These two pieces, inspired by a workshop led by Nerissa Cargill Thompson, depict ocean life (my abstract imaginary take on it) and there's lot of texture in them.
I used paint to make marks on the base fabric, and a lot of recycled fabrics as appliqué and Suffolk puffs, as well as some old lace, ironed plastic netting, couched wool thread, some beads and a fair amount of stitching.
Both pieces will be mounted onto 1 canvas, next to one another. Perhaps part of a future exhibition?
This abstract piece is inspired by a picture of a common blue butterfly on a daisy, hence the name. I chose the materials and colours to match, giving it a cheerful, uplifting energy.
Working from photographs, a technique gleaned from a workshop by Hannah Lamb, is very freeing, pushing me to venture beyond the colours I habitually go for. more of this on the way, no doubt!
Because I found myself a bit lost in the "forest of workshops", I wanted to take more time to explore my own artistic voice. That's why, during the summer, I set myself a challenge, to create 9 small pieces (just for myself, so no room for perfectionism or judgment), using the materials and techniques I like most. Each piece had to contain design and colours I love and words that relate to my art. It required a bit of reflection and not a huge amount of work, so ideal for summer!
I hoped to get an insight into my own practice at this point in my life : giving myself room to think about my voice and to make choices allowed me to that.
the 9 pieces were subsequently collected into a single concertina book.
check out a short video I put on youtube here
The poem “Being but Men” by Dylan Thomas is a real favourite of mine. It describes the magic of childhood and how we lose a lot of that growing up.
This piece is a personal visual interpretation of that poem using textiles, which took me a considerable time to complete. I used a lot of stitches, beads, small pieces of fabric, all kinds of odds and ends. Some of those have real meaning, like a button of an old family sofa, for instance, or the clapper of a small ceramic bell that broke.
For now, this is my favourite piece. I loved every hour I worked on it, creating a world of abstract but tangible magic. Making something like this is like meditation more than anything.
I made some monoprints with paint and ink for a workshop led by Sue Hotchkis, which were the inspiration for this collaged piece about the First World War in Flanders.
When visiting the World War I sites around Ieper and Passendale, I'm still shocked every time by the scale of the horrors memorialised there. The personal stories of fear and suffering are so deeply moving. ‘The war to end all wars’, as we know, sadly didn't turn out to be that, which is exactly what makes it still very relevant.
These bowls and sculptures are made from scrap thread and tiny fabric snippets, all waste material from previous projects. It's a technique I learned from a workshop led by Meredith Woolnough, which basically comes down to using water-soluble fabric and a lot of machine and/or hand stitching.
I love this way of using every last scrap of material as in the Japanese concept of mottainai : a caring culture in which you try to use something for its entire effective life.
This collage got made while I was reading “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, what a wonderful book! I tried to capture the enchanting story, the magic of nature and of place, using fabric, paint, paper, transferred images and stitching. The atmosphere is calm due to the muted colours, but at the same time it’s buzzing with life, adventure, and possibilities.
The piece grew organically during the reading process, which I love. I think I will try this with other favourite books; it’s an intriguing way to make!
This is a portrait of my mum, always with her mug of coffee, created for a workshop led by Susie Vickery at Textileartist.org.
I'm more of a landscape or collage person, really, so this kind of work rather takes me out of my comfort zone, and certainly doens't come easy. I'm glad to have accepted the challenge, though, having learned so much about stitching for portraits; also not unhappy with the result.
I enjoyed making this piece enormously. The 3 parts consist of the same number of small pieces from the same pool of 11 plain fabrics. I made the squares seperately from each other, not looking at the ones I made previously, so they came out quite differently. I even made them all in different countries, as holiday projects, so they connect places and moments in time.
Back home, I brought them all together in this wall hanging. To add something special to the piece, I attached flat pieces of rock on 2 of the 3 rectangles, which looks great!
Twice now my work has appeared in the Canadian Uppercase Magazine, which I'm really rather proud of, being a big fan of them! I love the magazine's credo and the artists and work they give a platform. So thank you, Uppercase!
“Song for the asking” in issue 56:
This collage uses paper from an old pocket book and fabricscraps, stitched together by machine and hand, with sticks, waste material and a gold painted square.
I put it in a shadow box, which does fit this piece. It’s called “Breathing space in winter”, depicting the atmosphere of a winter walk.
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile", Paul Simon sings on "The only living boy in New York" : there's no idea more calming, I think.
I imagined this happy feeling in mixed media, using textile, paper, paint, yarn, thread, beads, crayons, lots of hand stitching, machine stitching and even real flower petals. The bold warm colours evoke a real zest for life.
Spring, bring it on!!
In a workshop led by Claire De Waard, I learned to use natural materials as embellishments . At first, I wasn’t so sure about the possibilities but doing the work made me realise just how you can manipulate and integrate these materials. They bring such a special glow and texture to a piece, just magical!
This is a sample I made, I’m sure I will use these techniques in future pieces!
The four-leaf clover I made into a small piece by itself:
An abstract piece, which tells the story of all the different kinds of encounters we have in our lifetime, easy ones, lovely ones, difficult ones, interesting ones, the encounters that teach us, the encounters that haunt us, the encounters that encourage us, support us, love us...
I used a lot of different types of stitch and also some beads. I have been working on this piece on and off for several years. It was kind of always present in the background. Because it has accompanied me for such a long time, it has a special place in my heart.
One wonderful afternoon last year two of my lovely friends introduced me into the magical world of eco dyeing.
Eco dyeing is a form of natural dyeing where the colours of natural dyes from plant materials are transferred to fabric by using steam.
I thought the process fascinating and the result was really beautiful!
They kindly gave me the fabric we created that afternoon. I was determined to put it to good use and made into a poem art piece (it is rather big!).
I added a lot of subtle stitching, to give it more balance and to emphasize some parts. And onto it I embroidered a poem by Emily Brontë which I think fits really well with the atmosphere of the piece.
I'm very happy with the outcome : thanks again friends!
I stretched the piece over a canvas (80 x 80):
Debbie Smyth is a textile artist who is famous for her "drawings" with pins and thread, and recently I attended a workshop with her and learned the very basic techniques.
I made a hanging piece inscribed with "Here comes the sun" from the fantastic Beatles song. It is a small piece so the pins had to be placed very close together which made it a bit of a fiddly job! I did not cut the threads which gives it a floaty look.
Since I didn't have a piece of wood as a base to jam the pins in, I fabricated my own from 2 plastic lids and some waste material from an iron board cover.
What I like about this piece is that the sentence gets completed as it spins. At first you only see the pins because they stand so close together and then the words are suddenly revealed 😊
