Eastern Images - ERTF Exhibition

Well last post you saw one series of work, 7 wall pieces.... but that is not the only set of things I've made.  You've seen sneaky snippets, time now to show you the whole.

The Eastern Region Textile Forum, holds a selected exhibition every two years or so.  Selected by an independent guest Curator.  So this body of work was actually completed for submission by photograph last September. So its been a while to keep hidden.
The topic of this Exhibition was 'Eastern Images' - which covers anything within the Forum area or far afield to the exotic East.
Many years ago a textile artist told me, 'you only ever need about 5 topics/themes to work on, and they will last a lifetime'.  So having never tried this out, I thought, give it a go.  Living a few miles from the Estuary, what better than Beach Huts.  I have made some previous work with this inspiration, and now it was time to revisit and try some 3d versions!
So for the ERTF Exhibition I made 5 huts.  These suit my liking for things which are the same, but different.

The design, construction etc are all pure me, no using someone else's templates.

some of the design stages

I measured, cut, constructed, photographed and pondered the little buildings for ages.  Eventually I found size, shape and detail I was happy with, which seemed to look OK... I just hoped my copy paper mock ups would work when using the intended paper.  There did need to be a bit of wiggle room, but hard to measure a 'smidge'.

The Huts are stitched, perhaps minimally in some cases, and in others there is hand stitching and embellishment.  Some are painted, some printed, some distress painted... another thing to work out how to do without buying the fancy made for product.

As a collective I've called them  Waterside Parade.  My imagination is sparked, and on the list for returning to the topic is the character of each Hut.... who, why, what, stories to tell.

So having made two sets of of things, which somehow have come out a bit girly colours, I'm surprised to think I'm the one who has done that.... so doesn't seem like me at all.  I may own kittens but I don't consider myself pink, frothy frou frou at all.  Need to venture to the dark side.....

The exhibition continues until 7th March... and I will be at the venue on a Meet the Makers Day on Thursday 27th Feb - click here to the website, poster with full details.