August 2022 review
What I’ve been making:
· This month I have been working on an embroidered piece called ‘Summer leaves 1’, which I have entered into the Bucks Art Weeks competition in conjunction with the National Trust. It is inspired by the leaves that I have been drawing and eco-printing with over the summer.
Summer Leaves 1 (detail)
· I have also launched my Etsy shop in the last week. It is currently stocked with a selection of my handmade journals, in two different sizes.
Two of the handmade journals available to buy in my Etsy shop
What I’ve seen:
· A couple of weeks ago I went into London to see the Royal Academy Summer Show. The theme for this years exhibition is ‘Climate’ so I was pleased to see lots of art inspired by nature. There were quite a few textile pieces included too, which was both interesting and encouraging.
· Whilst in London, I took the opportunity to visit the ‘Eternally Yours’ exhibition at Somerset House after a friend recommended it. The show explores themes of care, repair and healing and included historical examples of Japanese kintsugi (visible repair of china vessels using gold) and boro (worn fabrics patched together and strengthened with sashiko stitching) as well as work by contemporary artists exploring ideas around these themes. It is not a large exhibition but I would thoroughly recommend it if you are able to add it into your day in London. It runs until the 25th September 2022.
· The most recent of my visits in August has been to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC. The show this year has filled me with inspiration. I particularly enjoyed the exhibition of quilts by the Contemporary Quilt group and the live demonstrations in The Creative Textiles Studio.
The Contemporary Quilt group is an affiliate group of The Quilters Guild in the UK and their display featured joined-up journal quilts and larger pieces inspired by the theme ‘Uncharted’ as well as a selection of quilts from the group’s suitcase collection. I was particularly interested in the journal quilts. These are small quilts and therefore a good place to start out with quilting or a nice way to experiment with new ideas or materials. I am feeling inspired to have a go at some of these myself.
In The Creative Textile Studio I enjoyed learning about the eco-printed work of Elisabeth Viguie-Culshaw and have subsequently signed up to a couple of her PDF courses which I am excited to get going with. She runs a project involving artists from all over the world; all printing with cotinus leaves and experimenting with the effects of the blue dye that can be extracted from them. I have signed up to her ‘True Colour of the Cotinus’ PDF course for printing onto fabric as well as her ‘Ecoprinting on Paper’ PDF course. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into both of them in the future.
What I’m planning:
· The blog - For September I am planning to write about my artmaking processes including posts about how I use sketchbooks, making art with nature and slow stitching.
Handmade concertina sketchbook with pencil drawn leaves
· I am just starting a new project making my own handmade inspiration cards. I am hoping to have a fabric side, which I will embroider on, and a paper/card side which will feature collaged artwork. I just have to work out the logistics of joining them together!