ness donnelly

shop open

2008-09-22T15:04:00.002+01:00

At long last the shop is open and my new blog is up and running. hope you like the new look and please let me know what you think of the shop, there are only a few items to start with but I will be adding to them over the next few weeks. All the items are one-offs.

shop
blog

moving home and shop opening

2008-09-18T18:20:00.003+01:00

Well I'm almost set to open my online shop, just finalising the images and little details. A link to the shop and my new blog page will appear here in a couple of days, so i hope you will like the new look. I've been very nervous about this, I know its silly, but it feels like a big step and is a bit scary. I'm sure this time next week I'll be wondering what i was worried about and kicking myself for not taking the leap sooner.

I'm starting with a few items to begin with and going to build it up over the next few weeks. I have lots of exciting changes to make and I hope you will see the work starting to evolve pretty quickly. I know it seems like i haven't been up to much but believe me I spent every spare minute I have researching, planning and working on new ideas. Think of it like an iceberg, the majority of it is unseen but still there none the less. It will all start to emerge and make sense over the coming months. See you over at the new blog very soon x

where i'm up to

2008-07-28T12:32:00.008+01:00

Sorry I've been away for so long, but I have been busy doing lots of different things and just have a bit of time to play around with new ideas and research setting up a business. So to start with the new ideas, I've been working with linen and printed cotton fabrics and using applique techniques to make a variety of items. This picture is a bit of a taster of whats to come. I have been dilly-dallying around a bit mainly because I wanted to get everything just right, sometimes I think you have to just go for it and stop thinking too much, so that's what I'm going to do or I'll never get anywhere. I'm moving to a new blog home which I will put a link to when its all up and running and I will have an online shop opening soon. I thought about putting an opening date then so I'll have to stick to it but I'm too much of a coward, it will be the middle of August, honest it WILL be. I feel at bit nervous really but I'm sure there is no need to be.

We are off on our holidays at the end of the week so hence the delay. I'm very excited we are going to the wonderful Outer Hebrides, stopping in Invergarry on the way. I am ashamed to say I have never been to Scotland before, I'm not even sure why. We are camping and taking the dog, so it should be a bit of an adventure. If anyone has been before and can recommend things to do and see that would be great.

We have been working hard at our allotment but i have to say I wish the veggies would grow as well as the weeds. But the past few weeks it has all been worth it, we have been able to eat our home grown produce and it tastes delicious. The redcurrants are great just with ice cream (a tip from a fellow allotmenter) and we made some redcurrant jelly to, next year we want to make redcurrant wine. The potatoes are the best I've ever had, I felt like a child on Christmas morning when we dug our first potatoes up, they were like red jewels in the mud. Last night we had Lincolnshire sausages with mash potatoes, home grown broad beans (yum yum) and redcurrant gravy, it was heavenly.

Now we have the gardening bug we decided to visit Tatton Park Flower show at the weekend, its a smaller version of RHS Chelsea flower show. The sun was shining, the gardens where lovely, we had scones and tea, it really felt like a great British summers day...at long last. I've wanted to grow Lavender for a while and it was everywhere at the show, so we are making a space in the back garden and I will keep you posted. I also feel i love with these beautiful flowers below - Echinacea's, they look prettier in real life.

So i will be back after our holiday with news of the shop opening and blog details, if you are in England get out and enjoy the sun while it lasts ;)

time off

2008-05-21T15:01:00.004+01:00

I've decided to make some changes to make more changes to my blog and also update my flickr. I'm going to open both etsy and dawanda shops, each may have a different selection of items for sale. so please bear with me while I get myself organised and re-vamped and open for business. Because of all these changes i'm not going to post any new blog entries or new photos on flickr until it is all up and running. so see you all soon with the as yet unnamed blog and shop.

I found this gorgeous pincushion on the mogwaii website and just had to share it with all of you, enjoy.

a simple life

2008-05-15T12:04:00.008+01:00

Well its been a while since my last post, so firstly I would like to say thank you to the people that have left comments and I haven't had chance to reply to. I have had a look are your blogs and recommend people to check them out via the links on the comments section. So why the long break? two reasons really, I seem to have been very busy with all sorts of commitments from getting the allotment sorted out to work and catching up with people I haven't seen for a while. Also, I've been doing some quiet thinking about my craft work and what I need to do to move forward. I hope I'm not alone in my feelings of self doubt, it makes for a very unproductive period of time in terms of physically making but more beneficial in terms of thinking about where I am currently and where I want to be in a year, 5 years, 10 years. Can you tell I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject? I'm currently reading start your business week by week and can recommend it for anyone thinking of setting up business, its very easy to follow. I've also read Craft, Inc which is recommended on lots of craft blogs and very useful. I should backtrack slightly, I was supposed to go on a one day craft business workshop in April, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to lack of numbers. I was very disappointed so decided to start doing lots of research myself. I am a bit of a research junkie, I love it and probably explains why I never get anything done but have lots of information on how to do it. So back to where i am now, contemplating the future and where its going to lead. My husband and I are thinking of a big life change brought about firstly by the fact he will be made redundant at the end of June, like so many people in the current economic doom and gloom. so we see this as an opportunity to change our lives completely. I really want to run my own small business be it making crafts or something a little different and possibly in another country, France, Spain and Italy are the main contenders at the moment. So my blog is going to change slightly over the coming months as I document the life changing journey we are about to embark on. the one thing we both agree on is we want to escape the rat race and live a much simpler life in a rural community, hopefully near a mountain ( i love mountains).

So back to my craft work and how I see it progressing. I don't want the work to be about a certain style or trend, its about making objects that come from the heart. One off pieces that stand alone rather than being part of a collection. I am constantly inspired by what I see around me, as my environment changes so does my work and my ideas develop a life of their own. this is what has stopped me opening a online shop in the past, I felt that everything had to match or have a certain look, but I know realise this isn't me and doesn't have to be the way I work. I see the result being an eclectic mix of objects. the idea of producing the same thing over and over again doesn't appeal to me and I think I would get bored. i don't like everything to match perfectly in my life, I love to mix old and new, so I don't know why i thought i couldn't apply this to my work, it is a reflection of me after all. so I will leave you with what I am currently working on and look forward to reading your comments.

I'm also dropping the Folk title, I've discovered a knit wear designer that also uses the name folk and it is already a registered business name. I've been trying to think of a different name but had no luck so far, so I've decided to use my real name instead, ness donnelly.

pin cushions

2008-04-14T20:18:00.005+01:00

Well I've been keeping busy making pin cushions to go with the needle cases for my soon to open etsy shop. I'm also working on a few more bits and pieces and some one off works. I'm planning to open the shop in a week or so, I'm got a week off work and thought this would be a good time to get everything sorted out. Last time I put work up for sale at etsy it was a bit half hearted and the photos weren't very good, so this time I want it to look right. Below are a few images of what I'm working on, trying not to give to much away.

the allotment

2008-04-02T16:30:00.006+01:00

We have recently acquired an allotment to grow our own veggies on. its all very exciting and neither of us have done a lot of gardening so we thought an allotment would be ideal, we can learn from all the other gardeners and there will always be some one to ask if we're not sure. We already made a few friends who are giving us lots of advice, we are quickly learning that everyone has their own way of doing things and they're all different.

above is the allotment before we started work on it. in the top left corner is a redcurrant bush which apparently has lovely redcurrants and in the middle of the back are raspberry stems, so we are hoping to get lots of lovely raspberries in the summer. the weather hasn't been great for gardening recently so we haven't been able to spend as much time as we would have liked there.

