September Sunset 804045

My latest small (18x30) piece which will be on show at 'Fifty Pieces of Gold', Chichester Yacht Club, 26th November to 3rd December.

The number is the grid reference of the place I took the photo from.

Location:Home

New Toy!

A new and improved ring loom for weaving 3D. I still have the one made for me to weave the smaller standing stones in 2009/2010, but there were some flaws because it was made from recycled wheels and had no base. I designed this one and it was made for me by Stephen in the WD workshop.

I shall do some sampling on a frame to establish the warp ( which will be exposed) and weft combo to be used for a series of pods. What I have gathered for trial is some fine spun silk, raw silk with slubs of cotton and cashmere (Skye II by Texere - an old favourite), 18/2 undyed wool from Weavers Bazaar and some natural linen from Bockens. After all the red of 'Shrapnel' and 'Greater Love', I will enjoy working with neutrals for a while. There will also be some copper wire incorporated ready for verdigris.

Before I allow myself to start 'playing' I have to complete some sewing projects - revamping my wardrobe and a long overdue blind for the kitchen window. Now that stocktaking the shop is over I have some more studio days in prospect and a couple of exhibitions to work towards.

And if anyone messes with me I have that lovely Monkey's Fist door stop to defend myself!

Location:Home

And On to the Next Thing

Well, it's all taken down and packed away. Apart from the piece that I SOLD. Hoorah and much rejoicing! 'Greater Love' has gone to a lovely lady.

'Shrapnel' (see fragment above) is going to be in Guildford Cathedral for a few days in November. I hung it in the gallery in very fragmented form, but will arrange it more obviously as a poppy as it is to form the backdrop for some children's workshops.

The exhibition seemed to be largely well received, going by the appreciative remarks in the comments book. Sufficient people 'got' it for me to consider it a success.

I have very few pictures because it seemed that both my cameras had died. Upon a visit to the nice man at Sussex Camera Centre, it transpires that my pocket camera is indeed beyond rescue, but that the SLR was simply a victim of my ineptitude. Good news then!

Today I have been writing and uploading a residency proposal. I have a love-hate relationship with such tasks, but they are a necessary part of the portfolio life. I would be thrilled to get this particular one; the potential for a creative match between the location and my practice is great. Let us hope that the commissioners see that too!

I plan to do a bit of playing experimentation with some 3D and exposed warp using raw silk, natural linen and copper wire, followed by a vinegar bath - how I love verdigris. That and a Chichester Harbour sunset piece for an open submission next month should keep me out of mischief.

Location:Home

More!

Sections 17 and 14 completed in today's studio day.

Location:Home

Today's Section

That's all.

Location:Home

26 days to go.

I am refusing to panic, but there is still a LOT to be done. I am enjoying working with such vibrant colours for a change.

Location:Home

Hoorah!

It worked! Preventive rather than reactive medication would seem to be the key. I did a full computer day and some poppy weaving this evening, listening to The Proms performance of Britten's War Requiem. Timely. Next week, as part of the Chichester Film Festival there is a showing of the Derek Jarman film of same, in the Cathedral. Not to be missed.

When first I was given the MRI image of my back injury, I thought that I would use it as a cartoon for a tapestry entitled 'Why I Weave Standing Up (As Far As Possible)'. It may yet happen; the patterns are rather lovely.

Roll on tomorrow, hoping to complete two sections......

Location:Home

Setback (Averted)

LouLou's Prolapsed Disc Truths: When you wake up with sciatica in both legs it is time to take heed; when you can't sit down for more than a few minutes without your back locking, it is time to take action (or inaction, whichever is most appropriate).

I fought it on Monday by weaving standing up for the final panel on the warp - always my preferred position, but not always possible on my Ashford loom- and then going for a longish walk in the forest. Flat paths and fuelled by wild blackberries. Tuesday I had to admit defeat and have a complete rest day, flat on my back with bent up knees or on my side in foetal position, fuelled by ibuprofen. It worked! I was able to do my shop hours yesterday (a standing up job is a fine thing!) then warp up again and weave the above (small) section, followed by a seaweed and arnica bath.

Today is my sitting at the computer job (postponed from Tuesday). I shall take ibuprofen and see how much I can manage.

Tomorrow another studio day. I have a sheet of MDF to cover the sink and draining board in the kitchen so that I can cut Lino for printing, draw etc. standing up. I hope that by alternating the two activities - loom & Lino - I shall keep serious trouble at bay.

