Falls Off Chair - its a Blog Post

Once again its been a while since I’ve posted.

However I have been busy with art work.

Having agreed to go on the Working Party for the local Art Trail, I found myself occupied with tasks, from meetings to phone calls, to writing documents.

The Trail itself was very well received in the town.

Here’s my window....

Next came making sure work was ready for The MaterialGirls Exhibition at Craft Arena. The Exhibition was entitled “Patterns of Inspiration” - with design work inspired by the art collections of Anthony Denney.

The work will be on display again, in a further and fuller Exhibition at Rainham Hall, Essex in February 2020.

My books on right

The theme has already been set for the next body of work by The Material Girls, so its research time.

I have one more event for the Girls.... as I will be one of the Members giving a talk to a local Embroiderers’ Guild in December.

And lastly I was sent the opportunity to alter a page of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.  This I duly did and as I write all the pages are being photographed for a book.  All the work is going on Exhibition in January in Scarborough.  You can see details here.

On top of all of this I discovered that I am not well, the exhaustion I was suffering from was not merely because I lack sleep.  It should be corrected by meds, but it will be a few months before its better.

I decided not to be involved with any more art trail organising, as always with these things a lot gets left to few volunteers, and I ended up with more tasks than I was willing to do.

I do not find it easy dealing with councils who seems to conspire to make the simple extraordinarily difficult, some double standards, and unbelievably slow to decide anything and ignorant on basic info they should have at fingertips.

Plus next year, if it happens, it is also likely to have deadlines around a time when I don’t want any outside tasks.

Not feeling on top form either, its time to have a rethink.

So it might be five minutes before I check in - or five months, we will all get a surprise - including me!

Paper Everywhere

A plumbing issue meant a trip into the loft, so the much over due clear out of my Part 1 Embroidery commenced.

Out of sight out of mind... well nearly.  Plus at my P1 college all our samples had to be mounted for display, hugely impractical, mega expensive.  So the reluctance to edit came down to

1) blood sweat and yes lot of tears, to achieve 

2) the expense tied up in the presentation,

3) the evidence of a lifelong dream achieved, and

4) when would I feel ready to do it.

I'd already done the P2 work, because that was in folders, easier to edit, and never made it to the loft.

All of this is just the back up paperwork.... 10 x A3 files of design work for the Preparing Working Designs element.  There were an additional 2 files for the Full Working Designs - at my college we had to take a design further, and the item to be made from it, had to have full step by step instructions on how to construct, complete with photos, diagrams, costs. Happy to bin that.

Then there were the fat ring binders full of design techniques, principles of display, colour theory etc etc. All of that is in here somewhere.

The actual display of the 10 design themes, method of which we were not allowed to repeat, huge A1 boards, books, boxes and all sorts.  All out, phew.

Of course there were the actual embroidery samples.

Most of those have been binned.  Couple need dismantling, some need photographing before hitting the bin.  This is all that's left.

Not sure I have all the embroidery samples, think may be another box somewhere.  We had to make 3 Experimental Samples - the box contained 1 and 3, but no 2, and I can't remember what it was at all.  Quite a lot of the work was dire... so glad experience and practice makes improvement.

In one of the boxes I also found my childhood bible.   I can't remember if it was ever new, but its falling apart.

As a child I had heard that families kept their history records inside the cover of the family bible.  So naturally I thought I ought to do this, and kept a record of me!  I particularly like 'this is how I write long ago' - already writing it thinking of someone in the future reading!

I had also heard/seen that some books had gold edges to the pages... so I took a red pencil and coloured the fore edge of this bible!!

As an adult I would learn that indeed history of births and deaths were in a family bible. However my Great Grandmother was married to a violent man, she left him, but was ordered by the Courts to take him back, and in a fit of anger she ripped out this history, guess she was trying to remove his existence in some way.

I wonder if interests are forged in early childhood, certainly I love all things book... and I love words, but then as a child with nothing else available, I did used to read the family dictionary.  A big book with finger holes for each letter.  The last hole punch I bought makes the finger hole shape.

I'm in the midst of making more books.... perhaps its time to gold leaf the fore edge... or make a book with pretty edges, mhmmm good idea.

Artist Book Fair - Sat 14th Nov 2015

Well its almost upon me - my first ever Artist Book Fair.

Let's step back for a moment...

I've been making books for years... not sure if I made creative books as a child, I know I filled exercise books with 'writing'.

I've been making stitched bindings since 1979... over 35 years, goodness.  Working in the legal profession documents were stitched together using a Japanese Stab Binding.  Must have made hundreds.

Forward in time to studying City & Guilds Creative Embroidery, Part 1 (links to the story of which can be found via the Qualifications tab above)

For one of the assessment items I wanted to make a book, but alas my tutor would not allow it, so I didn't get to progress in book arts.  The exception being that each of the 10 Preparing Working Designs had to be presented in different ways, so some book construction skills came in handy for that.