Below is the allotment after 3 hours of digging with Andrew and Tess pretending to be working hard :)

we got up nice an early on Saturday were digging by 7.30am and two sore backs, sore legs, blistered hands and 3 hours later we had turned over half of the plot. enough space for our potatoes and onions in one section and new seedlings in the other. We are having a go at growing anything we like to eat to see what actually grows for the first year. so far we have seedlings for courgettes, sweetcorn,broad beans, salad leaves and lots of different herbs. We are also hoping to grow potatoes, onions, peas, peppers, aubergines, carrots and spinach. I'll keep you up to date with our progress.

feeling inspired

2008-04-02T15:54:00.009+01:00

I've been in my make-shift studio sewing away, trying out new ideas and making work to go on sale soon. I've been working on needle cases and pincushions and i also intend to make aprons, bags and purses to start off my shop. I'm still deciding if i should go with the popular etsy shop or try something different like dawana or big cartel. I like the idea of European based web shop so if anyone can recommend somewhere i would be most grateful. so a sneak peek at what I've been doing recently. i will be posting more photos on my flickr page next week.

I'm sure I'm not alone when i say that i can get easily distracted by the Internet. i will go on with every intention of updating my blog, replying to emails and editing my photos when I'm suddenly lured away by the bright lights of surfing other peoples blogs, finding new designers to be inspired by and finding lots of lovely things to buy. this week i stumbled upon blog that i can't believe i haven't found before or read about somewhere else, its heather bailey. Heather is based in America and designs the most scrumptious fabrics and makes wonderful objects with them. her husband is photographer and i assume he takes the fantastic images of her work. here's just a few to tempt you.

this is the nicest tablecloth weight I've seen, it makes me wish it was summer.

And this is her studio, the studio of my dreams,its just like a sweet shop. Their are more equally enticing photos on her flickr site to inspire you.

new look

2008-03-16T12:25:00.002Z

Hope you all like the new look to my blog? i thought is was time for a change and a more up to date look that fits in with my new collection.

busy, busy, busy

2008-03-16T11:00:00.008Z

I've been keeping very busy for the last week working on new ideas for my first collection of pieces. i am still planning to have the new items for sale by the end of this month. I've had a week off my paid job and its been great playing at making things for a living, i don't want to go back to my boring day job. I'm finding that my style may appeal more to children than adults and need to decide if i'm going to concentrate on designing for children or mixing with designs for adults. I love little girls clothes and always say why don't they make clothes like this for grown ups? i would buy them and i'm sure there are other adults that don't just want to wear boring black, brown and grey in plain fabrics. I love oilily children's clothes but the womenswear is no where near as nice.

this is based on sampler motifs and stitched into paper. i've overcome the problem of finding nice gridded paper by printing my own. i can have any colour size and shape as long as its not larger than A4, which is ok with me. I'm thinking of doing more custom orders with children's names on and maybe more for weddings similar to the piece i made for Jenny.

I'm also working on some printed designs possibly for cards or maybe incorporating them with stitch. I'm also working on fabric pieces, using bright printed fabrics, lots of lovely buttons and ribbon and some stitch. i want to keep to the folk theme, its what inspires me to make, both traditional and contemporary folk.

call for makers from all over the world

2008-03-03T16:47:00.002Z

i am going to start a series of regular blog entries on different countries and the wonderful designers from around the world. I am a particular fan of Australian, Portuguese, Argentinean and Scandinavian designers but by doing more research i'm sure i will find more countries to add to my list. If you would like your work featured please send me an email.

new finds 2

2008-03-03T15:47:00.013Z

well i've been busy working on a new collection, well actually its my first collection. i don't usually work in this way, but thought it might be time to start, so we will see how it goes. in between making, updating my blog, walking tess, baking and going to work i love to just browse the web for new and interesting designer makers, so here are a few i discovered this week. i forget how i get to these people most of the time so i'm sorry if i don't credit a particular site for directing me to them.

reform school

ok this is not a particular designer but a shop selling lovely crafty products and i love the website design. its in america looks an amazing treasure chest of goodies, if anyone as been there i would love to hear about it. below is one of my favourite finds in the shop, all the pottery by ayumi horie is just so beautiful and unique.

ayumi horie @ reform school

you can find this lovely ribbon here i really love anything to do with little red riding hood and i'm not sure why, maybe i should do a blog entry on some of the little red riding hood inspired goodies i've found.

dutch door press

I love all the dutch door products, well i just love anything folkie actually, you can find this and more here i think that will do for now but i will continue to update you on anything i find that's interesting.

making a start on the new collection

2008-03-02T15:36:00.003Z

I've decided to work on a collection work based on the sampler motifs, decorative borders and text. I'm also going to combine stitch, print, applique and a a variety of other techniques. I also intend to use paper and fabric in the pieces. They will be for sale in my etsy shop that i will get up and running again. I will be selling printed versions of the stitched pieces at a more reasonable price along with other objects. i want to start using a variety of techniques rather than rely on cross stitch. so this is just the start and i will keep you up to date with my progress and hopefully improve my photography skills along the way.

new finds

2008-02-25T13:22:00.010Z

shim and sons

today i decided to re-organise the lists and links, this is all part of me trying to organise my life better. i've made 3 separate lists of artists and designers i like based on location - europe, australia and the rest of the world. I've also updated all the lists and discovered some of the links no longer work. So if your looking for some inspiration or just want to find out what i've found interesting over the past few months then please investigate the new links. I also plan to start a new list simply called new finds where i will list new discoveries for one month before they are filed into the relevant list. i thought i would tempt you a few images to get you started.

gesine hackenberg

lisa stickley

lalitah

if you follow this link http://www.lalitah.com/ and then click on eine kleine geschichte you get a wonderful little animation.

tamielle

this is part of the handkerchief club by tamielle, its quite an interesting story and the website is beautifully designed.

getting on with my work

2008-02-20T21:37:00.008Z

Well i've found my camera battery charger and started to take photos again, so this is an update on what i've been doing for the past few weeks. I'm playing around with previous ideas but in a slightly different way, i tend to make small progressions in work i'm happy with otherwise its a giant leap to something more different. I'm still working on the sampler motifs and stitching into paper, but looking to combine paper with fabric in the future. the most recent finished piece of work i have done is a commission for Jenny at indie quarter, you can view this at http://www.indiequarter.com/blog/2008/02/15/a-special-commission/ thanks Jenny for asking me to make this piece for you, its one of my favourites and i'm so glad you like it. i've taken a couple of photos of the ideas i'm working on, the later is a sort of logo and my own printed grid paper as i'm finding it difficult to get gridded paper that i like.

