A day for stitching.

 

I have spent the whole day stitching with my lovely group Great Western Embroiderers. I still have lots of stitching to do on this piece, but you probably recognise the theme from a previous post. Lots more still to do, but it was so pleasant to be able to pass some of my caring responsibilities over to some one else today, so I could stitch.

 

I have another 4 hours of freedom tomorrow, and am trying to decide whether to stitch in the studio or got the local art gallery to see their exhibition. Decisions........

 

Talking about exhibitions..... the Lydiard House exhibition is coming to an end on Sunday.....so you have a few days to catch it.

Its a Bank Holiday weekend !

 

Well it is so easy to tell its is a Bank Holiday here in the UK.. it has been raining all morning and quite cold too. Now as late afternoon arrives the sun decides to shine, but the dark clouds are still threatening us. Its been one of those none days in my studio.... too many things going around my head, and so I have settled to nothing of any great value.

 

 

The red and pink Azaleas in the garden however are enjoying this barmy weather and were certainly ready for the rain. They are looking quite wonderful this year. Usually the red one blooms first on my Mum's birthday and the pink about 10 days later. This year they have decided to bloom together.

 

Hope you have managed to get to Lydiard House and Park to see the Exhibition.... not long before it finishes... so here is the poster ... just in case you have the time or opportunity to visit over this weekend. It finishes on June 1st. The house is open on Bank Holiday Monday

 

You may also like to visit the Central Library to see the Swindon Open Studio promotional exhibition ( Open Studios in in September 2014) We are due to take down and collect the work on the morning of Saturday 31st May. I have a piece of my latest work on show.

A Surprise from overseas.

Had a lovely meeting in the studio of my creative sketchbook group - and I am so proud that they are producing such wonderful work.
Imagine my surprise then when one of the group Kath who  has just returned from a lovely trip to Australia and had managed to visit another long time mate of mine... Dale of the Thread Studio in Perth, gave me this present from Dale's shop on arrival at my doorstep.  

 

Some wonderful hand dyed silk threads, some chiffon and Jacinta Themes (which are hand dyed silk tops) and also some dyed porcupine quills and some bronze glitzy powder.

 

 Kath and Dale however  have also conspired and issued me with a challenge.... to create a piece of work to show to Dale when she comes to London to the Knitting and Stitching show in London October 2014 see here. This may be quite a challenge... I have a number of ideas going through my head...... but what a fabulous thoughtful gift?

I think Kath was surprised to find I had worked with porcupine quills before... I do recall how difficult they were to use, especially as the ones I had were quite short.

 

 

The work created by the North Americans however is fantastic, but I understand  most of the work can only be seen in museums now. Have a look here for lots of interesting information.

 

 

I found the above illustration online.... it is a beautiful example of quill work. So a great challenge for me..... I am looking forward to playing with these lovely goodies. Thanks Dale and Kath. I'll blog about my ideas .. so watch this space... ;o)

Oh and if you have any tips about working with porcupine quills... I'll be ever so happy to hear from you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibitions in Cirencester

 We had planned to go to Stroud and have a look around the International Textile Festival , however our plans changed at the last minute, so we might go tomorrow instead.

 

I had also wanted to see a couple of exhibitions in Cirencester, and so we went there instead,  especially -Sophie Ryder -  The Kiss at new Brewery Arts in Cirencester.

 I was not disappointed and really admired the texture and accuracy of her drawings in wire. Well worth a second visit if I get the opportunity.

 

 

 



 

We then took the short walk to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, the exhibition in the gallery there was called

 

-Phantasmagoria by Anthea Walsh and Michelle Mary Dawson-

 

Not really my sort of exhibition,  although I appreciated it was well presented and entry was free.

 

 

I also went into the Museum to see the work of 2 other textile artists. It was called

 

                     Footsteps  A site responsive work from Amy Wallace and Carole Waller.

 

 

 

Fortunately as a member of the Art fund I do not have to pay for entry to the museum, as there were not many pieces of work from either artist.

I enjoyed Carole Wallers' installation of 4 hangings which hung in front of the glass windows to the Roman Garden. I found Amy's work a little harder to understand.

 

It was a lovely sunny afternoon which showed Cirencester at its best.

                               

Lydiard House Exhibition

 

The Great Western Embroiderers Exhibition is still on at Lydiard House, and I had a wonderful  afternoon meeting members of the public whilst I was stewarding.

 

 There is still time to see the Exhibition, it runs until June 1st.  

Talk at Marlborough Branch of the Embroiderers Guild

The Talk at the Branch meeting was about traveling in India and the textiles seen on the way. Tiggy Rawlings is a very enthusiastic speaker and had lots of Indian Embroideries and photos to show us. Tiggy was happy to share the techniques used for dyeing cloth and embroidering discovered on her travels, with us.  

Have a look at her blog here.. the photos of India are really inspiring, this is one of the photos Tiggy showed us.

 

Fortunately for us, she had also bought a lot of interesting sale items for us to spoil ourselves with. As you can see I could not resist. Loved the packaging too......much better than plastic bags.

 

As always it was good to meet up and chat with everyone over a cup of tea and biscuit.

Some of my latest work.

 

I have been translating a lot of my experimental drawings into textiles, and having lots of fun along the way.

 

I have called this piece - To stitch or not to Stitch #1 -  its is on show at the moment at the Central Library promoting the 2014 Swindon Open Studios. I am taking part again this year for 2 weekends in September.

 

 I chose the title carefully for this piece of work,  as the Swindon Literature Festival is underway for the first half of May and the exhibition has a literary theme. .