Hats in the Wind

Another sample garment

2012-02-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

Now I have remembered how to use my sewing machine and have the concentration span to do so, I have been endeavoring to explore some pattern cutting techniques from the excellent Pattern Cutting book by Dennic Chunman Lo from Laurence King Publishing. As someone whose brain fogs terribly at the sight of a pattern book or instructions the straightforwardness of this book is most welcome. So here is creation number 1 not quite finished, I need to look for some instructions on facings first!

Bodice block joined and spliced

new vertical pattern for bias bodice

Laid on fabric

Nearly finished.............

Once I have it all worked out it will make a great dress.

That Stephen Jones Hat......

2012-02-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

So I did say I would have the hat completed from the Stephen Jones pattern, courtesy of Show Studio 48 hours ago but a few other things got in the way - I went to Birmingham and have shared the wonders of that exhibition......

Anyway the Mark 1 version is now complete, really its my toile but in taffeta silk courtesy of James Hare Silks yearly end of roll sale as opposed to calico, to ensure that i understood and got sense of how it would hold itself.

I have really enjoyed doing the piece as I have learned some new techniques. I love the way that he creates a head fitting or stand as he calls it a really useful process. the pattern instructions are not perfect for someone like me who definitely needs visuals, so when I make up the next one I will photo document the process. This pattern has such great potential for redesigning and altering, I declined to add the bow, (speed) and added a faux brooch which O like but would need some more stiffening behind where it was added. So much potential, new ideas so we shall see where they end up....

Lost in Lace

2012-02-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

I have been reading the Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp as introduced to me by the wonderful Visual Artist Fiona Wilson, one of her exercises was to do a Creative Autobiography to realise where you are at and what makes you tick. One of the questions is 'Which artists to you admire most?' For myself maybe a better term would be 'Creative Individuals' or someone working within the Art and Design sector. The reason I say this is because as I listened to Lesley Millar MBE explain her latest exhibition Lost in Lace at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery I realised that she is most definitely on my admire list. I paraphrase - "The aim of my life has been to increase the understanding and awareness of contemporary textiles initially in my own practice as a weaver and now distilling the work of others." In essence this is what is within my own head with regards to millinery, so a great woman to be inspired by.

Lesley Millar MBE (blonde lady centre stage) beginning her exhibition tour

Suzumi Noda - Juxtaposition jacquard pattern cards woven together

This is the first of Lesley's curated shows that does not concentrate purely on textile artists. She explained that it was tough call to open her door to other artists a community that suddenly was beguiling to her. She wanted a response to 'Lace' and her aim was that all answers to the theme would hold the same weight. Lace being so much more than lingerie and veiling - A lot of holes surrounded by thread - Knitting with air - If space has boundaries is there another space beyond those boundaries? Lesley articulated that her planning of exhibitions comes from three points - Focus-Stimulus - Provocation, a good starting point for us all.

Piper Shepard hand cut site specific lace wall

De Certeau's sense of place and space were important to the exhibition, place is often seen as static and space variable and dynamic, these opposites create new paths and show the interrelatedness of materiality, frisson and tension, an expected and an unexpected use of form.

Chiharu Shiota - After the Dream

This was my favourite piece it was so evocative and stifling in its presence, like your worse nightmare, cobwebs across the face, stuck, beings coming to get you..... A large installation that has previously been at The Venice biennial.

If you can get to Birmingham in the next two weeks it would be worth the trip, a stunning exhibition in a beautiful museum and art gallery. The traditional lace exhibition in the bridge gallery in the museum is also worth a visit.

Out of one's comfort zone

2012-02-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

Stephen Jones Showstudio pattern - piecing together


Laid on taffeta silk

In the guise on New Year, new ideas and new skills, I was intrigued when reading a travel report in the Guardian (as ever) from comedian and writer Miranda Hart and her resolution in 2011 to do something out of her comfort zone every day. (She was writing about sea kayaking in Turkey something she would never normally do) I had read of this concept before, a good way to keep you more alert and to create new trains of creative thought and the more new things you try the less worried you become of the next new thing....Something quite important for me at the moment.

So Cut & Sew hats are not my most favourite thing so challenge for today is to try the Stephen Jones pattern on showstudio. So its all cut out and tacked the completed piece to be shown tomorrow.

Actually made something

2012-01-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

Not quite a hat, but a solution to a problem. Walking fast five miles a day my head gets cold, then as I warm up I roast but my ears freeze! A friend has been making lots of glamorous fur head cuffs, they look horrendous on me so I hunted out my knitting needles and some wool I bought three years ago at Knitting & Stitching Show, for that urgent knitting project....... Two hours later - I am a very slow knitter - I had something that doesn't look too bad, I don't see anyone on my walk! More importantly I actually made something hurray.

A Stitch in Time........

2012-01-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

I remember a certain sense of surprise and an 'I am not a very good houseperson' when my cousin mentioned her mending basket in conversation. I have a tendency to mend with flurry, just as we were supposed to be on our way school (boys school trouser hems) or even on a train or car on the way there. Not a great advocate of making do and mending. So in light of the new year resolution and a house spring clean I did venture down the mending route, and it was very therapeutic, not least having needle and thread in my hand once more.

More tidying and more running stitch------------

Kantha work 1998

Looking at these I cannot remember what it felt to make them. I did two pieces, the other was made into a cushion and given as a gift. The simple rhythm of the stitch, the fineness of the stitch, the fabric soft and fluid, how many hours did it take? They create new thoughts and reflections.

New Year's Resolutions......

2012-01-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

I am not a great resolution person, too many years creating regimental lists of things to give up and not sticking to them. I liked the idea that one should take something up for New Year instead. On reading Guardian columnist Rebecca Smithers article on using her wardrobe more effectively in 2012, and following my own research into the Rag Trade maybe it was time for me to do the same. Take on the challenge to work with the clothes that I have and the mounds of fabric I have squirreled away for that rainy day and return to those halcyon days of creating an outfit not buying one. This has been spurned on even more so when observing family members doing just that Ags' sewing projects and new family members and that youthful exuberance of creating clothes from material that cost a £1 Miss Sabina.

So the question remains as to whether I can resist the lure of that paper bag of happiness, even when visiting the wonders of Cos. Having wondered through the High Street recently I don't think this will be a problem I always feel swamped and almost panicked by the sheer plethora of items, too much choice and my brain does say 'landfill'. Gosh Lucy Siegle has done her job well! So along with trying to work out my hat route for 2012 I will try and work out the clothing route also and hunt out my old Vogue patterns, I do have the fabric........

Grim up North......

2012-01-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

...hardly, in the stunning wintry sunsets that we are having. Mill towns and valleys shrouded in the frost; monuments to long lost soldiers, all aid in contemplation and inspiration.


West Park

Ford Madox Brown

2012-01-17T09:48:00.000-08:00

My first teaching practice was to deliver the contextual studies(art history) module, as someone who had limited artist knowledge and all self taught, I had a crash course in the Art & Design Timeline. One I found particularly fascinating at that juncture was the pre-raphaelites and the work of Madox Brown and Rossetti, wistful romance with dark undertones of a society hiding reality. Manchester Art Gallery are housing the first complete exhibition of Madox Brown's work since 1964 and it is breathtaking, but only 10 days left to catch it.

The Irish Girl

Work

Oliver Madox Brown - Liverpool Walker Gallery

Youthful fascinations

2012-01-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

What student household didn't have a pack of tarot cards somewhere. Always a fascination when your future looks so open yet holds few clues, to have someone come forth with those clues, those answers. As an 18 year old aspiring to be the lawyer from 'Hill Street Blues', tarot seemed a must and after I did have my cards read and was told I could have the talent, well naivety knew no bounds, I was hooked. Thankfully it didn't last long, it was intriguing to come across a new exhibition at MMU of a range of artists interpreting the tarot deck.


Susan Hiller

Frosty Start

2012-01-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

My favourite kind of day, icy cold, everything tinged with white and the sun slowly licking away the frost, yet where its tendrils don't get to the frost just gets longer and more complex. A good way to start the day, a meditative walk with a few photos from my phone along the way.