i want to keep with the smapler motifs and folk feel to the work but start incorporating new techiques or ones i haven't used for a while. By printing my own paper i am limited to A4 size at the moment but i'm not too concerned. i believe creative work changes and developes with the new challenges we have from such restrictions. the plus side is i can print the grid in any colour and on any paper i like, so with some restrictions come new freedoms.

this is a sort of logo i'm working on, i really like the folk girl and think it represents what i do quite well. i'm very excited about making work and having a focus again. i felt like i was drifting slightly when i first moved back to england, its just taken a while to settle in to a new routine. a main part of my new routine is taking tessie for a walk, tessie is our dog and she loves going for long walks. this time is great for mulling over ideas and coming back to work fresh. tess doesn't really like having her photo taken but i did manage to get a shot of her when out walking the other week.

what a beautiful day

2008-02-13T16:16:00.003Z

firstly i must tell you about a wonderful online shop i found through 6.5sts blog. Linnet is a linen fabric and notions shop in Japan and has the most beautiful fabrics, laces and ribbons, i'm sure i'll be ordering lots soon. the french ribbon pictured above is unfortunately sold out but this gives you an idea of the wonderful treats in store when you visit the shop http://www.lin-net.com/English/shop_linnen.html

Over the last couple of weeks i've been fairly busy, working on a commission for Jenny at Indie Quarter and also doing a lot of research on setting up a craft business. I would love to make a living from creating and making so i've decided to get myself informed and organised and do it instead of plodding along hoping it will all happen eventually. i also managed to find my cmaera battery charger so i've been out taking lots of photos which i will be posting here and on my flickr page.

in between all this and work i've also managed to see my first gig in a while, we went to see angus and julia stone at the ruby lounge in manchester. it was great and i recommend you checking out their myspace if you like acoustic, folky sounds like i do. they are brother and sister and hail from australia http://www.myspace.com/angusandjuliastone

i must not neglect my blog

2008-01-28T12:35:00.000Z

the title for today's post came from a blog i read recently and it really hit home with me, i have been neglecting my blog far to much since i returned yo Manchester. i don't seem to have much time at the moment, which i know is poor excuse we could all do with more time. i've also misplaced my camera battery charger, which is slowly driving me mad trying to find it, so i haven't been able to take any photos. i've told my husband this means its time to get a new camera, he just smiles and says nothing. i really like reading other peoples blogs but sometimes i do feel a bit lazy and just like to look at the pictures ;) so i prefer to post entries with images. my way around this problem at the moment is to use other peoples images to tell help illustrate my tale for the day. I thought i would share a few of the lovely places and shops i've discovered or rediscovered since returning home. So if you visit Manchester i recommend you check them out, if not have a sneak peek at the websites, more about that later.

I thought i should update you on my work to. I haven't been making as much as i would like to, unfortunately i also have to work the boring day job to help pay the bills. but i have reduced my hours so fingers crossed more time in my new studio, well the newly painted spare bedroom, but its a start. I've some new ideas to start work on, more progressions of what i've been doing over the last 6 months. i'm hoping to set up a website and start making and selling work seriously over the next 6 months, so if it sounds like i'm dragging my feet please give me a hurry on, we all need one every now and again. i hope to stat posting samples soon, see if i get that new camera.

I work slap bang in the centre of Manchester so its always good to get out at lunch time and do a bit of shopping or have a nice cuppa in a friendly cafe. my favourite part of Manchester is the Northern Quarter, its a bit arty and relaxed with everything from bars and restaurants to florists and vintage clothes stores. My favourite cafe is love saves the day, its only small but friendly and the food is yummy. there is also a sister cafe on deansgate that does more food and if you can't get there but fancy trying there food out then check out the website, its full of gorgeous recipes to make at home.

love saves the day on deansgate http://www.lovesavestheday.co.uk/siteNorm/home.php

My favourite book shop is magma on oldham street. when i left manchester 3 years ago this book shop was only found in london, i was over the moon to see it in manchester. it specialises in arty books of all descriptions and a few other curiosities. i've always loved book shops, especially small specialist ones, i could happily spend all my money on books. if i had a large house i would love to have a library full of lovely books and cosy chair to snuggle up in, in front of an open fire, i'd probably never leave the house. you can check out magma here http://www.magmabooks.com/

last week i was wandering past when i saw a book in the window, it beckoned me into the shop and before i knew it i was at the counter purchasing knit knit. i don't knit as much as i should, i think i enjoy the act of knitting more than the end product. so i thought this book would inspire me to pick up my needles and get knitting, it as, so much so that i've been looking for a local stitch and bitch group. i've found one that meets at borders, manchester fort on wednesdays but if anyone knows of any others please let me know. i'm hoping to go to the borders one this wednesday for the first time. if anybody knows of any embroidery based groups that meet up locally or wants to help start a group please let me know. well i think i've made up for no existent previous posts in one foul swoop so i want go on much longer. i will not neglect my blog, repeat one hundred times.

Manchester diary

2007-12-11T16:18:00.000Z

I'm starting to settle back into my life in Manchester and finding lots of really interesting places and shops to visit and spend all my hard earned cash. so i thought over the next couple of weeks i would share a few of my favourite finds with you. this will give me a chance to get my camera out and about in town. at the moment i'm sharing a computer so don't have 24 hour access and i can't download my images at the moment, still very disorganised... its no excuse i know, will try harder. we are also in the process of looking for somewhere else to live after Christmas so i feel like i have no time for myself and my work.

I did the Craft market the other sunday which was good although i didn't sell much it was great to meet and chat to other makers. unfortunately the famous Manchester rain decided to pay a visit and kept people away. it was busy on the saturday apparently but i had work commitments preventing me from doing both days. if you would like to read all about it and see some pics, then check out http://www.indiequarter.com/blog/2007/12/10/indie-quarter-christmas-podcast/ you can even download a podcast of me and the other stall holders talking about our work.

