Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show - Part 2

Mum with Red Striped Scarf - Jenny Dutton

You may have moved onto this post having had a look at Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show 2018 - Part 1. If not you may want to have a gander at that blogpost too.  Here is a further taster of the wonderful textile art at the show...

Mum With Spotty Bow & detail - Jenni Dutton

Jenni Dutton's Dementia Darnings - portraits of her mother, who had dementia, in thread and wool, show both the ageing process and the effect of the illness.  These portraits were sensational but I found the later ones incredibly hard to be with.

Then a Moment Later She Smiled & detail - Jenni Dutton

Caren Garfen's What's Going on Upstairs was a bedroom installation which dealt with the issue of eating disorders.  It included a quilt using a pattern designed by a creative young women called Alex who died as a result of a complex eating disorder.

What's Going on Upstairs - Caren Garfen

Room6 is a group of 6 artists including Caroline Bell & Consuelo Simpson.  Their exhibition was called Missing Elements.

Fire, Water & Earth - Caroline Bell

Gathering & Storing - Consuelo Simpson

Nigel Cheney's homage to the men of Naseby who fell in WW1 and his family connections to the war has resulted in Decorated - Tour of Duty where uniforms and kit bags have been grafted together to form a sort of "body bag" with hand & machine embroidery and digital print...
 

Adapted Uniform & Kit Bag - Nigel Cheney

Fabricated Narratives, an exhibition by a group of New Zealand artists, was showing works as part of fabricated stories... 

Helene Carpenter

Marianda Twydell

Indigo Mantle - Marianda Twydell

And the rugs from John Allen's Spirit of Place were very colourful & covetable...

John Allen

Clare Bullock, feltmaker & textile artist was demonstrating in the Artists in Action area & had all sorts of interesting things to show...

Clare Bullock

Clare Bullock

I hope that's provided some inspiration - it's always worth a visit to the Knitting & Stitching Show!

Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show 2018 - Part 1

Grass Lake (cropped) - Denise Oyama Miller - SAQA

The highlight of the textile calender, for me at least, is the Knitting & Stitching Show.  Whilst it travels to 3 venues, I go to Harrogate. London & Dublin are the alternatives.  It is full of amazing exhibitions, talented artists showcasing their working methods, a plethora of supplies and workshops where you can have a go at making something yourself.  Here are some pics of the work on show...
 

Electric Fields (cropped) - Elizabeth Barton - SAQA

The SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) exhibition, entitled Concrete & Grassland explored natural landscape & the constructed environment shown either separately or together.

The Cork Textiles Network had a Tales exhibition with works made in response to a chosen book...

Book of Phrases, Phrases to Live By - Rose Mary Cullen inspired by Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott

disleksia - Christina Jasmin Roser inspired by the English Dictionary

All The Lights We Cannot See - Clodagh Caulfield - inspired by All The Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

In the Folk Tales exhibition by Anne Kelly we see her work combining the natural world and folk art.  Her collaborative piece "Travel Tags - Moving Memories which looks at travel and migration was also on show.

Small Suitcase 2 - Anne Kelly

Self  Portrait - Anne Kelly

Travel Tags - Collaborative Piece - Anne Kelly

In the Studio 21 - Colour Notes exhibition, the artists explore their use of colour in different ways...

Wedding Collar - Ross Belton

Protection - Jill Flower

Music of the Hills - Marion Glover

A Cumbrian Spectrum - Anne Froggatt

Cas Holmes' Tea Flora Tales, supported by the Embroiderers' Guild, is an ongoing collaboration with artists and makers to explore our relationship to the landscape and the work of Plantlife, a British conservation charity working nationally and internationally to save threatened wild flowers, plants and fungi. You could prune a bit of the display to take home for a donation to Plantlife.

Tea Flora Tales - Cas Holmes

Cas Holmes' Textile Landscape exhibition connecting people, landscape and place was also on display...

Blue Thistle (top L), Medway Gap (top R), North Kent Marshes (bottom R), View from Mallety (bottom L)- Cas Holmes

Llandiloes - Cas Holmes

The theme for the Embroiderers' Guild Members' Challenge competition 2017/18 was "Underfoot".  Here are some fab examples...

Carol Sutherland, Su Allington, Liz Smith

Elise Stewart, Janet Payne, Carrie Archer

In the Graduate Showcase I loved the work of Libby Vale and the work of Embroiderers' Guild Scholars Melanie Kay & Jessica Grady...
 

Be Everything - Libby Vale

Ironing Bored & Harm Chair - Libby Vale

Wash it Away - Melanie Kay

Gone With The Wind & Remember When - Melanie Kay

Melanie Kay

 

Jessica Grady

Jessica Grady

More to come later in Part 2...


 

Mark Making with Modern Eccentrics

I recently went on a Mark Making workshop at Cass Art in London run by Ross Belton of Modern Eccentrics.  Ross is an artist who experiments with natural processes and the idea of place.  Natural dyes, found objects and recycled materials are all part of Ross's work.  His aims are a sustainable practice with a minimised artistic footprint and a desire to expose the viewer to works of transient beauty.

Ross Belton

We were exploring mark making using natural inks and handmade brushes...

Lots of materials

Ross showed us how to make our own brushes with the materials and equipment he had brought along.  We could also use the magnificent brushes that he had made.

Equipment

These are the brushes that I made...

My Brushes

Ross told us all about natural inks and how to prepare them and provided 3 different sorts for us to use with our handmade brushes.

Oak Gall, Avocado Stone and Walnut Hull Inks

The oak gall ink was the darkest - almost black.  The walnut hull ink was brown and the ink made from avocado stone a pinky-brown colour.

Walnut Hull (brownish), Oak Gall (blackish) & Avocado Stone (pinkish) Ink Marks

We experimented with the different inks and the brushes to create our marks...

My Mark Making

More of My Marks

Thanks, Ross - it was a really interesting session! 

The venue - Cass Art - has a regular workshop programme and an amazing selection of art equipment.

Ross's work can be seen at the Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrogate later this week as part of the Studio 21 Colour Notes exhibition and then from 27 November until the end of December at Farfield Mill in Sedburgh.

Craft-y-Crawl - Sunday 18 November 2018

Hippystitch, By Helen, What's To Be Done With Her & Lucy Monkman Illustration

Come and join us on Sunday 18 November 2018 from noon to 4pm for Planet South Bank's Craft-y-Crawl.  Tour round the South Bank area of York where local artists and makers will be displaying their work.

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

Bird Brooches

Wooden Button Brooches

Liberty Print Fabric Necklaces

Colourful Button Brooches

Lucy Monkman will also be there with her colourful and contemporary cards, stationery & prints...

Lucy Monkman Illustration

and this year Lucy also has her Home Sweet Home mugs...

What's To Be Done With Her will have lovely ladies tunic dresses, girls' dresses and baby knits...

What's To Be Done With Her

And By Helen will have her beautiful flowers made from yarn and fabric...

By Helen

And next door at 35, Wentworth Road you'll find Sue Dennis & Ruth Merriman with their cards and handpainted wooden tiles.

Do call in we'd love to see you!

A map showing all those taking part is available here and a full list of participants here.