loomin' blog

What a Weekend

2010-03-29T17:52:00.001+01:00

My First Fair

2010-03-18T20:43:00.009Z

This weekend was the Contemporary Textile Fair at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington, where I set up my first ever stand to exhibit my work. After working non-stop to get things ready in time, I ended up pretty stressed and was worried how everything would look. In the end however I was really pleased with how my stand looked and the whole experience was a really good one. I sold a few things, but mostly it was customer reactions to my work and the lovely other exhibitors that made it so enjoyable. So I thought I would include some images of my stand in this post.
These buttons I made sold quite well at the fair. They actually have a brooch back so they are easy to move around. I may put some in my Etsy shop.

Textile Fair

2010-02-17T09:57:00.003Z

This is the flyer for my first ever fair. Quite excited and also a little apprehensive and I have LOADS of work to do to have everything ready on time. Fingers crossed everything will be ok x

Suzi Q

2010-01-10T12:52:00.005Z

I have recently been introduced to the work of artist Suzi Smith who paints under the name Suzi Q. Her mixed media canvases show Suzi's unique style (totally a good thing) which draws upon personal memories for inspiration. Suzi uses oil paint, resin, pen and layered imagery to create beautiful whimsical pieces which I would love to own. Visit Suzi's website or see her work at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham.

Snow!

2010-01-10T12:41:00.006Z

So, here in Surrey this week we have seen the heaviest snow and coldest winter for nearly 30 years - and I love it! It looks so beautiful and it's that really powdery snow that is pure white and doesn't melt the instant you touch it. As it very slowly starts to melt the most amazing icicles are forming and can be seen hanging from roof tops and guttering.

New Work

2009-12-09T11:09:00.010Z

So I now have work in 2 galleries in the UK and I am on the US site Supermarket. I have so many ideas for new designs and really want to start making cushions again. Feeling quite pleased with some of my new designs......

Guten Tag!

2009-11-30T13:35:00.006Z

Just back from a few days in Cologne to visit the amazing Christmas markets. It was so beautiful and we ate a lot of great food. Thought I would share some of my photos.

Origin

2009-10-09T09:12:00.007+01:00

Last night I was in London to visit the Craft Council's Origin event. It was a really beautiful evening and the sun was setting as I walked from the station over Waterloo Bridge towards Somerset House.

Origin was better than I remembered it from past years. There were a lot of woven textiles, my personal favourites being the absolutely gorgeous blankets by Eleanor Pritchard and scarves by Bonita Ahuja under the name Taran Taaran. Some other beautiful things I wanted to mention are the handmade children's clothes by Smith and Coates, the amazing wood compositions by Wycliffe Stutchbury and the stunning ceramics by Andrew Wicks. I would like to own work by all of them!

Somerset House really is a wonderful setting for Origin. The structure built for the event stands in a courtyard just off The Strand.

Maybe, just maybe....one year I won't be there as a visitor x

Making progress...

2009-09-28T11:31:00.006+01:00

I've had a busy few weeks, weaving, taking new photographs and trying to get over a massive cold..

I've been updating my website with the new pictures of my scarves being worn. I'm really pleased with them. Big thank you to my wonderful team and beautiful model. Here are some of my favourites...

New Work

2009-08-27T10:57:00.005+01:00

I am finally on the way to producing some of my own work. My scarves are going to be appearing in a few galleries this autumn/winter so I've got a lot of weaving to do. Yarn has arrived, labels done and I've got a large warp which I am currently putting on my loom.

Art In Clay

2009-08-10T21:58:00.005+01:00

This weekend we visited Art in Clay at Hatfield House. Very inspirational and particularly interesting to see how people set out their stands and display their work. Lots to think about for when I do a craft fair. It was a pretty hot day, making a change from all the rain we've had. Some of us even got to throw a pot.....

Belinda at gretchenmist contacted me recently to say she had featured my work on her blog. Belinda is an artist who produces beautifully simple and delicate abstract paintings as well as collages, prints and jewellery. Below is one of my favourite pieces from her Etsy shop. I shall definitely be following her blog from now on!

I'm Back

2009-07-29T23:08:00.025+01:00

Been very busy lately doing weaving projects for Salt, so have not had time to work on my own ideas or even blog. Also over the last month, I've been to a networking event, New Designers and the Henry Moore foundation....

These are photos from the networking event at The James Hockey and Foyer Galleries at UCA in Farnham. The event accompanied the opening of two exhibitions, John Allen: The Forbidden Kingdom and Wu Sima: Tibet in Watercolour. It was a great evening and I was very lucky to have a little stand to show my work because my wonderful Lee works at the gallery.

