Now for something completely different

I haven't got a lot of textile work worth showing at present. Its not that I'm not producing- I'm working on 4 separate bodies of work at the moment but they are all in the very beginning stages so more on them when they are beginning to emerge - but yesterday was my birthday (I'm not telling you how old I was!) and we actually did something as a family.We 'apparated' down to Leavesden and entered the world of Harry Potter.

I would thoroughly recommend this as a day out even if you are not a Harry Potter fan (I am) if you enjoy seeing how films are made. There are a couple of real wow moments, from entering the great hall to standing staring in awe at the model of Hogwarts they used for filming. The level of detail employed in creating these sets and costumes is incredible and the whole operation is really slick - although I think they could do with more signage on getting there and some of the staff need to visit the Disney school of happiness,but other than that it was great. I would definitely visit again esp. if they expand it to include other films. I just wish the Butter Beer would stop repeating- hic!

Onward ever onward

Personal life has rather interfered with my textile existence just recently but hopefully I am now moving forward again because I really need to be as I have a lot coming up.
Firstly our event at Horndon on the Hill went extremely well. A completely different adventure to anything we have previously undertaken and it gave the Bridging Waters work a different twist and brought in an audience that would not have ventured into a 'white cube' gallery space. We had great support from many friends and colleagues as well as people who were just passing by. The weather (absolutely glorious) and the homemade cake were a big help. Our demonstrators were wonderful with their demos full and a big thank you should go to Lynda Monk, Sara Impey, Helen Wilson, Juliet Bryson and Janette Bright (keep you eye out for these people when they are demonstrating or giving talks near you each was unique and fascinating) .And of course we Material Girls did pull our own weight with Margaret, Beverley and myself throwing in our own  demos. We even had one of our Canadian colleagues present ,Donna Clement, which was great.All the 'Girls' and their families worked their socks off as always, they really are a terrific bunch.
All together a very successful event but I think it will be a good three years before we 'do' another one because of our existing commitments plus the amount of work involved- my poor family virtually didn't eat in the preceding week!

Next thing on the horizon is participation in the first Romford Art Trail which is a completely new small body of work which will be shown in the church of St.Edward the Confessor in Romford Marketplace from 14th July  to  27th July 2012. Then the last stop in the UK for the Bridging Waters work is in Maldon in August.
In the meantime Material Girls are starting out on their next project, I have an exhibition in London next May which I need to do work for and I have also to produce a separate body of work for something else- its going to be a busy summer perhaps I should teach my family to cook!

Textiles on the Hill

The exhibition is ready to hang , the demonstrations are prepped, the shops are full of beautiful goodies, a Canadian colleague is on her way and even the cakes are baked. All is ready for Material Girls big event in Essex. So if you fancy  a nice trip out  and some real textile treats this weekend and live with striking distance of the Woolmarket at Horndon on the Hill in Essex we would love you to join us for this small celebration of all things wonderful in the textile world. See you there?

for full details and timetable of demonstrations visit www.the-materialgirls.co.uk

Farewell my Friend

I can't believe that I am writing yet another post like this so soon after loosing my Lucy. May has not been a good month in my household for all sorts of reasons and I can't wait to see the back of it and then last night my lovely cavalier,Barney, passed away. He was the gentlest, kindest dog I have ever met. Never the brightest spark, bless him, there wasn't one bad bone in his body and he was a good friend to us all for so very long. He was very old and I know he had a long healthy life and with his doggy dementia and  increasing neurological problems over the last few months he was probably ready but I am going to miss him so much.we all will. So travel  well my old friend because if anyone deserves a place in doggy heaven you do xxx

Splodged

I have always found it strange the way all our animal friends have arrived in our lives without us really looking for them and at the appropriate time. The last few years whilst we had Kit and Lucy I never heard of anyone with kittens looking for a home and yet  a month after we lost lovely Lucy we were offered kittens from 2 litters and on Saturday a new friend arrived in our lives. Its tiny,its black and white and it is full of mischief. Its really Kirsty's kitten but I am the designated baby sitter and boy is it a time waster as it loves a lap ....and food....and trouble. So you could say we have been truly 'Splodged' (that's its name and it seems appropriate somehow).

On a more serious textiley note - we  (Material Girls and Articulation) have just been featured in a double page spread in the re-launched Workbox magazine. Its a great article (the pics are fairly good - well you will have seen some of them before on my blog ha!ha!).Which means I need to get back to my sewing- now that should be fun!

Bridging Waters goes to Cambridge

This weekend I gave a short talk on the Articulated Materials:Bridging Waters project at Girton College,Cambridge. When I was originally asked to do this as part of the ERTF conference I did wonder if I would have enough to talk about as the project is only about a third of the way through its exhibition cycle in the UK but in the end I ran out of time with so much more to say. The response from the audience was very gratifying and I hope we might have encouraged a few more artists to brave working in collaboration with others from around the world as it is such a rewarding experience.

The next outing for Bridging Waters will be at the Textiles on the Hill event and we have been lucky enough to get a feature in Essex Life Magazine. So its back to finishing my felty fish items for the shop there so I can make a proper start on the work for my 2013 exhibition - which is a whole different 'kettle of fish' so to speak !

Curiouser and Curiouser

Its been a strange couple of weeks. I feel like my life over the last year has been tipped up and tumbled down like the cards at the end of Alice in Wonderland.

The house seems really odd without a feline presence for the first time in 35 years. No purring from under the table, no unexpected paws grabbing you from under a discarded piece of fabric or gingery hairs having to be removed from my sewing.

Poor Barney dog is having so much trouble walking now that he can no longer join us on long walks in the woods. I spend half my life lifting him up from his tumbles (not so good for the back) or finding him when he gets lost in the garden but he doesn't seem to be in any pain just like a very old confused boy.

I'm also finding it still very strange to produce work that doesn't have to be justified to an assessor - just my own internal one and the viewer. I suppose its a matter of confidence , relying on your inner voice to say what is good,what works and what doesn't rather than an external one. But it still feels strange and I suppose I still miss the comfortable support of someone else's opinion (however annoying sometimes) and occasional approbation .

I still feel there have been too many endings recently and I'm craving new beginnings.

Of course the Bridging Waters project is going very well so far. (so much so that I am thinking of orgainsing something bigger next time) The 2nd part 'Textiles on the Hill' is only a few weeks away.(see the Material Girls website). This event is a completely new departure - I am learning to delegate as it isn't just an exhibition but shops,demos, catering and coordinating lots of publicity for other textile things in Essex. Learning to let go is quite a learning curve and the rest of Material Girls are always spot on with what they undertake so its not really that difficult.

I've begun to work on my pieces for the Crypt but have hit a bit of a glitch as I have hurt my back which means I can't make more of the fabric I need on the embellisher this week (annoying!) and I can't start on the embroidery as I'm waiting to be sent the threads I need. So instead I have been making little bits for the Textiles on the Hill shop and have disappeared under a pile of little 'Felty Fishes' as I call them. Its extremely strange to be doing this sort of stitching again.

There is something else I will be letting go of in the very near future-something I have clung unto for far too long.

So perhaps instead of thinking of all things as endings perhaps I should change my mindset and think of them like Eastertime as a new beginning and be more like Alice prepared to just fall down the rabbit hole and see where it leads- who knows it could be to Wonderland.