More News 2012

Here it is mid January - no snow....and the daffodils are just peeking through.  It may not last for long as it is meant to get colder soon. So far this year I have been involved with two exhibitions

The first was the winter exhibition of the Society of Designer Craftsmen at the Mall galleries in London and it was a big success.  It is always nice to see a small collection of one's work in such a good gallery space.  My 'Meltdown' series based on global warming was the work that featured this year.  This is some of the smaller pieces.  For more on this series look at 'My work' on the blog.

The other exciting exhibition that is on at the moment is 'Voices' - Quilt Art (the international group) of which I am a member.  It opened at Bovey Tracey, Devon at the Devon Guild of Crafts gallery last week and will be there until the end of February.  A wonderful location and well worth the visit.
http://www.crafts.org.uk/     or visit our website at    http://www.quiltart.eu/
We have produced another little gem of a book to accompany the exhibition.

Latest news -  
Connecting Design to Stitch class
There are still places left for the textile retreat in Puglia, Italy, sponsored by Creative Exhibitions (Festival of Quilts and the Knitting and Stitching shows, UK) http://www.twistedthread.com/
It will be 5 wonderful days in a superb setting - a villa in southern Italy. 

We will explore representational and abstract design, first in mixed media collage, then with fabric and stitch. Digital imagery, sketches, writing, painted paper and other surfaces will be explored in addition to wire form for dimension.  Many of the exercises will be compiled in a hand bound sketchbook for future reference.




Landscape Imagery in a stitched book, in Burgundy, France - in mid 9-15 September  
http://www.thereallybigdreamcompany.com  Taking inspiration from the local countryside as well as one's own personal theme, students will be creating a sketchbook and several stitch pieces learning about design and composition and using imagery and mixed media collage.  Sounds like fun!!   It will be a perfect time of year for great food and wine as well as creativity and inspiration.


Visit the workshop section on this site, for additional class information - 
I will be in Halifax, N.S, Canada for the Canadian Quilters Association conference end of May, Cowslip workshops, Launceston, Cornwall in July, and at the Distant Stitch Summerschool at Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire also in July. http://www.urchfontmanor.co.uk 
And don't forget to visit me at the Festival of Quilts in August, where I am introducing my new book Connecting Design to Stitch.


An exciting year ahead......     Thanks for reading.

Happy New Year - Never too late!!

It has been some time since I wrote last - Too many things happening and it's all good. Where to begin.
        A September trip to Ontario visiting family with side trips to Cape Cod, Princton NJ and Maryland to see friends has kept my computer busy with hundreds of photos.  So many, I just bought a 2TB hard drive to keep up.  Many of the images I wanted to use for small stitch compositions.

Images from Cape Cod and a stitched textile inspired by our visit.     

 The biggest news is writing a new book ' Connecting Design to Stitch' (Batsford - August 2012) and it has been my main focus for the last 2-3 months.  It will address design and composition through the eyes of a stitched textile maker- not just for contemporary quilters but embroiderers or anyone who loves fibre with mixed media and stitch. Similar to Connecting Art to Stitch, it will be full of wonderful pieces of work from international art quilters and embroiderers, composition collage exercises and design workshops.  Hopefully, something for everyone.  I will be at the Festival of Quilts in August (the NEC in Birmingham) with a small stand to introduce the book, so if you are in the UK and planning to attend, please come and see me.  

      One of the main sources of inspiration this time has been images from the Jurassic coast in Dorset - that 135 km stretch of ancient coastline.  Cliffs, beaches, boats and the sea  from West Bay to Lyme Regis feature often, and of course the classic fossil shape - the 'spiral' as it relates to the 'golden mean' - perfect proportion in nature. The 'rule of thirds' a simple version  of this, helps us to practise good composition in both fine art and wall hung stitched textiles.

Here is a glimpse some of the new work that will appear. Inspiration throughout the book will come from photo images based on a theme, world textiles, architecture, the landscape, nature and many more subjects of interest. 

Work from dozens of well known fibre and fine artists will be showcased in addition to my own latest art quilts and textiles. And... a  design class devoted to creating a stitch bound book, - full of great collage and composition exercises to try.

Apologies again for taking so long to write .....  Life overtakes....  I continue to teach, make and exhibit has kept me quite busy.
Look for another blog very soon with the latest news for the New Year.
Thanks for reading....