Happy Memories : MA October 2011

2012-01-15T14:15:00.000-08:00


Jane Clowes, Sarah Burgess, Fiona Wilson & moi

with our MA Textiles tutor Melanie Miller

Christmas Gift Inspiration

2012-01-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

As you may have gathered from many of my blog posts, books are a passion of mine and they thrill and warm the soul, new ideas, knowledge sharing and new processes to intrigue and stretch the brain.

Thank you Father Christmas especially for the 'Book of Cakes'. Inspiration to continue the family tradition for one member.

Use or archive

2012-01-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

A donation of bag of threads a few years ago, they have sat waiting for that special project, but such a one rarely arises, or if it does one juggles with ones conscience. These threads will never be made again. The stories that they contain are enticing, where were they bought, what item of clothing were they used to mend, redesign or newly make for that special occasion or the new season. The thrill of the variety of spools and makes as opposed to the few to choose from now and of lesser quality often. The colour range just that shade different. So should they be donated to an archive? Left in a glass cabinet for me to smile at when I pass? Or used to sew a cushion or scarf or even a hat?

Objects to hold dear

2012-01-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

Strange what objects we hold dear and how this manifests it in locking them in cupboards (archives)or somewhere safe for a rainy day so they are not enjoyed as they were meant. The beautiful cup and tea pot made for me, and received with a slight glisten in the eye a few Christmases ago, really does need to be used for my morning mint tea, to celebrate family, love and simple pleasures in life......

MA Show 2

2011-10-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was in the strange position of my MA work featuring in both MA Shows, which seemed a little greedy but was also a great opportunity to observe very different curatorial processes and approaches within the many strata of Art, Design & Craft. The biggest difference was that names and details of the work and its sources were allowed to be included which having just looked at 'Artspeak' in my written work was quite amusing. So here is a selection of the second show's work.

Polly Standeven

Jane Clowes

Sioned Phillips

So now off into the wide world, all done and dusted and ready for that next step, I better get creating some pathways.

Harley Gallery talk Part Two

2011-10-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

The second speaker of the evening was Sarah Coulson, Assistant Curator at YSP, like Susie Macmurray there to talk about 'Art in the Elsewhere'. Having visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park many times and enjoying the special nature of the place it was inspiring to hear of its beginnings in 1977, founded by Peter Murray who was a lecturer at Bretton Hall and passionate about the idea of putting sculpture in grounds of the park, a mission to show sculpture in the open air, but with no purchasing budget; a continuing changing sculptural landscape, changing with the seasons and changing with the movement of sculptural works. His aim never to patronise the audience and yet open their eyes to many new experiences, certainly is still very true.

The present exhibition is Jaume Plensa as shown in an earlier blog post, what was interesting to discover that Jaume usually sites his work within the urban landscape so the Capability Brown nature of the YSP was a revelation to him.


Jaume Plensa YSP

Sarah also discussed the support of the Park for up and coming artists showing an image of Andy Goldsworthy working on sycamore stems in the 1980's and explained why his work was chosen for the galleries 30th anniversary. Her latest on site artist being www.emilyspeed.co.uk who has worked within the Bretton Hall student residences and the follies in the park.


Emily Speed (from artist's web site)

Definitely tempted me to go back again soon not that it takes much as it is a wonderfully calming place when the rest of the world feels quite mad.

Though from my twilight trip to The Harley Gallery I must venture back there they are having an Open Studio weekend on the 26th and 27th November, a very stunning venue to practice ones art. Also the wonderful artist Fiona Wilson has her work featured there for sale.

The Harley Gallery

2011-10-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

A mixture of Frailties-Susie Macmurray 2004 (image from www.susie-macmurray.co.uk)

Thanks to Sarah Burgess from the MA I had heard of a talk occurring at The Harley Gallery Worksop, featuring one of my favourite artists Susie Macmurray and the Curator from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park Sarah Coulson. I wasn't sure if I could make it but the opportunity was too great and to listen to Susie talk of the development of her artist practice was well worth the many lost twists and turns getting there and back!


Widow - Susie Macmurray

Whenever you listen to someone one has admired it is interesting how one conjures up an image of what they will be like, Susie Macmurray was an unassuming individual yet she had a presence and was very open in discussing her work and its origins. 'Temporary versus Permanent' is the link that goes through her work, I found her comments on not finding her sense of place at Art College pertinent, that it was only on leaving and getting the opportunity to site her work in specific locations that a sense of context was found. the first work was filling the loft of a mill with white feathers - Stratum


Stratum (Image from www.susie-macmurray.co.uk)

The serendipity of curators seeing this piece and then commissioning other works from Susie highlighted the need to keep trying and have work in a range of places and persevere. When talking about the project at Pallant House Museum - Shell, the sourcing of mussel shells, cleaning and preparing them, the lining of walls to glue gun them in place, the sheer physicality of the work and the collaborative process, yet a purity in the work. When a designer asked to purchase the work as a whole to be put in their house Macmurray refused, as she disliked the idea of possessing the whole and the work would be wrong out of its place and out of context. Yet the idea of sharing the work with a wider audience by offering small parts in box frames once the work was taken down had more provenance.


Shell

If this has been inspiring I would highly recommend further exploration, the next project Susie is looking to explore is videoing the dropping of the glass piece 'Here come the girls' which was exhibited at Manchester Art Gallery in 2010 and showing the results as a slow motion film.

20:20 Print

2011-10-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

As you may have seen in earlier blogs I attended a collographic print workshop at The Art House Wakefield, I am new to printing, so when invited to take part in the annual Hot Bed Press 20:20 print exchange I was a little worried. But fellow MA colleague and print expert Fiona Wilson suggested that we could do it.... Thankfully the initial deadline which coincided with MA hand ins was changed but true to form the deadline fast approaching meant a morning printing at Fiona's workshop using her mum's flower press (sometimes you need to be inventive). As we hadn't printed for a while it took a little time to get sorted - plates to decide on, paper to soak, ink to prepare, add felt to press..... Hence we were printing until 2.00pm and we still had to number them, so a quick lunch break and feeling like proper print artists we did the limited edition writing!

a few of the 50 prints we did

Fiona numbering her prints


one of my 25

So the prints will go to The Art House and then to Hot Bed Press to be distributed, a selection to all the not for profit print groups involved in the event and to all who have printed. Very exciting I hope me the amateur printer has met the necessary grade. I enjoy printing and can see the potential so would like to perfect it further.

Grim up North? Not in the slightest

2011-10-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Just loved the pigeons congregating on the roofs near The Hepworth

Bit more from the MA..........

2011-10-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

So I showed the textile work so only fair to show a few images from the Fine Art students....

The Hepworth Wakefield

2011-10-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

The Hepworth Wakefield

Though opened in May, I hadn't made the trip into Wakefield to visit the much lauded The Hepworth, in many ways wanting to avoid the crowds, though my visit on a rainy Saturday morning illustrated that the visitors are still in abundance, though plenty of space for quiet contemplation.


The Hepworth Wakefield entrance


the juxtaposition of the stark museum, the sculpture and the industrial landscape is stunning

In many ways this was coming full circle for me as my final collection for my HNC Millinery was based on Barbara Hepworth and Naom Gabo sculptures, and I had seen the major retrospective at YSP in 2003 so I have always found her work and her inspirational. I was not disappointed.


Image of gallery 1 from The Guardian on line.

Well worth a trip to Wakefield and if you are from out of Yorkshire then a weekend away to enjoy several of our wonderful cultural spaces in West Yorkshire is highly recommended......

Photography is only allowed in the plaster gallery, which makes you look and take in the pieces far more. other highlights for me were some stunning pieces from Ben Nicholson.

the plaster room

MA Show Images

2011-10-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

MA Textiles work

the beautiful work of Fiona Wilson

The equally stunning work of Sarah Burgess

MA Show 1

2011-10-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Long time no post.....Work and setting up the show for the MA seems to have taken over. Good news is that I passed my MA hurray. So thought I should show how the show looked at the Holden Gallery, MMU. It has been a strange experience, as in many ways such a show isn't your standard end of year student show more a PR exercise for the University, so items were selected for the show. Initially I was to be in show 2 but the Fine Art tutor selected two of my pieces for inclusion into the first show which had a fine art slant.

