New Hippystitch Necklaces Now In At The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

 

A new selection of Hippystitch fabric necklaces have winged their way to The Ropewalk Craft Gallery in Barton upon Humber.  There are lots of different patterns and colours to choose from and some super Liberty prints...

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

Whether you like brights, darks or neutral colours there's something for you in this selection...

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

The Ropewalk has exhibitions on in its galleries as well as it's Craft Gallery Shop. There's also The Ropewalk Museum and a coffee shop, not to mention some nice walks nearby. It's well worth a visit - go see!

Using the Unusual - My Pages in the Travelling Book

 

You may wonder what this is all about. Well - it's my turn to complete some pages in the York Embroiderers and Stitchers' Travelling Book. York Embroiderers and Stitchers (YES) are a friendly group of stitch and textile enthusiasts of all levels of ability and experience and the Travelling Book is a book that members of the group add to every month with samples of whatever work they choose. It may be examples of stitched work but it could be mixed media work or something else.

I decided I would go with the theme of "using the unusual" and to narrow that down a bit I chose coffee as a linking factor. I used colourful coffee packaging, used coffee pods, and leftover coffee to paint some papers for the background...

Colourful Coffee Packaging

Used Coffee Pods

Paper Painted & Marked With Coffee

I experimented with the coffee packaging by cutting out shapes and ironing them onto paper.  This worked well but when I tried sewing into it, I had to add a layer of calico behind to stop the paper ripping.  This was because I had used basic printer paper and I didn't like how the paper looked...

Initial Sample

I then tried ironing the coffee packaging directly onto fabric but it didn't stick so I decided to try using Khadi paper.  This is a comparatively heavy cotton rag paper which I thought would be suitable to stitch into and has a nice colour and texture. Firstly, I made a coffee packaging collage and then embellished it with some simple stitches - backstitch, crossstitch and French knots.  Most of the packaging had stuck well after ironing but a few areas were lifting a little so I added a few coats of acrylic wax to the whole piece, which I hoped would seal it down. It worked...

Coffee Packaging and Stitch on Khadi Paper

My next challenge was to create something with the coffee pods. I had seen various people on Instagram making things (mostly jewellery) with upcycled coffee pods and I thought I could use the same techniques to make some flowers.  (See @renatamarilon.up, @coffeepodcreations, @sustained_wrapture)

I made a variety of different coffee pod flowers.  Then, having decided where the flowers were going to go on my background fabric, which was made up of two layers of calico, I machine stitched the stems and leaves before appliqueing the flowers in place.  The paper leaves were cut from an old magazine.  I used buttons and/or stitch to secure the coffee pod flowers in place.  Finally, I added some hand stitching to finish the piece...

Coffee Pod Flowers With Hand and Machine Stitch

Coffee Pod Flowers (detail)

Coffee Pod Flowers (detail)

Once all my pieces were finished, I attached them either directly to the book or to my coffee painted papers.  I then added some explanation of what I'd done, and my pages were complete...

Finished Pages Before Folding Out

Fold Up Collage for Explanation

Fold Out Coffee Painting to Reveal Coffee Pod Flowers and Explanation

Finished Pages Showing Fold Outs

I even managed to make a little book with my initial sample and some left over paper painted with coffee ...

Mini notebook made from my initial sample of coffee packaging & stitch and leftover coffee painted paper

Now what shall I do with that?

El Anatsui - Behind the Red Moon - Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London

El Anatsui - The Red Moon

 

El Anatsui - Behind the Red Moon is the latest Hyundai Commission on show in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London. El Anatsui was born in Ghana and currently works in both Ghana and Nigeria. His monumental sculptures are made up of thousands of bottle tops and fragments.

As you enter the Turbine Hall, descending the ramp, the first of three sculptures greets you.  This is The Red Moon which, we are told, looks like a billowing sail.  The circular Red Blood Moon element within the sail is made of bottle tops...

El Anatsui - The Red Moon (detail)

The reverse side looks like a large yellow sail...

El Anatsui - The Red Moon (yellow side)

The symbolism of the sails was to bring to mind ships and the transportation of goods and people across the globe.  Sailors would also sometimes use the moon for navigational purposes.  During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, enslaved African peoples were taken across the ocean to the Americas where they were sold or traded for goods such as gold, sugar, spirits and other commodities.  The bottle tops used in the piece come from modern commodities rooted in colonial industries, thus El Anatsui hopes to expose the connected histories of Europe, Africa and America through the use of waste from industries built on colonial trade routes.

The next piece you come to is The World.  From underneath and from the main gallery side it just looks like a series of fragments of knitted wire or wire mesh but when viewed from a particular point on the bridge all the fragments line up to look like the world.  The circular nature of this piece echoes the circular moon in The Red Moon.

El Anatsui - The World

El Anatsui sees fragments as a symbol of renewal and restoration with the capacity to reform.

El Anatsui - The World

El Anatsui - The World

The final piece is The Wall.  This is the largest piece and like The Red Moon, is double sided...

El Anatsui - The Wall

The side you first encounter is largely black and trails on the floor in folds. El Anatsui sees the black as symbolising Africa and its diaspora with a potential for homecoming and return.

El Anatsui - The Wall (detail)

The reverse side is brighter in colour....

