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 

Paper Trail

last year i signed up with 'appletye' to be part of their 100 years of paper https://appletye.org/paper-trail/
i was sent a very small piece of paper approximately 5cm x 7cm and the year of 1965 to use for my inspiration. so long as i incorporated the piece of paper i could do anything!

after a lot of thought i came up with‘The hangman’s noose’ 1965

On 9^th November 1965 a Private Member’s Bill to suspend the death penalty for murder was introduced. The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act suspended capital punishment in the case of people convicted of murder in favour of a mandatory life imprisonment. In Great Britain it was made permanent in 1969.

The noose used by the hangman was made from Manila (abaca) hemp rope, boiled to take out any likelihood of stretching during use. It was formed into coils and waxed, soaped or greased to assure that the knot slid easily. Britain used a simple noose consisting of a loop worked into one end of the rope with the other end passed through it.

My response to the 1965 Act was to utilise the small piece of W. S. Hodgkinson paper and refashion it into a long continuous piece reflecting the hangman’s rope.

I started by boiling the paper piece for 30 minutes in plain tap water. Then cut it into 2mm wide strips and joined them into one continuous length by overlapping and sandwiching between sheets of fine Abaca paper with PVA. While still damp it was wrapped around a cylinder to retain its shape. Approximately half was waxed with beeswax and the Abaca paper trimmed. This length was bound into a coil using a length of Abaca fibre tied with a hangman’s knot. The remainder coated in liquid graphite left loose.

 i loved working on this piece, using paper is one of my great loves. it is interesting to see what others have done too with their paper pieces. go and have a look.

Summer School with Louise Baldwin

we have had a great Summer School at Farncombe Estate. the memories that remain are heat,hills,hard work,laughter and sleepless nights but it was great to meet old friends and new. Louise Baldwin was a great tutor, very inspiring and generous with her knowledge.

we were basically playing with paper, stitch and fabric. our initial task was to make some 'coloured papers'.

using acrylic paint and scraping circles

more scraping, sticking of spots and mark making

as above

we were then given 5 tasks to make a series of small pieces joining firstly 2 pieces together, then 3,4,5 and 6 using the above coloured papers and any 'found' pieces we had brought with us.

2, 3, and 4 joins i knew there would be a use for those Rizzler roll up papers i picked up from the street

5 pieces joined

6 pieces joined and cut through

then we had to make a collage using again the paper we had coloured, found papers and any image we liked. i continued with the cloud shape i have used in my lace chapters.

collage using pieces of potato printing from designs for my certificate

we then had to turn it over and cut it up without considering the front! Difficult! then we added stitch etc to some of the pieces.

left piece has the addition of some tufted organza

finally we were allowed to 'play' with a more considered approach. i have recently been thinking beyond the Diploma (if there is life after!) and sketching from reflections in windows/mirrors etc.so i based my 3 pieces on these images.

images of my bedroom window with mirror in front

i have wanted to use that piece of sellotape for ages, this piece working with cotton organdie

using lettering and pieces of paper stuck onto card, painted to give 3D effects and more organdie

adding a piece of metal and spray paint

i felt exhausted when i got home and only beginning to surface into normality, i actually managed to work on my windmills today and have a tidy up. i will certainly use what i have learnt with Louise in the future.