Saturday is my day off this week so i'm heading into Manchester with my camera and visiting the wonderful Christmas markets and a few of my other favourite places, no doubt ending in a lovely drinking establishment of some kind.

how time flies

2007-11-26T22:05:00.000Z

I can't believe i've been back in Manchester for a month already. the first two weeks were just settling back in and catching up with friends the last couple of weeks i've been working at the job that pays the bills and not had much time to do anything else. i've missed not updating my blog at least once a week and hope now i can get back into my old routine. i've been busy making work when ever i get a spare moment, so i'll post some new images soon. its the manchester craft mafia market this weekend. i am really looking forward to it but panicking about the amount of work i have, cause all my stuff hasn't arrived from Australia yet. if you are in Manchester on saturday or sunday then pop into Urbis and say hello. i will get the blog up to date this weekend ... i promise.

works in progress

2007-10-19T10:12:00.000+01:00

i've been a busy little bee today getting down ideas for future work, so i thought i would share a few these with you. i quite liked the tags i made yesterday for mitch and charlotte so i had a bit of play around with them again today.

i just love sitting in the garden sewing and today was perfect, the sun was shining but not too hot and the ideas were flowing, this is an idea i have for a needle case cover, but i may use it in other works to. i really like the vibrant pink and blue stitching on the gingham fabric. gingham is one of my favourite fabrics so i tend to use it a lot, probably more than i should.

for this idea i'm actually reworking an old piece, the pink paper and ric rac is from a paper skirt i made about 15 months ago and no longer like. i do still like the ric rac edge and the patterned paper with red stitching so i saved this part and i'm adding the blue stitching now. i think its important not to be too precious about your work and if its not working how you want it to, just rip it up and start again or reuse the parts you like.

i also finished the pressies for mitch and charlotte. the duck cushion is for mitch, his favourite colour is red so red gingham seemed appropriate. the little bag is for charlotte, she loves bags and pink so i'm sure she will love this. there coming for tea tonight so i'm going to give them to them then, hope they like them.

when this you see remember me

2007-10-18T11:18:00.000+01:00

today i've been doing some more work on my market items and also making leaving presents for mitch and charlotte (my nephew and niece). i wanted to make them something to remember me by, so i've made charlotte a little bag, like all most girls she loves bags and shoes. for mitch i've made something a bit different, a cushion with an appliqued duck on it. the story behind this is i have a t-shirt with a big duck on the front and mitch loves it, so i said i would make him a cushion with the duck on. i'll post images of both presents tomorrow. The image above is the tag i going to attache to each gift, the pink one says made for charlotte with lots of love from auntie ness xxx and the green says the same but for mitchell. i know mitch loves to keep things like this.

i love sunday

2007-10-17T13:23:00.001+01:00

i have managed to do some work in between meeting up with friends for leaving drinks and looking after my lovely nephew and niece. i've started work for the manchester craft mafia market in December. i have a rough idea how i want the stall to look but i also want to stay true to my artistic ideas and not just make things i think will sell. i want to make things i would like in my house and i would buy, i wanted to do something different from the bags and purses i have previously made. i also wanted to continue working on the many ideas that came out of the 31 days project. i've tried to make something a little bit unique, i'm not aware of work similar to this anyway. i started stitching into paper over a year ago and really like the crisp look of it. i've always loved paper as much as fabric to and see paper as a type of textile anyway. i wanted to combine my love of vintage embroidery, especially samplers, with the time based diary idea. the sampler lends itself very well to this way of working as samplers were used as a way of documenting time, dates are nearly always included along with text, names and motifs of significance to the stitcher. this is my first piece and i'm really pleased with how its turned out. please let me know what you think. sorry its not a great photo, i always have trouble photographing graph paper, if anyone as any tips i would gladly welcome them.

When i was in Peru i learned that the woven blanket the women make use to carry babies and goods in contain motifs that tell the story of that persons life, you can tell which village the person is from and what type of crops they grow and animals they keep. i also love the Peruvian use of colour. i used to be quite muted with my colours but since visiting south america my colour scheme as completely changed, i feel i'm a bit more adventurous with colour, almost childlike sometimes.

charlie and lola

2007-10-17T13:00:00.000+01:00

I've finished work and thought i would have lots of time to be making but i seem to be busy all the time. on monday i looked after my 5 year old nephew and we did a few crafty things that we found on the internet. Mitch loves the charlie and lola, if you don't know who they are you can check them out at http://www.charlieandlola.com/ or on cbeebies (the BBC young children's site) http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/charlieandlola/ on the cbeebies site there is a colour and make section which is great, you can make paper dolls of charlie and lola and also the clothes, but my favourite is the butterfly gallery, i won't tell you what happens but it is truly magical, we both looked at the screen in amazement, you can find it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/charlieandlola/funandgames/butterflygame/

even if you don't have kids i'm sure you will love the illustration and design that goes into charlie and lola.

Nina Katchadourian

2007-10-10T13:22:00.000+01:00

apologies for not posting for over a week, my only excuse is the excitement of seeing all my friends back england again, only 2 weeks to go now. tomorrow is my last day at work - yippee. so i will have no excuse for not posting over the next 2 weeks. i am happy to say that i got accepted by the manchester craft mafia to hold a stall at the december market. so i will be busy for the next few weeks making all manner of things fro the stall. i'll go into more detail about my plans next week. hopefully i will do a bit of housekeeping on the blog to, i need to get into the habit of tagging and organizing posts better. which brings me to the subject of this post, Nina Katchadourian, i've been meaning to write about her for weeks. i can't even remember how i found out about her now. anyway she makes various types of artwork but i really like her sorted book works.

Katchadourian arranges books, from collections and in private homes, in order so make a sentence from the titles on the spines. you can read more about her work on her website http://www.ninakatchadourian.com/languagetranslation/sortedbooks.php

artists i like sunday: two

2007-10-01T08:57:00.000+01:00

ok i know its monday and not sunday, but its a long weekend in western australia so i think i'm allowed to be a day late. since i've packed all my belongings up i have found myself at somewhat of a loss, my hands are itching to get making, so i have turned to the internet for a bit of research instead. its also been lovely weather this weekend so i've been out and about in the garden and meeting friends for coffee. with this extra time on my hands i've been able to find some wonderful sites so this could end up being a long post. i have been looking more at opportunities in the manchester area for when i return home, its less than 4 weeks now. so to start with i'm extremely excited to find out that manchester has a manchester craft mafia and there first craft fair is the weekend after i arrive home, how lucky was that. i often come across the austin craft mafia (the original) and wished there were groups like this that existed outside america, so to find one that is connected to the austin group i my home town was like all my dreams coming true. through this site i've also been introduced to more amazing crafters,i leave you to discover your own favourites http://www.manchestercraftmafia.com/index.htm they also have a flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/manchestercraftmafia. an interesting blog that has connections with the manchester mafia called indie quarter with news about all sorts of craft, design and art happenings across the UK. if you want your work to be featured on the blog you can contact indie quarter with your details. check out the site http://www.indiequarter.com/blog/index.php there is also a blog for UK etsy sellers http://uketsysellers.blogspot.com/

tait and style

well know i've got my exciting news out of the way i'll talk about some lovely work i've found while browsing the internet. first up is tait and style, as winter is on its way in the northern hemisphere its time to get a nice new scarf and tait and style make gorgeous knitted accessories. they have been around for a while but sometimes its good to be reminded of more established designers as well as emerging ones http://www.taitandstyle.co.uk/index.htm

skinny laMinx

this purse is made from vintage embroidery and can be found in skinny laMinx's etsy shop, its just so pretty http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5008751 many bloggers are probably familiar with skinny laMinx through other blogs she really does make some beautiful things.

