I’m in the
middle of the final preparations for the Knitting and Stitching Show next week.
Gail Baxter and I have an exhibition entitled ‘Lace at the edge’ in gallery
TG21 at Alexandra Palace next week and it will then move on to Harrogate in
November. The work will be packed up after the London show, stored, and then
transported to Harrogate for us, which is very convenient, but does mean we
have to pack our work securely but in a way that won’t crease it while it’s in
storage for 6 weeks. I’m buying masses of tissue paper and bubble wrap and
hoping that will do the trick. I’m sure it’s stored very carefully, but you
also have to take into account that the boxes might be kept upside down or on
their side, and pack accordingly! Luckily the hanging system for my veils isn’t
very complicated; all that’s required are pins and a hammer, so I don’t need
many tools, although I am taking things like scissors, sellotape, and white blu
tack just in case I need them. We have ordered labels, an information board and
a board with our names on in advance so they should be waiting for us and I
have my nice new business cards! Do come and see us and say hello if you’re
going to the Show it’s on from Wednesday 5 October to Sunday 9 October.
Thursday 29 September 2016
Thursday 22 September 2016
Business cards
I’ve just had
another batch of business cards printed so I have enough for the Knitting and
Stitching Show galleries at Alexandra Palace and Harrogate this autumn. It’s
always difficult to decide on one design that represents the entirety of your
work. I want to convey the idea that my work is based on lace but might include
other fabrics and embroidery and is conceptual in nature, so I don’t want
anything too specific. I think going for a close up image works well as it
isn’t really linked to any particular body of work. My previous card had a
frill and some tambour lace from my lace curtain work, so it incorporated the
curtain, lace and text in a fairly unspecific way. This time I’ve gone for
another nonspecific image. This one is taken from one of the veils in my latest
body of work, showing fine netting, pins and the edge of the veil. I hope it
conveys the idea of lace and beauty, but that the juxtaposition of net and pins
adds a layer of uncertainty and subversiveness - beauty with a hint of menace!
Wednesday 14 September 2016
Flower doily
I was honoured
to be invited by Maria Bissacco to take part in the recent exhibition at The
Lace School in Valtopina entitled ‘Interpretare il segno’. Maria sent each of
the participants a series of drawings of stylised flowers and asked them to
interpret the drawings as they liked. As I have previously designed and made
some unusual lace doilies I decided that I would make another
non-functional lace mat. I selected one of the flower shapes and expanded it to a
diameter of about 25 cm, then widened the petals so that they touched one
another and formed a unified mat-like shape. I wanted to acknowledge the floral
origin of the doily without it looking exactly like a flower so I added chains
of lace and fringes at certain points around the edge of the design, which also
held it together more effectively. I worked the piece as a continuous tape lace,
following the curves of the petals, and joining the sections as I worked around
the design. Once I’d finished the main outline I added fillings to the shapes
by working a continuous two-paired plait across each petal. I had to work out
the path of my threads before I started and make sewings and crossings as I
needed them, but mostly I managed to fill the entire space with just two pairs.
As I made some of the crossings I also inserted some small strips of iridescent
fabric to add a third dimension and give the suggestion of butterflies resting
on the flower. They also subverted the idea of a traditional lace mat by making
it completely non-functional.
Friday 9 September 2016
Commemorative lace and silk panels
I was
interested to see this ‘Stevengraph’ at Macclesfield Silk Museum as it reminded
me of the commemorative lace panels I’ve been looking at recently. Both the
lace panels and these silk panels were used to commemorate and advertise
events. According to the information at Macclesfield, Thomas Stevens of
Coventry began making woven bookmarks in the 1860s. They proved so popular that
in 1879 he started producing silk pictures as well. The one in the image shows
the venue of an exhibition held in Chicago in 1893 and appears to have been
woven during the exhibition presumably as a souvenir for the audience to
purchase. During a recent visit to the Newstead Abbey lace collection I saw a
larger panel celebrating the 1862 International Exhibition held in London. That
one, about 60 x 40 cm in size, could have been available to purchase or, more
likely, was used as advertising on a lace manufacturer’s stand to show the
skill and versatility of the lace machines. The patterns on both the silk and
lace panels would have been produced using Jacquard cards.
Friday 2 September 2016
Vampire veil
The lace I
have just finished is inspired by another nineteenth century gothic novel –
this time Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I designed the lace to incorporate ‘fangs’ and
the suggestion of insect mouth parts between them to emphasise the idea of
biting. The red glass beads hanging from the fangs represent drops of blood. It
was quite difficult to find the right shape and colour of bead but I think
these lovely ruby red Czech beads have the right mix of beauty and menace. I
decided to make the veil black to reference Victorian mourning veils and the
glass beads also suggest the Whitby jet beads that were often used in mourning
jewellery. Whitby is also the place where Dracula disembarks in England and is
the scene of some of the important episodes in the story so a reference to
Whitby seemed appropriate. This veil, with the others in the series, will be
exhibited at the gallery at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace
that I’m sharing with Gail Baxter from 5 to 9 October.
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