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 :)