lotta jansdotter

lotta jansdotter makes hand screen printed bags, toys, aprons and other household items. the designs are simple and eye catching. i love scandinavian design both traditional and modern and lotta combines her swedish and finnish heritage to make beautiful modern designs. see more of her work http://www.jansdotter.com/index.php

lu summers makes colourful and interesting collages using a variety of materials and techniques, her work is for sale on etsy and she also has a blog http://blu-shed.blogspot.com/ the work above is a particular favourite of mine.

well i think that might be enough for today, but i will probably post more exciting finds throughout october as i'm less able to be making at the moment. tomorrow i'm off to see thomas the tank engine live with my very excited nephew, hes made a book of drawings for thomas which is excellent.

finally, an update on an earlier post. last weekend i visited the artists carboot sale in Perth and was impressed with the work of future shelter, i bought the badges and would of loved to buy a painting to. Adam and Jane from future shelter have been in touch and told me about there other project little design horse which is definitely worth checking out http://www.littledesignhorse.com/ jane has produced designs for habitat and worked for peagreen studio in london. the couple are now based in Perth, western australia.

annie vought

2007-09-25T12:22:00.000+01:00

i found this artist on rag and bone's blog. annie vought does these amazing paper cuts, you can find out more about her and view more images of her work on her website here

windows on william

2007-09-23T10:33:00.000+01:00

i had another reason for making the 2 hour drive to perth today. still in northbridge, onwilliam is a project that brings six shops on william street and artists together. six artists have been chosen to create a display in the shop windows of minniMon, lala orange, fi & co, keith + lottie, harry highpants, spokey dokes, may day and red stripe clothing. in addition to this prints have been made for each shop and you can visit them and pick one up for free. each print is only available in the shop it is connected to. i visited all the shops but only half were open on sundays, so here are some pics of my favourites, more on my flickr page.

i love keith + lottie and this was one of favourite window displays to. i'm sorry about the image , it was a lovely sunny spring day and i'm still far from an expert photographer, i hope you get an impression anyway. the shop is great inside, old school desk have glass tops and become display cabinets, there is a small gallery at the back which always has interesting exhibitions on, i've mentioned them before in my blog. to make up for the poor picture i have a better image of the free print.

my other favourite window was minniMon. the photos are not great again because of the glare but i've posted more on my flickr page. this is a detail of the display, the whole window looked fantastic.

and last but definitely not least was harry highpants, what a great name. this shop is a mixture of new and vintage clothes and great jewellery. there is also a cool piece of art at the front of the store that i was able to get a picture of.

i couldn't resist buying something to, its a lovely red plastic brooch that i saw in frankie magazine and loved. i'm sure i've talked about frankie magazine before but for anyone outside australia and not lucky enough to be able to buy it, it is the best magazine in the world ever!!!! well i think so anyway. if you like anything i've talked about today you will love frankie, sometimes it feels like they make it just for me its that's good, everything i like from art, fashion, music to baking.

this is my lovely new cherry brooch made by allira an australian designer who makes lovely jewellery. it will look great on my grey wool coat and cheer me up during the english winter. check out her website at http://www.alliratee.com/
lala orange wasn't open unfortunately but they do sell another piece of jewellery that i love, these cross stitch space invader pendants are made by perth designers gurf.

art car boot sale

2007-09-23T10:08:00.000+01:00

i've just had a fantastic day out in northbridge. today was the first PICA artists car boot sale, judging by the crowds i'm sure it won't be the last. there was about 15 stalls and car boots selling original art works by local artists, everything from paintings to fashion and badges. its a great way for artists to get people to come and see what there doing without the complications of an exhibition on and also you get to meet the artist.

a popular stall was future shelter which seemed to be a collective of artists, they were always to busy for me to stop and chat. they were selling paintings and badges, the later seemed to be selling out fast. i couldn't stop myself from buying a pack to, it was hard to decide which to buy.

northbridge is a great place to shop for one off artist made goodies, the art college is near by and a number of shops are great supporters of local talent. there are also great galleries PICA, breadbox and artrage complex, keith and lottie have a small gallery and numerous other small artist run projects, all in the shadow of the art gallery of western australia.

hidden treasures

2007-09-16T09:42:00.000+01:00

this weekend i've been packing all my worldly goods to ship back to england. i really don't enjoy sorting everything out and trying to fit it all in the boxes and keep to the weight, with all my lovely but heavy books. one good things is i always find things i forgot i had or i'm reminded of old projects and my mind starts to race. its also a good excuse to get rid of things i don't really need, i do try to keep my belongings to a minimum but there are some things that just make me feel better for having around me. i did take some photos as i was packing of old work that i still like, especially these napkins.

for a break from packing i've decided to set up an etsy shop, its all a little bit daunting but exciting to. i haven't listed anything yet, but plan to over the next few days. i made some flower pins a few months ago with the idea of joining etsy but never got round to it. i was also wondering if it is worth setting up a paypal account and if an internationl one is better than a localised one. i had heard that the uk version only accepts UK and US payments. any feedback would be greatly appreciated. this is a sneak peak at my flower pins.

i will be posting more items, on etsy, when i get home at the end of october, for now i have to cope without most of my sewing equipment, its not going to be easy.

katy hackney

while i was packing i also came across information i've collected on different designers, crafters and artists over the years. i remeber going to chelsea crafts fair a few years ago and falling in love with a jewellery makers vintage formica brooches. i couldn't afford to buy one at the time but luckily picked up a business card for future reference. i've been trying to remember her name for ages so i was over the moon whenni rediscovered her. her name is katy hackney and shes based in the UK, check out more on her website is here

katy hackney

last but by no means least i got my ticket to see kristen hersh at the fremantle arts centre, i can't wait. she is on with sarah blasko and darren hanlon, so it should be a good night.

confronting the fear

2007-09-11T12:33:00.000+01:00

i have been busy putting together an application for an exhibition. i've been thinking about the deadline for almost a year and keep changing my mind on which work to put forward for selection, i decided on the 31 days project. i was unsure about how to display the work initially, there we're a number of restricts i had to take into consideration, i finally decided on a pinboard you would find in a studio or office. for a number of years i have been interested in the office and workplace as a means of conveying an idea. i particularly like the furniture and stationary in old offices and the muted colours and old typewriters. previously i made a video piece that involved me typing the same sentence over and over again, there we're two cameras, one a close up of my hands hitting the keys and the other a close up of the letters being imprinted on the page. originally i wanted the work to be a performance piece that would be based in an office, maybe one day i will return to this and make it happen. it is an fascination with the everyday and mundane that interests me. i hope this came across to some extent in the 31 days project. i somehow want to order the chaos that surrounds me, by making lists and sorting things into groups or boxes. the 31 days project started as a way for me to sort all the ideas floating around in my head. i have read numerous times that artists tend to make the work and then think about explaining it afterwards, they trust there intuition and know it will all make sense in the end. i often find it difficult to work like this, the idea is so important to me that everything as to connect in someway. sometimes i do start work that i feel has no connection to previous work to start with but always does in the end. its as though i don't really choose the ideas behind the work they choose me and i will always be driven by similar concerns. a main concept in my work is documenting time, i have no idea where this comes from, i don't feel as though i am obsessed with time but maybe i am. 2 years ago i left england to travel around south america for 6 months, i had heard about the laid back attitude of many latin americans and thought it would be good to travel without a watch and leave the rat race attitude to living in a big city behind. Unfortunately i started my trip with 10days in New york and found it so frustrating to not have a watch i went and bought one after only 4 or 5 days and continued to wear it for the rest of my trip. maybe it because time cannot really be controlled, it keeps going no matter what happens in the world, time and death are things we can not stop. feel i have digressed slightly but hopefully it gives an idea of where the work comes from.

