Art in Action 2010

Just back and recovering from a wonderful experience at Art in Action, Waterperry House, Oxfordshire.

I spent 4 days sewing and chatting, chatting and sewing, meeting lovely folk and actually getting lots of creative work done too. I'm very pleased to say I was able to complete the sewing of my entry for the Festival of Quilts competition : contemporary section. See the finished piece in all it's glory at the NEC in August.

A huge thanks to Kate Wells for co-ordinating the Textiles section of A in A - just for her and Rowanna here's the recipe for the 'oh so healthy' gorgeous chocolate brownies that kept us going on setting up day!

[No it's not a miss print - it is sweet potato!]

Makes 16

Preparation time 10 minutes

Cooking time 40 minutes

400g sweet potato, baked in their skins until soft, then cooled

3 free range eggs

140g light muscavado sugar

60g dark muscavado sugar

A pinch of salt

150g dark chocolate 70 per cent, melted and cooled

100g ground almonds

2 tsp chickpea flour [gram flour]

70g of good quality cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g Turkish delight, chopped

Method: How to make Turkish delight brownies

1. Heat the oven to 16°0C.
 Line a square brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
 In a clean, dry bowl whisk eggs, sugars and salt until they become really voluminous and pale. This will take about 5 minutes.

2. Scoop out the sweet potato from their skins and mash with a fork. Fold in the chocolate, ground almonds, chickpea flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract until its incorporated. Add the Turkish delight.

3. Pour into the lined brownie tin and bake for 35 minutes or until the top is firm.

Simultaneous sampling

Over the last week I've been working 1:1 with a another Canadian designer, developing devore, dying, discharge and transfer techniques. Canada is apparently a bit of a textile desert!

The photo shows a hive of activity on the print table; constantly multi tasking and shifting between techniques with a series of samples on the go simultaneously. For me sampling in this way is the best way to understand a broad range of skills within a limited time frame.
If you're interested in learning new textile skills please get in touch.

Textile gathering.

Last Wednesday the studio welcomed a great group of textile ladies who had regularly taken part in my workshops over the last few years.
For the last 10 years I've cooked and created lunch for my students & we've enjoyed a vast array of culinary delights, yet on this occasion the tables were turned so everyone brought along a contribution & we had the chance to catch up on where their tactile techniques had taken them.
Maggie has moved on to BA Contemporary Practice at MMU, Val's studio is just about up and running, Cath showed us a stunning devore creation [soon to be exhibited at Cannon Hall], Wendy's calligraphy has gone from strength to strength, Angela brought her basket full of textile treats and Ali's time is all taken up creating a whole new being!! [Big congratulations!]
Thank you all for a lovely afternoon indulgently chatting, eating and drinking - I had my camera at the studio yet was so involved I forgot to use it...we'll have to do it all again soon to get a group shot!

Holmfirth artWeek 4th - 10th July

artWEEK is a local event with a national reputation – most of the exhibitors are from Holmfirth but visitors come from all over the country to view and to buy. It is astounding how much artistic talent there is locally – it is this that makes the event such a success . . . and brings so many visitors to Holmfirth every year.

The main Exhibition in the Civic Hall will run all week and feature work by 425 professional & amateur artists. [I have 3 Felt Ground Series pieces exhibited]. If you are looking for a bargain I've had a studio sort out & you can catch a good deal in the market area on the stage - framed and unframed pieces at a snip for the duration of artWeek

In addition there will be over 30 smaller fringe venues around the Valley.
I'm part of the fringe too: find a large selection of my work on the top floor at White Rose Gallery & Winnies, Daisy Lane Holmfirth - the PV/opening party is Friday 2nd July 6-9pm ALL WELCOME!

The first Holmfirth Art Exhibition was organised in 1967 by Isobel Shaw and Christabel Dangerfield. Their twin objectives were to provide an opportunity for local art students to show their work and to raise money for Cancer Relief (as it was then called) – on that occasion a grand total of £120 was raised for the charity.

Their legacy is an annual event which sells 2000 artworks every year and regularly raises in excess of £30,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Having achieved our target of £40k for the 40th event artWEEK has so far raised well over HALF A MILLION POUNDS.

Visit the artWeek website

Worthwhile day

Some days you just don't get a whole lot done, others fall beautifully into place & today felt like that.
Visited MMU textile degree shows & was transported back to my days at Goldsmiths. I think it must have been that red brick architecture that gave the place a particular atmosphere! The work was splendid - but no photos to show. I never feel comfortable photographing others work, I'd much rather take memories away - if it affects me enough, it will be retained.
Whilst there, I bumped into Alice Kettle, which is always a lovely collision! Her colleague turned out to be a curator looking for exhibitions & possibly interested in NEW GROUNDS - it would be great if I could extend the tour! Fingers crossed everybody!
That would have been enough to make a wonderful day - nice work & great people! But there were also 2 fabulous phone calls:
The first asking if I could deliver a professional practise talk to the creatives of Art in the Pen/North Yorkshire. The CPD of Artists is a subject I'm hugely passionate about, so I jumped at the chance.
The second for regarding an intriguing commission for a corporate client in Central London. A gallery found be online....all that website work feels like it's worthwhile when it creates exciting leads.
Add to the mix; delivering work to a gallery; another run [now my 4th in 2 weeks] and a delicious BBQ & it's been a jam-packed spot-on day!
Thanks to Fiona for being my exhibition viewing buddy!

Canadian conclusions

So where did the time go? One minute I was going to be updating every other day...then hey it's 6 weeks later! May was definitely a busy month - jam packed with shows, gallery visits and of course devore discoveries. Here are just a few of Audrey's outcomes from her time with me.


I don't know if you can read all the technical text, but Audrey was keen to explore the potential of mixing devore processes with those of her usual technique of etching.
In future I'm not going to make blogging promises that I can't keep!

Alice Fox Textiles: more squares...

Alice went to see NEW GREOUNDS last week and seemed to get alot from the work - always good to know that it's hitting the right spot! Alice Fox Textiles: more squares...