Knitted Textile Awards 2012

If you ever needed convincing that knitting is not confined to the realms of frumpy jumpers, monstrous Xmas knits and various other frankensteinian horrors, then the finalists showcase for this year's Knitted Textiles Awards should do just that. No "Shreddies Grannies" here, (though I do think the shreddies gals have a coolness all their own!) these recent graduates push the boundaries of traditional structures and processes to produce a range of creations and wearables which are functional, high fashion & artform.

Standards were characteristically very high and all the finalists have delivered a fine collection of innovative & inspirational work. The winner was Deimante Meilune with her elaborately dressy creations which bring together Haute Couture with Lithuanian folk traditions. A few others that I found particularly appealing include:
Kerry Baldwin (Bath Spa) whose skilful use of colour has been put to good work in producing a range of gorgeous homely soft furnishings.
Clara Malonda (Buckinghamshire New University) fuses knitting & woven textiles with her menswear collection. Here she manipulates the materials, felting knitting onto fabric to great visual and textural effect, where you see what appears to be a traditional cable sweater morph into a linen jacket.
Emily Morton's (Herriot Watt) Shima Seiki knitted bodysuit prints over jacquard knitting to produce minimalist monochromatic drama.
Katie Noakes's (University of Brighton) finely knitted & lustrous interpretation of the styles and cultural influences of Ancient Egypt produces a collection of richly decorated, draping garments with an elegant silhouette.

Well, I certainly feel inspired after seeing that lot! Now where are those knitting needles...........

Pre-Raphaelites at the Tate Britain

The Tate's currently running an exhibition on the Pre-Raphaelites until 12 January 2013. This very popular exhibition is highly recommended and includes artworks in a range of media including applied arts and some textiles. Definitely worth a visit :)

Felt making course with Mandy Nash

If you've been to Crafts in the Bay at Cardiff you may be familiar with the work of Llantrisant-based Mandy Nash, a talented jewellery maker who also makes fine felt.

 
Check out more pictures like this on Mandy's website here.

Lucky for us Mandy is also an excellent tutor and is running a  felt course in November at Arts Alive in Crickhowell, and still has a few places left if anyone is interested - click here for details.  You can either attend all four days or just treat them as individual day workshops.

A busy month....

Well it's been sometime since my last confession :) I really don't know where the weeks are going, and the last month or so really has flown. This month we were having a play with painted bondaweb techniques and here is a shot of one of my sample pieces - I've just cut the bondaweb out like a 'snowflake' - forgive the somewhat garish colours, but I just grabbed what was near to hand!

I've been revisiting Poland & Krakow for my latest design inspirations lately ( a theme I tend to revisit from time to time), and continue to be fascinated by Russian Dolls (which they also make in Poland!). I've loved these dolls since I can remember - my Mum has always had some in her ornament cupboard and I very much identify them with my Polish family origins. I also love the notion of things hidden inside things inside things! Here's one of my sketchbook pages where I have been 'noodling' around:

In this next sample I applied painted bondaweb cut into naive doll shapes on a scrap of hand dyed fabric, and then transfoil shapes ironed over the top of the 'dolls'. I quite like where this is going - the figures look a bit ghostly and mysterious, a bit like standing stones - my ancestors maybe! I may well develop this idea to  use for a piece of work.

 And here is a piece of hand dyed fabric I've stencilled onto - I'll use this as a background fabric which will probably evolve into a book cover..........eventually (i.e. don't hold your breath waiting!!), knowing me!!!!

For those of you who were wanting to know where to purchase transfoils and other 'hot stuff', see the link to Nid Noi in the places of interest lit to the right.

This week some of us went to the first of 2 fab workshops taught by Robi Thomas of Itchy Fingers. For those who don't know, Robi makes beautiful fabric journals, and this was the topic of the 2 part 'course'. I'll endeavour to  keep you posted re  my 'noodlings' with the journal I've now started.

As well as being an excellent tutor, Robi is a wonderfully creative textile artist and you can see some of her work, along with pieces by the other talented members of Itchy Fingers, at their latest exhibition at the Grand Theatre at Swansea. This has it's private view tomorrow, and then runs for 3 weeks until 2 November - definitely worth a visit.

