What a swell party it was

Thursday saw the opening of the first of our Material Girls/ Articulation collaborative exhibitions here in the UK . The Private view was a resounding success with attendances by the deputy Mayor and our local arts supremo, lots of friends, relatives and colleagues.

The Girls had all produced excellent work as usual and the display was outstanding. The only sadness was that none of our Canadian colleagues could be with us on the night. Finally the Girls presented me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers which was really appreciated.

The exhibition runs for one more week at the Brentwood Road Gallery and then its next viewing will be at 'Textiles on the Hill' , a weekend event Material Girls are organising in May which will include not only the exhibition but so much more. So as they say there's no rest for the wicked. Keep tuned for more info. on this event in the near future.

Come and See

We are under starters orders with the first of the Bridging Waters exhibition. We 'hang' on Monday and open on Weds (22nd) It appears to have caught the imagination of the local press and we are hoping that this might feed the fight to get Textile Art registered in the minds of people as worthy of a place in the world of fine art. If you can't make this exhibition there will be some more opportunities to see the work whilst it is in the UK the next being as part of a textile weekend we are staging at the Woolmarket in Horndon On the Hill,Essex at the end of May. We hope this will be a free, fun event which will include not only the exhibition, but demonstrations, supplies, textile art for sale and info about what is going on in the world of textiles- all trying to raise the profile and get more people involved. And of course there will be tea and cake! Keep your eyes peeled for more information.

If you want to know more about any of the exhibitions visit ;-

www.the-materialgirls.co.uk or themarterialgirls.blogspot.com. and come and enjoy this transatlantic collaboration.

Dust of Snow

I have felt a bit like I am running and getting no where at the moment textile wise. So much so that recently I have even been questioning why I bother and if I should go on.

With the big exhibitions coming up it has been hard work - not with creating, I haven't had a lot of time for that and I think that's been the problem.Whenever I have had time I have had to 'do' something else usually connected with paperwork. Also since finishing the degree I feel my textile work is now expected to take a back seat to other areas in life. But I didn't do all those years not to try and take my work forward.

Two things have happened just recently which have helped.

About a week ago we (ERTF) had a study day on Scandinavian textiles at the house of one of our members (Kirsten Yeates) who has an extensive collection. They beautiful and delicate and must have been produced under quite difficult circumstances sometimes. They were made with love and you could feel it and it made me realise just how much I love these things, being in the company of like minded people and learning.

Secondly yesterday I was bashing the snow off the olive tree in the garden when a large pigeon landed on the Acer and covered me with snow and it made me think of the Robert Frost Poem

The way a crow

shook down on me

the dust of snow

from a Hemlock tree

has given my heart

a change of mood

and staved some part

of a day I had rued.

It made me laugh - it was beautiful out there, it made me want to go in and sew something snowy and magical. So I will start to structure my time again properly and treat creating as an essential part of my daily routine again as it used to be and hang the paperwork!what is it they say 'a little less conversation. a little more action please'