (if I do say so myself)  I may have shared these photos, but here they are again.

You can see Louise Baldwin, Pauline Brown and Jenny Rolfe at the desk.  A promising first venture for the group.  My work in black and white inspired by an arctic walk and the sound of cracking ice.

The Latest news...
Taking a holiday in France in September was a chance to relax before the Somerset Open Studios.
I took part (with a painter, printmaker friend Vera Sheaf) in my home gallery/studio space for two weeks.  It was my first venture and it was very interesting to meet non textile people.  All of the work on show was new, smaller framed pieces based on the flooding earlier this year on the Somerset Levels.  This is a theme that is developing into a larger body of work.  Many of the smaller piece were developed from collographs that were manipulated, painted and finally transferred onto cloth for machine stitching.

You can see more of the work from the Open Studio on www.asomertonstudio.blogspot.co.uk

The above pieces were also at the South West Textile Group exhibition of 'Pathways' at the Ilminster Art Centre for most of this month.
That brings me up to current work.... 
Watch this space.. 
More developements from the Somerset Level floods are being done now.

Thanks for reading and will try and organise my blog time better in the future.





Friday 21 February 2014

The Levels

What a winter we have had so far!   You may have heard about the flooding in many parts of the UK. - Somerset, Gloucestershire, the Thames valley and Surrey.  Somerton, where I live is on high ground, so no problems, but we are not far from 'the Somerset levels' where there has been terrific flooding since Christmas.  Acres and acres of farmland are still underwater, some villages are cut off and it will take months (of reasonable spring weather ) for life to completely get back to normal. On the sunny days we have had, I have tried to capture the beauty of these flooded fields, while always remembering the damage that has been done.



Working in black and white and neutral tones, I have been doing a great deal of sketching and mark making in graphite, ink and pencil, trying to capture the feeling of the landscape.  I can see many of these  images being taken further onto cloth with stitch.  A whole new body of work, I think. 

Watch this space
 


What's new -
My Design Essential course will begin March 1 at Midsomer Quilting and I hope to keep you posted on some of the progress during the next couple of months.  I have a great group of gals - we shall see.

South West Textile group have an exhibition space "Footsteps in Time" at the Fashion Embroidery and Stitch Show, March 20-23 at the NEC in Birmingham - a wonderful show worth visiting.

Hope you are all well and safe, wherever you are... seems the weather has been creating havoc everywhere since Christmas.

 Thanks for reading and will try and keep you posted more regularly in the future.