Here's hoping.

Location:Home

More from Sark

I think that most artists have themes or motifs that we keep revisiting, re-exploring and possibly reinterpreting in our work. Mine is rocks. As I go back through my digital photo archive, old photograph wallets and sketchbooks, I find close- ups of rock faces, individual stones, things growing on stones et al. In my 'great garage sorting' exploits I found the cartoons for a short series of Stone Studies that I did in my first year at WD. The weavings have all found new homes, but it has made me want to redo some of them at different setts and scales. New rock faces on Sark are calling me to the same approach: simple square tapestries drawn from a section. An extension of this would be a set of sections from the same face; enough to suggest the whole.

I have to put these ideas into 'percolate' mode ( aka 'the back burner') whilst I complete the work for NOBA (Not Only But Also). September 22 is not far away. I have a luxurious three studio days in prospect, two work days and then two more studio. Jolly Dee and Jubilate!

Location:Home

Progress!

Section two of the fragmented poppy almost completed this evening; latterly whilst listening to Vaughan-Williams from the Proms. This included 'The Lark Ascending' - my ultimate weaving music. Apposite too, given that it was written in 1914 as the storm clouds of war gathered.

On the ferry to Guernsey I finished the final chapters of 'Ghost Road'; utterly heartbreaking, I was glad to be sitting alone as it reduced me to tears.

Location:Home Studio

Dolphins!!

More of the Sark Larks tomorrow.

Location:Derrible Bay, Sark, CI

A Finished Section and Some Holiday Reading

Section 1 of 21 completed last evening.

I am taking three books with me; 'The Ghost Road', 'Judaism and the Visual Image' and 'The Closing of the Western Mind', I bought this last one in 2009; time to actually read it, methinks. Two long ferry crossings and evenings in the cottage will allow lots of lovely reading time.

The art bag is full to bursting with materials and contraband (tea, coffee, salt, fixative) so I am leaving weaving behind. I will get my yarn fix from knitting if necessary. No iPad; I am taking a digital holiday too. I predict 317 emails awaiting when I return!

Location:Home

Happy Monday

Enjoying a studio day today, interspersed with domestic matters. My lovely Mum and Dad are coming to house / cat / doglet sit next week*, and their housekeeping standards are higher than mine!

*I am going to Sark with my WD friend Diana, my first 'going away' holiday since Iceland in 2009. We plan on painting and general larks. I may take a small frame and some yarns for little weavings. Diana is flying in from Ireland but I am driving to Poole for the fast cat ferry. I am therefore bringing the bag of sea salt, cans of spray fixative for Diana's pastels, proper coffee (D) and loose leaf tea (me); all items which might cause problems at Dublin or Gatwick.

There are distinct advantages to having a studio at home, which I had forgotten:-

Tea and bagels available whenever I need

An extensive library for reading breaks

A sofa for naps thinking

Being able to work in pyjamas or a sarong; neither necessary nor desirable
in either the Time Machine nor the Cathedral, even in the basement!

Location:Home

Sampling, Swatches, Studio and a Spectacle

I like a neat swatch book!





The weaving studio carved from The Boy's bedroom. The bed head makes a good impromptu work table for 'Abram'.

Now to head to the photocopier to turn an A3 tracing into an A1 cartoon. Cut and paste the old-fashioned way. The cartoon will then be cut up into random rectilinear sections for weaving. The piece is called 'Shrapnel', not 'Poppy' as you might have thought. I hope to get the warp on before the end of the day.

The spectacle? Me, this morning, tumbling down the steps in the quire at the cathedral. Part way down ( for I fell in three stages, each of which I thought was the last) my hand landed on the sign which reads 'Uneven Steps, Take Care'. Three people were there to pick me up and dust me off, my dignity more bruised than my body. Thankfully it was not during the service; I might have taken three others out :-))

Location:Home

Of Loom, Loot and Dye Baths

Loom assembled and ready to go.







Walking (very slowly) the Goldsworthy trail yesterday I found this skull near a ruined flint hut.







And this aluminium pot. I think someone has been taking pot shots (ha!) at it. I can hardly believe that no-one has picked these things up before. Am I odd?







