Lacy Grids

I thought I would work with the grid like structures within the rabbits scull, it could be called lacy but at the moment I am focusing on the layers and looking through aspect.

I have started by making a collage out of ripped magazine paper and working into it, I also did some charcoal drawing, encouraged by a recent episode from Design Matters, and then worked into that.

I am pleased with the photos I get by using the ipad and the quick way in which the images can be played with and manipulated. I know I can do the same thing on the computer but this is easier and less frustrating. O.K. I just like playing with my new toy.  I like the app called Snapseed and have also discovered Adobe Ideas via a Flickr group. Please let me know of any apps which you are using and I will check them out. I like ‘Ideas’ because you can use layers, work over a photo and then discard it.

 I am sure this will be ‘old hat’ to many of you and gobbledegook to the rest of you. But bear with me while I have fun.

Welcome to new 'followers' whom I  have not been able to get back to.

Ebook

To mark the start of a new year I have just published my blurb book as an eBook, that is so simple to download to the ipad or similar device. Nice on the ipad as you are able to zoom in on details.

I try to show the range of contemporary stitch with images showing the use of fabric,paper,stitch,book art and of course felt.
For under £5 it good value,I would say that!
Here is the link or check my sidebar.

There is a short review on Margaret Applin's blog after she received the paperback version.

Paste Paper Notions

I have been enjoying myself using the paste papers I made last week in various ways in order to

try to inspire my two groups.

I made a little flag book, of course on each ‘flag’ you could put something different. I played with the idea of putting some instructions for making the paper but didn't get that far.

The covered box was popular, and so I decided to get out my pattern for making a folded box and was pleased when it worked.

 I could in fact be tempted to make lots of these, but at the moment I have run out of paper. I will have to make some more next week, so that will be good.

A book which is sewn onto cords, in this case cable ties.

A simple folded book which we are going to make into a ‘Little Book of Resolutions’.

Finally here is a picture for all those experiencing heat waves at the moment. Snow in the UK..

Paste Papers

In preparation for a couple of groups I have had another go at ways of making traditional paste papers.

 For the recipe I returned to  instructions on Lili's book binding blog 

 

 I also researched on the internet and found an interesting Martha Stewart video with the book binder Sage Reynolds; his recipe for the paste is slightly more complicated using alum and acrylic varnish. I would say the main tip is to do your best to get rid of lumps; in Sage Reynolds method the paper is brushed over completely with the paste before mark making and this really shows up the stray lumps, as he had the patience to strain his paste first he probably got rid of them

  

 Certainly next time I will take far more care to do away with the lumps. A link to historical examples of paste papers used in book binding is on the University of Washington site.

I tried stamping into the paste, but did not find that as satisfying, but it could be appropriate to a particular theme. Making these papers is quite addictive,so have plenty of paper and space ready.
The fascinating thing is how the paper dries sucking the paste in and leaving three dimensional marks.

I read a book which mentions printing over acrylic papers and I had to have a go just for the heck of it. My trusty printer coped well as I held my breath.

I made a layer on the computer and printed the pebbles out onto the paste paper.

If you would like to see some intricate paste papers and examples of beautiful folded books you can find them here on Anna Mavromatis' blog.

A new year.

When I look back at my post for the start of 2012 I am pretty pleased with the way I kept to my chosen theme which was based on Louise Baldwin’s three day course during which we looked at the work of artists who have used the theme of Change, Transform and Disintegration. However, the work took an unexpected pathway when I bought the Baby lock Embellisher, having resolved never to buy yet another tool which I suspected I would make little use of; well, it is now part of my work routine, moving between my Pfaff and the embellisher.

What else has happened to Stitchworks during the year? I made a video workshop for Alma Stoller which was a huge learning curve but which I managed despite time pressure and the fact that I had the most awful chest infection which meant that between takes I coughed until I was breathless.

I worked with Sue Bleiweiss to produce a sketchbook on the theme of Rhythm and a textile piece for her book ‘The Sketchbook Challenge’ which was successfully published. Both Sue and Alma, although each having different approaches, were so organized and a pleasure to work with throughout.

My book for We Love Your Books on the theme of Minute was chosen for both the on-line exhibition and the actual exhibition at the  University of Northampton.

My work for Change based on my theme of the rabbit’s skeleton was displayed in the foyer at City Lit in London.

I tell you all this not only to show off but to make myself aware that Stitchworks has had a good year, despite the fact that in other ways the ‘real’ me has had the worse year of her life, so far. Despite the terrible bad bits creativity has survived and helped me through.

For 2013 I already have two projects in the pipeline which you will hear about later if you stick with me.I have lots of ideas for the Embellisher, particularly combining felting with hand stitch. I will at times practice my lino cuts,  burning and encaustic are in the background. There will be a little flurry of bookmaking as this is the terms’ theme for my U3A group and the day services group will be working with the theme of Paper, when I get round to thinking what we can do – definitely making paper and then …

I have added a link to Barry Smith, sculptural artist and metal worker in Australia to my side bar. I purchased three bowls raised from reclaimed metal for family Christmas presents. They are beautiful tiny objects and he took the trouble to make sure they arrived in time.

Best wishes for the New Year to you all.

 Thank you for visiting. If you are able to leave a comment I appreciate it as it helps to keep me blogging.

'Hand stitch'

I am pleased to have received a review copy of the new book ‘hand stitch – Perspectives’ by Alice Kettle and Jane McKeating published by Bloomsbury. You may have been lucky enough to see the display about this book at the recent Knit and Stitch Show.This post is some first thoughts about the book and a tribute to hand stitch.