Another FOQ find

I also stumbled on another textile artist of interest at my visit to Festival of Quilts - Gillian Travis whose work you can see on her website. She gets a lot of her inspiration from the people and scenes she comes across during her frequent travels. I'm making a trip to Krakow soon and intend to do some work based on that, so will be taking a leaf out of Gillian's book. I love her use of colour and pattern too.

Her book, of which you can find further details  on her website, also looks a great read - I just love the cover picture. Another one for the wishlist I think - a list that seems to be getting longer and longer - hope Santa's not feeling the recession TOO much...................

A few FOQ highlights

There were lots of great textiles to view at the Festival of Quilts. Here's a picture of Laura Kemshall's stunning entry (from Linda K's blog). It doesn't show up in this photo but it incorporated repeated quilted text of the simple words 'Don't Go' which I found very moving - says so much about the human condition doesn't it?

Also of note was the display of work by C June Barnes and Janice Gunner - this included some fantastic 3D artworks that are just delicious -  photos of this can be found here, again on Linda's blog which she has published with their permission. You can see more of June's work here. I love the fantastic textures she achieves and was really tempted (but restrained myself, regrettably) to buy her new book which you can read more about here - definitely one for the wish list though!

Really looking forward to catching up with the rest of the gang on Thursday :) It'll be great to get stitching again too - barely done any last few weeks - have you??

Summer fun

The Summer (such as is) has really flown which means I must have been having fun :) It's been a busy time as I have been to stitch camp (aka  Textile Study Group Summer School ) looking at colour with the awesome Ruth Issett. Had a lovely time with a wonderful bunch of people, all far more accomplished than me, but they didn't mind having a 'pesky little sister' type tagging along, and I learned so much from them as well as Ruth. I'll share more about this at a later date.

I also went to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC at the weekend - very inspiring, and if you haven't been I'd definitely recommend you go at some point. The next 'biggy' is of course the Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally in London on the 10-14th October. Robi's creative fabric journal workshops starts on the 13th October, so may be a busy weekend.............

I've also been frantically trying to get my coursework finished for the Linda & Laura Kemshall on-line creative sketchbooks course I started last year (always think I have more time/can do more than is actually possible!!!!). This has been really helpful and am starting to make some half decent pages!

This page involved a crack at lino cutting & printing - something I'm looking forward to doing more of with Mary's Printmaking course at Gorseinon in Sept, which is just around the corner! And so it's only a few weeks til our first Stitches Coven meet - Yay! Really looking forward to catching up with everyone :)

Festival of Quilts 2012

Festival of Quilts 2012 is well worth a visit - may need a second mortgage tho!!!

End of Year Exhibition

 Here's some pics from the end of year student's exhibition. I've mostly focused on the textiles section (there's a surprise!!), but have to say there were lots of lovely pieces from the other art & craft students including glass, photography, jewellery making, life drawing and painting. Here's a few snaps of the back wall of the textiles display:

Brenda's delightful pieces have followed a definite theme and colour story this year. The first piece you may recognise from a previous post where Brenda was at the stage on deciding which background to go for - and here's the finished item - apologies for it being on it's side - for some reason some of my pictures are being rotated as they are downloaded onto this page, and I can't seem to figure out how to fix it!!

Another rotated shot - the yellow fish is at the top of this hanging - sorry for having to crane your neck to view in all it's glory!

More underwater action from Brenda, this time in the form of these lovely cushions

Angie's scarf

Venetian Skylines

And here are Angie's lovely creations - the much coveted scarf (above) and the stunning Venetian Skylines head board. The picture really doesn't do it justice

Catherine's hand embroidery

  Catherine's fine efforts demonstrate a delicate use of colour and the patience of Job with all that fine, detailed hand stitching! Love the colours in her cushion below

Applique cushion by Catherine

And here's my completed pelmet/hanging that only took about a year to make!!! Still, can't call me Donna Doolittle now though as managed to get 3 pieces finished this year.








