Rain at the weekend gave time to finish a couple of ongoing projects. First of all " Morley Moons" indigo dyeing using resists, pole-wrapping shibori and some Procion p dyeing with a thermofax screen. Details of dyeing in this post.
Quilted with stippling and a design learned at a Philippa Naylor workshop.
Then, using the offcuts of the cloth, an A5 book wrap for the Bookwrap Gems stall at the Festival of Quilts.
Interior
All very satisfying.
The work of the participants in the Printed Textiles course is on display at Morley for the next two weeks. The broad theme was earth, air, fire and water and I have pieces in the earth, fire and water sections.
Earth, mine is the white silk scarf with the squiggly circles, at top right.
Fire, mine is at the top, tray-dyed linen sheet.
Water, mine are at the bottom, below the lovely silk shibori.
The air exhibit is this amazing dress, made with silk fabric that has been printed using the breakdown screen method with Procion P pastes.
(Image from saint johnsbible.org)
A visit to St Martin's in the Fields this week for a candlelit concert led to an unexpected treat, in a viewing of some reproduction pages from the St John's Bible. I am not religious, so this could be a well-known project in the Christian community, but it was new to me. Hand-lettered, with quill pens on vellum, and illustrated with pigments used in medieval manuscripts. The reproduction pages on paper are absolutely breathtaking, both the calligraphy and the illustrations, so the originals , on vellum, must be startlingly vivid.
Many artists collaborated on this project and I am particularly struck by the pages by Suzanne Moore, combining text with image. It is possible to look through the bible on line but the colours are a pale imitation of reality.
If you are in Trafalgar Square, it is worth going in to see the East window, a remarkable piece of art by female artist, Shirazeh Houshiary, and to visit the great cafe in the crypt.
Finished on 30th April, about 4h before the deadline for submission. Zooming off to university with the world at my feet.
Even although it was only 30 miles away, funding at that time meant I could leave home and live in. Liberation.
Hand-embroidered panel ( Jenny Hart design), machine trapunto and machine quilting. Post code abstracted out to a decorative edge stitch on the panel. Hand-dyed commercial fabric from amazing supplier at FoQ whose name I have forgotten.
This is how I felt, off to my future. The dark side represents what I was leaving behind and the candlelight of dinners taken in the dining hall during the 3 day week. The brighter side was all that was to come.
Lots I would now change on this in terms of composition, but is was a useful and fun exercise to try to convey my memories in cloth.
Another great day with Richard Box, today getting an understanding of how colours interact to give shadow. Exciting, exhilarating and exhausting, but this was the result - it actually is recognisable as something. Richard teaches elsewhere in the UK, so do look out for him, he is a great teacher.
An unexpected bit of free time has coincided with a pre-booked drawing course at Morley with the lovely, encouraging Richard Box. I am therefore able to completely give my mind to the two days, without having any interruptions. Yesterday, Richard gave we terrified starters a recipe to follow, and it works. Blurry images form my phone, as i certainly didn't expect to be photographing any results.
It actually looks like a "proper" drawing. Colour today, what a treat.
