A Very Merry Christmas To You all

 

Wishing you a fab festive season and a fantastic 2018!  Thanks for all your support this year - it really is appreciated.  I'm signing off for this year now - see you in 2018! 

 

(Makers' work featured in the pic above: Fiona Wilson, Heather Dawe, Hippystitch, Julie Arkell, Lily Stone, Sophie Smith, Woodwyrm, with interesting finds from St Leonard's Hospice Shop, Brixi, Scaramanga & more.  I'm loving all the trees.  I've been making some of my own but they aren't quite ready to be revealed yet - could be a theme in 2018....)

Craft-y-Crawl on Sunday 12 November 2017

Handmade by York Makers

The Planet South Bank Craft-y-Crawl takes place this year on Sunday 12 November from 12:00 to 16:00.  Tour the area in and around South Bank, York where local artists & makers will be selling their handmade items. 

At 33 Wentworth Road, York, YO24 1DG - as well as tea, cake and mince pies - you will find some new goodies from me including... 
 

New Liberty Print Fabric Necklaces

People & Place Brooches including lots of bikes!

Colouful Resin Button Brooches

Button Hairclips

and a limited number of wood and metal domino brooches...

New style Domino Brooches

and of course some Christmassy reindeer brooch cards in 5 different colours...

Reindeer Brooch Christmas cards

and then there's

Buttonholes, Brooches & Bookmarks - By Helen

Christmas Decorations - By Helen

By Helen - Helen Bachelor will have her beautiful flowers made from yarn & fabric,

Cards - Lucy Monkman Illustration

Lucy Monkman Illustration - Lucy Monkman's colourful & contemporary cards, stationery & prints are sure to please, and...

Children's Dresses - What's To Be Done With Her

What's To Be Done With Her - Alyson Cowen's handmade children's clothing would make a super present or a fab outfit for the party season!

And next door at number 35 you'll find Sue Dennis, Ruth Merriman and Meredith Andrea with cards, prints and more.

Do call in - we'd love to see you! 

Maps of all the artists and makers taking part are available at Sainsbury's on Bishopthorpe Rd, York from Thursday 9 November 2017 or for an online map take a look here.  (A full list of those taking part is available here.)

Neutral Colours and Textures

Wall

Whilst flipping through the photos from my travels this summer I was struck by how many of my photos of interesting textures were all neutral colours whether from the man-made or natural world.  I thought I'd share them with you...

Lichen on rock

Brick Wall

Wood shingle

Wall

Rock surface

I'm organising my texture photos at the moment so I might be sharing more soon.  Inspiration for new work don't you think?

Brilliant Birds Raise Funds for St Leonard's Hospice

Brilliant Birds Installation in Rowntree Park, York - Summer 2017

Just to keep you up to date - the #BrilliantBirds yarnstorm had raised almost £400 for St Leonard's Hospice by the time the flock flew out of the St Leonard's Hospice Shop on Scarcroft Road, York.  We hope the birds will fly on to raise funds in different stores across the local area.

Thanks to everyone who took part - making, buying or donating.  We couldn't have done it without you!

 

Wandering - Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk

Aaron Kuiper - Terra Flora (Oil Paint in Hydrogel)

You only have till 11 November to catch this exhibition at Chapel Gallery in Ormskirk so you'd better get your skates on!  It's an exhibition by 10 artists, fascinated by the natural environment.  

I was fascinated by Aaron Kuiper's 3D sculptural oil paintings in hydrogel.  Like mini ecosystems with lots of trees, water and rocks, they are quite amazing. Kuiper uses syringes instead of brushes to leave the pigment in the gel.

Julie James-Turner uses Victorian style nightwear to evoke fairy tale forests and gothic notions of death and dreaming...

Julie James-Turner - The Botanist's Sleepwalk

Fab prints of familiar places...

Anthony Ratcliffe - North Sea Holes (Woodcut Print)

Amazing glasswork...