This one's determined to be viewed on it's side too. My felted Mog with some rather stunning work by a student from the day time class - couldn't find their name in their sketchbook to be able to identify the work - lovely dragon flies aren't they?

My Peacock fabric

I was somewhat envious of these little beauties produced by the Creative Sketchbooks students.

Colouriscious on Youtube

Stumbled on this mine of fab textile technique videos here - Ceri will be interested to see a number of Kim Thittichai demos included :-)

Felt til you drop continued...

The next stage was to make a base layer for the moggy pic . I felted silk gauze over merino tops so that I could use a sort of reverse applique technique for the text I wanted to add, by cutting away selected areas of the silk to reveal the colour of the felt below. A problem with this is it leaves fairly unattractive edges - I like raw edges on the whole, but this wasn't really working for this piece.

 So after a bit of head scratching I decided to simply cut and hem, and needle felt along the edge. The text, if you can't make it out, reads F.catus spectabilis (the plant's latin name is dicentra spectabilis, and F.catus is domestic cat). The title is 'Full Sun or Partial Shade' which refers to the preferred positioning of both the plant and our moggy.

And here is the finished piece - or nearly finished anyway. It's just hanging on a dowel at the mo, but I may stitch it to a canvas mount so it hangs flat. I had originally intended to add further definition & embellishment with some machine and hand embroidery, but had second thoughts as I basically ran out of time, but also was nervous of spoiling it after all my hard work! Also at the mo I think it bears quite a good resemblance to our much loved moggy, Pushkin, which would be undermined if I add more detail and don't quite get it right. I may yet go back to this later when I am feeling brave.............

Simple but effective press prints using waste polystyrene!

This is a really simple and effective way of producing print blocks using waste polystyrene. So start saving your takeaway cartons and recycle them to create simple press prints.

This one was a 'quick fix' to add detail to my plain sketchbook pages, linked to my theme of 'tulips'.

I cut a square piece of polystyrene and using the end of a fine artist paintbrush drew a simple leaf shape into the polystyrene, creating a print block.  I then glued it to a piece of waste card left over from framing photos, to strengthen the polystyrene and prevent it from breaking. I used a diluted gold acrylic paint to add detail to the pages of my sketchbook.

The test piece below used in my scrapbook, gives an idea of how it could look on fabric, or on card or paper to create your own greetings cards.

Did you know that if you use Ormoline Fabric Medium mixed with acrylic, you get a permanent washable printed fabric?

This would be a great way to add effective prints onto plain clothing or fabric.  I'm going to try it. 

I'll might even be a little more creative and add some free machine stitching  or a little hand embroidery to the fabric to create a piece of textile art.  Watch this space!

Felt til you drop!

Well, have finally started the final piece which I've named 'Full sun or partial shade'. It's intended to be a wall hanging as a dedication/celebration of my much loved 18 year old cat Pushkin who, as some of you will be aware, we had to have put to sleep a few months ago. He loved sleeping in the flower beds or bushes, and liked to toast himself for a while in the sun before retreating for a bit of shade to cool off.

This is one layer of my felt hanging. It's going to be mounted onto another piece of felt and then I'll be needle felting on some leaves to embellish it.

 Here's a before shot - got the fibres laid out ready to felt - then fingers crossed it survives the felting process!!

And here is is after the wet felt - not looking too bad I think. Once it's dry I will tidy it up and add some detail with needle felting, and then embellish further with some embroidery.

So......... it's a start anyway :)

Ario are closing down!

Hi Girls

Did you know that Ario are closing down.  They currently have a sale on, selling of all their stock. Sad news : (     It was good to have a local stockist with such a wide range of resources.

Angie Envy!

Well, a few of us were just a little green with envy when Angie pulled out her latest project in class yesterday!

The shaping on the 'collar' is really stylish

the couched on machine cords  and beads provide additional surface interest

 I think Angie was making the flowers for this on her way round her recent trek across Europe - now that's commitment!

It's a well crafted piece with lots of lovely details - even some stamens in the flowers. And if you are fancying it - too late! Angie's daughter has already put in a claim for it - though maybe Angie could be persuaded to take on commissions????