El Anatsui - The Wall 

El Anatsui - The Wall (detail)

El Anatsui - The Wall (detail)

El Anatsui - The Wall (detail)

El Anatsui - The Wall (detail)

El Anatsui sees walls as both structures that constrain and encircle but also that hide things.  In hiding things, he thinks this may provoke curiosity which could be harnessed to overcome the constraining nature of the walls.

He sees the black and multicoloured nature of The Wall as symbolising the clash of global cultures and the hybrid identities that result.

The Wall and The Red Moon look like large patchwork quilts made from recycled metal pieces that are stitched together with wire.  As such, they could be taken apart and reconstructed to create different installations.  They are fascinating.  The wall is particularly interesting as you can get close to it to see how it has been made and what it is made up of. Anatsui works with a large team of assistants who work together to assemble the sculptures.

This exhibition is on until 14 April 2024.  Go see - definitely worth visiting!  

Open Exhibition 2024 - The Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough

Lynne Chapman - Ruby (detail)

Yesterday I went, with some friends, to see the third Open Exhibition at The Old Parcels Office Artspace in Scarborough.  Eighty works were selected from over 400, representing both established and emerging artists from across the North and further afield.  The exhibition closes tomorrow (Sunday 10 March 2024 - 11am to 4pm) so why not take a trip to Scarborough and take a look.  Here are some of my favourites...

Lynne Chapman's dress - Ruby, seemed awash with memories...

Lynne Chapman - Ruby 

Janine Baldwin - Melting III - was a glorious mixed media collage, which had won the Open 2024 2D prize...

Janine Baldwin - Melting III

Shirley Vauvelle's Beast and Blue Bird made from porcelain and driftwood also caught my attention...

Shirley Vauvelle - Beast and Blue Bird 

I loved both of Jon O'Connor's works - both acrylic and mixed media on a wood panel...

Jon O'Connor - Urbanism #1

Jon O'Connor - Power of the Vend

I liked the simplicity of Petra Ingham's House on the Hill - Purple & Yellow...

Petra Ingham - House on the Hill - Purple & Yellow 

I am always drawn to textile works, so apart from Lynne Chapman's Ruby there was also Linda Harvey's Middleport Wall, using stitched, printed and hand dyed fabrics...

Linda Harvey - Middleport Wall

Isobel Blockley's Lungs - breathing becomes difficult, utilising fabric, stitch, digital print and ink pencils...

Isobel Blockley - Lungs - breathing becomes difficult

Mary Whitehouse's Waste Age Coat made from waste wool remnants...

Mary Whitehouse - Waste Age Coat

and Shirani Bolle's You are not what you think which was a very vibrant punch needle piece using yarn, thread, sequins & beads on monks cloth... 

Shirani Bolle - You are not what you think (detail)

My final two choices are Louise Bass's Departure (acrylic on board)...

Louise Bass - Departure

and Lindsey Tyson's mixed media Roadworks 2...

Lindsey Tyson - Roadworks 2

It was great to look around the exhibition.  It would have been even better if there had been a little bit of info about each piece.  The Old Parcels Office Artspace is right by the railway station, in the carpark, so don't miss it!

Scarborough North Bay

Why not finish off your trip with a with a dip in the sea, a walk along the promenade, a trip round the castle, a visit to Anne Bronte's grave or some fish & chips!

Anne Bronte's Grave

Scarborough's a great day out!

Hippystitch at York Makers Winter Fair - Saturday 25 November 2023

Flyer designed by Lucy Monkman

 

The York Makers Winter Fair is nearly here and it's going to be great! It's at Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York, YO23 1BW on Saturday 25 November 2023 from 10am to 4pm.  Entry is free and there is a cafe.  I shall be there and I thought you might like to know what I'm bringing.

Hippystitch Fabric Necklaces

Hippystitch Flower Button Bracelets

As well as my colourful fabric necklaces pictured above and my flower button bracelets, I shall be bringing some stitched cords which are completely new.  If you're wondering what to do with these - you can use them to wrap up presents or you can stitch them into small vessels, as pictured below...

Stitched Cords & How to Use Them

I have made some new flower button brooches which are also very colourful - some are small and some are large with leather flowers...

Small Flower Button Brooches

Large Leather Flower Button Brooches

And completely new for this year, I have a lucky dip.  These are a bargain and would make lovely Christmas presents.  They are samples, experiments or lines that I don't make any more.  Once you've had a lucky dip, you may not be able to resist coming back for more.

Lucky Dip Bags

I will be bringing other things too but just thought you'd like to get a taster.

There will also be lots of other local makers there too selling ceramics, woodturned items, leather goods, stained glass, terrazzo homeware, wildlife inspired sculpture, jewellery, textiles both knitted and stitched, felted items, art, prints, cards, and baked goods. Take a look at York Makers on facebook or instagram to find out more about the Winter Fair stallholders and for a chance to win a £25 voucher to spend at the fair (giveaway closes on Monday 20 November at 6pm).

Christmas Cards & Justacard Christmas Pin

And remember,  all us makers, artists and small businesses really appreciate it when you buy from us, even if it's just a card.  In fact you can read more about the justacard campaign here.  Please follow and support @justacard which encourages people to value and buy from artists, makers, independent shops and small businesses.  In fact I've added my Justacard Christmas pin with the pictures of my Christmas cards above and below.  I shall be wearing it at the Winter Fair on Saturday!

Reindeer Badge Christmas Cards & Justacard Christmas Pin

Hope to see you at the York Makers Winter Fair!

Image: @angela.chick.illustration