Day 1 set up - thought it would be straightforward dress on mannequin, then on Thursday glove on plinth, how wrong can you get.....

'we don't think the mannequin is right, have you tried a dress makers dummy?' I had on Monday and that looked awful, what was interesting was that they were not interested that it was on a mannequin on purpose to represent fast fashion consumption, also fascinating to see my essays comments on the hierarchies within art disciplines so aptly presented. I was quite philosophical about it all so ended up talking to the Fine Art Course Leader who was happy with this selection.

Needle Tally - Virtual Factory Standard

2011-09-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

The other piece I worked on in the final days was the needle tally, trying to recreate the 15 hour shift of a garment worker and the tight time scales they are set to conclude an order - 15 minutes a pair of jeans, 1 minute a T-Shirt. So 900 needles later and a seriously bruised finger and a few spots of blood, i had a two metre length filled with long needles.

This has space for development which I will do before the MA show, so who knows what may happen.

Pin Pocket

2011-09-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

One of the pieces I had designed for the MA work was to explore how to change the white dress to express issues around global fashion manufacture. In the light of the fact that a third of the world's cotton comes fro Uzbekistan where much of the cotton is picked by children taken out of school and they pick in extreme heat and cold with little rest and food the pain was something to address. The childlike purity of the white dress was the perfect vehicle and I wished to insert a pocket filled with pins. Initially it was to be a Japanese pocket, but this proved too difficult on the style of garment, so I finalised with an oval pocket, i was pleased with the result which has since thrown up a variety of other ideas.

Final MA presentation

2011-09-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry that there have been few posts its been a chaotic two weeks, with the final push of work for the MA and Freshers beginning at work, so a week of Sunday night sick feeling!! mmh

Arriving at MMU at 7.30am to set our work up to find the whole corridor full of plan chests! We stayed calm.......

So a slightly manic morning deciding where things should go and then the 15 minutes presentation, after lunch, nerves were running high. So here are some images not the greatest quality and still not sure if it was all ok but too late now.

So two years all completed and not a hat in sight.

3,000 needles

2011-09-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

I had to order needles for the other ideas that I had and after much internet searching I found some in Worcester that weren't too extortionate and were beautifully packaged. So much so that I needed to share the images.....

Sample 2 - The Glove revisited

2011-09-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

I am still in the thrall of the Pin Glove as it has such strange connotations and different readings. I had limited photographs so began exploring this to assess their viability.

Sampling Ideas

2011-09-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

So paperwork handed in for 20% of my MA marks, now got to compete the work needed for the other 80%, not a daunting task at all! As ever I have too many ideas so having to focus and choose one aspect to make very very well......

My ideas have been 1. to develop my images from the dress into a stop motion film
2. to create truth labels for the dress
3. To create a pin pocket for the other dress
and to work with the needles in fabric as a tally system for the time to make a garment in fast fashion.

So first step how to place the needles and whether to use hair or thread.....fabric or paper.......

Damien Hirst

2011-09-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Leeds Art Gallery has a Damien Hirst exhibition on until the end of October.
Hirst has strong links with Leeds, he grew up in the city and attended Leeds College of Art and Design before shooting to national and international prominence in the 1990s with his groundbreaking and controversial works.
The exhibition is be the first dedicated display of Hirst’s work ever seen in Leeds, and traces the artist’s career from his student days to his later works after he had established himself as one of the world’s highest profile artists.
ARTIST ROOMS On Tour is an inspired partnership with the Art Fund - the fundraising charity for works of art, making available the ARTIST ROOMS collection of international contemporary art to galleries throughout the UK. ARTIST ROOMS is jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland and was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments.

Sadly no pictures allowed, which from an artist steeped in promotion is quite ironic, though obviously wanting to control all images in the public domain.

I was inspired by the work but to be honest I found the response to the exhibition by students of the BA Visual Communication course at Leeds College of Art more inspiring and exciting. They were looking at the perceptions of their audience and the range of the audience and the thoughts behind their curated choices were considered and thought provoking.

Stephen Jones competition - Judging

2011-09-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well they finally announced the winning hat to be exhibited alongside the V&A hats in Nee York in Stephen Jones The Anthology exhibition and it was the beautiful dandelion hat which I had a hunch as it was so unique and perfectly balanced. But the greatest thrill was discovering that the gorgeous Miss Kate Jones, Leeds milliner and fashion designer (originally of wonderful North Wales) was one of the three finalists with her truly stunning wooden piece, brilliant news and well deserved.

Stephen Jones winners

There were some fantastic creations so it must have been a tough job selecting, great to see so many inspiring milliners from around the world.

Tate Britain

2011-09-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Back in Yorkshire for 18 hours then running for the train to London to visit the beautiful Agsie and her beau in cosmopolitan East London. As i had the afternoon to myself I went to Tate Britain which I haven't visited before, what a beautiful building and some of my favourite pieces of work within.

The Ophelia made me think of my white dress photos and when you look closely at the painting it is almost photographic in the attention to detail each tiny forget me not and leaf, exquisite.

One of my main reasons for going, was to see the Vorticists exhibition an era of art that I have been fascinated by, I think its the clean lines and use of colour. I didn't take any pictures sorry!

Blurb Books

2011-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

I had tried a few times to put my images into book form but hadn't quite grasped the software, and possibly more key, the photos weren't up to scratch, so a morning concentrating and deadlines approaching focusing the mind I managed to complete two books which were ready a week later, brilliant. The wonder of the books is that they seem to make the work authenticate well to me at least which was good for the confidence.
blurb book 1
blurb book 2

I can highly recommend the process.

That dress again!

2011-09-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

So the dress was left for a week and needing a wash!! I had recorded how it changed each day and as I was so pleased with the other pictures I decided to try to take another series of images in the stream and as it wasn't torrential rain, to leave it in the stream for the day and record it each hour, I think i just like putting my wellies on and wandering in the stream, also maybe a bit of procrastination from writing the learning record! So here are a few of the last images before I headed back south.

Natural Inspiration

2011-09-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Always good for the soul........

Inspiration

2011-09-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

When I first visited Scotland many years ago with my beloved, we were directed to visit a small church on the side of Loch Awe, St Conan's Kirk, it was a very Scotch mist kind of day but the quiet and eclectic beauty of the building has always remained with us. So much so that when we have friends over we tend to drag them along to share the wonders. We visited again this Summer and I always something new to be inspired by though what does sadden is that it is slowly crumbling from the weather.

So if you are ever wandering along the road by Loch Awe its worth an exploration.

More of those dress pics!

2011-09-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Following on from my initial foray into catching the white dress through photography, I chose to expand the search further and leave the wet dress on the grass for a week to capture what would happen in this time. My purpose behind the images was to create a focus that makes you look and look again and not take things for granted and hopefully alongside the other pieces I am creating addresses issues around clothes consumption and their manufacture. We had some friends to stay whilst the dress was in situ, I got that sympathizing smile!

Long time no post

2011-09-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry lots to catch up on its been a slightly manic 5 weeks entrenched in books reading and writing for my MA final stage so quite a lot of anxiety and drama but some good bits in the middle and at the end when handing in the final document so fingers crossed I have passed!

Stephen Jones competition

2011-08-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

www.talenthouse.com
Victoria & Albert Museum
Stephen Jones
Bard Graduate Centre NY

All the above have got together along with Vogue.com to launch a competition for a milliner to be chosen by Stephen Jones and Vogue to exhibit in his forthcoming New York exhibition in the Bard Centre. Its a fantastic idea and really has brought some incredible designs in millinery to the forefront as you will see if you visit the talenthouse site. It is also being run as a voting competition which is not the most pleasant of things for someone not renowned for pushing herself forward! So if you would like to support me the image above is my entry and you need to vote through talenthouse site or you can text.

hat voting

or

Text: TH 83HC2Q
to: 447781487170207

thank you xx

there are some stunning UK hats so its worth a browse through to see the talent here as well as much further afield. it will be a very difficult job to judge the best hat methinks.