i was reading a magazine in a coffee shop this week and came across a quote, by joseph chilton pearce, that really hit home;

'to live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong' this is so true for artists because art is not an exact science, there is no right and wrong as such, its all a matter of opinion. i'm always concerned that what i'm doing is wrong and people won't see it as art let alone good art. i often think of the jackson pollock retrospective at the tate in london a few years ago. the works we're arranged in chronological order and it was interesting to see how pollocks mind was working through his paintings. the first time you came to a painting in the style he became famous for you expected that to be it and more would follow, but that was not the case it was as though he took a step back. i don't know enough about pollock to know if this was fear. eventually he got back on track and i felt a sense of relief.

so today i posted my application and confronted my fear of being wrong.

artists i like sunday: one

2007-09-02T12:32:00.000+01:00

today is fathers day in australia so i decided to bake some cupcakes for my dad, which went down very well. its also been my weekend off work so i managed to catch up with some friends i haven't seen for a while and do some of my own work. i've closed down the folk shop blog because i sort of lost interest in it and i decided there wasn't much point to it. i can talk about other artist and designers work i like on this blog. so i have decided that the first sunday of every month will be dedicated to other artists work i stumble across and fall in love with.

to start with i found this great image on one of my favourite blogs, rag and bone. if you haven't already checked out rag and bone then please do i'm sure you won't be disappointed. i must admit i don't check blogs on a regular basis and tend to binge on them every now and then, otherwise i don't think i would move from in front of the computer, now i've joined flickr its even worst.

kristen hersh is my all time favourite musician, no one else even comes close, but she is not so well known. it surprises me a little because we are seeing an influx of female singer songwriters such as martha wainwright, sarah blasko, cat power, regina spektor and bertie blackman who are all very good at what they do but kristen hersh was doing it 20 years ago and is still doing it far better with little recognition [i know she is far better known in her native america]. she 's worked on numerous solo projects as well has with her bands throwing muses and 50 foot wave. she is such a poetic songwriter and has the most amazing voice. she also keeps a blog which is a great read, gives you a real incite into life on the road. her most recent post titled thoughts on sustainability deals with some of the issues of surviving as a musician who genuinely loves to make music and the business of making music, you can check it out here http://www.throwingmusic.com/blog/ i also found out this weekend that kristen is coming to western australia in october which quite frankly made my week. i never missed her in my hometown of Manchester, UK and was extremely jealous when my husband got to see her there earlier in the year. so lucky me gets to see her just 5 days before i leave australia to go home to Manchester, and to think i was originally planing on leaving a week earlier.
i've also found a interesting interview with Kristen when she played manchester and liverpool with 50 foot wave in 2004. i was lucky enough to see her at both gigs and she was brilliant, even if the crowd did piss her off a little in manchester, we just wanted to hear her fantastic voice and it was being drowned out. check out the interview at http://www.furious.com/perfect/kristinhersh.html

above is a card design by the grassy garden you can view more designs on her website http://www.thegrassygarden.com.au/ i like the simplicity and fresh feel her designs have.

miki amano is one of my favourite web pages, the work is just so beautiful. i wish i could make work so nice to look at, i find it mesmerising i don't want to look away. http://www.mikiamano.com/

that's it for this month. sometimes i think i should be more organised with my blog and set posts out in themes like other people seem able to do, but my mind doesn't really work like that.

8 things

2007-08-31T15:13:00.001+01:00

i've been tagged by anna to tell you 8 things about myself that you may not know.

1. i love to drink tea, nearly always earl grey and especially with cakes for afternoon tea.

2. i always prefer flowers to chocolate. i would love to have english wild flower garden one day.

3. my favourite city is buenos aires, argentina. its relaxed but vibrant, the people are really nice, the food, the coffee, the beer, the shops everything is good about it. its a city that backpackers plan to go to for a week and 4 months later still don't want to leave.

4. blue is my favourite colour.

5. one day i would like to live in France.

6. i love mountains, they win over the beach every time. so i would love to live near mountains in france.

7. i like the rain, i like sitting inside watching it and also getting wet on the way home. its the kid in me that wants to jump in puddles.

8. i love airports because there the place where journeys begin.

red button loops

2007-08-30T03:11:00.000+01:00

apologies for not posting for over a week, i've been pretty busy with work and just don't know where the time as gone. i've continued working on the loop series and hope to finish some of the pieces this weekend. i'm looking forward to a 3 day weekend and getting lots of work done.

i'm playing around with red loops by moving them along in a various lines.

also playing around with rotating the loops. i'm enjoying using photography as part of the ideas process and thinking about using it in the finished work, below are some ideas i've been experimenting with.

joining flickr as been really useful in thinking about the role of photography in my work and great fro getting feedback. i've also been introduced to some very creative people and find it easier to find artists working on similar ideas or with similar interests. anna betts and pete nawara are worth checking out. anna i'm sorry i haven't done my '8 things' yet but i will by weekend.

i love this image anna

anna's blog is http://colourandsound.blogspot.com/

this one of pete's abstract paintings but he also paints great portrait's and has a folder of works in progress so you can see what hes up to and how he builds up the painting. check out his flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/petenawara/

blue button loops

2007-08-19T06:35:00.000+01:00

i started work on the piece which uses 90 blue buttons and 90 blue thread button loops. i was practicing the button loops when i started taking photographs, just playing around with my macro settings really. then i took the images into photoshop and started to mess about rotating and using multiple images. i'm putting more images on my flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/folk/

i really like the ideas that started to flood into my head and so the 90 buttons piece has been put on hold for a few days while i experiment with stitch and photography. recently i talked about wanting to bring photography into the work but i haven't been entirely happy with this initial work. the macro loop work is more in keeping with my thought processes and ideas and is much more about the stitches and textiles.

the images are crisp and uncomplicated, they speak for themselves and are more like abstract paintings than photographs. they remind me of the work of painters robert ryman, william scott and textile artists maxine bristow and colette dobson, all artists whose work i admire.