Slow progress and procrastination!

 Well, we have a very short term and little time for getting our projects done. I need to be forging on with my felt hanging but am finding it hard, as is usually my way, to get started. So I've been doing some of the 'homework' instead and looking at the work of Scottish felt artist Moy Mackay, and I've done a few pages for my sketchbook about her and featuring some of her work.

I also bought her book Art in Felt & Stitch which is really informative from a techniques perspective, but is also worth getting just for the generous number of glossy pictures of her artworks that it includes. I love her use of colour, and also the level of detail she achieves with her felted 'paintings'. I'm going to try a few samples of these techniques for my cat and bleeding heart plant theme - but I'm not anticipating it'll come out looking anywhere near as good as any of Moy's gorgeous pieces!

So first thing is to come up with a colour scheme, and then I really need to stop procrastinating, do some sampling and come up with a final design - and all by Thursday!!!!

How are you guys getting on - you are so very quiet!

Brenda's Project

A recent project of Brenda's was this gorgeous felted and embellished wall hanging. We took these photos in class to help her decide which background fabric she was going to use.

It was a tough decision! - I love the orange speckled fabric which looks to me like the skin of a sea creature like an octopus or something. Which one did you go for in the end Brenda? Unfortunately these quick phone pics don't do the felt justice - you added quite a bit of stitch and bead embellishment didn't you? It would be lovely to have a picture of the finished item too :)

Butterflies continued...

Well here's the finished butterfly tag/bookmark. Despite being only small it was a little time consuming - although I'm sure it's would be quicker to make duplicates now I've made the first. 

Close up of stitching

 But knowing my 'production rate', I thought it would be a good idea to capitalise on this one by scanning it and printing for use on greetings cards, gift tags and the like which would be quicker to make and maximise the proceeds for the Breast Care Unit.

                                                           

                                                        What do you think?

Cats & Butterflies

It's been a looooong time since I last posted - and that's because I have been so busy with other things - not least of all welcoming 2 new additions to the Jones household - meet Charlie Guard & Millie the Minx! After losing our beloved & aged moggy, Pushkin, at the beginning of March we just couldn't bear being without beasts any longer - a catless house does not a home make. So we adopted this brother & sister team from  Bridgend Cats Protection Adoption Centre  - they arrived last Sunday and we are doing as we are told!!! Cats Protection do a great job caring for and re-homing moggies & kittens - unfortunately the current economic climate has seen an increase in abandonment and a 50% reduction in adoption rates - so if you are able to offer one or two (I recommend getting a couple - it's so entertaining watching them interact with each other!) a home, then you can find your local Cats Protection branch here. And if you can't house any, donations are always welcome and much needed.



 

 

Had a lovely day here in the 'Craft Roost' with my good friend Jane. We spent the day trying out some prototypes for butterfly themed tags/bookmarks which can then be made to sell in support for Singleton Hospital Breast Care unit. Here's the one I'm putting together shown next to the original paper collage 'draft' version.

It's great fun working on such a small scale. I've printed/coloured the fabrics myself and used a bit of painted bondaweb (there's a change!!) for the butterfly shapes. Just need to finish it now with a backing, satin stitch edge and a tassel - and I'll post a pic of the finished item soon.

Some of you may recognise the turquoise and orange hand dyed fabric from another project - great to be able to find a use for left-over scraps.This pelmet is actually finished - I'll post a pic of it when I get a mo!

crafts in the bay - exibition

any one for felt??? crafts in the bay exhibition

Hannah Davies - home grown talent

Had a lovely card at Christmas from my lovely friend Jane - it's a peacock print as she is kept up to date with my crafting escapades and knew I was looking at this as a subject area.








Not only great for inspiration, but this card had introduced me to the lovely work of home grown talent Hannah Davies - check out her work here . Based in Morriston, Hannah is an award winning designer and illustrator who studied the BA surface pattern design at Swansea Metropolitan University. I love the detail of her work and quirky, whimsical designs.

 And another good thing is I can include her in my coursework which needs to include a few featured artists - nice one Jane :)