Then the rain came

2011-08-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Scotland invariably means a bit of rain otherwise it wouldn't look so lush and beautiful...It definitely rained today so I was glad that I did the stream shots yesterday but ever the experimentalist thought I would try again today with a very full stream. My river walking would have been quite hilarious if anyone had been watching as I tried to retrieve the dress!

not quite the limpid water of yesterday!

So the string broke with the current......

May need to go in the wash now.

Practice after the tutorial

2011-08-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

Having mentioned my tutorial for the MA with Alice Kettle, one of her suggestions was to work on a broderie anglais dress that I have purchased from the high street. Purchased to reference the increased levels of manufacture and consumption at ever lower prices. The dress I have bought is fine white cotton with broderie anglais we checked its measurements to see if it had been made on the schiffli machine which it hadn't, also checked whether there was any repetition of slight flaws as to whether it was made on a multi head embroidery machine, this also seemed unlikely so it was possible that the dress that I had purchased in the sale for £11 had been hand machine embroidered using an Irish Machine, highly labour intensive.

So this brings into play a range of questions and observations, but how to draw this to others attention without it being information overload. The suggestion of small interventions in the garment or photographing in different context to make us look again. This is what I did.

In the stream

The water just sat on the surface even after 5 mins in the stream

MA Show

2011-08-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

As well as rushing around doing the last bit of writing and practical work we have a show to put on for the last week of September for the MA. So all the MA disciplines for the first time this year will be showing together. Well we shall use this word loosely as they are at four different sites across Manchester. The Holden Gallery which is part of All Saints Campus where i will show and 3 & 4 Piccadilly Place where the remainder of the students will show. we visited on Thursday to mixed responses. Anyway pictures attached to help those of my colleagues who may not have seen the space and yourselves to conjure up ideas. we are not able to build walls as you would in an end of year show so its an interesting curating challenge.

curved space

square space

Privilege Day 2

2011-08-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

During my MA at MMU I have had some interesting tutorials with different members of staff but i have often been reluctant to approach some as they seem far too important to want to talk about my work! It is only as the two years draws to a close that I realise that you rarely get such opportunities so grab them with both hands quickly (wish I had done it sooner to quote another tutor 'Shy bairns get nought') Anyway that rambling way around was to introduce that I had a tutorial with internationally renowned textile artist Alice Kettle yesterday, I was quite nervous but I really needn't have been. As I have seen before the most talented people are invariably the most sharing and generous with thoughts and ideas and indeed she was.

'In the Guise of an Angel' V&A Collections

Alice Kettle

Alice was one of the first textile artists that I encountered when I began this pathway 15 years ago and her work has always fascinated me, when she spoke to the MA group last year about the art commissioning process it was really fascinating and you could see how grueling the work was and is.
The tutorial was very rewarding in the sharing of ideas and inspiration and more importantly she genuinely was interested. So i feel back on track again after my backward mind map highlighted that I needed help it certainly was the case, so i now have some work to complete for the next one in three weeks.

Some days are a real privilege

2011-08-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

That feeling of wanting to pinch oneself that one is so lucky happen rarely but i was fortunate to have two this week.

Privilege day 1- I have been helping out at Hat Works doing some research for them, just being in the museum when no one else is is a real buzz and privilege, you see everything in a very different light. This week I have been helping label items that could be used in their up and coming trimmings exhibition. Sad but true the actual boxes on the shelves in the store are exciting enough, its like Christmas Day as you never know whats going to be inside. As you may have noted before from my posts on Platt Hall and Bankfield Museum stores are an inspiration for me.

So many interesting things some quite curious ones too mind. Unable to show you whats in line for exhibition yet that's not up to me but a quick peep into two boxes that I think all milliners would love delivered to their door. The silk veiling in particular was astonishingly beautiful.

Exhibition will open in November I will keep you posted.

Artangel

2011-08-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Had a very productive day in Manchester the other week having a meeting with a senior lecturer at the University about research and practice as research as within my present job we are to begin doing this in a formal manner which is difficult to get ones head around as to what they want. In actual fact they want what I do already but with some written work to support it so all good. What was most inspiring was to share the meeting with colleagues! Having run the course on my own for so long its great to have other input, three heads are better than one. even more wonderful was to have someone with no knowledge of millinery really enthused by what we do, and how important it was to promote the cross disciplinary nature of millinery and the niche aspect needed preserving.

So after an excellent brainstorming/mind mapping session we visited the Whitworth Art Gallery to look at an exhibition of the group 'Artangel' curated by Mary Griffiths who I had had a tutorial with at testing time on the MA. Its always interesting to have different perspectives on an exhibition and space.
Though the first piece of work didn't bode well as it gave us a headache and fear of migraine, Tony Oursler Talking Light.


Francis Alys Guards 2004

I really liked the Francis Alys piece called Guards where he he got each member of the regiment to walk into london and meet at certain points and carry on in formation until they were a full regiment. the precision the noise, the imagery, organisation and maps of the route planning, I found fascinating.

still from 1395 days without red

One also realises the British sensibility to conform we went to watch the short film '1395 days without red' about the sniper alleys in Sarajevo in the Bosnian conflict. It was beautifully filmed and highly evocative yet i felt it had shared the experience and understanding of the fear in half an hour as did my colleagues; yet it went on for 20 more minutes we all were too shy to say actually I am done now. Though on reflection those 20 minutes illustrated the monotony of those times.

Anyway well worth a trip I gained a lot and the cafe at the Whitworth is very lovely.

Lost Camera

2011-07-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Slight disaster and serendipity also. I realise that I need to buy a bag with a zip how boring but as I managed to lose my trusty camera today on the train when my bag fell over its a bit stable door after horse has bolted but.... Anyway i think the chap sitting behind me potentially thought he needed a camera as when i looked on the train coming back from MMU you would definitely see something fall through. To much detail sorry, so i had to take the images I needed for my MA work with my phone. Up to now I haven't felt the quality was as good as promised but on today's testing I am prepared to say i was wrong. See what you think.

11 Rooms, Manchester Art Gallery, 14.07.11

2011-07-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

As part of the Manchester International Festival Guest curators Hans Ulrich Obrist co-director of the Serpentine Gallery and Klaus Biesenbach had invited 11 artists to curate 11 rooms within Manchester Art Gallery. I hadn't read any reviews but happened to see the posters on the way to MMU, as i have been exploring curating in my MA I felt I should have a look. the space was packed and there were queues for many of the rooms, you couldn't see what was inside until you went into the space, which was an interesting process to grab the viewers attention, it was a bit like the haunted house at the fun fair a sense of tension and anticipation. My first room was John Baldessari, an aim to resurrect the idea of having a cadaver to view within a gallery, bureaucracy meant it didn't happen so all the notes circle the room which was in itself captivating.

Review from The Telegraph

In an unexpectedly powerful piece Spanish provocateur Santiago Sierra asked veterans of the wars in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq to stand in an empty gallery facing into a corner without responding or reacting to our presence. They will stand for a few hours each, one at a time, for the run of the show. Because we cannot see the face of the soldier, sailor or airman it is hard to know how to behave in the gallery. He is there but not there, relegated to a corner so that we don’t have to deal with him, and yet it feels wrong to ignore him completely. Many veterans would tell you that this state of non-existence accurately symbolises society’s way of treating men and women who have fought for their country. But there is a further twist. Are they being made to stand in the corner as a form of punishment?

Is it because of something they did? Or something their country asked them to do? Superb.

In some respects it felt like having the crits with the Fine Art students I wasn't totally sure of the language I was engaged in, the works did affect me, in some rooms it felt like one was becoming a voyeur especially the Marina Abramovic and Joan Jonas pieces. This Guardian review gives a brilliant incite into the exhibition.