In pursuit of the perfect red: a bath of 3% Red 2GL (now drying) and another of 4% (now rinsing). I am approximately the same colour after building the loom, boiling vats in a very small kitchen and moving more boxes upstairs. It is the only downside of living in a first floor apartment :-)

In my foraging in the garage - which will one day have plumbing and be my wet studio- I found the black silk I need for the centre of the poppy, and some pillar box red that I dyed while at Time Machine. I think that I now have everything that I need, so no more procrastination. Winding the yarns onto cones and some quick sampling of the potential blends and I will be off.

Tally Ho!

Location:Home

Of Dyeing and Holding a Heartbeat in my Hand

The results of today's bloodbath; so called because the main dye is Acid Blood Red in all except the last one. The beakers of dye did look exactly like boiling blood and I some mad-eyed scientist - largely due to the heat in the dye room.



Linens, a stray purple wool and a cone of hideous orange acrylic - which works unexpectedly well in blends. I still have to locate the pillar box red wool that I dyed last year - or dye/ buy some more. Ditto for a true black, possibly shiny.

While I was in the dye room, a swallow flew into the office and was struggling against the window. It let me catch it and remained quite still, close-cupped in my hands as I carried it to the door and released it. I watched it soar over the roofs into the blue-grey sky. Really moving and remarkable to feel a heartbeat in one's hands and for the bird to remain so calm, trusting and resting. A happy moment.

Location:WD

The Sanity Saving Spanner

Borrowed from the WD workshop. The bed is now dismantled, oh joy. The loom is not yet mantled - that can wait until the cool of the early morning.

I have spent some time working on the cartoon for the first new tapestry; it has doubled in size from my original plan, so I shall be doing some dyeing after my shop shift on Saturday. Having access to the dye room is a great blessing. It should also be much cooler on Saturday; leaning over boiling vats is not an activity for a heat wave!

This evening I have been listening to Britten's War Requiem and re- reading the first of Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy, in preparation for completing the set. Getting into the zone for working on 'Abram'.

Location:New Workspace

World Trade Centre Wreckage

House Collapsing on Two Firemen

Location:IWM North

Ball Patrol

Chess the Action Dog





Flo the bewildered

Location:Rushden

FRUSTRATION

1. I have been unable to upload photos to this blog for a couple of days now. It churns away and then I get an error message telling me that there are 'problems' and I should check my connection. My connection is fine for everything else. Not life threatening, but irritating.

2. The battery on the MacBook has died. I have resurrected my old PowerBook. We shall see what ensues.

3. I swapped my work days so that I could have a WORKroom making and WORK day today. The cunning plan was to
(a) Dismantle The Boy's bed (he does know and has approved this measure)
(b) Assemble the Ashford loom and put a warp on it.
(c) Finish the cartoon I began yesterday and sample the colours on aforementioned warp.
(d) Bring a table up from the garage for the sewing machine (I am making a stitch-drawn piece)
(e) Bring up the easel and other workroom bits.
(f) Clear the dining table of art materials / sewing machine
(g) Restore social space to normality
(h) Enjoy having a workroom again

I failed at (a). Could not find either the special IKEA spanner required nor a sufficiently small adjustable spanner. The mattress is now on the (small) landing, easel and folding table in the (small) hall. The whole place is an obstacle course, and, worst of all, I have run out of milk, so no tea.

I am usually quite good at 'zoning out' mess and just getting on with the work I need to do, but not this time. I am regretting the big house that I once lived in and annoyed with myself for doing so. The temptation to hide under the duvet wailing, even in this heat, is very great.

I need a fairy godmother. With a spanner and big muscles.

And tea.

Grrrr.

Location:Home

Road Trip

I have been up to Manchester for a few days to help The Boy move house. It is bit of a trek, but traffic was good and the drive not unpleasant. After my failed attempt to visit IWM in London, I was determined to make it to IWM North at Salford Quays, and my visit was not a disappointment. It is a fantastic building, with a vertigo-inducing 'Air Shaft' viewing platform - which I braved, holding onto The Boy the whiles. The nice guide at the top coaxed me to the edge so that I could see Old Trafford and "into Coronation Street", and then started telling me about the zip wire that they run across to the Lowry. He was so excited about "opening this wall here" and "running this gantry out over there" that he failed to notice my green tinge. He suggested that I come back and try it, but I pointed out to him that my screams would break all the windows in a mile radius at least so he agreed that it might not be such a good idea. The other member of our party of two is, however, rather keen. It remains to be seen whether I could watch.