Helen Slater - Evening Pathway (Cast Glass)

I thought this was a photograph at first...

Maggie Hargreaves - Sprouting (Charcoal on Paper)

Looks like the reflections of trees in puddles...

Katie Lenegan - Wild Garden Series - The Waves (Oil on Canvas)

and there's lots more.  Do take a look if you can.

Luminary - Serena Partridge & Gawthorpe Hall

Nelson's Column & Big Ben by Serena Partridge

Luminary by Serena Partridge is currently being exhibited at Gawthorpe Hall.  This year, it is 50 years since Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth died.  She set up the Gawthorpe Textiles Collection based at Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire.  (This is my second trip to Gawthorpe Hall - you can read about the first here.)  Luminary is a series of installations inspired by Rachel & her textile collection.  Working with local schools and adult groups across Lancashire & Yorkshire, Serena Partridge has created pieces which relate to Rachel's life & her ethos of keeping traditional craft skills alive. 
 

Notre-Dame D'Afrique, Algeria by Serena Partridge

Serena creates beautifully stitched artworks inspired by historical textiles and storytelling.  You may have read about Serena on my blog before.  You can find it here.

Bruges Belfry, Belgium By Serena Partridge

"Set" in the Dining Room reflects Rachel's extensive travels on which she collected many of her embroidery and textile pieces. Serena worked with local school children who sketched famous landmarks which she translated faithfully into embroideries.  Her use of glow in the dark thread is a reference to a spiritual experience Rachel had of a great luminosity which convinced her to set up her house (Gawthorpe Hall) as a centre for craft learning.

Eiffel Tower, France by Myles & Serena Partridge

Nuremberg Castle, Germany by Abredha & Serena Partridge

Windmills, Holland - Serena Partridge

In the Long Gallery, "Guide"  takes inspiration from Rachel's long involvement with the Girl Guides and the communal sampler made by Guides to her design.  School children created drawings relating to this or their own experiences of camping and outdoor activity.  These were mixed together and translated into embroidered pennants by adult groups.

Girl Guide Communal Sampler Designed by Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth

Here are some of the pennants...

The pennants were mounted on 7 different poles...

"Care" in the Huntroyd Bedroom reflects Rachel's role as caretaker both of the Hall and her textile collection.  Working together, Serena & Angela Chalmers have produced a series of cyanotypes (a type of cameraless photography) on felt of antique lace and whitework - as if documenting parts of the textile collection.  

Care - Serena Partridge & Angela Chalmers

Care - Serena Partridge & Angela Chalmers

The textile collection itself is very interesting and worth exploring.  I also like the display of Rachel's desk and her green ink labels for everything.

Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth's Desk

One of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth's labels in characteristic green ink

Whilst I was visiting, I spotted a Threadifitti installation in the grounds.  This textile grafitti piece was made by UCLan's Fashion Design Department, postgraduate students from the MA Textiles and the Ground Up community group.  It uses thread, rope, crochet and embroidery.  There are other pieces in the grounds.  Threadifitti in on display until the end of September.

Threadifitti Installation

Threadifitti & Luminary are both part of Fabrications - a celebration of textiles through the eyes of artists in Pennine Lancashire in September 2017 presented by Super Slow Way.

Luminary is on at Gawthorpe Hall until 5 November 2017.  Why not go and take a look?  There's a cafe & car park in the grounds.

New stock for Kunsthuis

Felt Necklaces

I have been along to Kunsthuis Gallery in Crayke with some new Hippystitch stock.  There are some colourful felt necklaces, a great selection of Liberty print fabric necklaces...

Liberty print fabric necklaces

a variety of button brooches...

Various button brooches

and you might even find some of the new bike bags in green and black - especially suitable if you've just cycled out there!

New green and black bike bags

Kunsthuis is open Wednesdays to Sunday from 11-4pm.  There's plenty of parking if you're going by car, a lovely cafe and a fab gardens.  Why not pop along and check it out?