Notes from a Millinery Museum

2011-07-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

I have just spent the day doing some research work at Hat Works, Stockport which is always inciteful. As I walked around the museum hunting for a style of hat stretcher I wondered what it was that as a milliner I was looking for in a millinery museum? Remembering back to my first visit to Hat Works when I began making hats 10 years ago, everything held a frisson of surprise and newness, so many things to try to comprehend and be inspired by. When I visit now I tend to look closer and my selection is more concentrated, trying to understand techniques or looking for inspiration to develop an historic technique further and in an appropriate manner for contemporary millinery.

So a question to pose for all of you? What would your ideal millinery museum do for you? What do you want to see inside it? What millinery exhibitions you have seen have inspired you and why? What doesn't work? This is actually the most important..... Please let me know as it would be very useful to assess what a millinery exhibition should encompass.

The Trimming Station

Deidre Hawkins hat

Brief Respite in Hat Works

2011-07-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

I spent the day at Hat Works, Stockport today doing some research work and looking at helping out in a voluntary capacity. So I learned how to get onto the database and where the research facilities were. then a sheath of queries in hand off i went. It was truly fascinating, like being a millinery detective, so much more I need to learn. First off looking at the origination of The Piccadilly Managers Panama- from an advert in the 1950's, then the aging of a hat from a whistler painting, then where to look to make hats of the 1860's and before. Some answers and more suggestions as to where to look next.

Whilst there I got to see my colleague Sue Carter's hats in the Whats Hot collection space. Her hats inspired by chocolates and desserts are quite wonderful, they are not there for much longer so f you can pay a trip to Hat Works.

Next to where Sue's hats are displayed are some pieces from one of last years' Hat Designer Finalists Julia Walker. there are three of her Steam Punk inspired hats which are intricate and very fitting to the theme. There are also a dramatic Ascot piece and a selection of hats for a wedding which all have a certain interesting look. She will be featuring a full collection next Easter in Whats Hot, definitely someone to look out for.

Hat Works

Keep it Under Your Hat-Great Yorkshire Show

2011-07-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

Winning Milliners

Well a trip to the Great Yorkshire Show is always a treat even when its not open yet, and being allowed into the Members Pavilion (even if no one was there and there were no refreshments) even more so. Present were a medley of hat wearing milliners all eagerly awaiting the judging of the inaugural "Keep it Under Your Hat' calendar competition devised to raise money for the brain tumor charity, The PPR Foundation They have a target of a million pounds to raise, which they hope to get a little closer to with the sale of their calendar made up of photos from the 12 hat finalists on show at the Yorkshire Show for the week.

The theme for the competition was Hollywood Glamour of the 1940's and 50's and the hats certainly fitted the brief with some stunning pieces that must have made it difficult for the judges. Wondeful that 9 of the milliners were present and 7 of those were from Yorkshire, 6 with connections to Leeds College of Art! So it was a real Hat Trick for the college when the three winners were all from the college. Sue Carter was overall winner with her stunning caramel brown parisisal, exquisitely rolled edges and that wonderful effortlessness of a good hat, the title too was perfectly chosen 'Miss Otis', a well deserved first prize. Sue's student Karen from the evening classes at Leeds was awarded third prize and yours truly was second. wow! very suprised and much appreciated...

Judging must have been very tricky as there were some delicious hats, Beth Hirst's classic toque with ribbon, looked elegant and truly wearable, Jane Hammill's white cloche and silver fretwork, a must for all Hollywood starlets and Abbie Campbell's pink cut work piece last scene at London Fashion Week was sultry and cheeky and something to covet as was the turquoise one Abbie wore today. New milliner on the block Rosie from Liverpool had a inspirational new fabric that she creates and based her piece on the mushroom Dior shape of the 40's I would have loved this hat.


Beth, Jane and Abbie


The judges press call

centre-Carole Denford of The Hat Mag

It was a lovely few hours at the Yorkshire Show and great to see millinery promoted in a different setting. So if you are lucky enough to be in the Members Enclosure for the next three days have a look or better still book your 2012 Hat Calendar. Hopefully it will inspire you to enter next year. x

Oops just realised that......

2011-07-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

Just looking through the blog I realised that I hadn't put up images from the whole space so here goes. Feedback as ever is most welcome the more constructive criticism the better.....

lots of opinions and a slightly fogged me!

2011-07-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

So testing time concluded on Friday with a presentation from past MMU MA graduates about the paths that they had taken, which was highly illuminating if not daunting that fingers crossed 4,000 words and 12 weeks later I too will have completed my MA how did two years disappear and still not totally sure what I am doing. I suppose more fool me for thinking that that could be the goal of an MA - to sort your brain out- wrong it just adds a few more layers of confusion though all very interesting.

I ended my crit week with one delivered by the Fina Art tutor and Fine Art Curator at the Whitworth and it was highly illuminating as they had such a different approach and way of looking at all the work in comparison to the other tutors i had engaged with during the process from a mix of disciplines.

So they loved the glove: which for this crit i had left pretty much on its own with the needlewoman cut fabric.

Most people got the range of narratives I was exploring and they concluded that what was key was for me to consolidate which was what I knew, I just needed to see if what I was creating had any resonance with others. Interesting that most prefer not to have the text and that they want to solve the conundrum of the work. Which as I am often the opposite I realise that a lot of that comes from the length of time one is immersed in a world. So lots to think of and experiments to conclude, more importantly a week off soon to crack on with the writing.......

glove in situ


needle guillotine

different sequence ideas- i think i will scrap this work.

Silent Crit

2011-07-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Another mad dash into Manchester to complete work setting up before crits began at 10am. That ominous sick feeling was present, even though I had plan to put work up and get the projector. My first crit group was to be led by Joe McCulloch the Head of Design at MMU, I had already decided to go for a silent crit - this is where you do not introduce your work but allow the rest of the group to discuss their reaction, its quite daunting but enables you to actually see if your work is saying what you hoped it will!

So this was the array of work that i presented under my theme 'How do they make it so cheap?' I had completed some other pieces yesterday, though still have a lot more bubbling in my brain, my task is to keep it under control!

So the comments-"this makes me feel claustrophobic, uncomfortable and there is an undercurrent of darkness, questioning the work of makers, possibly those in the Far East'

'An interesting narrative, but I wasn't sure what. Made me ask lots of questions'

'There seem to be a lot of issues being discussed possible as undercurrents to the main theme, so there seems to be a narrative on sweat shops, the value of work/craft, craft as a feminist activity'

So they seemed to have read the work as the starting point that I had begun my research, phew. It was very hard not to speak and not to justify my work, and be self-deprecating about it. it was very useful. Next one Monday.

Hat Competition

2011-06-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yes you have all seen this hat before but as a competition came up that is to be judged at the Great Yorkshire Show and will feature hats in a calendar to promote a charity to raise awareness of Brain Tumours, I had to make myself enter. This is my favourite hat and I love wearing it and it makes me feel glamorous and enigmatic which was what the competition was asking for - Forties Glamour. I posted it off. Just heard that I am in the final 12 to be shown at Yorkshire Show on Monday 11th. It will be lovely to go to the Yorkshire Show and observe as opposed to work back stage dressing!

Testing Time

2011-06-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

The title is true in so many ways, from working out how to get your plinths down and up two flights of stairs with no lift access, waiting for the AV store to open, sourcing display furniture, never mind the horror of working out what items to bare your soul with. I think i have felt sick all day...... The technicians as ever were fantastic in their help and guidance into getting the right equipment even when it involved borrowing without asking?

Anyway I still have quite a bit more to do before my first crit on Friday so here are my initial phases of work on the walls and I still have a film to do. Any thoughts or comments greatly appreciated.

The working title at the moment is 'How do they make it that cheap?' but this may change. Just looking at the photos I have been umming and aaghing as to whether to include the shirt from last stage I think its better removed.

A few highlights of MMU shows

2011-06-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

MA work

2011-06-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Testing time is nearly upon me and I am in a spin trying to see if work will be viable and how best to put forward my ideas on fast fashion, 1850's needlewoman in contrast to 2011 sweat shops and lack of conscious purchases.

jeans in 15 minutes

6 hour shift -24 pairs of jeans

sampling dress ideas

Unpicking

Raiding my 1980's storage box interesting that all the garments that I had kept were "Made in England'
Still no solutions or any thoughts as to what I will put up on Wednesday still looking for divine inspiration or a clear head!