The main exhibition space contains a piece of wreckage from 9/11. Monumental and profoundly moving.



Inside one of the 'silos' is an archway made of suitcases, backpacks etc to represent migration and refugees. It stopped me in my tracks

Another highlight for me were two handwritten drafts by Wilfred Owen; one for 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and the other for 'Dulce et Decorum', the latter including a couplet which did not make it to the final draft:-

"And think how once his face was like a bud
Fresh as a country rose, and keen, and young"

Heartbreaking.

On Wednesday I visited Dunham Massey, where the National Trust have re-instated the Stamford Military Hospital within the house. Too many people to really get the full impact of it, but rather well done. I shall visit again for a more thoughtful progress and read of the personal stories.

All in all, a good research trip, with many ideas now brewing / reinforced for September.

Airports passed:- Southampton, Birmingham, Manchester, East Midlands, Luton, Heathrow.

Counties crossed:- West Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex, Surrey, West Sussex

And my back held up throughout, TBTG.

Location:Manchester (and the rest)

Mission Accomplished - In Part

After a late start (enjoying coffee and conversation with a friend in Chi) and a circuitous route (notes to self: take your A-Z, get off at Aldgate East NOT Whitechapel) the stretchers were duly delivered to my painter friend. I had help on my journey across London: an East End chippie, a Spanish tourist and a Bangladeshi lad who kindly picked up a bicycle that I had knocked over when I turned round forgetting my new wooden dimensions!




Painter friend EB was on a break and she took me to Spitalfields City Farm where we petted the donkeys and (myself alone) sang "I'm a troll, fol-de-rol" to the billy-goats, despite the absence of a wooden bridge. I apologise if this reference leaves you culturally alienated!
After EB went back to work I had a mooch round the Brick Lane area; antecedents of mine (one a Scandinavian immigrant) were married at Christchurch Spitalfields and lived in a house in Hanbury street, long since demolished. I have also just been reading Rachel Liechtenstein's book of the history and people.





In my thought-doodling about the September show on the train up to London, I had decided that I would visit the Imperial War Museum for some research. Not having my A-Z or Moleskine City Notebook, I had to take a guess at where to find it, not having visited since I was about 11. Things I learned:-

It is important to know the difference between Kennington Road, Kennington Park Road and Kennington Lane.

Named bus stops and maps in bus shelters are marvellous things!

An earlier destination decision and some preliminary research would have told me that IWM is closed until July 16th, when they re-open with a new WWI gallery. This will be very useful in a fortnight.

London was hot, HOT, HOT!!!

Another bus ride took me to the PV at Espacio Gallery in Shoreditch. Good stuff in the main. Free wine.

Bus, tube, train and car home. Shower, sarong and sleep.


This morning's thought-doodle: a name for the show, 'Not Only, But Also'. And there will be a poppy.
In some form or other.

Location:Brick Lane Circular

Coals to Newcastle

Today I am going to London carrying four stretchers made by the lovely workshop guys at WD and delivering them to a friend at an art shop where they make stretchers. Predictably, tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day of the year and I shall be looking like a walking bonfire. Perhaps I should get someone to film it as a performance piece.
PV at Espacio in Bethnal Green Road early evening; I have not decided what to visit beforehand. I shall wait until I have done my delivery and then 'choice myself' as my Nannan used to say.

Exhibition News

Well, I have 'been and gone and done it' as a school friend used to say. I received word this morning of a cancellation at a local gallery, and by tea time I had booked and paid the deposit. It is just as well that always work better with a deadline, since it is September 22nd that I am now working towards. I will be finishing some of the work that I did not include in the 'Rebuilder' exhibition (e.g 'Abram'), revisiting some older pieces and following up some new ideas; all touching on a Remembrance theme.

"Lawks!" and I say again "Lawks!"!

A Good Day

After a busy few days, including an outdoor production of 'As You Like It' in Beaconsfield and a Chichester Festivities concert in the cathedral, a day at home and a minor miracle - I did some drawing! Actually quite a lot of drawing, including some stitch-draw on canvas. I have not been suffering creative block as such, just a bit of inertia* needing a catalyst to overcome it. In the end I 'self-catalysed' and just got on with it. Lots of ideas are now brewing.




