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