At Quilters' Haven...

...for three days of Modern Quilt jollities





The Schoolroom at Quilters Haven has welcomed my invasions many a time - it's a nice spot to sit and sew, and makes a lovely Exhibition Room with Quilt Shop Annexe..
Tomorrow (27th May) and Saturday 28th, I will be pottering, free-mini-workshopping, and playing..
Do come and join me (and Helen Butcher on Saturday) to play too...
10 till 4:30 each day, free admission and please do bring your machine for a small hands-on...

Maddy Smith Memorial Exhibition

 Went to the preview last night, and was impressed.. I only knew Maddy later in her life, when she had ceased to make the ceramics that were her life's work in many ways, and by the time I met her, she had almost nothing of this work left, so I only met most of it for the first time yesterday.  Maddy was my student, and I think, my friend, in the last 7 or 8 years of her life, and she caught textiles and working with fabrics in a big way.

 She was always a good influence, never seeming to need reassurance that what she made was Art and Worth Doing, and this is refreshing.. And she could take a method or a technique and run away with it. transforming the result in her own way

 The exhibition is at the Anteros Gallery, 7-15 Fye Bridge Street, Norwich, every day until Saturday 24th January (not Sunday 18th) from 9 till 5 each day

 There are things to buy, as well as look at, and some really splendid work has been loaned.

Please go, if you can.. this is it..

More Pictures from a (Cinema) Exhibition

 There's more to this than just the exhibits.. Sometimes the impression they make on the surroundings is subtle

 Or possibly sinister

 And can be very Soft

And here's the walled garden.. Very nice...

Pictures From a (Cinema) Exhibition

 At the Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery this week, in a most delightful light and airy upstairs gallery

 10 till 5 each day till next Thursday (25th September)  - do come and say hello

On the way home

A long drive..
 I stopped in Belgium, at a shopping mall near Antwerp.  If I did not live so happily where I am, I think I could live in Belgium.. it seems just the right sort of slightly eccentric country, friendly and a bit scruffy..
The shopping mall in Weinegem, is huge and extremely classy, with leather and diamond shops alongside a cheapie book shop and assorted cafes

 

This baby shop window was decorated delightfully with these filled frames of toys

A spectacular spectacle shop..

This gents' outfitters had a wall of ties, and a little man making alterations in the front (I didn't think it polite to take his picture, but he had a lovely old machine and an overlocker, hot iron, and a box of threads..

 

The end of one hall was being renovated - this hoarding covered the works

 Further along, I stopped for lunch.. This is Belgian motorway services food

 and even the rather unpleasing Eurotunnel terminal had this chicken salad for me..

 Last view of France, this staircase - as the train draws away I am sorry to leave

Tomorrow, the quilts I took with me, and one that did not return

My Oakshott Colourbox Quilt

100 little stars..
shown at the Festival of Quilts 2011, Traditional category

Picture from an Exhibition

Mermaid Kite from my latest exhibition

£65

More soon...

Comments and more pictures..

First, a painting - Garden Of Eden
This one sat on the easel for weeks, just as an underpainting, then fell out of the brush in an evening or two. Sometimes this happens - the thinking process seems to be a big part of the end result, almost unseen. Other times I find that a steady progress can be made on a piece, with no fits and starts. 24 inches square £275


Then another book - this one is called "Clearly An Alphabet" It has recycled tracing paper pages with remnants of text and lines on, and is filled with words associated with transparency, clarity, and see-through-ness. I have made a few Alphabets, some flow more easily than others, and this one was particularly gratifying to do. I finished with only one letter missing - J. (Jelly, of course, added later) The alphabet parts of these books are meant to be added to - I hope they will be evolutionary in their future lives...

Many thanks to all for comments on my postings over the last few days. I have been in Hibernation all Winter - lacking motivation and full of Sloth. Now the Spring has arrived; my HbA1c is 5.5; I have had a breakthrough on my acupuncture, and I feel like I may be able to Get On With It All....

More Pictures from an Exhibition..

Sold my "Green Man - Oak and Ivy" today. He is going to Canada as a wedding present. Seems appropriate, as the green man is Fertility personified..
And I made another in a fit of industry. Photo when finished..

More of my Books below - sorry for the poor images, not up to my usual standard.
On the left is
40 The Hive

All manner of things beginning with B...
Found text, wooden box frame, glass, cutting.. £25

and on the right is

41 Apparent Places

Found text, wire, beads, hand-dyed linen thread; stitch, disassembling, assembling £47-50

Left to right:-

43 The Book of A
Found text, wire, hand-dyed linen thread; stitch, disassembling, assembling £47-50

44 An Ecclesiastical Abecedarium
Handmade paper, found text, handwritten alphabet text; stitch £15

42 Tassell Book
Found text, hand-dyed linen thread; stitch, disassembling, assembling £23

I think I may have to make some more of these...

Tree and Leaf...

..which is the title for my Spring Exhibition
Actually started on Saturday, but it has been rather a hardwork weekend and I haven't had time to sit down here before this. I had my usual panic about whether I would have enough work to fill the space and whether it was good enough and coherent enough, but it seems to look all right. The business next-door-but-one had a Grand Opening on Saturday, with much fanfare, big signs, loads of customers - so that didn't hurt. Then they decided not to open on Sunday or Bank Holiday Monday, so I've just spent 2 days apologising for them. Grrr

Anyway, the Big New Thing for me this time is my Artist's Books. I have made a Cabinet full and they are getting a great reaction - I thought that people would think they were silly, but they seem to be much appreciated. Whether anyone will buy one is another story..
Top image is a Japanese bound book in A3 size, image below is "Hanging Book"

"48 Hanging Book
Bamboo, pencils, found text, hand-dyed cotton thread; stitch, disassembling, assembling, suspension.. Approx 14 inches high £55"