Ilkley Art Trail

I’m writing this on and off between visitors, as our home is open for five whole days (!) as part of the Ilkley Art Trail. Sort of a cross between an art trail and open studios, perhaps – with some artists and makers in town centre venues and others in their homes and work spaces.

 

This house usually looks a bit gallery-ish anyway – the walls are all white to show off the treasures we’ve collected over the years from other artists/makers. But it’s a bit strange living surrounded by our own efforts – not quite so relaxing, I find!

Week days in October were always going to be fairly quiet, but we’ve already had quite a few people round so we’re practised and ready for the weekend crowds (if only…).

I suppose we miss out on casual drop-ins, but the plus is that those who do come and see us tend to be really interested, they’ve often researched which artists appeal to them. And being outside the town centre does mean it's easy to park right outside.

 

The variety here is huge, because it’s not just my textile art. There’s also John’s stunning turned wood boxes with clever inlay patterns and surprise details inside and out.

As well as wall art (framed and unframed), I’ve got my range of thread bowls, bookmarks and lots of jewellery.

There’s Mistletoe neckpieces and pins ready for Christmas (sorry!) parties, delicate Bloom brooches, and my new linen crochet pendants on show for the first time.

I’ve even made cards for once, all with actual pieces of “embroidery” (in the loosest sense!) not prints.  

The poor tortured Bernina doesn’t get a break, just a change of scene. It’s down on the dining table stitching bookmarks and weird samples, and ready to demo FME if anyone’s interested (or baffled by my explanations).   

So if you’re free this weekend, and in reach of Ilkley, please come and see us! You can download the full Trail programme online (or pick up a paper one in town) and there’s even a cool interactive map.

Happy New Year!

(Oil rig, Qatar; Iraqi tank graveyard; trees amongst karst pillars in Madagascar.)

As another year ends, so does another sample diary. This is something I’ve done for four years now – I get a large diary with a picture per week and then each week I make a little textile sample inspired by the picture and stick it in. They don’t all work, but it makes a lovely bulgy book to look back through.

(Indian marble quarry; boats in Nile clogged with water hyacinths.)

I started with a cheap leftover Rothko diary – quite a challenge. The following year it was Van Gogh – more variety. Painters worked well, plus I must surely have learned a bit about their art along the way? Then I did an Earth From the Air diary of aerial photos, which was much more difficult at first, but in the end I loved it so much I went on to do another one this year.

I don’t do this for anyone else to see, but I’ve scanned a few examples here just to show what I’m on about. And maybe spread the idea?

(Shadows of camel caravan, Niger desert; the Eye of the Maldives.)

I don’t want to copy the pictures – all I aim for is a little sample inspired or suggested by the picture (or sometimes the accompanying words), using whatever I’ve got to hand. For me it’s a valuable exercise in quickly responding, completing and moving on – not endlessly reworking in search of perfection. But it could work with any rules or none, depending on what you need or want to achieve.

It’s also a great chance to have fun with techniques and materials I don’t use much in my everyday work. So as well as machine embroidery, there’s hand stitching, embellisher, appliqué, etc.

(Autumn trees, Quebec; Sao Paulo apartment windows; dugout canoes in Mali.)

The big problem now is, I can’t find any diary that appeals for 2011. But I can't stop, this is addictive. Going to have to do something radical. I’ve decided to take a picture from the newspaper each week instead… hmm, could be a challenge too far?!