Oh Boy has it been a while

i have recently come back from the big smoke and another wonderful PRISM show. 

This time the theme was 'Warped'

initially i thought literally about warps and the textile connection. i had acquired three bobbins reputedly from the Axminster carpet manufactory here in Devon and the warp thread still attached.

i don't drive which can be very tricky in Devon but i love bus travel (when they turn up). so i took myself on a bus trip to Axminster Heritage Centre to do some research. 

an incident on the bus on the way home prompted my final piece i submitted for the exhibition.

 

i have been playing with bus tickets for some time using a bobbin lace making technique. splitting and joining the tickets into lengths and connecting them with twisted wire

i often ask myself half way through "why on earth did i start this"? but persevere.

 after many test runs i went back to my good old favourite oxidized copper wire which in itself is quite tricky to oxidize as its quite unwieldy.

my plan was to use a whole years worth of tickets but in the end used only a month! once you cut then into 8 strips and join they are quite long.

 the final piece also utilized the warp threads from the bobbins and a stenciled overheard conversation which sparked the initial idea.

 installed at the Art Pavilion, Mile End (please excuse the language)

please visit Prism website to see the catalogue and other members work www.prismtextiles.co.uk