maxine bristow

william scott

sort, stitch, hang

2007-08-18T14:22:00.000+01:00

sort

this week i have been working on a piece called sort, stitch, hang which involves a large quantity of buttons being sorted into colour order, then stitched to the fabric which will eventually be hung on a wall. the buttons are a collection of pink, red and purplish colours that i have sorted from peaches to purples. the work is finished when all the buttons have been stitched to the calico fabric in a grid composition. this is a tedious and repetitive act that takes a number of days to complete, i am currently about half way through. the work is concerned with process, materials, order and repetition. the title suggests the process the materials are used in there raw state and ordered in a repetitive manner. i am uncertain of how the piece will look when hung and in which manner it will hang. as i am working on the piece i am not sure if i like it and if i will like it when it is complete.

stitch

Often i have ideas that i feel excited about and when i start to make them a reality i seem to lose interest somehow, its the initial conception of the idea and the making that interests me. while working on sort, stitch, hang many new ideas have come to fruition from the almost meditative state i am in during making, my mind is free to wander and for new ideas to form. i like the idea of being restricted by materials, for instance i want to make a piece where identical buttons are used repeatedly but the most i could get hold of was 90, so it was decided that the work will be complete when the 90 buttons are used. i have decided to use calico fabric because it is readily available in large quantities and and is a good neutral base to which small amounts of colour may be added in the form of buttons and thread. i also want to keep the techniques simple and repetitive. another element of the work is language, not as a narrative or in a poetic sense but in a descriptive sense, the use of verbs to title the work and define it.

as long as it takes

2007-08-12T11:00:00.000+01:00

abigail hunt

this week i've been looking back at old exhibition catalogues when i was reminded of as long as it takes at the angel row gallery in nottingham, england in 2002. i found this exhibition particularly valuable at the time because the artists involved were working in a similar way to me and i found this quite reassuring at the time. http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/angelrowhome the following is a quote from the catalogue,

"Process and procedures; its the getting there that counts and, with the certainty of execution, the uncertainty of how it will turn out; whilst the sense of time spent becomes embedded in the fabric of the work."

dean hughes

Process as always been central to my practice, the use of repetitive acts to make a work, embedded in time, the everyday and mundane. simple and repetitive acts that become familiar over time. the end result is a work that demonstrates how the work is made. i have been working towards a series of works based on materials and techniques familiar to textiles. the work is the result of 3 processes in each case, stitch, fold, stack involves a number of stitched textiles being folded and then stacked on top of each other. this is still a work in progress but below are a series of images of the work so far.

flickr

2007-08-05T12:24:00.000+01:00

i now have a flickr account where you can view more images of my work and just general things i find interesting. this image is one of my favourites, it was taken a couple of years ago as a present for my husband, he is a mad Manchester city fan and also likes a bit of contemporary art. the sculpture is b of the bang outside the city of Manchester stadium. i like the contrast of the industrial containers with the sculpture and part of the stadium puncturing the sky, he was over the (blue) moon with it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/folk/

keith and lottie

2007-08-05T05:54:00.000+01:00

Keith and Lottie is a brilliant little shop and gallery in Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia. Its a mixture of art, design and fashion with an emphasis on street culture. Currently they have an exhibition running called Kaleidoscope which is photographs of various train stations and undergrounds around the world. the images are very atmospheric and create a sense of danger as if something sinister may happen there. i've always been fascinated by airports and train stations, i think because its where a fantastic journey can begin. i've always been more fond of the journey than the destination. for this exhibition they have an online gallery so no matter where you are in the world you can see it.

cupboard love

2007-08-04T07:00:00.000+01:00

yesterday i was ironing a piece of fabric that i found folded up in bag with lots of other bits of fabric. i was trying to get the fold creases out when i thought, why not leave them, there part of the history of the fabric. this reminded me of a project i did while still at University. it was based on folding napkins, the napkins were made from fabric i bought from the university store cupboard. below is a picture of the fabric prior to me buying, folded and stacked on the shelf with other fabrics. i photographed the cloth because i felt it gave the fabric history.

the fabric was then cut, hemmed and stitched to make a series of four napkins with four different folds. i don't know what it was about this project but i keep going back to it. it is my favourite piece of work and i guess i keep trying to better it but always feel a little disappointed its not quite good enough.

the image on the left is the fabric with stitching prior to hemming. the image on the right is one of the finished napkins. around the same time i visited Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, England. Hardwick Hall is famous for its embroideries and being the place where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned. some of the embroideries were stitched by Mary Queen of Scots who was a very accomplished needlewoman. you can't help but be impressed by all the lavish embroideries but it was the everyday household linens that caught my eye. for such a large household it was common practice to mark the linen with embroidered motifs, initials, dates or references to the room it belonged, this was practical rather than decorative. there is something very beautiful about freshly laundered and stacked linen, bound with ribbon and placed on shelves. many interior design magazines use similar images to appeal to there readers. below are two of the many linen cupboards in Hardwick Hall.

below is an image of the embroidered mark on a blanket at hardwick hall. the mark is a coronet, DD for the duke of Devonshire and the year 1875.

a linen cupboard is more than just a place to store linen, it evokes memories and always has a distinctive smell.

stitch, fold, stack

2007-08-03T09:46:00.000+01:00

this work consists of a number of pieces of fabric, some have been embroidered, folded and placed on top of each other. with this work i want to be able to play around with stitch more and use a variety of techniques and fabrics. in the final work i want every layer of the stack to have some sort of stitching visible. my work tends to be made up of components or fragments that then make up the whole work. with this work each layer is worked separately and not necessarily considering the other layers at the time of making, the layers come together through trying different arrangements. the work is not solely about the stitching but also about the arrangement of colours, the various types of fabric and the folding of the cloth. stitching of text and motifs is based on traditional and hobbyist type charts or designs and stitched haphazardly on the fabric. the embroidered areas are just fragments and not finished pieces in themselves, as the fabric is folded stitched areas will be visible or hidden in the folds of the cloth. the viewer can only see part of the cloth at any one time. the stack of cloth will be placed either on the floor, a chair, a table, shelf or in a cupboard, the type of places we store textiles in our home. the viewing experience will be dependent on where the stack is placed and also if next to a wall or in the middle of a space.

the textile files

2007-07-31T13:29:00.000+01:00

i found this blog through kirsty's website, thanks Kirsty. solveigh goett is a textile artist and researcher and the textile files are a project. Goett attaches various textile based fragments or objects to index cards and includes a quote relevant to the card. Goett uses our connection with textile and memory or nostalgia to tell a story or represent an history. a blog that is well worth a visit http://thetextilefiles.blogspot.com/

she also has another blog which is useful for anyone interested in textile art, goett documents exhibitions and workshops along with pieces of research http://solveighgoett.blogspot.com/

kirsty hall

2007-07-31T13:19:00.000+01:00

just an update on kirsty hall, you may remember her from the diary project i mentioned on this blog a few weeks ago. Kirsty now has a website http://kirstyhall.co.uk/ with more information on her work and a link to her blog.