A different way to look at your wardrobe

2011-06-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

In the west every man, woman and child acquires 55 kilos of new textiles a year.

A pair of jeans is expected to be completed in 15 minutes by a person in the far east for purchase in our world of fast fashion.

Trying to create my wardrobe into letters.....

Design4Life revisited

2011-06-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

You may remember me being involved in the V&A's design 4 life project, which was a fantastic initiative and experience. I was thrilled to see the results of another project in te series exhibiting their outcomes at MMU's Special Collections. Claire Norcross lighting designer who had worked for Habitat worked with the special collection and a local school used it as their starting point to design lighting. A great collection of work is exhibited. Illustrating yet again what an inspirational project the design for life was and created such exciting possibilities for design education in schools.

Huddersfield Shows

2011-06-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

I found this really humorous

stunning use of the laser cutter as a design tool

reflective tartan

I hadn't visited the shows in Huddersfield before so was intrigued as to the work that I would see. There was a great range of graphics, illustration and advertising work. I really enjoyed a wide selection of the Fine Art work and appreciated that there was a blurb to let me know what the work was about which there wasn't at LCA which always makes me feel very ignorant and unsure of how to react! The textile and textile craft work had some really shining stars I loved all the tweed in particular and the stop motion film about dementia was poignant and beautiful. Well worth a visit.

bones in resin

rubber bands on wood

The Collections

2011-06-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

Helene has had a tougher time on the HNC than most traveling from North Wales, having a range of health and financial issues yet always resolute and passionate about millinery and getting the most out of every day. I am thrilled that she has been awarded a grant from the Arts Council to develop a collection around country pursuits and research the history of millinery with a view to creating a book.

Marisa has also had a tough journey through the HNC she is an incredibly talented designer and milliner who is a true perfectionist in achieving the best finish at all times in all the work she does. This proved highly effective last year when she achieved 2nd prize in the Feltmakers competition. Her final collection shows a highly innovative use of felt, leather and perspex to create strak graphic headwear.

The Collections

2011-06-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

The photos don't do justice to Susanne's collection they are better on the human head and her pieces using the skull and the ram's horn really look stunning on the head especially in her collaborative work with a student from the fashion course. Ginger Nut Millinery is one to watch out for hats for that certain occasion at any time of year using the best of materials.

Another milliner to keep an eye on for the future wherever her pathway takes her be it design or making or promoting others. Jill comes from a degree in sociology but her creativity is exceptional in design and manufacture. The collection was entered into the Hat designer of the Year and she has reached the semi finals so far so fingers crossed for future success and her hats may get to paris.

The Collections

2011-06-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

John's collection was inspired by the idea of incorporating technology into millinery, so LED lights, inks affected by light, beads that show when you need to add sun screen, all with a hint of Fifth Element, Blade Runner and Lady Gaga. John has great fluid and directional ideas in his design work and often runs before he can walk but he will be an inspiring designer who will try new ideas and stretch himself. Arriving with no sewing skills he has traveled very far......

Amy Woollard of Dolly Millinery inspired by the glamour of the 1950's, yet totally contemporary using vintage materials and those that echo the era. Gorgeous hats that could be worn anywhere and for any event whatever age you are. There is a quintessential Englishness to the work mixed with a delicious sprinkle of Hollywood in its heyday.

The Milliners

2011-06-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

I showed you their work but they need a bit more time under the spotlight so here goes.


John Westwood-Hill-Quinnell-Hill Millinery


Amy Woollard - Dolly Millinery

Susanne Guthrie - Ginger Nut Millinery

Marisa Groom - Marisa Groom Millinery

Jill Simpson- Jill Simpson Millinery

Congratulations to them all and a huge thank you from all the millinery team, myself, Fiona, Sue & Adrian for being such a hard working inspiring bunch of students, we hope you keep in touch.

Opening Night

2011-06-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

My graduating students worked really hard all day on Wednesday beginning to set up the show, everyone was feeling a little fragile with some late nighters done to complete course work and worries and concerns of how to get the best effect for their final collections in the great space we had created. Mad dash on Friday with those last minute touches, a huge thanks to Amy, John and Fiona for helping to scrub the floor and make is all show ready. Here are a few of the first pictures I will do some good close ups later. They all did a brilliant job and the results of all their hard work was evident to all.

Amy Woollard


Helene Frank

John Westwood-Hill

Marisa Groom

Jill Simpson

Susanne Guthie

A huge thank you to all my fantastically talented students who did a brilliant job producing some sublime collections incorporating innovative techniques and materials, they did themselves proud. Well done and here's to your futures..........

End of year show 2011

2011-06-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

The usual mad dash to get everything sorted seems to come round each year ever faster. Even being extra prepared and having my room boarded early didn't prohibit that Saturday painting and 4.30 dash around to get everything ready before the doors opened at 6.00 for friends and family.

This is how we began....

looking for props

New ideas

2011-06-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

I have been reading the new book by Observer columnist Lucy Siegle about the real facts of production and cost cutting within the fast fashion industry, it makes enlightening reading.

There are many facts within the book that i would like to explore within my Needlewoman piece of work and given the fact that the same thing that happened here in the 1850's is happening in the Far East and we ignore it for the sake of our £4 T shirts I need to look to address this in some way.
So first ideas were to capture the garments in a different way.


15 minutes to sew a pair of 5 pocket jeans.

In the west we consume 55 kilos of new textiles every year.

We shall see where it goes from here......

Letter Press results

2011-06-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

Just a few of the pieces that i printed from my letter press. I intend to do some more designing and go back and work with some other surfaces. Also the "How do they..." needs respacing.

Letter Press

2011-06-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

Flow is often discussed as that feeling of contentment and happiness when truly engrossed n an activity particularly a creative practical one. I felt very much in the flow today when working in the Letter Press studio at MMU. The first hour was a little haphazard as we couldn't remember exactly what we had to do so there was degree of muddling! But with the able assistance of David the technician and his history of letterpress we succeeded.

Art Market, Holmfirth

2011-06-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

I visited Holmfirth Art Market today as needed some unique birthday gifts for friends & family. The range of practitioners was excellent definitely something for everyone with a good range of prices, and lots in that golden price point of £35 (Craft Council stats), which yet again reiterates why making and selling hats can be problematic.

www.louisetaylor-originals.co.uk

Lovely brooches & badges

www.suecandy.co.uk

Really beautiful clean lined ceramics.

www.creativelyoccupied.com www.juliemiles.co.uk and next time I am lucky enough to get some spare cash then these two makers would definitely tempt me....

Another highly talented designer maker was Fiona Wilson http://fiona-wilson.blogspot.com/ whose work was perfect for those special gifts.

Needlewomen revisited

2011-05-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of writing up the notes from my experiment last week and in the process downloaded some more images to back it up. It was quite grim day last Sunday and you can see how the damp affected my hands, so it makes one wonder what the hands of seamstresses would have been like with no heating in mid winter.

The ever watchful camera (interesting tripod)

My companion

Research

2011-05-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

So in London for two days of MA research meant a great opportunity to explore some ideas for display and Anthropologie on Regent Street certainly was full of great ideas they even had a living wall as seen earlier at the National Gallery.

City & Guilds 2011 awards

2011-05-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night I was lucky enough to attend my sixth City & Guilds Lion Awards dinners courtesy of my very talented colleague, friend and former student Susan Carter who had been awarded her second Gold Medal of Excellence. The evening was held at the Roundhouse in Camden which was really interesting as finally I got to go inside after hearing for so many years of gigs being at the Roundhouse. A fantastic venue and as ever the organisers of City & Guilds really do celebrate the success of their courses and learners. George Lamb was the compere for the evening and all the medalists got to walk down a set of very steep red carpeted stairs, I think a few of the ladies regretted their choice of footwear.
Sue was presented one of the key Livery Prizes, the Haberdashers Prize for her excellent workmanship so i think she may be investing in some new blocks soon. Then off to the tube at home time.