The Henry Moore foundation is situated in a small village in East Hertfordshire where Henry Moore lived for 40 years. Visitors can look round his fascinating house, which is largely as it would have been when Moore was still working. The majority of the house was used to display a large art and antique collection and give a real insight into Moore's Life. He and his wife had a very eclectic mix of styles and taste which I love as they obviously treasured everything they displayed and didn't care about rules that say things should match. Also very evident is how much his collections inspired his own work. A very interesting day indeed, particularly visiting the studios, where very knowledgable employees of the foundation can tell you anything you might want to know about the artist. The exhibition of Moore's printed textiles and tapestries were of particular interest to me. The grounds around the house are home to around 24 of Henry Moore's large sculptures.

SOLD!

2009-06-30T19:34:00.004+01:00

I am delighted to have sold my first 4 items this weekend in my Etsy shop. It really was quite exciting. I am also quite amazed at how clever paypal is and how simple the whole process was despite having to deal with 3 different currencies! The buyer is from Belgium, meaning that the payment came from her in euros, through Etsy in dollars and then to me into pounds. I like this alot.

I also had a message from the lovely Melissa of California Blue who has now featured me on her blog! Melissa has written a great little piece about my work, I love how she has described it.

Above is some of Melissa's beautiful jewellery available in her Etsy shop. It is simple and elegant, (just how I like my jewellery) and as Melissa said, portrays a "certain California style".

Thank you :)

2009-06-23T10:11:00.003+01:00

Wow, I am totally surprised this morning. How wonderful to wake up to such lovely comments! I want to say thank you to everyone for following me and commenting. Plus I am in my first Etsy treasury, so thank you to Adam for that! A pretty good 24 hours overall :)

These flowers have started growing outside our front door, I have no idea what they are but I really like them. Actually maybe they are just a weed, there are loads of them...anybody know?

Finally...

2009-06-22T15:24:00.007+01:00

I have just listed some new work on Etsy which I'm really pleased with. As I had said before weaving is sometimes a bit limiting and I began to really missed playing around with different materials. So I am loving printing and stitching. I have no idea if other people will like the new stuff, but we'll see.

Last night I was looking at a book that I've had for years, all about hand embroidery. There are some amazing examples in there so I thought I would scan and post my favourites..

Click on the picture above to see a much bigger version. The book is called 'Stitch Magic' by Jane Beaney and Jean Littlejohn. As they say in the book, stitching is one of the most simple ways of mark making, since people were using needles made out of fish or animal bones even before the first bronze age. It is incredible the beautiful decoration that can be achieved by a simple needle and thread and of course some imagination.

Textile Art..?

2009-06-17T11:27:00.011+01:00

I have always been interested in textiles as art. Beginning in college when I created 3 large collage pieces, there is a layering of colours and textures that you cannot get with paint. I loved stitching into different surfaces and building up layers creating really intricate and tactile pieces. Then for one reason or another I left the idea of textile art behind. This had a lot to do with learning to weave and also my desire to create functional items. However, I occasionally thought of my work at college and remembered the freedom that working in different materials can offer. The past 6-7 years has had me perplexed...do I want to create textiles for use or for decoration? Of course textiles can be both beautiful and useable, but in my mind one has to be above the other in order of importance.

I enjoyed my year doing a masters in contemporary craft. In the end I created small quilted pieces that were inspired by my family tree and antique textiles like samplers and old eiderdowns. It occurred to me that even hundreds of years ago they were creating these samplers and tapestries as decorative pieces, textile art is by no means a new idea. However, as much as I love the pieces that I have created, not least for their tactile qualities, I've never been able to live with the fact that as small pieces they would end up on a wall or behind a frame. Why was I going to all that trouble to get a beautiful soft finished cloth if you couldn't touch it? I suppose in my mind I always imagined that these were small studies of what could one day be a large quilt..but with the cost of materials and the time consuming work involved this is definitely a long term goal.

Anyway, despite my preference (sometimes) to have textiles that you can touch, I absolutely love alot of work done by many textile or fibre artists. One artist I came across recently is Jo Deeley. Her work is so innovative and varied and I absolutely love it, particularly these more sculptural pieces, here and here.

So over the last few days (whilst trying to stay in the air tight box that is my flat, to avoid unbearable hayfever) I have been experimenting with my sewing machine and some printing stamps, to use in a similar way as my MA work. I think little bits of these could end up on cards in my Etsy store...I don't know.

