A few months ago I responded to an ad for local artists to apply for the chance to exhibit their art in an Open Call exhibition being held at the Usher Art Gallery in Lincoln. We could submit up to three pieces in any medium. There were around 900 works submitted in total which were then whittled down to just over 100. I was thrilled when I found out that my Nuno felted/mixed media abstract landscape “Northern Soul” had been successful!
Time spent walking in the beautiful Northumberland landscape, particularly around the Coquet Valley and Simonside Hills, provided the inspiration for Northern Soul. It was created using a variety of fibres and fabrics, wet felted and free motion stitched on to a painted background of Lutradur fabric.
The Art of the Now exhibition runs from now until October 19th, it’s open from Thursday through to Monday from 10am – 4pm. It’s free entry and there is a wide variety of techniques, mediums, subject matter and styles on display, although given the rising interest in textile art it would have been nice to see the gallery representing more of this. These are a view images from the opening event.
Two weeks ago I was at the Old Barn Hotel, Grantham as guest tutor for the Lincolnshire Textiles Autumn School. The group had invited me to teach my Tall Trees mixed media workshop for fifteen students.
Our class began on the Friday evening after checking in and enjoying a delicious three course meal. The ladies had been asked to bring a photo, sketch or idea for the piece of work they would be making based on a tree/forest theme. I talked through the various materials I like to work with including Lutradur, Tyvek, wallpaper, organza and interfacing. The group were shown examples of how I’ve used these materials in my work and also how previous students have interpreted this workshop.
During the course of the evening ideas were explored, designs drawn up and our base fabrics painted.
The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, the group were back to work— painting, auditioning different fabrics and papers, machine and hand stitching and burning. I had a terrific group of highly motivated ladies to work with and it was wonderful how they embraced using materials and methods they wouldn’t normally have used. Some of the more traditional members of the group admitted to feeling a little out of their comfort zone at the start but a bit of gentle coaxing and encouragement “to play” seemed to do the job and very soon all appeared to be having fun!
The group coordinator, Janet Taylor, did a great job of organising the weekend and was very kind when she said “Karen did a wonderful job of motivating everyone and worked hard all weekend. We learned so much, and the group was supportive and helpful throughout. It was such a treat to focus entirely on stitching and creativity, without the usual distractions. The weekend was intense but immensely rewarding, made even better by the company of friendly, like- minded people.”
The weekend flew by and although there was still work to done when these photos were taken you can see how good the pieces are looking! The group has its next meeting on Saturday and I’m looking forward to seeing many of these finished.
Another recent event was the 2024 Big Textile Show at Leicester Racecourse last weekend. The BTS is always a great show and this year was no exception.
My first customer was the lovely Kate from the Lutterworth Stitchers who purchased my multicoloured Collar. Kates a regular visitor to my stall and looks terrific in whatever she chooses to wear as you can see by these images from previous years!
I took a few other new Collars with me including these two in blue and one in dark grey/neutral tones.
My latest distraction is Tyvek Earrings! A few weeks ago I ran a Tyvek workshop for the Louth Textile group and created a pair of earrings as one of my workshop samples. They proved popular with the group so I made several more pairs for the show. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph them all before the opening but these are what came home with me and are now in my SHOP. I’ve never been a fan of smooth Tyvek beads but I love them with the added textures. It’s quite a challenge making these and absolutely impossible to get an exact match but I quite like that as it adds to their uniqueness!
I also made a new batch of gold and silver Tyvek Brooches. I like to mix textures and so these often feature on my felted scarves and collars. These three came home with me so are also in my SHOP along with some new wet felted Brooches.
A few days before the show I started to rework a piece I’ve had hanging in my hallway for several years. It’s been hanging on display behind glass, I don’t know why I originally did that as I’ve always preferred to see textile pieces unglazed. Anyway I recently removed the glass which instantly improved the look but then decided to give it a revamp with added textures, more FM stitch and stronger colours. I’m thinking peeling paint on rusty metal and I’m liking where it’s going but it’s not finished yet so I had it displayed on my stand as “work in progress”!
I’ve detailed a few more events that have happened over the past few months over on the Felting and Fibre Studio which can be found here.
With only three more workshops before Christmas things are starting to quieten down so time to think about new projects and ideas for 2025.
I recently had the pleasure of running two consecutive one-day workshops for members of the Snape Textile Group up in the beautiful village of Bedale, North Yorkshire.
The group had booked my Forest Floor workshop which covers lots of different techniques for working with heat manipulative materials and creating the kind of stuff you find littering the forest floor such as leaves, twigs, bark and seed pods. With 30 ladies interested it was decided to split this fast paced class into two days to ensure all of them had the best learning experience and no one got left behind!
A few of my workshop samplesReal bark v fake bark
After each demonstration the students set to painting, stitching, wrapping and distressing (using heat guns and soldering irons) their Tyvek and Lutradur to create the various elements.
This is a sample based workshop and students are not necessarily expected to produce a finished piece of work by the end of it when it’s booked as a one day class. We do discuss how to pull everything together and create a suitable background but this is something that can be done afterwards at your own pace. If a group particularly want to see it through to the end it can either be booked as a two day class or we simply limit the amount of leaves made on the day to get a finished piece done. Yes, it’s those leaves that tend to hook folk in and then the time just disappears!
