Rag Rug Day

Had a cup of tea with mat maker Rachel Phillimore yesterday www.racheltextiles.co.uk. She was telling me of a fantastic textile event which is due to take place at the Shipley Art Gallery Gateshead on Saturday 5th February. An event dedicated to rag rug making in the North East, there will be rugs for sale, rugs to see, rugs to make and rugs to win.

Meet Rosemary Allan, retired Senior Keeper of Beamish Museum and author of ‘From Rags to Riches’, go on a free tour of the Shipley Art Gallery, and enjoy some music with Trevor Reed.

Entry is free and refreshments will be available.

For further information contact the Shipley on (0191) 477 1495 or Room For You on 0191 213 8614.

I once made a rag rug myself through one of Ali Rhind's workshops. She will be there and you can see more of her work on www.alirhindtextiles.co.uk/

Here is my own rug. It is a great traditional recycling craft.

Fashion and Textile Gallery, Bowes Museum

The new Fashion and Textiles Gallery at the Bowes Museum (www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk) is full of wonderful patterns, textures and embellishments. They have a Damien Hirst exhibition on at the moment but I must admit I got a lot more pleasure from looking at the textiles and ceramics!

Scrap Booking

People often ask me where I get my inspiration. The answer is that I have lots and lots of scrapbooks. Over Christmas I have been updating my floral scrapbook which is one of the most useful as it gives me ideas for colours and shapes for both printmaking and textiles.

My imagery is stuck into an old "News Cuttings" ledger which I think I got originally from one of the Lit and Phil's legendary book sales ( www.litandphil.org.uk).

Nova Scotia

For my fan in Nova Scotia

Recent monotypes

I have been sorting some recent prints out today for selection by The Biscuit Factory in January. More to come.... I enjoy the painterly approach I can take in this form of printmaking which is a complete contrast to the more precise stitching I am usually doing.

My daughter Alice Pattullo who is an illustrator based in Brighton excelled herself this year by designing and making all her presents. These are some of the ones I received. She is keen to accept commissions for product design so if you want to get her to design something for you then have a look at her website to get a taste of what she can do. www.alicepattullo,com

delicious chocolate traffles

A few bits and pieces to ward off evil

hand painted plate

marmalade

everlasting calendar

Happy Christmas

Not only has my daughter designed our Christmas card this year but she has also made the baubles too, hand painting eggs.

Happy Christmas!