Rent asunder

Deryll has made some further decisions about her piece .She thought the fissure in her piece looked too stark when the pieces were separated with black.She has begun to construct a pieced section in colours less deadening than black.We thought it looked much better this way.She plans to add printed or written messages over the fabrics to reinforce what she is trying to get across.At the bottom of the piece she has left the threads and may add tails of newspaper with articles about Fracking and its dangers to the land.

She has also been mulling over another piece ,and been collecting piles of unnecessary plastic packaging.She was wondering what to do with them.We gave some suggestions and will no doubt see if they are acted upon.

She also brought along some fabric pieces and a handy tip for preventing waste.If Deryll has been painting and there is some left over instead of washing it down the sink she uses it on scraps of fabrics.When she needs ready coloured pieces she has a supply to go to........clever!

Define Art :- discuss.

With her pieces for Newark framed and ready for exhibiting Ira is turning her thoughts to UWE.

She wants to pose a question which often invites comment, about whether Textiles falls into the category of art or craft.

She is about  drawing the viewer in to examine her work close up and from a distance .She works with layers of abstraction adding in lots of fine detail and using a mix of media.This is no different than many practitioners who call themselves fine artists.

Yet the fact that a needle or machine is employed and most often ,though not exclusively, women are the creators seems to devalue the work.Do you have an opinion, how can this entrenched attitude be altered ?

However, this does not prevent Ira from creating some stunning textile pieces.She continues her practise of stitching and beading in bed every morning accompanied by a cuppa! This her latest sample.

RESCUED FOR POSTERITY.

Our Embroiderers Guild were approached by the daughter of a 103 year old .Her mother had taught textiles and had travelled ,collecting textiles on her trips around the world.

She could no longer live alone so was moving into sheltered housing ,but wanted her collection of fabrics and sewing related items to go to good homes.

Amongst the large number of items brought to our meetings were these pieces ,photographed by  Sally.

She and Viv recognised them as Miao and rescued them .

She contacted Gina Corrigan who identified them as extremely fine, and very rare examples from Shidong (spelling?)

With permission granted ,they will now join Viv and Sally's textile collection ,which is to be donated to the museum, and hopefully available for study for many years to come.

DIARY ALERT

DIARY ALERT, ALERT, ALERT .......

NEXT EXHIBITION coming very soon.Put it in your diary........

Newark Park    Tuesday June 4th -Saturday 29th June

you will have an opportunity to meet with some of us on any of the Saturdays

8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.

Time for a break?

Jenn had put the finishing touches to her hangings for the Guild.Adding additional free motion script,

Backing and edging .

They will accompany her teacups.

Hearts and oak.

Liz has had hearts touring the country for the last 18 months.She chose to commemorate the gardeners who worked in Heligan garden before serving in the First World War.

There were 1165 in total, one for each day of the war.

Liz's was number 39.

They raised £7000.

She also created a piece with one of Helen Birmingham's watch pieces .You can see a watch face in the top right.

She visits St Ives ,as it is a favourite haunt ,several times a year .These pieces Liz is holding are works in progress inspired by the colours in the rooftops, rocks and surroundings.

She has almost finished this piece based around a cherry tree.Additional stitch has been added to give more definition.

She is also curating an exhibition of Eco -dyeing for the Festival of Quilts which will include several well known textile artists who practice the technique.

Liz is creating pieces based on the Oak tree ,said to be the tree of the warrior.Each of the fabrics used will have been dyed with oak galls and just natural mordants.

One very busy lady !

St Ives drawing and painting

Sue had spent a few enjoyable days in St.Ives on a drawing ,painting and mixed media  course run by Liz Luckwell and Jez Wilson.

They went out with charcoal and made drawings of roofs ,walls and boats.

Then working in the gallery ,they made some trials with paint mixing.Sue really had a good time and learnt a lot which will no doubt find its way into her practice.

She had completed and framed her Fumerole Flowers and a second piece which have found their way into the guild.

Can you get your head around this?

These are Jane's latest pieces,npw on dis[play at Bristol Guild.

They are taken from her own photographs of Pevensey Castle and a new piece gof garden sculpture.

First they were edited with a vintage overlay filter before she digitised them for her machine.

People think that the machine is set and goes off and does the work once when it is set going.However ,there is a lot of technical wizardry that goes on before the image is ready to be stitched.For instance ,the cross at the top took 10 hours solid stitching with ten needles to thread, with ten different colours and a bobbin to be changed every hour without any manipulating go the image to be lined up.

The finished piece has no fabric but is simply machine embroidery forming the fabric.A great deal more than flicking a switch!I hope you can get to see them as they look so much better in the gallery with the light behind them.You have until Saturday May 18th.

old and new.

Viv has really made a dent in her repurposed back pockets ,with a host of new slogans all very precisely stitched and some clever wordplay.She let on that she uses a stencil to place the letters before stitching, but that is an art in itself to line them up evenly.Next to consider is how to back them, more repurposed gems perhaps, and how they might be displayed to best effect.

Did you notice the child's pocket slipped in?

Carol had been working on a Kaffe Fassett cushion for a workshop.This was a trial run, we thought it was lovely and any one of us would be happy to house it.She is continuing to work on her chairs for Newark but life often gets in the way.

She had finished her  delicate  'finds' pieces but was wanting some input on how best to show them.

The beauty of belonging to the group, is the willingness and generosity of everyone to share ideas and expertise.If you visit the Guild exhibition you will see Carol's solution.......and very good they look too!