Indian Palace Ornament

On my trip to Rajasthan in February we visited a lot of palaces and temples as well as seeing craft producers. Everywhere we went there was fascinating architecture and amazing decoration. The Maharajas who lived in the palaces were not into minimalist interior design, every surface was covered in rich and sumptuous decoration. This surface ornamentation varied from the breathtakingly beautiful to the frankly tasteless but it was never dull. My camera should have been red-hot with the number of shots I took. The few photographs I present to you here are just a taste of the ornamentation found in a number of Rajasthan palaces.Deprived of real power by the British, the Indian princes put much of their
great wealth into building these deliberately impressive palaces and filling
them with extravagant objects. It is not really clear who was meant to be
impressed, whether the subjects of these princes, their foreign overlords, or if they
were simply trying to convince themselves of their own greatness, but there was
certainly a lot of effort put into the enterprise.

While these palaces do have a distinctive style of their own, I was struck by how many of the decorative motifs used were not particularly Indian in feeling and were in fact vaguely familiar. It took a while before I realised that a good deal of the decoration could have been taken directly from “The Grammar of Ornament” by Owen Jones. The style of decoration in these palaces appears to be drawn, not just from the Indian tradition but from a Victorian British aesthetic as well.

Owen Jones was a Victorian architect and designer who published his major work “The Grammar of Ornament” in 1856. This classic work was a great influence on successive generations of designers and provided both inspiration and source material for major Arts and Crafts figures such as William Morris and William De Morgan. The book is still available in print today.
“The Grammar of Ornament” was an investigation into the design motifs of varied cultures and periods but Owen, by a process of selection and subtle transformation, managed to transform all his sources until they looked unmistakeably Victorian.

Art In Action

I spent last weekend at the Art in Action show held in Waterperry Gardens, near Oxford. This annual festival of visual arts has been running since 1977 and is still going strong. Hundreds of artists and craftsmen came together to display their creations, demonstrate their techniques, and discuss their inspirations. Luckily, the weekend was gloriously sunny, the atmosphere was fun and energetic, and I had a really fantastic couple of days.

Out of all the displays, I found the ceramics marquee and the glass marquee to be the most exciting – some works were fun and quirky, and some were incredibly beautiful in form and colour.

Here are some photographs showing just a few of the many interesting things that caught my eye.

Linda Dangoor, ceramics.

Tim Boswell, glass.

Ali Yanya, ‘Souk,’ watercolour.

John Stroomer, ceramics.

If you get a chance, Waterperry Gardens are also well worth a visit. Established by the formidable Miss Havergal (believed to be the inspiration for Roald Dahl’s Miss Trunchbull), the gardens feature beautiful herbaceous borders and some lovely old trees as well as a gallery, garden centre and café.

Some Textile Work as a Break from Making Textiles!

Those of you who are familiar with my work will have figured out that my process for making textile art pieces is quite meticulous and painstaking. This suits me fine and I love what I do but still I enjoy a change of pace now and again. This often involves dressmaking (I have made a few Indian style shirts since my trip to Rajasthan in February.) Recently I decided to make some bags for a change. I had material lying around that I could not find another use for and it seemed like a quick, fun project.

One of the new bags I made (this one has velvet handles)

The material was heavyweight curtain/cushion fabric with nice hand embroidery on it. Add to this some bits of velvet and wool for straps and trimming plus some cotton/polyester lining material (both also lying around in my ridiculously large material stocks) and I was all set to go bag making.

Another version (this one with blue-green woollen handles)

The end result was three nice new bags, each with slight variations in size, proportion and strap design. A good use of materials I had at hand and a nice change from fiddly embroidery.

The third bag (this one with a red woollen shoulder strap)

To finish the new bags off I had some wooden buttons made based on my brooch designs.

Wooden button based on my brooch design

I have made lots of bags over the years. Here is one I made for my daughter several years ago.

A bag I made several years ago (designed with two alternative fronts)

The other side of the same bag

The Art of Karen Nicols

One result of producing this blog is that I have spent much more time reading blogs written by other people. Finding blogs which have something to say to you can sometimes seem like looking for a needle in a haystack, there is just so much stuff on the web. When you do discover things you feel in tune with it is very rewarding. A lot of things you read are just great fun but others can give you a whole new outlook on a subject or person. This happened to me recently when I discovered a couple of posts that transformed how I saw an artist.

