Cloth as Page

Cloth as page. Textile as book. 


The Moon is fat and wishes it were blue. 


This in its book form here. 


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Amazing how much you can get done during a day off work

'Welcome to Bournemouth' Small Cloth in progress

This weekend I have been mostly stitching. Stitching small cloths for people. Specific people. I need that sometimes. 

This is a little piece I cut out of an old hankie I found in a junk shop. I grew up in Bournemouth so it was a special find for me; full of memories. The other fabrics I selected are supposed to represent some of those memories. Red and White deckchair stripes, neutral linen and some nice green/blues from an old pillow case that someone had thrown out on the street near my home. 

A work in progress. 

Short Cloth complete

Blogger seems to think that the only options you might want for your images are Left, Right and Centre! Where is the rotate button???

Short Cloth in progress

String, Felt, Thread

Ive been reading String, Felt, Thread: The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art for the past two weeks or so and it is probably the best book on the history of textiles in contemporary art. It deals with the struggle artists (especially women artists) had for art -world legitimacy in the 60's and 70's; the artists involved in the art/craft divide (Faith Ringgold, Miriam Schapiro, Harmony Hammond & Judy Chicago); the artists who did get recognition and why (Eva Hesse & Robert Morris);  and all the things that have come out of this now. I have to say im only two thirds of the way through the book but I would already say it's a must read! I only wish this had been written sooner so that I could have read it sooner!

I think its also been influencing my ideas, especially those surrounding my bundles.

More Bundles

So I finally made some more bundles. Been thinking about amulets, talismans and spells; ritualistic acts, intent and magic and how close they are to each other. How close I feel to the materials, how linked the idea is to intent, how linked materiality is to an idea. 


Make. 
Making. 
Made.

What you think?

Check out the Millinary skills!

If you live in London and like hats and headbands then you should head down to the latest East London Craft Guerrilla fair and check out my good friend Little Yellow Birds. She makes delightful 1940's and 50's style hats and headbands. This one pictured below has been entered into the fair's tombola, so if you buy a ticket you might be lucky enough to win it! Although I kinda want it for myself!

Craft Guerrilla August Craft Market.Saturday 28th of August from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Beautiful Interiors shop garden. 34 Orford Rd. Walthamstow London E17 9NJ.

The Aftermath

Its been a week since my open studios and I am still trying to catch up with sleep! It was so tiring but really good too; hundreds, no thousands, of people passed through our doors over the 2 and half days and I had so many productive conversations about my work that I am still trying to get it to all sink in. Some surprising discussion about my textile pieces that are still 'works in progress'which have really helped my confidence in that area; I wasn't sure what reception they would get and so I was extremely happy to find so many people being drawn into my studio space to see them up close.

I took this photo in a rare moment of relative quiet just to show you my space with people in it looking at my artists' books and

my textile work on the wall and the textile bundles work in progress in the foreground there. Thanks to everyone that came along and sought me out in the melee and to those who just came across me by chance; I hope to see you all next year!