This photo is one I took last September, looking west across a channel of Chichester Harbour from a garden in Bosham. It is the starting point for an exhibition entry I am working on in parallel with the Ruins / Paradise Lost series. There may be sketchbook glimpses.......


* and too many excuses, truth be told. I may not have a proper studio yet, but I have a dining table and all the equipment and supplies I need to fill a sketchbook.

Location:Home

Diamonds - Crazy and Otherwise

My weaver's mark in the top selvedge of the blue tapestry. When deciding on my mark a few years ago I opted for a shape rather than my initials, partly because of a certain favourite Pink Floyd song, and partly for reasons of practicality; LL would mean slits to sew up! There are quite enough of those in a tapestry without creating more.

Those few years ago I was also being put through some tough stuff and was at a bit of a low ebb, feeling unwanted (which I was) and worthless (which I was not) I can't remember now whether someone said this to me, I read it or it just popped into my head, but the phrase was "a diamond is a diamond is a diamond".
Hmmm.
Well yes. A diamond can be in a beautiful setting or it can be prised out and thrown in the dirt (or worse) but it does not cease to be a diamond and its worth is not diminished; it remains a precious stone. Good lesson!
I now wear a diamond (the tiniest that a certain pale-turquoise-themed jeweller do sell - but oh, they treated me like a Duchess!) in a silver ring on my right ring finger. Just to remind me.
And I often put a bit of sparkle in my weaver's mark too.

She Travels Fastest (Who Travels Alone)

London day on Thursday - herewith the abridged version:-

Chichester -> Victoria -> Temple (Somerset House: Violin showroom viewing, lunch, bookshop)

Temple -> Mansion House (Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern: Matisse Cutouts unbearably crowded so whizzed through, planning a return at a quieter time)

Mansion House -> Angel (Thunderstorm!! Yarn shop: yummy yarn and other accoutrements. Austrian Coffeehouse: Viennese iced coffee and Linzer Torte)

Angel -> Oxford Circus* (Liberty: Arts & Crafts exhibition, Tana Lawn and entomology pins. John Lewis: Lucienne Day fabric viewing, new lipstick)

Oxford Circus -> Leytonstone (Artefacto Tattoo Parlour: Private View of Eleanor Buffam's fine paintings)

Leytonstone -> Victoria -> Chichester

Friday's school session postponed again because of the weather, so an opportunity to process ideas and make plans for some new work. And laze about with strong tea after Thursday's epic.

I have also had my eyes tested for the first time since before I came to WD. I can no longer read labels on shampoo etc when I take them off. New glasses will not solve this particular problem (relabelling in colour co-ordinated Sharpie is the answer to that) but my current ones are so disreputable now, and the joints so loose that I suspect the -focal is more vari- than is optimal. New specs when I get back from a few days away.

* crowds reminded me of why I rarely go to Oxford Circus. I have become such a country bumpkin!

Location:Zones 1-4

From Holy Trinity to the Devil (or from chalice to punchbowl)

Yesterday, being a gloriously sunny and blustery day, after the Cathedral service I packed up a picnic, donned my 20+ year old Rohans and headed north to Hindhead and the Devil's Punchbowl. Trotted round the perimeter and down into the dip, doglet faithfully following or forging ahead when she felt fearless. Accidental alliteration! Picnic enroute - doglet shared my tuna bagel but not the apple. Tea break at the National Trust cafe - very good Dundee cake :-))

We then headed for the lesser known Waggoner's Wells (also NT), a run of man made lakes in a wooded valley. Beautiful in the afternoon sun, and a great 'find'. Some wonderful root formations just crying out for interventions.

The photo is the open edge of my sample book for the blue tapestry; we cut it off last week and have been sewing slits and finishing edges. We are trying the hanging system on Thursday in the auditorium. It is VERY heavy. I keep meaning to calculate its weight from the amount of yarn dyed and rolls of warp used. I have really enjoyed being a studio weaver on this project. Now to forge ahead with some of the ideas for my own work. I went back to the ruins and took proper photos to use in sketchbook work / planning. I may share them in due course, but there is an application I must complete first......

Location:Chichester and Hindhead

My Glamorous Life

Last Saturday I met up with my friend Sheila at Tate Britain - the long awaited trip which had been postponed repeatedly by weather and transport problems.  The galleries were nicely quiet, and we managed to visit 'Ruin Lust', 'Richard Deacon' and the standing collection, fortified by a sandwich lunch and a cream tea!  We ended our day sipping prosecco before our respective trains home.

