Cas Holmes

I recently attended a workshop with Cas Holmes, another of my favorite artists (cas holmes). I had the chance to listen to a talk by her on the Friday evening and then go to the workshop on the Saturday. We were looking at creating and then printing with collograph blocks made from found materials.

We were on tables of four and started by drawing an object in front of us. We then had to pass this around the table and redraw our object. The sketch on the left is after all four of us have drawn our object. We then had to isolate part of the design.

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 This then formed the design for the block. Cardboard was used and scraps of fabric, scrim, paper etc were glued on. Paint was added and we used this to print from. Normally you would glue the bits down with stronger glue and you would seal the block with varnish before using it but we only had a few hours which left no drying time.

The block was printed several times onto two pieces of white fabric

Further embellishments were added. All that is needed now is some stitching.

London

On a recent visit to London I saw some interesting exhibitions. One was at the Fashion and Textiles Museum called 'Knitwear: Chanel to Westward'. This was fascinating if you like knitting. I can only show you a few examples as you were not supposed to take photographs which I didn't realise at first.
The exhibition started with some pieces by contemporary designers.

Fashion and Armour: Proud looks and brave attire by Juliana Sissons in 2011 - knitted with cotton and gold copper wire.

Mr Elephant hat and Mr Lion gloves by Yang Du in 2011.

The Natural Blonde by Sibling in 2013 - this was hand knitted in giant loop stitch.

A petticoat from the beginning of the twentieth century.

A jacket and skirt in wool jersey by Chanel in 1918.

Daywear and swimwear from the 1930's.

There was another exhibition in the museum called 'Pattern: Watts' Architect Wallpapers'. This was a lovely display of hand block printed wallpapers. They even had some of the blocks on display too. The company still exists and you can still have these wallpapers printed (see www.watts1874.co.uk)

Bodley Beaton Pink by G F Bodley in 1870

Oakleaf by Bodey in 1870 with two of the wooden blocks

Sunflower in Burnt Ginger 1874

Triad by Pugin in 1845

Old English Eton in 1882

Pear Hand Blocked

Bentinck

Venetian in Eau de Nil by Bodley in 1880 with the two blocks and a detail of the first block.

The museum is close to the Shard and the river so I walked down that way. Some of the modern buildings are amazing.

I obviously had to take a picture of Tower Bridge and of the Tower of London.

As part of the Remembrance of the beginning of the First World War there is an installation around the Tower. 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' by Paul Cummins is made up of ceramic poppies which will continue being planted until November 11th (Tower of London Remembers)

Alexandra Palace

The Knitting and Stitching Show is a fantastic opportunity to see both contemporary and traditional work. There are lots of people demonstrating and trying to sell you things you never knew you needed. For me, the best thing is that you get a chance to actually talk to all these wonderful artists.

As usual there were plenty of interesting things to look at. Ann Small and Sue Walton had collaborated to produce a collection called 'Walk on the Wildside' making use of found objects.

 There was a lot of felt on display this year. Fi Oberon and Alula's Garden had some beautiful felted animals on their stand. (alulasgarden.co.uk)

This work by Jo Beattie entitled 'Precious Moments' was so fine and delicate. She had produced much larger pieces as well as these small framed ones. Jo was there very enthusiastically explaining to anyone how she produced her beautiful work.

Black Sheep - The Darker Side of Felt contained some very unusual felt pieces

 Caren Carfen's 'She Was Cooking Something Up' considers women's issues in the 21st century. It took quite a while to read all the captions. (carengarfen.com)

This work 'Ripeness and Age' by Renate Keeping featured wonderful watercolours and embroidered 3D apples showing their gradual decay. (thekeepinggallery.co.uk)

 Another take on felt was by Stephanie Metz who produced lots of organic looking items (stephaniemetz.com)

These felt pieces by Bridget Bernedette Karn were so fine and detailed they didn't look like felt. (bridgetbernadettekarn.com)

 There was quite a lot of 3D work on display this year including these pieces by Jean Bennett

 Environmental issues were again a popular theme. These pieces by Lindsay Taylor emphasised the effects of our rubbish on wildlife. (lindsay_taylor.co.uk

'The Shore Archive' by Mary Flynn used rubbish, particularly plastic, that she collected on the beaches on the the Isle of Wight.

EAST (easttextile.co.uk) had an exhibition called 'Between the Lines' and is a response to the First World War. This piece by June Carroll particularly caught my eye.

Gilda Baron was there again with her stunning work, still sharing her enthusiasm with everyone but particularly students. (gildabaron.com)

This work by Robina Melville was made using bobbin and needle lace. It formed part of an exhibition called 'Shape Shifting' by the Westhope Group. (westhopegroup.org.uk)

Of course after a long day walking around and being inspired we had to stop for something to drink