Sue Carter & Michael Howell Chairman of City & Guilds

Sue and Claire from Haberdashers Guild

Roundhouse

Paper Cuts

2011-05-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

The artist Rose Vickers has some of her paper cuts in an exhibition at Leeds College of Art in the Mosaic Bar. Well worth a visit they are exquisite and must have taken so long to do, the intricacy and precision is so high one can understand why in her artist statement she promotes that they are not laser cut.

Wetherby Races

2011-05-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

That time of year again, it came round so fast, all quite chaotic as ever but third year in a row this was a little less frenetic, though i think this was also due to fantastic assistance from Sue and Fiona and my wonderfully able students who had organised their tables and headwear perfectly. A really successful day Thank you.


Try on hat stand

Dolly Millinery

Ginger Nut Millinery

Jill Simpson Millinery

Quinnell-Hill Millinery

Pairings Conference

2011-05-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

May 12th and 13th I was fortunate enough to attend the Pairings Conference at MMU's School of Art, the conference was based around the collaborative project that was begun at MMU 2 years ago where artist/tutors from a range of disciplines and other institutions were paired up to develop work towards an exhibition at the University last Summer. I had attended the earlier symposium where the collaborators discussed their experiences and shared the work process and the idea of working partnerships, it had greatly inspired me into whether I could develop any collaborations and whether to take the format into LCA.

The attention to detail by organisers Helen Felsey and Alice Kettle was incredible from the unique name badges to the tote bag with all the information. There was also The MAP consortium who created a range on interventions to enable collaborations between the attendees and lighten up the conference breaks. This started with us all picking an animal that attracted us and then find the other two people who had the same selection, my fellow panthers were really interesting, something that would normally and did push me right out of my comfort zone was actually really effective.

Needlewomen

2011-05-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

I tried to recreate the idea of sewing solidly for 15 hours as was done by many women in the 1800's creating clothes for the gentry and dieing young often of consumption, and done today by many men and women whist they sew solidly to fulfill high street fashion stores' quotas in Asia locked into their work spaces.

My aim was to sew for 15 hours and record this by taking continuous pictures using a timer attached to the camera, my limited mathematics made some interesting calculations as to how many seconds the intervals should be, final decision 21 seconds. I am usually easily distracted by having lots of other jobs to do also the discipline of being recorded meant I did just sew solidly.

My son taking a photo into the workroom

The camera ran out of battery after 10 hours so i came to a halt I manged to sew 89metres of running stitch, I don't think i would have been a good earner as a piece worker! I could have carried on, though at points of sitting still my feet became a bit numb and my thumbs a bit stiff. I will now put the images into a film format and share the results, then make the decision as to whether it works and whether to go for the full 15 hours with two batteries!!

Windsurfing4Cancer Research

2011-05-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

May 1st saw many throughout the country welcoming the first day of Summer with some Morris dancing and May Pole, in my family we welcomed the dawn at the reservoir in a chilly 3.5 degrees, all in aid of raising money for cancer research charity. http://www.windsurfing4cancerresearch.org/index.php

First two on the water 5.25am brrrh chilly


Sun rise

So while my eldest began the day at one lake in West Yorkshire I got to trip over to the other side of West Yorkshire with the other.

15 hours later

Hat for the Races!

2011-05-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

So my students will be showing their wonderful skills and talents at Wetherby Races next week at the fabulous Yorkshire Post Ladies Day event. http://www.wetherbyracing.co.uk/racing/yorkshire-post-ladies-day/

Time to work out what to wear and dust out some hats from the numerous boxes that I own for student demonstrations and talks, so far none the wiser, think it will be a mad dash the night before....


Have a dress this colour green but could I cope with the pink!

A failed hat but it does hide ones face

My favourite hat but I have worn it before......

Or maybe something else

Thank you

2011-05-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say thank you to the Leeds Embroiderer's Guild for inviting me to speak to them about hats last weekend. Though i was quite terrified that they would be bored rigid, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and laughed and asked questions, phew. Though the real highlight was the chance to dress up and try on a few hats which was brilliant fun. Perfect timing too as the Royal Wedding was the day before.

Feathers

2011-05-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

stunning colour and shape

But always look beyond what you first think you see

Needlewomen

2011-05-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in posting anything about my MA work of late possibly as I was unsure of what I was exactly doing. So i am concentrating on two themes 'Needlewomen' from the 1850's and 'Ruffled Feathers' looking at how we use and represent items in different contexts.


A box of threads is a calming place to start

running stitch in various threads

Removing the stitch like removing the presence of the person who made the garment.

Inspiring Blog post

2011-05-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

I often forget to check through Style Bubble blog which is a mistake as she is a firm fan of headwear and all things wonderful/ This post and web site is particularly fabulous.
Style Bubble

That Wedding

2011-05-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

Realised that as a milliner I can't really pass by and not mention the hats that flew around the world a little more than a week ago. I think the British milliners did a wonderful job showing how creative and talented they are and the depth of skill within the UK. I wish Mrs Cameron had supported them and thought that Mrs Clegg looked amazing.


Zara's was my favourite

Well done Mr Treacy

Balm for the Soul

2011-05-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

As can be seen from my lack of posts I ran away further North where the sun shone all the time and the gras felt very much greener. Transplanted lots of trees dug up even more thistles and smiled.

For Auntie Janice

2011-05-08T13:53:00.000-07:00


Camelia House YSP

Always an inspiration and greatly missed. xx

Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

2011-04-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I visited the exhibition on the first day, a glorious sunny Spring morning which definitely created a clean sparkling way to view the pieces, it will be very interesting to keep visiting though to September to see the effect of the Yorkshire weather on how the shapes are viewed. I was mesmerised from the first view of the men around the trees that I saw on a visit last month, but then when entering the Underground gallery a whole new experience began.

The long line of letters sparkling in the sunshine, singing when touched was haunting, sadly no internal photography you will have to experience it, here is a sneaky picture from outside.

The rooms inside are haunting and I was very glad to be the first visitor of the day as wondering through the alabaster head room on my own was quite spiritual and calming, sharing with others would not have held the same resonance, for me at least. Plensa's work is often created for large public outside spaces so is meant for sharing and interacting with.

"Anonymity has grown as the centre of the ritual of our cities, and with them it has developed an aesthetics of protection and camouflage where hiding has become synonymous with comfort. But what do we hide from? What do we protect ourselves against? To hide, to protect, to decorate, to commemorate. They all have the same meaning and ultimately seek to elude our personal memory, substituting it for a collective and comfortable memory where we can take rest from our contradiction. This relinquishment of intimacy (personal freedom) in favour of anonymity (uniform) has also left a deep mark on art in public space" Tenerife 1994

Manchester Exhibitions

2011-04-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

Went to MMU for tutorials so maximised my time with a trip to Manchester Art gallery and the Anish Kapoor exhibition, which I found very breathtaking. The pictures from the web site do not do the work justice. the space is used in a stunning manner.

I also visited my favourite space the craft gallery which always unearths something new.


Limoges

Hat Blocks

2011-03-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Due to dropping my son off at Stanstead airport I took a minor detour in my 420 mile journey to visit Luton and Boon & Lane Blockmakers extraordinaire. www.blockmaker.com

Sadly I can't show pictures of the delights of the heavily dusty and wood shaven workspace but can share the new block. If you are ever in Luton, its a definite place to visit for all milliners, Steve and Alan are always welcoming just phone them beforehand.

Also went to Luton Museum to see what had changed and as its reminiscent of Bankfield Museum it feels right (very logical!)

Philip Treacy

2011-03-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Philip Treacy Video

Inspiration from the Master.

Collographic printing

2011-03-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

The last session of my printing course at The Art House, Wakefield which was really enjoyable and I learned so much. Laura Slater the tutor was inspiring and generous with her sharing of ideas and techniques. Here are a few examples.

Fabrics of Memory

2011-03-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

Tidying up fabrics and old clothes to be shipped to school to raise money with the 'bags to school' campaign, as we rummaged through the chest I came across fabric pieces I had forgotten about, and the realisation that if someone else found these that they would mean little, and whether they would amke there own stories from these or not. A salutary tale for a hoarder like myself.

