Long Live Alan Measles

Tick,Tock,Tick,Tock... The relentless march of time has become a little overwhelming just recently hence the absence from blogging. Each week seems to bring a new commitment. Number of exhibitions now committed to for next year -4, number in the pipeline for 2013 onwards so far - 3. Its all very exciting but I must be careful not to allow quantity to override quality.

Some of these I can divulge;-

3 venues now in place for the Bridging Waters work - one of which will be a textile weekend hosted by Material Girls with all sorts of goodies other than the exhibition on offer in a delightful country venue in May (so watch out for more info on that)

and

A brand new arts trail being set up in Romford this summer as part of the cultural olympiad. Needless to say I have ended up in the organising group (basically if you came to the initial meeting you were hijacked!) .

The other events you will have to wait for news of but it will be worth the wait- definitely for one we will be trying to break totally new ground with regards to textiles. Am I tempting you?

In the meantime I have just been to the new Grayson Perry exhibition at the British Museum 'Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman' (what a great name)

and I am totally inspired . Perry's work is always a joy - beautiful and humorous and totally unpretentious. The balance between hi s pieces and those items from the museum collection were thought provoking but somehow just 'right' and I've come away with oodles of ideas.

And the best thing - the very best thing -was the ethos. Nowhere was there one piece of art speak- just plain English and common sense. The whole exhibition seemed to say 'welcome all, enjoy, have fun and just appreciate these beautiful things for what they are'. That doesn't mean to say pieces had no concept behind them - there was a reason, a concept for all , thought and care and love they just weren't trying to pretend they were something they weren't and trying to exclude those who weren't 'in on the language'.

There was one quote that really resonated with me

" Craftsmanship is often equated with precision but I think there is more to it. I feel it is more important to have a long and sympathetic hands-on relationship with materials. A relaxed.humble. ever curious love of stuff is central to my idea of being an artist. An important quality of great art of the past was the pure skill in the artist's use of materials. In celebrating craftsmanship I also salute the artists,well, most of them"

Grayson Perry 2011

And then there's Alan Measles- whats not to love about a rather battered well loved teddy bear.

Long live Alan Measles and all who love him.

Irritations

Sometimes I feel I am continually running up against a brick wall. Why oh why in this day and age is there such a demarcation between what people perceive as art and what they perceive as craft. I have had a couple of instances lately where when I say I am a textile artist people just look confused. If I say I produce work using fibre and stitch they ask if I make dresses or curtains, If I mention embroidery you can see their mind thinking cross stitch and their mouths saying 'isn't that rather old fashioned' and if I say I am an artist they immediately say -'oh do you use oils or watercolours?'

Its enough to drive someone insane! I even gave up the other day when at a bank filling in a form and they asked my occupation and when I told them they said 'I haven't got a box for that' so I ended up saying 'just tick the home maker one'. But I didn't want to- I've worked hard for my skill I would like it acknowledged.

I read an excellent article the other day by James hunting about the importance of achieving a balance between technique and concept- that they were both of equal and extreme importance and I so agree.Great 'Art', however conceptual, needs a grounding with good technique and all good 'Craft' stems from the ability to perfectly master a technique and combine it with a true concept. I wish we were still using the term artist craftsman it says so much more.

But how do we educate people - even those who are supposed to be part of this rather incestuous art world, to value textile art. There is a huge amount of unrecognized talent and creativity out there -Just in the last couple of days look at the blogs of people such as Brunel Broiderers and Judy Martin for inspiration, but do such as they ever appear 'in the nationals'

I suppose you could say its all about the creation not the recognition which is very true but we make work to be shared which usually involves exhibiting it and when the amount of affordable visual art spaces and galleries are getting fewer and fewer and the value of textiles still seems so underrated we desperately need a swing in opinion just to bring work to people who haven't experienced exactly what textile art is really about.

I don't know perhaps its just in my area-is it the same everywhere? the only thing I can do at the moment is go ARGHH!!!!!

Colour,Colour everywhere

A really busy week has seen me hanging the Primarily Colour exhibition at Craft Arena, giving a talk to the Chelmsford Branch of the Embroiderers Guild and taking a trip up to London to see the Treasures of Heaven exhibition at the British Museum before it closes.

It was interesting to see the 'colour' work hanging together at last - its previous outing hadbeen to the Jersey Textile Showcase in the Spring, where it was hung by the event curators. Unfortunately I was unable to get over there to see the results so this was the first time I was able to create the hang. The Craft Arena gallery in Billericay is the perfect space for this body of work being quite intimate and bright, I feel it shows the work off very well. Should you be in Essex in the next couple of weeks do visit as there are lots of things to do at the Barleylands Craft Village and a nice cafe as well as enjoying our work.

I hope the talk to the EG went well- I always find it difficult to judge with one eye on the clock and another trying to remember what you want to say and praying that it all makes sense. Talks aren't really my thing -I much prefer direct teaching.

Finally the trip up to London was well worth the effort. I had some business to attend to with a colleague which may prove extremely interesting and the exhibition was beautiful. You came out with an extraordinary sense of peace (I also kept smelling incense which my friend said she didn't so I presume this was psychological) probably being in the company of so many sacred relics. I noticed that there is shortly to be a Grayson Perry exhibition there so I feel another trip coming on. Meanwhile I must get back to actually creating - the deadline for the Bridging Waters exhibition looms ever closer.

I'm back

At last I feel ready to start working again after feeling rather flat post degree which is a good job as its going to be a busy few months ahead.

Monday week will see me hanging Material Girls 'Primarily Colour' exhibition at Barleylands,Essex whilst on the same day in the evening I am giving a talk to the Chelmsford Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild (I always seem to end up double booking!)

The exhibition with the Canadian group Articulation is rapidly approaching and I have several other things in the pipeline (but more on those later). Just one problem I haven't been able to post on this blog since I have my new computer but with a tweak I am hoping this is going work- here we go again a new beginning.

This is the end, my friend

Yesterday I graduated at Middlesex University. I was really glad that I was able to take the opportunity to go as it finally made me feel that I had actually achieved something important. Although you know how hard you work for it there was always a slight sense that some people considered it a mickey mouse degree, not quite a real one -but in some ways it was even harder because you are so 'out there on your own'. You have support but its not like being within a class situation with your peers around you all the time. Yesterday you really felt part of the university, that you were valued as a true graduate.
So that's it- the end.
I started this blog to map the highs and lows of the course, to act as my journal (part of the criteria for the course) and I don't want it now just to become full of trivia, or a moaning platform (because boy! I know I can do that!) or even worse a 'look how wonderful I am' boast fest
So I am going to change it over the next couple of weeks .I am going to centre it completely on textiles -to make it more of a professional touch point for this.
I am now a website (well not me actually but you know what I mean) its www.chrissythreads.com which will link to this blog. So if you want to see what I'm up to textile wise please drop in.
First I have to invest in a new computer as this one is on the blink so I may be away for a couple of weeks but as they say 'I'll be back!'