the great barrier reef

Recently I have been inspired by the Hand & Lock competition brief looking at bio-mimicry. Looking at how things work is a hobby of mine and this took me to a wonderful book by W. Sackville-Kent who took photos of the Great Barrier Reef in 1894. A student of Darwins' bulldog no less, the images speak of study and discovery. This in turn has led me to discover the Australian Impressionists. At the time Australia was building a new nation, these artists sought to establish individuality in relation to location through landscape painting. My drawings and stitches aim to bring together our own understanding of locally global.

mixing materials

With the degree shows in full swing my work has been moving slowly but I have enjoyed the chance to contemplate movements.
Working with the sandblasted ceramics, adding threads and crochet I have been struck by the textures and varying natures of the materials, truly letting the materials speak to me. The next step I'd like to take is to translate this into knitting.

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...

Carla's work in progress for Nature in Art

Look at these wondrous pictures of Carla's work in progress... We look forward to seeing more of this intriguing work 

Exhibition visit

Kay and I visited the  Town Hall, Malmesbury on Saturday, where Pat Clayton and Janet Edmonds are holding an exhibition of their latest work. Well worth a visit. 

Pat has captured the beauty of the coastal landscape in these exquisite flowing cloths, books and landscapes. While Janet's hand stitched pebble forms show how hand stitch can be used to create beautiful 3 D forms.

Exhibition only on till end of this coming weekend, hope you can visit.