This was a great contrast to Friday and my primary school Visiting Artist role.  I spent much of the day kneeling in mud tying string to a chain link fence!

Nylon, jute and hemp rope ready to be unravelled for weft.

The tool basket.

Half warped.

Patent tensioning device!

All warped and some weaving completed by Class One (Reception and Year 1, aged around 5)

The warp is recycled cotton from Texere Yarns; the weft is one strand each of the unravelled hemp, jute and nylon ropes.

The plan is that the children will continue with the weaving between my visits.  I set them the challenge of 30cm by 25th April - given the Easter break from tomorrow until the 22nd, I hope they have been busy up to now!  Upon this foundation we will be weaving six coloured footprints using yarn made from recycled carrier bags.  More later.

The blue (and now also a bit green) tapestry continues apace, but cannot be blogged just yet.  I am loving weaving in the professional studio!  The tapestry positively eats wool, so there has been a lot of dyeing to do - my second favourite creative task.  I remain clam like (see below)

After 'Ruin Lust' I was privileged to visit some real ruins and follies on the Estate where my brother now lives and works.  Inspired to revisit some of my drawings and experiments with verdigris, rust and moss, I have acquired a new sketchbook and am beginning to build ideas for a new body of work combining tapestry and photography.  Now all I need is to carve out some studio space……….

Only At West Dean.....

.....can you drop your favourite, very precious, ebony bobbin on a stone floor so that it breaks along the shaft, and then have it invisibly mended by a master violin maker. Thanks Shem!

Back Where I Belong (Tangled Up In Blue)

What a lovely two days! Greeted by the car park robin as I arrived yesterday, weaving visual research samples to experiment with textures and mixes, dyeing yarns......
Tomorrow two more 'Postcards' workshops, and a split day on Friday- Studio in the morning and 'Postcards' in the afternoon. I plan a Tate-a-thon on Saturday (Richard Deacon at Tate Britain, Tate Boat and then a revisit of Paul Klee at Tate Modern). Complete collapse-in-a-heap will probably ensue on Sunday.
I am back where I belong, at a loom (or in a dye room) and happy as a clam - hence the photo.

The Latest from LouLouLand*

*home of the portfolio life.

GCSE Textiles Day? - Check
First of four 'Postcards Home' schools' workshops? - Check
Commission for local primary school in planning stages? - Check
New job in professional tapestry studio? - CHECK!!

The 'Postcards' workshops are designed as an exploration of historical (WWI) postcards, imagery from the memorial chapels in the Cathedral and thinking about the messages pupils would choose to send home.  Pilot sessions this week with various schools, ready to be rolled out in the autumn - led in future by the education volunteers trained during this week.

The school will have a series of six outdoor tapestry panels based on their school 'footsteps' and incorporating figures drawn by the children.  We begin weaving later in March; I shall be on site one day a week for six weeks and groups will continue to work in-between.  It's a lovely friendly school and should be a very enjoyable project.

The big (and long-awaited) news is that I am going to be working in the West Dean Tapestry Studio for  a while on a commissioned large tapestry as part of a team of weavers.  It is a brilliant chance to experience being a studio weaver - with all the differences from designing my own work entailed in that.  I do not know yet whether I will be allowed to blog details of the project (sometimes work from the studio has to be confidential until exhibited), but I can certainly share my experiences / lessons learned etc.  I start tomorrow, just two days this week because of 'Postcards', but thereafter will be four days a week on the weaving bench.  VERY excited by this new phase!

Back!

Still no studio space, still waiting on a few things, BUT, my short term Visiting Artist role at the Cathedral begins on Friday, and I have confirmed a short residency / commission in a local primary school for a few weeks time. An artistic 2014 begins at last!
I have been rediscovering the joy of intricate knitting in my absence from the loom - I can't survive without some sort of yarn thing going on 😊. Vikkel braids, Icords and stranded colourwork are my new skills, a sheep themed tea cosy my new production:-





And yes, that is the catkin's leg, a dictionary, a bible, an iPad lead, knitting pattern, poetry book, turquoise tam and some knitting paraphernalia in the pile on my bed. Some might call it clutter; I call it 'Still Life with Tea Cosy'.

Location:Home