Needlewomen

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

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

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

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

Camelia House YSP

Always an inspiration and greatly missed. xx

Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

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

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