The shop is now open!

It has been a while since I have posted here. We have all been living through turbulent times and many of us have lost loved ones or have not been able, and still are unable, to see loved ones. I have been making work a bit but have had a frozen shoulder which is still ongoing and is preventing me from sewing for very long. I have been working with a darker palette, using Victorian velvet and silk patchwork bits. Usually I keep these as samples for workshops but who knows when i can teach again so am now letting them go and it will spur me on to make more.
This coincides with me opening a new online shop with big cartel so if you go to my website and click on shop it will take you there rather than the old etsy shop.
Here are some recent pieces, all for sale HERE

Borrowed from Boro

I recently taught a course inspired by Boro textiles. It is important not to copy exactly their techniques or aesthetic but i think OK to take inspiration from this textile story which emerged out of poverty. I twist it and make it my own by not using indigo but using pieces of very worn quilts ( which I have unpicked to reveal their raggy layers)  sourced in the north east of England in conjunction with other blue scraps. I patchwork these together and then stitch into them decoratively. Unlike the original boro textiles they are not designed to be useful so the stitching is not there to hold it all together.

Here are my pieces laid out on my desk this morning and then images of each individual piece.

Coronavirus Diary

Coronavirus has really squashed me creatively and I feel unable to do much as my thoughts are with my loved ones and friends and I feel anxious and fearful for them and me. I however have been doing a sort of textile diary since lock down. Marking time I guess. Each day I sew on one little scrap, turning over each day so the marks of the previous day are in evidence. Just for me, contemplative and slow stitching to start the day.

Gees bend

This week I have been to see the  "We Will Walk" exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate. A long way to go from the north east of England but worth it to see the quilts which haven't been here before and probably will not come again. Loved the way Polly Bennett ( 1922 - 2002) described hers as "get togethers". I am going to start using that phrase for my collages.
For those of you who can't get there here are pictures of some of the quilts. The rest of the exhibits are also deeply moving and thought provoking.

Fish

I have been working on some new samples for a course I am teaching later on this year. Rather pleased with this cod and it was fin to work with metallics and spangles again. All hand stitched as usual.

Hanging by a thread

At the weekend we had a night on Holy Island and I managed to photograph these wonderful pieces of cloth blowing in the severe gales.before they blew away. They are covering an upturned boat. There are several old boats on Lindisfarne like this.In one of the pictures you can see how they echo the castle on its mound. A very special place.

Lapwing

I have been doing portraits of birds that are on the British red alert list. This means they are in serious decline in terms of numbers. Here is a Lapwing. They are exotic looking in our bleak Northumberland landscape. Hope I have captured their beauty effectively.

Pressing Matters

I have been drawing today but feel I just can't capture the beauty of these pressed flowers and grasses. They are from a portfolio collected by Birgitta Theodorsen, I think from Sweden, and were given to us as a gift from my daughter Alice. I think what I really like is the sellotape and how some things are just crumpled.