West Country Quilt and Textile Show.

 The Brunel Broderers stand at the West Country Quilt and Textile Show.

 Linda Babb's work.

 Liz Harding's work.

Liz Hewitt's work.

Holiday in Devon

collecting seaweeds and mono printing with them., Lovely walks on the beach, 

West Country Quilt and Textile Show.

Come and see us at the West Country Quilt and Textile Show. Fri 11th, Sat 12th and Sun 13th Nov. Exhibition Centre, University of the West of England, Filton, Bristol BS34 8QZ. It is well signed from the M32. We will be on stand G14/15. I am giving a 2 hour workshop on stitches Sunday morning. (See my blog on the side bar for more details.) The Brunel Broderers will be demonstrating and talking to visitors every day. Come along and say hello!

Seed pods- work in progress

This is my new work for Autumn- seed pods- all work in progress. I will be on holiday for the next B. B. meeting so have a good one!

workshop

Yesterday five Broderers held a most enjoyable and stimulating workshop, led by Carla, exploring some of the design ideas that can be used to underpin our textile practice.

We were also given a 30cm. square box frame with the intention that it should be used in some way to from the basis for a piece of work for our next exhibition, 'Underpinning' at 44AD in Bath next year.

Wild flower s- Field Scabious.

I am starting a new sketchbook with some wild flower drawings. Field Scabious.

memories of Newark Park

Taking down the work at Newark Park it was a sad day to be leaving the wonderful National Trust property. Many thanks to all the wonderful people who work and volunteer there. It was such an inspiring place and I was fascinated to see how my work changed and now I am back home with my work I'm re-evaluating the pieces I've made to look at developing them more. The wear of daily life is still central to the work and I'm wondering if I should place them outside again now I know what the weather does to the fibers. The second idea is to re-structure them to make objects. Or possibly both...

2 more days to go!

 Stephanie Wooster - No. 6- Coast Redwood.

Liz Hewitt- No.3- tree of heaven.
Only two more days to see the exhibition at Newark Park- the work inside and out has been much admired. The tree trail will stay up a little longer for the summer visitors.

The grass has grown

Over the weeks our outside work has been battered by wind and rain, bleached by the sun and the grass has grown around the pieces. Interesting to see how it weathers and survives. Only one more week to see the exhibition, it finishes on the 11th.

Silk Painting at Newark Park

Many thanks to the National trust staff at Newark Park for allowing us to have a silk painting workshop. We used the sunny book room on the top floor and were able to enjoy wonderful views as the inspiration flowed.

Enjoying a morning of silk painting

newark park

 

"The Blues in Three Movements" in situ at Newark Park and in the garden my other screen "Summer quilts the Garden in Colour" both partly inspired by the textiles in the house.

Silk Painting Classes

On Sunday 26th June I will be leading some silk painting classes at Newark Park, Ozleworth, Gloucestershire. All materials will be supplied on the day and the class will guide you through the fun of designing an image on silk that may be  inspired by the wonderful objects on display at Newark Park or simply an idea that you hold. 

Here are some examples of work made by children at previous workshops. 

Materials used - medium weight silk habitai approx 24cm square, clear gutta and pebeo seta-silk iron fix paints.

The class costs £9 and is aimed at children aged 10 and over. The morning session will start at 11.30 and the afternoon 14.00 for 1 and 1/2 hours. Numbers are limited to 10 per session.

Adults who are new to silk painting may also enjoy the class...

Please contact Newark Park on 01453 842644 to book a place.

We look forward to seeing you.

Story teller this Saturday at Newark Park.

Elinor Knapp will be telling stories to accompany our exhibition this Saturday at Newark Park at 1.00pm and again at 3.00pm. On the lawn if fine, inside the house if wet. No booking necessary- a free event.
N.T. entry fees apply to go inside the house, children free. Tree trail available for children- win a badge if you  finish the trail! Collect a leaflet and map from the reception hut.

Newark Park Exhibition- Outside and Inside

 Liz Harding's outside piece in the walled garden.

 Carla Mines piece on the lawn.

 Liz Hewitt's leaves in the Katsura tree.

In the gallery.

storyteller

Story teller, Fiona Eadie will be telling stories at Newark Park this Sunday 12th June at 1.30 and 2.45. She will be linking her stories with our exhibition. Outside if weather is good, inside if wet. Free event but normal N.T. entrance fee for the house.

Setting up at Newark Park

Yesterday we set up at Newark Park ready for our show 'New Worke'. I really felt privileged to be in such a lovely house with very helpful staff, hanging our new work with fellow Brunel Broderers. The day was very relaxed but busy as you can see in these images.

Please come along and see the exhibition which runs until 11th July.

For more information http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/newark-park/features/exhibitions-at-newark

Falling Feathers.

I am working on my final piece, just making the felt backing and machining the edging. This is a stitch of random pebbles that I have used for years and now consider my signature stitch, it denotes a pathway. This piece is 1.5m x 7cm and will drape over a bed at Newark Park.

Peacock feather hangings.

Hangings for outside finished!

Drawing feathers.

I am finishing work now as the exhibition deadline approaches. This calico strip is quite simple- black, white and a touch of gold- no stitches just loosely drawn with a gel pen, so the ink runs- non permanent, vulnerable, transitory.

Writing my artist's statement

Our exhibition at Newark Park is quickly approaching and it is time to think about how my work will be presented and what my artist's statement will say about it.

The free machine embroidered 'Stuart Casket' is now complete and ready to be mounted on to a perspex box the same size as the original piece on display in the Tudor Room.

Drawn Stuart Casket, 2016

I have calculated that the front piece of this project has taken approximately 315 hours to complete. Throughout this process I have questioned the skill and determination of young people - those of the past who have left us these wonderful antiquities, my youth, where I too enjoyed the excitement of a new craft kit and todays youth, where many hours are spent online. 

I plan to display kits from my past, representations of projects that I have spent many hours working on, a time where I developed my passion for making.

French Knitting Doll

Matchstick Kit

String Drawing

And for todays generation, a cinemagraph will be shown in the gallery of Newark Park examining their play - and once again, with many hours are occupied.

Cinemagraph, 'Young hands'', 2016

the traces we leave behind

Textiles seldom survive over long periods of time and working with such a historical building as Newark Park the evidence of humans is in the bricks and mortar more than the fabrics. My work progresses on the gallery piece for Newark Park exhibition, pulling together ideas on the traces we leave. I’ve gathered lengths, some that were left in the garden for two to three months, these have been stained and partially destroyed but still link to the pieces in the garden and the kitchen. I wanted also to bring into the piece some of the ideas that sprang from the workshop that Carla held in October, where I worked with found objects from the garden at Newark Park and to use some blind stitching techniques I had played with where I found myself stitching around my thumb print.A strong connection to the ephemeral.

outside

Easter has been very productive with the completion of the 48 lengths for the outside piece for Newark Park

wrapped up in a bag it all looks so contained for 32 meters of seams, 13.3 meters of crotchet and 32,496 rows of machine knitting. Now I just have 22,192 rows of knitting for the kitchen piece.

And on a recent visit to Newark Park I took some of the lengths to trial them in situ, here's a short film of them.

In the Garden

My work for outdoors at Newark Park is called "Summer Quilts the Garden in Colour".It makes reference to the transparency of glass within the building, pieces of patchwork and the colour of summer flowers. It takes the form of a threefold screen. Here is an image of one section, a work in progress.