The post entitled More Stitchery on Mage and Raven’s blog and another on Lovely Textiles led me to look closely at the work of Karen Nicol and completely reassess her art. To the extent that I was aware of Karen Nicol at all, it was as someone who made decorated clothing and accessories which involved a sense of humor I did not connect with. I have a fear that I may even have dismissed them as “lightweight.”  I now realize that I had never taken the time to really look at and appreciate her work before.
Karen’s current fine art work is based on images of animals and I have to say that they strike me as extremely potent, powerful images.
Frank Auerbach defined art as creating images that don’t bleed into other images and the best of Nicol’s animals stand up to this test. Her images of monkeys in particular, have seared themselves into my brain. In the end this post is just a reminder that you should really look at things before you dismiss them. I suggest that you take a few minutes to check out these nice blogs and maybe take a look at Karen Nicol’s own website.
Karen seems very busy right now with a solo show in New York in November followed by an exhibition of her monkey images at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London next March. She has a new book entitled Embellished- New Vintage, published by A&C Black.

(All images copyright Karen Nicols)

Textile Neckpiece and Bracelet for a Golden Age

The Devon Guild of Craftsmen Summer Show this year has the title “Reaching for Gold.” Although the immediate obvious connection is with the upcoming Olympics, I thought I would explore other possible meanings as inspiration for my entry. I kept returning to the idea of a Golden Age and the very human desire to reach back to supposed Golden Ages of the past.

Textile Neckpiece for a Golden Age

The Golden Age of Chinese art is generally considered to be the period covering the Tang and Song dynasties (618 to 1279 AD.) It was during this period that much of the “visual language” that today we think of as Chinese art was developed. Painting, calligraphy and ceramics (as well as poetry) all reached what connoisseurs consider to be their highest levels of achievement. The later great flowering of Chinese porcelain relied almost entirely on forms and decorative motifs that were developed in this earlier period. In fact, virtually every piece of Chinese fine or decorative art produced since the late 13^th century draws on these earlier times.

Textile Bracelet for a Golden Age

One classic Chinese motif that particularly resonates with me is the cloud. Clouds bear various traditional meanings – they can symbolise heaven or good luck – but at the level of form they express wonderful movement and rhythm. These swirling designs have a long history and can be traced back to the linear designs that were used to decorate Shang dynasty bronzes over 3000 years ago. In this latest project, cloud motifs wind around and through the design.

Phoenix and Clouds – design from a Ming dynasty bronze panel

This neckpiece and bracelet are very much designed to make a statement, utilising the ideas behind my recent work to create a grander and more celebratory piece.
They posed a new technical challenge, as I had to learn how to integrate and overlap numerous separate pieces. This is very different from the way I make my brooches, which in most cases involves creating a form by twisting and stitching just one piece of fabric.

Reaching for Gold runs until September at The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracy, Devon.

Textile Neckpiece for a Golden Age

Textile Neckpiece for a Golden Age

Textile Neckpiece for a Golden Age – detail

Textile Neckpiece for a Golden Age – back detail

Textile Neckpiece for a Golden Age

Textile Bracelet for a Golden Age – detail

Textile Bracelet for a Golden Age – detail

Textile Bracelet for a Golden Age – reverse

Textile Bracelet for a Golden Age

Pheonix and Clouds – design from a Ming dynasty bronze panel

Related post: Devon Guild Summer Show

Devon Guild Summer Show

On Friday, Alex and I travelled down to Riverside Mill in Bovey Tracy for the opening of the Summer Show of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. The Devon Guild is the premier craft organisation for the South-West of England, and boasts a beautiful gallery.

Neckpiece and bracelet at Devon Guild

Devon Guild of Craftsmen

This year the show is entitled “Reaching for Gold,” and I had entered a neckpiece and a matching bracelet – I’ll be putting up a detailed post about these pieces soon. The exhibition was a fascinating mix of everything from large-scale ceramics and furniture, to prints, clothing and some exquisite precious metalwork.