Just a few examples of what was made
It was a full on weekend with the ladies producing an array of wonderful work and, hopefully, having a lot of fun in the process. This was the first time some had used a heat gun or a soldering iron but going by the response it won’t be the last!
Thanks to all for your enthusiasm, hard work and good company and a special thanks to Sarah Lowe for hosting me for the weekend. I’m looking forward to working with you all again at some point in the future.
This is my latest post, written for the Felting and Fibre Studio, about my trip to Northumberland earlier this this month in search of inspiration for a piece of work…..
My latest work, Roots, was made in response to a challenge set by the Waltham Textile Group who meet once a month at Waltham Windmill. This is an exhibiting group and, like many such groups, we all aim to produce a piece of work to a particular theme. The work will be displayed together at our bi-annual exhibition at the Windmill next August. Our current theme, leaves, couldn’t suit me better! There are absolutely no limitations for this main piece, it can be any size, any technique, 3D or 2D. This freedom in itself can be a headache because there are so many directions you can go in……..consequently I’ve yet to start that piece!
Roots – a Waltham Textile Group Challenge.
Running alongside our main theme we also have other, more specific, “challenges”. One of them is to produce three A4 pieces of work using three colours, each piece to predominantly feature one of those colours plus a little of the other two. This can be any style, any technique and any subject matter. You can see how I approached this challenge in a previous post “work in progress” and Roots is the result of that challenge.
Originally I made three wet felted backgrounds to which I was going to add lots of texture with fibre and stitch. The felt was put to one side for a few weeks while I did other things and by the time I went back to it I had changed my mind (surprise, surprise!). Instead of using the felt I reached for my roll of Lutradur, practising what I preach and using the techniques and materials demonstrated in my Forest Floor Workshop.
Detail from Roots showing the Lutradur leaves
It turned out to be a very mixed media piece with felted pebbles, free motion stitched ferns and weeds and Lutradur leaves and forest floor. The only items not hand made are three small brown Beech tree pods.
With this challenge finished its back to trying out ideas and working up samples for my main exhibition piece. I’ve no idea how that will look as yet but I’m thinking along the lines of it being “abstract”…..that thought may change several times between now and completion!
Day two of the Lutradur Forest Workshop saw the ladies layering and stitching their Forest designs to their base fabric.
As often happens in a workshop, although all of the ladies worked constantly over the two day’s and the quilts are looking terrific, everyone has some finishing off to do at home.
Clare is adding clumps of bluebells to her Forest floor, hand embroidering them with Colonial knots
Janet’s design featured trees in leaf as well as these wonderful old gnarly tree stumps
Sue created lots of depth with her shading
Clair based her design on a photo she took while visiting a Canadian lake in the Fall
Janice is making lots of individual leaves which will be added to the foreground on the right of her design
Patricia has created a very strong contrast with her dark foreground tree and the lighter grey trunks in the background
Lyn will add stitched detail the her ferns to create interest in the foreground
Thanks to Nicola at the Simply Stitch Studio for being a wonderful host and to all the ladies for their enthusiasm and hard work. I will look forward to receiving photos of your finished quilts.
Today was day one of a two-day Lutradur Forest Workshop at the Simply Stitch Studio, Wetherby. Using my “Walk in the Forest” design as a starting point, eight ladies have begun the day designing their own “Forest” art quilt which will consist of several layers of Lutradur fabric. Today the Lutradur has been cut out and painted and tomorrow we will begin layering and stitching the fabric in place. As you can see from the photos not only is each design unique but also each student is displaying a distinct style of their own.
The ladies start by drawing out their design ideas on paper
The Lutradur is cut out and painted
Cutting out foliage using a soldering iron
This is where we are at the end of day one…..
Tomorrow we will bring all the main elements together and stitch them in place before adding any foreground detail and hand stitching. I’m really looking forward to seeing how these pieces develop!
This is Abstraction, the finished Mixed Media piece I’ve been working on for the past week. The theme was set by the textile group Jeudis and my interpretation is purely non-representational.
The shapes, formed by laying out and felting the Merino fibres, fabrics and silks, have been traced with free motion stitching which in turn has produced ridges and valleys, adding to the overall textural effect.
For now it’s got pride of place hanging in the lounge in a simple, flat profile black frame…..
I developed a ganglion on my right hand as a result of making the bird mask last week. It’s giving me some gip so I’m resting the hand for a while and doing a few pieces that don’t require a strong grip. Yesterday it was a Tyvek Seed Pod incorporating sari silks and acrylic paint…..
Today I made a start on a mixed Media piece with the theme “Abstraction” which was set by the textile group Jeudis which I became a member of a couple of months ago. I’m combining free motion stitch with painted Lutradur and wet Felted Merino, for now it’s work in progress…..
This week I came across a fabulous Mixed Media Necklace tutorial by Australian feltmaker Wendy Bailye in Felt magazine.
I love “statement” jewellery so couldn’t resist having a go at this project. I’ve used a combination of Merino and Bergschaf fibres with found items, perle thread and black annealed wire.
This one is an Autumn themed choker necklace combining one of my Lutradur leaves with Merino fibres…..
Lincs In Stitches 