Not a great picture but the red fabric is a dress I made from fabric we used for the Law Club float in Rag Week, 1983!! That hand made look was very in then! Worn to a do and believe my friend Paula has a picyure of me in the dress in the snow in our basement flat in Clifton. None of that is documented, and there is no evidence within the garment of those facts. It would more likely be read as a child's dressing up frock or a very amateur piece of fashion (it was). Sewn on my mum's hand singer machine, do the stitches give that away, or just bad quality workmanship?

This is a piece created in my first taught textiles sessions since school, 2 hours a week in Brighouse studying an OCN whilst my children were in the adult ed creche. Interesting that in the present education system I wouldn't have been able to do this. Again the piece has stories for me but for no one else. The machine embroidered mermaid in the centre was my first foray into this, and took a long time and a lot of broken needles and a temptation to throw the machine out of the window. Some of the fabrics were from my first visit to Bombay Stores when it was really cheap, I didn't have the glut of fabrics I now have maybe that was better, clearer head space. Others from Fabworks when they were newly opened and had wonderful bags of random goodies. Buying a bag of lining fabrics and the boys dancing around in them, relishing the colours and texture. I remember the excitement of learning to stencil, applique and the exploration into new techniques. Also the immense value I got from my local libraries and the books on embroidery and textiles that they housed, another note on how that structure helped me develop a new pathway for work, as from this course I went to do my City & Guilds then teaching then hats, opportunities not available a mere 12 years later.

Is any of this apparent in the fabric? No. Would anyone else be interested? Unlikely. The thoughts are my own, as just like photographs the punctume of the textiles is very personal and the memories vast incorporating all that was happening when the piece was made.

Finally these two pieces from my C&G that I cannot remember doing. I think that they were extensions of sampling, and strangely don't hold memories. Food for thought.

Two huge bags of memories sent to school.

Leeds City Gallery Exhibition

2011-03-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

So the work for the V&A, Roundhay School and Leeds City Museum has come to a close with the preview evening at the museum with the Year 10 students and their parents. The Director of Museum Services congratulated everyone involved in the project and noted that this project illustrated perfectly one of the key reasons that the Museum was developed, as a means of inspiration for the community and for education at all levels. Also highlighted that the work exhibited was to a really high standard and the youngest exhibitors in the museum to date, which was fantastic. Such a tragedy that there is limited funding for these kinds of projects now but hopefully the knowledge gathered will be accessed by other schools and colleges.

The exhibition closes in April.

Musee du Chapeau

2011-03-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

A little late as ever but I have finished the hat for France whether it gets there and stays there I wait with bated breath. It is not as I had hoped but I have developed some new thoughts and design ideas along the way which should lead to some other works. The ideas developing are that hats can be formed differently each time it is worn.

Rob Ryan

2011-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Less than 24 hours after the Sue Lawty another talk at Leeds College of Art this time from the renowned and inspirational Rob Ryan. There is often a sense given out that Rob Ryan has become too commercial/sold out etc etc this is not the case and this rare talk that he gave in Leeds really clarified this and the length of his journey as an artist to a point where his art could sustain him and his family effectively. For his first 15 years after graduating he managed with the usual mix of jobs to support his arts practice, this was enlightening for all practitioners and hopefully gave a glimpse of reality after the completion of an MA!

Rob Ryan sees himself as a fine artist his MA(RCA) was fine art specialising in print making, so it was a natural progression from screen printing to cutting out. All the work begins with drawings and words are ever present within all areas of his work, images of his sketchbooks showed this constant dialogue of ideas and visuals. Whilst at University his tutors told him that the words in his work were not key; his thoughts on this were "I am not bothered its important to me so I will do it!" The concept of artists being pigeon holed into specific sectors was discussed often Mr Ryan is deemed a Graphic Designer this he felt was not the case and to him he i still a fine artist, so maybe we should all use that catch all title of Artist.

After the pieces are cut by hand usually by interns though this is a shared role, usually R.R. draws the pieces and then others cut them the work is then sprayed with Montana Gold spray paint. The works are time intensive with a piece 5.5ft long will take over 400 hours to make. The cuts are then either used as stand alone art pieces or through to screen prints and occasionally into laser cut cards and more commercial items. He has his work shop with screen print facilities and a small kiln around the corner form the Ryan Town hop on Columbia Road, he sees it as really exciting that the work created in the workshop during the week is then taken to the shop for sale at the weekend, that the quantities are small and you get the response from the customer. Very much inspired by Keith Haring in the 1980's where his work was created for all sectors of the market from fine art pieces to screen printed badges.

Discussed the range of collaborations that he has undertaken and the feeling that you need to have a go at lots of different things to get ideas out to as many people as possible and to see what will work. R.R. has done much publishing work of book covers and illustration work -The Gift- Carol Ann Duffy, yet found publishing companies often difficult, he is working on his own book at the moment which enables him to write and draw his own work. He talked about a large collaboration with Paul Smith where he wasn't paid for his design and the design was used extensively on a wide range of products, this could have created bitterness, but R.R. saw this as a beneficial process as it enabled his work to be seen extensively and the beginning of future working relationship which has been beneficial for both parties.


Rob Ryan with bag designed with Lulu Guiness

"Give me work to last me all my life"

"Shall we call in sick one day and travel to the sea and hold hands all day"

Sue Lawty

2011-02-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

I attended the Creative Networks talk at Leeds College of Art on Thursday http://creativenetworkswestyorkshire.co.uk/ by artist Sue Lawty. I have met Sue a few times before and she is such an inspiring woman with her work, her approach to work and her calmness and willingness to share ideas and thoughts. The aim of the talk was to present her World Beach Project which is in collaboration with the V&A, a virtual exhibition housed within a National Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/lawty/world_beach/map_gallery/index.php?section=1

The blog "Concealed, Discovered, Revealed" documents Sue's work with the V&A from her first commissioned exhibition work to the World Beach work

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1395_lawty/wordpress/?m=200507
"In the studio I like to be free to work intuitively - feeling my way inch by inch - making decisions based on what has been laid down previously. It’s very much a two way process - a dialogue between the artist and the work.

This apparent spontaneity is based upon years of experience and research - drawing, written and visual notes, photography, sampling, making and just looking - trying to develop a critical understanding of what it is I’m doing.

My work is abstract. It is informed by the land - most particularly by rock for it’s embodiement of time and structure. And it is informed through the study of textile - looking at qualities of texture, material, rhythm and most importantly - structure.

I am passionate about both. Both inform each other. Another dialogue.

My work in room 101 at the V&A is merely a point thirty years into a journey of discovery - destination unknown."

I had heard of the project when doing a workshop with Sue at Bankfield Museum so up loaded my own images of Agsie drawing with stones on Tralee beach, Argyll.

The Victoria and Albert Museum site is brilliant in the way it shows the possibilities of a virtual gallery and how to engage a wide audience to contribute and share the possibilities of creativity and drawing with and within nature. So if you happen to be on a beach add another mark to the Victoria and Albert map.

Etsy Post

2011-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

Just managed to post two more pieces on Etsy but need some photography or photoshop lessons asap for the next posts. Please take a look if you have a moment.

My Etsy shop

Block Library

2011-02-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

Having realised that I had last audited my blocks in 2007 and a lot has happened since then, in my usual procrastinating manner ie. i had a hat to finish I have sorted out my blocks and cataloged them all so I know what I have and haven't. The cupboard no longer looks as if they may all fall out and I feel organised, a rare occurrence.

One block escaped addition to the block library, (it was hiding behind the door) so here it is. Please take a look at the block library it may inspire you to new creation ideas.

Frederick Fox Brim no.55

etsy shop opening

2011-02-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

Thank you Fiona, after the lesson to my HNC students on internet presence etc motivated and with the wherewithal to try, I have finally managed to set up an etsy store. It has taken most of the day! Computer skills needing some assistance but finally an item posted and a banner. So if you would like to take a look that would be brilliant and feedback as to the layout much appreciated.

tartan twist beret