The beautiful, historic Riverside Mill

Unfortunately, we were making a long car journey up to Oxford that evening and so we were unable to wait for the official opening speeches or for the announcement of awards.

Jubilee gallery – Reaching for Gold

If you have a chance to visit the West Country, I heartily recommend that you find time to visit this great gallery and craft shop. “Reaching for Gold” runs until the 2^nd of September.

Indian Doors

I find doors interesting. The door to a home marks a border; a dividing line between outside and inside; between “ours” and “theirs.” Old doors that have seen a lot of history have a character all of their own. They can say a lot about the sort of people who have lived there.
When I was in Rajasthan, India earlier this year I photographed a lot of doors. Here is a selection of them.

This ancient rusting iron door was amazing!

Detail of the door above

The rusting iron door-frame

And of course, with a door there is always the possibility of a glimpse inside.

In another post soon I will show you some doors from China.

My Love for Earrings

I adore earrings. They are the one form of jewellery that I have always obsessively collected – or at least I did until I started making them as a business eight or nine years ago.

Earrings made in 2011

Shopping for earrings was once one of my greatest pleasures and my husband always knew what to look for when he was stuck for a present. I have never been too interested in the value of the things that I hung from my ears, gold or found objects are pretty much the same to me. The only strict criterion was that they should be distinctive; that they should not blend into the background of all the other ordinary earrings on the market.
Over the years I had made earrings too, for myself and sometimes for friends. I would use beads or found objects, even feathers; and then, almost a decade ago I hit on a way of using my textile techniques to make earrings that satisfied me. Faced with making earrings myself every week, my love affair with buying earrings faded.
I still wore earrings, of course, but for a while I felt like I had to be a walking advertising hoarding and always wear my own creations. Now I am much more relaxed and regularly enjoy donning my old favourites bought many years ago.
I still love to look at earrings by other craft makers but I rarely buy now. In truth I probably own so many that I could always dig out something that looks fresh without ever getting another new pair. I am not saying that I never will though!

Earrings made in 2006

Earrings made in 2007

Earrings made in 2007

Earrings made in 2009

Earrings made in 2010

Earrings made in 2010

Earrings made in 2011

Earrings made in 2012

Related Posts: My Jewellery; Early Textile Jewellery; A Clockwork Orange;
Neckpiece and Earrings.

Embroidery Workshop

I’ve been using a sewing machine for a few decades now, and over the years I’ve picked up lots of techniques, hints and tricks. However, I still love to learn new things, and so last week I jumped at the chance to attend a workshop with a renowned expert in the field of embroidery, Sue Rangeley.

Detail of my workshop piece

Sue Rangeley teaches and writes about specialist embroidery techniques, including the process of stitching on soluble fabrics, rouleaux, free machining and the use of sheer fabrics. The day was particularly interesting for me because I regularly use many of the same approaches that Sue uses but with distinctly different results.

Sue demonstrating

Sue began with a one hour talk, covering her inspirations and the development of her ideas, and then discussed examples of her own work, showing the techniques we would be using in the workshop. Everyone taking this workshop was already a highly skilled machinist, which enabled Sue to concentrate on her specialisms.

Sue demonstrating the “rouleaux” technique

I was strongly struck by Sue’s highly methodical research into techniques, as I have a tendency to throw things together and see what happens. Her carefully accumulated knowledge of different organzas and other sheer fabrics gave me a lot of new ideas and fresh perspectives.

Sue shows her method of free machining on organza

I spent much of the workshop working on a test piece using free embroidery on soluble media. Although I was familiar with the technique, working with someone who has such highly-developed skills in this area was really informative.

My test piece on soluble fabric

The test piece after dissolving the base fabric

Some of the pieces produced by the workshop participants

So, will I be integrating the things I learned at this workshop into my own work? I’ve got a couple of ideas that I intend to experiment with, but even though it may never be obvious, I believe that everything I learn goes on to influence the way I create.

Another test piece I made at the workshop

I had a really fantastic day!