Finally for Part 2 studies, I got to make my book.   It was a bit 007ish with a compartment behind handmade pages.   Plus a whole host of books to hold research and samples.

Over the years I've been on many workshops, books are an ideal way for creative stitchers to show their skills.  A tutor may well have one of her own amongst the wealth of goodies to look at, let alone the sketchbooks where you might find the addition of pockets, windows, fold outs etc.

Such bookbinding workshops I have been on tend to fall into two categories - the creative content/decorative covers based on a skill set or theme where the binding method has minimum complexity - or the construction, looking at a means of holding pages together, the latter is a rarer occurrence in my experience.

So far, for me, its the construction which has appealed.  I like the technical challenges, yes even the mathematics!  I have boxes of examples.

I have shown off my books, making as part of exhibitions, but books tend to need a table/plinth for display, and not every venue has that.

There you have it, how I have arrived at the Artists Book Fair - joining in from the other side of the table, having been a keen viewer of many wonderful creations, which stretch the conventional idea of what is a book.

In addition to each Artist's display they have been invited to make books in a Matchbox - voted on by the viewers.  There's a chance for you to win a prize as a voter, and the winning artist also wins a prize.  Yes I have entries, but no, not showing you them, vote for your favourite and just may be, it might be mine!

I'm looking forward to indulging myself in all things booky on  Saturday... not to mention artisan cupcakes!!

To find out more, you can visit the ArtbookArt website or their Facebook page - lots of enticing images appearing.

Come and say hello.

If it looks like a duck......

Last week still chilling, and had lunch out with him indoors, of course I picked the surprise venue, well it did involve a little extra excursion up the road to Hobbycraft, just so rude not to visit when 80% there already.  But we came back and had lunch at the reservoir cafe.  Here's one of the other visitors:

I've no idea on such things, I said it looked like a duck cos it has a duck's face!!!  However I'm told its an Egyptian Goose.  Although I am partially right, cos its related to a Shelduck.   Beautiful colours in the feathers.

Been having a play, and working on little bits which need finishing off.

The red and the purple splodges might get threads and beads added, or might be filed!

Also been having a moan.  I am a rare female, hate clothes shopping.  Have hated it all my life, childhood traisping in and out of shops, walking miles only to return to the very first item in the very first shop.  I'm go with, if its the colour I want, suitable for the purpose, it fits, I buy - I'm not looking in 20 other shops for stuff.  However, moan time, have you noticed loads of clothes about, and cheap, but also really awful fabrics, the type that weld you to village hall seats.  Horrible, tacky.  Friends are saying the same thing.  So I went catalogue shopping, looked at the clothes I have already made sure I only ordered the same fibres in the same perecentages, and guess what, items arrive with stickers on them "fibre content not as advertised". Grrrr.  Seriously I'm thinking of going back to dressmaking.  I used to do it.  But of course nowadays, much like knitting (but I don't knit) its actually not a cheaper alternative, fabrics and patterns are expensive.  I have loads of dress patterns.... trouble is they tend to look like this now.

I think I might need to lay down for a while and let the moment pass - using dress patterns like this is soooo much more fun than practical stuff.

Books, Ideas and... errrmmm

I decided to post pics of my other piece for The Material Girls - cos it looks like I never do any work when  things are kept for an event.  But as people have already seen and cameras were out.... so here we go, and hopefully it will entice to come and see (mine) the work at our next outing at Horndon-on-the-Hill - see right.

The is "On the Waterfront"  and its what these pieces turned into.  Its only about 2 1/2" high - but around 14" long.  And yes, I cut each one of these beach huts by hand - no fancy gismo, just me, scissors, scalpel and a wrist bandage!!!  Each one is also individually sewn in place (I believe I lost count after 150) - because its in effect a book.  Its a collection of coloured pages plus a navigational map of the Thames Estuary and Thames itself.  Being a  l o n g  book it becomes very flexible, so it can be displayed in a shape.  I have made a long book before, but back then I under anticipated the amount of time it takes to construct, so it wasn't the length I intended

The latest effort is also stitched over tape, well ribbon - but in a different technique to the above.

In the meantime its on to the next thing - I've got ideas for something but I want to speak about it first, in case it doesn't meet the brief.  Plus I HAD loads of ideas for things - I say HAD because somewhere in the mush of my head, I've lost them!!!  As usual ideas spring to mind at the most inconvenient moments - and I thought, must write these down, quite literally by the time I'd finished what I was doing and ready to get a pen - total brain fog, forgotten everything.  I should have used a gismo I bought..... duh why only now think of it?  For the ERTF Essex event by the seaside, we were recording our ideas which also included sound.  I bought myself one of these mini voice recorders.... second hand off Ebay cost me the grand price of £8 inc postage!!!  Its been invaluable for reminders during my current family sorting issues - and its with me all the time, so why didn't I put my brilliant art ideas on it.  Idiot!  But as they say.... "if I had brains I'd be dangerous"

PS Have played with the blog again, added some purple to the tab buttons at the top.