Textiles in Practice
Sunday 2 October 2022
Threads of Identity
Tuesday 15 October 2019
Workshops
Friday 2 June 2017
Looking Forward
I am very excited to not only be exhibiting at Gawthorpe Hall but have also been asked to run a drop in workshop! I will be teaching people how to darn (the technique at the focus of my work). If you are free this Saturday be sure to drop by.
I really love producing work but I am also very excited about community arts participation and looking to make this a key focus of my work in the future. I am hoping this workshop will run smoothely and be a bit of a springboard into this area.
I am also in touch with ASMbly Fest based in Leeds who have accepted my applciation to run darning workshops with them.
Friday 7 October 2016
Knit and Stitch Show
Thrilled to be exhibiting with Manchester School of Art at the Knit and Stitch Show alongside my fellow graduates and tutors including Georgia Heaton, Charlotte Darby, Lynn Setterington, Jane McKeating and Alice Kettle.
Alice Kettle |
Charlotte Derby |
Georgia Heaton |
I love the buzz of the Knit and Stitch Show, there is something unmistakenly feminist about it. Although there are pleny of male artist/makers and supportive partners here, there just feels like an undeniable sense of lifting up and celebrating traditionally feminine crafts. A lot of the vistors appear to be matriarchs with two generations in tow, all excited and interested by the colours and fabrics.
This perhaps has been punctuated by the fact my own step-grandma, mother and godmother have all been to visit our stand so far.
A snap of my favourite stand, there's something very texturally satisfying about edging, it often has a slightly more 3D, playful structure as well as offering an array of bright colours. Sumptuously inspiring to my eclectic minds eye...
Saturday 21 May 2016
Evaluation
Sunday 8 May 2016
Finishing Touches
This week I'm figuring out how my work will sit within the degree show. Having spoken to my tutor and attending a portfolio session I think it would be best if I could show my work hanging and laying on a table. All of this consideration has also lead me to think about the edges and finishing of my pieces. In order to try and ensure all my darning sits as it should, I have been testing out fabric starch and whether this would help fix my final pieces. However I think once the pieces are well pressed they should work fine without fabric stiffener, which ruins the drape of the fabrics. I am also having to experiment a little with the edging of my fabrics, finding the most effective solution being just to fray and trim the edges.
I got to see my samples displayed as part of the TIP in Progress show in the art school, neatly rolled in a glass cabinet. I think this is how my samples will be displayed on a table at the degree show if this is the kind of space I'm allocated.
I have also decided to create a collection of singular samples that can site alone. I enjoy displaying these as a kind of patchwork:
I may suggest this way of working for my large piece for the Knit and Stitch show.
I need to make some executive decisions about my portfolio this week - what size it will be A3 or A2 in consideration of how small my samples are. Whether samples need to be mounted or simply presented in a box. I also need to make a decision about the colour of paper things should be mounted on, whether grey like I used for the colour competition would be more appropriate or white.
Sunday 27 March 2016
Creating Samplers
sense as final pieces that imitate the old samplers that inspired them. This also offers an extra versatility to the context of my work. Their initial context of fabric that could inspire ideas for a range of techniques remains, however as longer pieces they can also be used as exhibition pieces that can be displayed in various ways.
Although the main focus of my body of work is still the delicate hand stitch and machine embroidery samples. I have taken lots of close up detail photographs of my work and manipulated them in photoshop to make digital prints. I have then shown these prints in various contexts.
After a month or so of waiting I have also finally heard back from the live brief at Gawthorpe Hall, and am very excited to be offered an exhibition space on the Manchester School of Art stand at Knit and Stitch Show in London and Harrogate. I will get to exhibit alongside four other students and MMU staff, including Alice Kettle. The tutors were very complimentary about the samples I put forward and have asked me to make a new piece over the summer especially for the show. They have asked me to complete a 2 meter by 2 meter piece with lots of my little coloured detail within. This will be a mammoth task but will give me something to work towards once I've graduated and I am looking forward to manning the stand in October and November. I look forward to a tutorial with the curators of the stand to discuss the best kind of fabric to use and the frequency of the detail I shall be adding.
Because the hand stitch techniques are so time consuming I have been looking alternative methods that could be used to create similar effects. This included an attempt at hand weaving on a frame using thicker yarns. Although I quite like the end result, this is not an appropriate technique for my work. It is only less time consuming if I use considerably thicker yarns, and the structure would become compromised if I were to get more adventurous than a plain weaving pattern.