Sue Rangeley’s book “Embroidered Originals” is available from Amazon and most bookshops.
You can find her at: http://www.suerangeley.co.uk

Signed copies of Sue’s book available from her  website: www.suerangeley.co.uk , go  to Publications page or email: sue.rangeley@btinternet.com for  further details

Glass Beads

A few weeks ago I spent a fantastic day at a glass bead workshop, thanks to a lovely friend who arranged it as a present. The workshop was held at the studios of Mango Beads, run by Manda Muddimer in Barnstaple: http://www.mangobeads.co.uk/

Some of my first attempts

I’ve never worked with glass before and found the whole day was enormous fun, although some of the techniques felt a bit like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time! Like any skill it’s mainly a question of familiarity and I definitely feel like this is a craft that I could become really absorbed in.

I need much more practice!

The trial beads I made during the day were a bit too crude to be really satisfying, but I am so glad that I had this opportunity to try out a new area of craftwork. Sadly, I may have to face the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to pursue all the things I am, or could be, interested in! I hope that one day I’ll find the time for a deeper exploration of the world of glass.

How it should be done!

The beads shown above were made by Manda and are an example of what can be made using the lampwork beadmaking process.

Beads by Manda Muddimer

A Purple Textile Brooch

Hi everyone, I’m afraid I don’t have much new work to show you at the moment because I’m hard at work on a special exhibition piece (more on this in due course, can’t say too much about it right now!)

So instead I thought I’d share a photo of one of my favourite brooches from last year, I hope you like it!

Purple Textile Brooch

Bonsai tree hand-embroidery

One of my favourite ways to relax is to do hand embroidery, and over the years I’ve embroidered quite a few pieces. These include a series of works based on bonsai trees, since my husband used to train bonsai as well as make exquisite handcrafted bonsai pots.

I was inspired by the challenge of creating a sense of depth and form, and by the beauty of the pots and the trees. I embroider using a single strand of thread at a time, building up the colours and tones. I used to spend a few hours a day on the embroideries, but they would still take me months to finish!

Here is an embroidery of a juniper tree, the trunk of this particular tree had a patch of silvery deadwood that intertwined with the live bark – it was one of my favourites.

I’ll be posting some more photos of other embroideries in the future, hope you enjoy my work!

Juniper Bonsai – hand embroidery 22 X 22cm (approx 8.75″ X 8.75″).

Juniper Bonsai – hand embroidery

Hong Kong: skyscrapers and surrealism

With paper sculptures and giant apples on the inside, along with his ‘n hers coloured glass and warped reflections on the outside, here are a few photos of my favourite buildings in Hong Kong.

On the Silk Road (Part Two): Shadow of the Great Wall

In my first post in this Silk Road series, I showed some of the photos that my husband and daughter took in western China, and I talked a bit about how these had inspired me to create two embroidered pictures.

This post is going to focus on the first of these pictures:
“Shadow of the Great Wall.”

“Shadow of the Great Wall”

This piece was inspired by the ruined watch towers of the Great Wall, which stud the landscape like worn-down, broken teeth. These towers are lonely remnants of China’s past glories, and they’re a long way from the snaking stretches of wall to the North of Beijing, which are often covered in a blanket of tourists, bottles and scratched out hearts. These towers are abandoned and, long stripped of their brick facings, their solid cores continue to fight against the passing of time.

Ruined Watchtower on the Great Wall.

Although the piece required plenty of the techniques that I use to make my jewellery pieces, it also required a lot more composition. I wanted the image to be abstract but maintain a sense of form. This time, instead of making a piece that was actually 3D, I aimed to give a 2D picture depth and a strong feeling of texture.
I’ve included a few shots to show you the work in progress, but I’ve realised that I didn’t take any photos of the initial stages – evidently remembered halfway through!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and send me a comment if you’ve got any questions!

“Shadow of the Great Wall”

Scatterings from the studio

I have always loved collecting interesting objects (I’m probably a bit obsessive about it), so my studio is filled with things that I’ve found, bought or made. In amongst the snippets of fabric and stacks of beads, the surfaces have scatterings of seashells and stones, lichen and wood, pottery and glasswork.

I like having plenty of inspiration around me when I experiment with textiles, whether from natural objects or from someone else’s lovingly crafted artwork.
So today I thought I’d share a few photos of the things that I keep around my studio, hope you find a little inspiration too!