Weekend things...

2009-06-15T12:50:00.008+01:00

A few new things that I purchased this weekend from the Bourne Mill antiques centre in Farnham...... Beautiful piece of lacyness for £1. I have no idea how this is done, but it is very intricate and I love it.

50p glass dish that I shall keep on my dressing table....hmm, it seems that I am turning all girly in my tastes, don't know how that happened.

Also, I've started to have an interest in stamps..not in a collecting sort of way but just for decorative purposes :) Some old stamps from around the world are really beautiful...here is a selection..

Some of my favourite things....

2009-06-12T12:47:00.012+01:00

First, 2 images that I love from my noticeboard.

1.Photograph by William Eggleston - UNTITLED (KYOTO), 2001. Got the postcard when I visited an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London in 2002. I love this because of the beautiful random colours in the flowers combined with the co-ordinating shade of the floor and contrasting straightlines of the grid formed by the tiles. The plastic wrapping round the flowers makes them looked blurred and abstract.

2. Image of the 'Earth from Above'. Taken by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, this photograph shows a 'flock of scarlet ibis' in flight above Venezuela. Some more amazing aerial photographs by Arthus-Bertrand and others can been seen here and here. It always amazes me when I see such intense colour in nature. The colour of these birds really stands out against the dark background of the Venezuelan wetlands.

New things

2009-06-10T13:57:00.011+01:00

I have spent the last few days making some small items for my etsy shop. I have made some pin cushions, a stuffed heart and small zipped purse. I'm quite excited to finally know how to make a lined zipped purse..I had always wondered how it was done, so I googled it and I found this tutorial. (Yay just found out how to make that word a link :) Yes it was very easy) Some pictures of what I've been making..

Etsy Shops

2009-06-09T09:54:00.019+01:00

(Click on title above to go to my new etsy shop!)

Last week I decided to open an Etsy shop as it seems like a huge thing in the U.S. and I like the idea of being more international! Plus the Elle Deco blog often features some amazing work from Etsy sellers.

So far I am impressed by the scale of the operation, there are forums, how-to's, ways to promote your individual shop and all the help you could need. It really feels like a big community where you can talk to other people who are doing a similar thing. Etsy has a real mixture of different shops selling handmade, vintage and supplies for craft making, I have spent many hours browsing through pages of beautiful things. However, there is also alot of cheaper random stuff and I wonder whether makers that sell more expensive handmade items can really survive underneath it all. I want to post links of some Etsy shops I really like...but I'm not entirely sure how to do it and I need to also get the owners permission, so maybe another time.

The scarves that I have been weaving are now on etsy.com and also massproduced.com. I am really pleased with these scarves but of course this isn't really the time of year for a woolly scarf! Hopefully they will become more appealing to people once Autumn comes round again.

In the meantime I am trying to continue with some work I started at University. Whilst completing my MA I explored my family tree and began creating collages and textile art work based upon old documents and ideas of identity. As with the new woollen scarves, this work also revolves around the 'grid', giving structure and composition to the pieces.

Hmm, shall get onto it now...

Man in hat

2009-06-08T14:08:00.002+01:00

Learning new things..

2009-06-08T13:24:00.015+01:00

For the last few days I have been trying to teach myself to crochet. I managed to do a simple length of basic stitches, but them decided I wanted to crochet a circle. This turned out to be quite difficult because every set of instructions I looked at were slightly different and none of them were particularly easy to understand for a complete beginner like me. Eventually, I ended up crocheting in a spiral that formed this tiny domed circle.

Although slightly pointless and not useful for anything, I like it. It reminds me of a shell. The next day I was looking at the bookshelves and noticed our 'long thin man' ornament had a bald head.

In the beginning....

2009-06-08T11:00:00.004+01:00

OK. So finally I have started to customise my blog and get it how I want it. Still don't fully understand everything but it's enough for now.

After years of writing in journals and sketch books not very successfully, I'm hoping that using this internet blog will work better for me. The problem I have with writing in a note book is that its a little bit restricting. I am bad at sticking to things for long periods and found it hard to write in a journal everyday. Plus, whenever I wanted to insert images or link to things that I am interested in, it was annoying to have to get the image off my camera, print them out and stick them in.

Hopefully I will keep this blog more up to date as I seem to be using my computer a lot more these days and I can post links and images straight from my camera or the internet (once I get used to it anyway). Also, I think the idea that others could stumble across my blog and read my updates is a little incentive to keep it going.
:)

first ever blog

2009-04-12T21:00:00.000+01:00

planning underway....results to follow