It is certainly a substantial, heavy book; hardback and 224 pages, but what I mean is that it is deeply serious and comes from an academic base, many of its contributors having links to the embroidery department in Manchester University’s School of Art. For those of us who consider stitching on paper, adding twigs, metal or simply constructing an array of French Knots in varied weights of thread to be adventurous, some of the articles, which feature conceptual stitch that floats in the air or tries to answer the question ‘How do you hear the voice of thread’, will introduce ideas which come as an eye opener and are challenging. I find this approach stimulating and it reminds me of my time in the library at Farnham University of Creative Art looking at images and ways of working which were completely new to me.

I eased myself into the book gently with a look through the many beautiful illustrations and then found the Glossary, which in itself would make a book; this features images from a project in which students from MMU worked with Coats Threads to explore and be inventive with stitch. These examples are shown alongside historical examples. Fiona Rainford who is studying for a degree at MMU and who some of you may ‘know’ particularly for her stitching on felt which she shows on Flickr as Fi@84,worked 

Wave Stitch on distressed photographs.

 So far and I have been particularly moved by Alice Kettle’s chapter ‘Outside, Inside and In Between’ with examples of artists who have worked outside the established art world and expressed their creativity in original ways. A jacket with layers of words was stitched by Agnes Richter in 1895 and she graffited her institutional jacket and so asserted her individuality.

Even though only just starting the book I already feel a quiet pleasure at having for so long hand stitched. There is suddenly a certain pride at being a small part of this tradition which has a truly contemporary presence. So much so that I found some of my old work and decided to give it an airing here as a tribute to hours of hand stitch.

Encaustic

A page from my sketchbook today; encaustic worked on handmade paper and then added to the sketchbook. There is a happy accident in the top right hand corner, after I had a nasty happening with discharge paste, which I mentioned previously, and had to repair this page by adding a scrap of material. I then discovered that by writing on tissue and then adding a layer of wax the writing looked as if it was on the material. I must come back to that idea.

I don’t know what your views are about Pin Interest, I know some people have really strong views against the use of their images on the site. I have not looked at it much until recently. I must say I was amazed at how many of my images have been pinned, of which I had no knowledge and not a comment made by the ‘pinner’.

The point is that I want to make a special mention of Eva Lundberg            who had the grace to email me and say that she liked my work and asked for my agreement for her to pin it. I was most impressed and have enjoyed looking at her pin board.

Dionne Swift, UK textile artist, is asking for anyone who has purchased a piece of her work to send her a photo of it in situ and she is putting them up on her site here. If you have not seen her work you may like to take a look.

Thank you to new followers and especially to those I have not been able to get back to.

Field

 This is a little bit of a cheat post as I am showing you some old photos and mosaics; most of them come from The Persistent Thread group on Flickr.  You may have read before that I have an inspiring view from my little room/studio, overlooking an open field which slopes up from the road below my window. I have often used it in one way or another for images. As I have just done that whilst practising my lino cuts, I thought I would seek out a few of the other images and put them together.

Harvest time and a print making course at City Lit..

Machine embroidery, sketching and photography.

A collagraph print and the prints made using a pasta machine.

A little bit of everything,including used envelopes(click for a clearer view).

Stitching on pulp paper,then photographed.

Photographed with a gauze texture added.

'We Love Your Books'

minute

an exhibition of experimental artists’ books

curated by we love your books|2012

15 November - 17 December 2012 

Avenue Campus Foyer

Avenue Campus, The University of Northampton

St. George’s Avenue, Northampton NN2 6JD

Slide show here.

Purchase  a catalogue or digital download at magcloud.

Selected minute books in exhibition

Selected minute books in exhibition, a photo by rejectamenta on Flickr.

New toys (tools).

Sometimes it is nice to give way to an impulsive buy and that is what I did when I bought myself three catalyst wedges. I feel pretty sure that with a bit of cardboard or a decorating tool that I can get a similar affects, but sometimes it’s good to buy something new and to get that parcel in the post.

For the amount of fun I have had with them, they did not exactly break the bank. Just listen to me, a sure Yorkshire woman, trying to justify spending a bit of money.

 There are a few videos that you can watch to get ideas for their use. I wonder about using them with wax; will the wax come off easily or will the tools have to be dedicated to future use with wax. Let me know if you have the answer.

 I bought mine from here   I think they are easily available in the US..

Lino cut

On Saturday I went to an afternoon workshop on Mark Making with Lino cut . It was run by Susan Yeates of Magenta-Sky. I found the course via Hot Courses following an internet search. I have had a few goes at lino cuts over the years and haven’t really liked it but after doing a repeat print of one of my drawings from a recent art class I thought it would be good to learn more about the process. That print worked on fabric with acrylics(apparently not really the done thing,I don't know why), is now my new apron.

 This workshop was better than previous attempts I think because it focused on learning something about the basic marks and ideas of how a shape can be interpreted in different ways. It was well organized and was well attended with fourteen people in the upstairs room of the Electric Theatre in Guildford. It was also very reasonably priced.

As you can see, I would need a lot of practise to make acceptable prints and I also need to read Susan’s book to find out how to register my prints. It is an enjoyable process, despite being hard work, and is one that can be done at home with minimal equipment and mess. I say hard work because we all pretty much agreed that it is hard on the hands and the back  - the lady next to me kept sighing which I told her made me feel better, as it summed up how I was feeling. There was a lot to do in a short time.