Textiles of Marrakech

Linda recently visited the souks of Marrakech (a favourite haunt of hers) and found beautiful stitching ...

sumptuous colours ...

... and wonderful detail ...

Appliqué

One of a series of hand-turned applique pieces that Corinne is creating for 'BLOOM'

Cats and Cakes

Corinne has been busy with a house move but has found time to make a wonderful paper cake for her daughter.

Linda is in Marrakesh where she finds lots of inspiration for her work and has been endlessly exploring the souks.

Mary's Garden

Have been enjoying some free hand stitching based Have been enjoying some free hand stitching based on close up images of flowers on five inch square blocks

Sunflowers

After taking many, many photographs of flowers and gardens in the last three months, it seemed like time to experiment with the images. I chose sunflowers first of all for their positive in your face colour and form and manipulated them in Adobe Photoshop Elements, cropping, layering and changing colour.

I began with photos of whole flowers, first of all removing the extra leaves and stalks to give a cleaner image, using layer via copy.

Next, I cropped out and selected small sections and filled them with colour.

Then I played further (lots of images developed, some more pleasing than others) and layered the results one over another, abstracting further as I went.

And now to decide where to go next!

Carla's blooms

Having dyed the fabric, it was time to experiment. I transferred information about chlorine onto fabric then cut holes into it and place beads into the green fabric and placed the two together and pulled the beads through.

Carla Mines

Bloom

Having spent ages doodling and trying to conjure up images of blooms to illustrate what chemicals in the atmosphere would look like, I  imagined Exotic blooms, sweet smelling but deadly. So, It is time for  some sampling. First dyeing. Chlorine has an acid green gas!

Carla Mines

Beginning to Bloom

Linda is making a series of pieces based on cupboard doors from a newly opened museum in Marrakesh

Liz has been looking at Hydrangeas in her garden and has manipulated some photographs as a means of beginning some work.

Liz Harding

Bloom in Cheltenham

Our next exhibition will be in September 2019 at the Gardens Gallery in Cheltenham

At the West Country Quilt Show

The group had a stand at the West Country Quilt Show in Bristol at the end of August.

Bampton

Linda's beautiful piece called, A walk through the Palmerie, is on display at West Ox Arts, Bampton.

Linda Babb

Bampton exhibition

Our altered postcards look great in the window.

Bampton exhibition

Setting up exhibition, we had the help of a lovely man called John.

Bampton exhibition

Carolyn has made new books

Carolyn Sibbald

Exhibition in Bampton, Oxford

Exhibition is open, come and see what we have done.

Carla has added to her hive .

Exhibition set up

Yesterday we set up the exhibition at West Ox Arts, Bampton.
Grateful thanks to the helpful people at the gallery
It is on until 23rd June  
There is an official opening and "meet the artist" on Saturday 2nd June.
Do come along.
If you can't make it then two of the artists will be at the gallery each weekend.

Thank you to West Ox Art Gallery who have made us posters and flyers. 

Waggle dance quilt

Making up the quilt, I started to look at the back. Decided to make a label describing the waggle dance and the effect that pesticides have on the bees navigational skills.

Carla Mines

Liz, still stitching away.

Colours of a sunny period

Vortex

Taking a stitch for a walk

|Liz Harding

Carla continuing with her bees

Carla  has found a lovely poem by Norman Rowland Gale that describes bees beautifully.

You voluble, velvety fellows

That play on your flying and musical cellos

All golden girdled you serenade clover

Each artist in bass but a bibulous rover

Your passionate powdery pastoral bandits

Who gave you your roaming 

Rollicking mandate

Come out of my foxglove;

Come out of my roses

You bees with the plushy plausible noses.

Carla has been looking at the bees waggle dance. The bees do this dance within the hive to show the other foragers where the best food is located. They do a short zigzag when food is near and a longer one for further away. This dance was first decoded by the Austrian Scientist Karl con Frisch. He was awarded a Nobel prize in 1973 for this discovery.

Brunel broderers working towards Bampton

Christmas over, Carolyn cutting small houses for exhibition at Bampton.

Corinne has brought some sewing that she had started before. A lovely appliqué inspired by Elaine Pamphilion, to hang in her house.