Whist all the crafts people who have allowed me into their studio and their lives have seen the designs and images of my interpretations of their space, but the exhibition is the first time that they can see the final work in person
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It was a very special moment to have my parents at Collect. They made a very hard journey to see the show and it was wonderful to have their feedback. They have always been so supportive and encouraging about my work.
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Somerset House is such an incredible venue and I have been allocated a wonderful space in the East Wing which I share with the very talented Annette Townsend who makes incredible wax replicas of plants flowers – you have to see them to believe them.
My work has been carefully packed up and wedged into a large taxi along with Steve, my partner, who will be installing the exhibition with me. Let’s not talk about the nerves!!!
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The book ‘Talking Spaces: A Life in Craft’ has just been printed. So many people have made such a brilliant contribution to the whole in such a short time. Professor Lesley Millar for her Foreword and allowing it to be published through the International Textile Research Centre’s ‘Thinking Textile’. Paul Harper’s Essay is both beautiful and inciteful. And then there are all the people who helped with the formation of the book, from Melanie Lucas, for its design and layout, to Dr Beverly Ayling-Smith for her support and guidance, to Maria Scard for her gorgeous photography, to name just a few.
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The final piece for RENEWAL is made up of two silk machine embroidered and painted panels that sit at right angles to each other to capture the corner of the new studio. The panels are 90 x 86cm and 90 x 147cm in size. The largest panel is the biggest that I have attempted to work through the sewing machine. With some careful folding and manipulating, I was surprised how well it worked.
The splatter marks within the painted sections represent the years of accumulated paint on the floor of Michael’s old studio, which represented memories of all the work that he had done in that space.
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RENEWAL is based on Michael Brennand-Wood’s lost studio and the space that he is now fitting out as a new studio. From photographs supplied by Michael, I drew out 1:5 elevations of all the materials and equipment in his old studio and then superimposed them onto elevations of his new studio.
The loss of his old studio was such a painful time for him, and I wanted to show that he could still retain the essence of the old with the potential of the increased space of the new. I did a series of cardboard maquette’s to work out the best way to present the space.
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Finally, after a few versions, I am really happy with NURTURE. It was quite hard to get the blocks of painted colour to enhance and contribute to the overall image. The fireplace as the heart of the home, with many of the artifacts that Kate and her family have made and restored that contribute to this warm, creative home.
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Nurture is based on Kate Fedden’s living room. Kate and her family lived a very integrated life in craft where home, family and creativity all melded together. The deep russet red colour, for me, reflects her warmth and personality so this colour was gently introduced into the painted sections
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I am so excited to have been selected as one of 12 artists to take part in Crafts Council’s Collect Open programme as a part of Collect, The International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design at Somerset House in February 2020.
My proposal builds on ‘A Love Letter to my Father’, but in this case it will look at the creative spaces of three very different crafts people who have lived a life in craft; a home setting, an established studio, and a lost studio.
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I am so excited to have been selected as one of 12 artists to take part in Crafts Council’s Collect Open programme as a part of Collect, The International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design at Somerset House in February 2020.
My proposal builds on ‘A Love Letter to my Father’, but in this case it will look at the creative spaces of three very different crafts people who have lived a life in craft; a home setting, an established studio, and a lost studio.
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It was a very special moment when my parents came to see ‘A Love Letter to my Father’ at The James Hockey Gallery in Farnham. Whist my father had seen the parts of the work in progress, it was the first time that they had both seen all the work framed and displayed together. It was also a first for my father to travel so far especially since his illness earlier on in the year. Who would have thought he would be standing there looking so well so soon after!
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It was a very special moment when my parents came to see ‘A Love Letter to my Father’ at The James Hockey Gallery in Farnham. Whist my father had seen the parts of the work in progress, it was the first time that they had both seen all the work framed and displayed together. It was also a first for my father to travel so far especially since his illness earlier on in the year. Who would have thought he would be standing there looking so well so soon after!
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Finally, the work has come together for the two shows at The James Hockey Gallery, Farnham (27th – 31st August 2019) and The Oxo Gallery, London (10th – 22nd September 2019).
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All the sections of ‘Dad’s Place’ have been made and I’m just experimenting with how they should be pieced together. This is a scale 1:5 drawing of the floor plan and wall elevations of my father’s room, with all his possessions, which together express the many aspects of my father’s life and passions. It started out as a fluid ‘quilt’, but I really wanted to see the elevations come together, side by side. The only option was to find a way of making the facets rigid, so that they could be formed into a box and opened out, like a dolls house.
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The pipe was a bone of contention during my father’s illness. It was not helping his pneumonia and was a huge cause of concern, but its attempted removal caused much upset. It was only later, looking through the family photographs that it became evident that this pipe is so much a part of my father’s life how important and integral the pipe is to him. This piece takes the classic form of the pipe as epitomised in Rene Magritte’s ‘ceci n’est pas une pipe’ but with etched images of my father, over 50 years, with his pipe.
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A manipulation of derelict institutional corridors and rooms that plays with the way that the brain interprets spaces. A new environment emerges as the images are rotated and the mind accepts and discards information as it attempts to make sense of what it sees. The use of perspective is the ultimate illusion.
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