apartment manchester

2007-07-29T12:14:00.000+01:00

Apartment is an artist led project and exhibition space in a one-bedroom council flat in a sixties tower block in central Manchester, England. Artists show work alongside the everyday objects in the flat and make work in response to issues surrounding the location of the space. The space is co-run by artists Hilary Jack and Paul Harfleet; the current resident, who continues to live in the flat alongside the activity that occurs.

richard brouilet

2007-07-29T12:08:00.001+01:00

while browsing various sites and following the links as you do i came across this artists work. i like the painting above for its use of colour and also because it reminds me of a number of different artists work all at the same time. it has a very folk art feel to it but at the same time is very contemporary. i just want to look at all the time and could happily live with it on my wall.

start of new work

2007-07-22T11:58:00.000+01:00

i've started work on the next project, the image above is just the start of the embroidery part of the work. the first work is going to based on the idea of the home sweet home sampler. it will probably take me a while to complete the actually embroidery. in between sewing i have and will continue to research photography as an art form and photography used in interior magazines. below are a few images i've found on the web to give an idea of what i'm aiming for.

i love the colours in image and the use of light. i don't like the picture on the wall, it distracts the viewers eye from the central object.

i like the freshness and simplicity of this image. the contrast of the pink and red against all the various shades of white is quite stunning. i also love old fireplaces because they evoke a feelings of warmth, welcoming and homeliness. i imagine a fireplace will be used in the home sweet home work. i am also thinking of changing my mind on the set building for the first few works and using interiors that actually exists but setting them up to work in the overall image.

in this image i like the simple and uncomplicated arrangement of objects and the colours. i find the door a little distracting for what i would want to achieve. i like the arrangement of several framed works on the wall.

this image as a lot of the qualities i'm looking for, the colour, the light, the fireplace, but it also feels to cluttered. hopefully these images will give you an idea of what i want to achieve as this project progresses.

tradition and contemporary art

2007-07-15T10:52:00.000+01:00

since the 31 days project i've been investigating and thinking about what to do next. i have lots of ideas and sometimes this my downfall, i want to do to much and the work becomes confusing. so i've been going through a number of processes where i have decided what is important to me and what needs to be discarded, at least for now. so i'm going to talk more about what is still important rather than why i have chose not to continue with certain ideas. i feel bound to textiles and there is nothing i can do about it but i don't see it as a negative thing. i love textiles and always have since i was a child and for this reason i find it almost disrespectful to use another medium, but i don't have an issue with using it in conjunction with other mediums. so the idea of using photography came about through the 31 days project. i used photography in a couple of works and of course all the works were photographed in order to be documented. but the 24 june piece was images on there own, not the documenting of the work, the work was the photograph. i've always been interested in the fine details and bringing them to peoples attention, the stitching in the book was just shouting at me to be photographed. i began to think about using photography to shoot details of stitched pieces but wasn't entirely happy with the concept. i was thinking about which embroideries i would photograph, such as, would i stitch the work or someone else? why was the work significant? what was i trying to say by doing this? thinking about these questions made me realise that this was not the way to proceed. i then began thinking about the traditional textiles that i saw at my grandmas house as a child and my interest in samplers in my teens and early twenties. i love the tradition of textiles and this was the main reason for me using the name folk, to describe the textiles traditions of many cultures over time. for my culture the schoolgirl sampler seems to say a lot about how we have changed. at one time a girl was taught how to sew but nowadays so many people can hardly sew a button on a shirt, many people believe we are losing certain skills that are are useful throughout our life. many women have said to me that their daughters can't sew and think this is a real shame. maybe i was lucky because i was taught knitting and embroidery at primary school and my mother and grandmother are great seamstresses and knitters. i then started to think about all the glossy interior design magazines, that i love to read, and how textiles are presented to us as commodities we buy with no real understanding of there heritage. as long as it looks good with the decor of the room and the furniture it doesn't really matter, textiles are often the supporting role and not the star. so the idea of tradition and contemporary culture began to grow and photography seemed the obvious way to present my ideas without losing my connection to textiles. i am currently working on a piece based on the home sweet home cross stitch pictures. many people used to hang these in their homes, they have also been used in a number of advertising campaigns to sell the idea of homely and traditional values. i will stitch the piece and then construct a set similar to what would be found in an interiors magazine where the picture will be centre stage, the image will be shot magazine style and them printed in either A4 size(magazine page) or fairly large, i'm still working on the details. the work will be highly stylized as in a magazine with attention to the finest details. every object will be there for a reason, similar to many still life and studio based paintings of the past. what i like about photography is that you dictate what the viewer sees, they can't see past the frame cause that doesn't exist for them to see, the viewer can be tricked into believing what the photographer wants them to see. the use of a fake set to produce the illusion of a real interior is all part of this.

crafty work

2007-07-08T06:49:00.000+01:00

i've also been doing some more crafty work. i was thinking of opening an etsy shop and these are a couple of the ideas i came up with. i made, purses, bags, skirts, cards and flower pins. i still like them but i'm not sure if this the road i want to travel down at the moment.

flower pins

origami and punched paper cards

detail

thinking time

2007-07-08T03:58:00.000+01:00

apologies for no posting this week, its been a thinking and sorting out week. my problem is i like and want to do to many different things and find it difficult to focus on one project. so it has been a confusing and frustrating week and i still don't feel that much closer to knowing where i want to be. i love craft, working with fabric and stitch and making things to sell similar to work in the folk shop but at the same time i love art and would like to make work for a gallery setting. i see the 2 as separate entities at the moment and feel i have to make a decision one way or the other. the work for each discipline seems different to me even though its coming from the same thought process. so this week i have been tearing my hair out cause i just want to get on with the work but feel stuck and unable to move forward. Unfortunately this as always been my problem and i am still looking for a way to merge the two together.

i've decided to take some photos of the work i've been doing for the past 18 months and hope this will help make things clearer. i've always been interested in traditional samplers and would like to see the influence of this in the work i do. the idea of passing time, traditional embroidery, repetitive acts, cross stitch and text is apparent in the work i've produced for the 31 days project and the basis for many samplers. i want my work to more about contemporary culture and life, instead of biblical phrases use song lyrics, document the time involved in producing the work, the work becomes a diary page and document of a certain period of time.

this piece is hand stitched on paper and based on traditional quilt pattern. at the time i was looking at quilt patterns and the use of paper in the work.

i then returned to cross stitch but continued working on paper, this time graph paper. i like working with the graph paper because there is a structure to it and its not merely a blank piece of paper, somehow it seems less daunting. the graph paper works well with the cross stitch as it references the cross stitch charts used by many hobbyists today. the motif is based on a traditional Scandinavian design. the motif is then repeated in different colourways following a serial progression where all the colours are used on all the sections of the design until we return to the first motif again. i feel this is a very important work for me and one of my favourites, it marked the start of folk. the use of traditional folk art designs and techniques started to become more important and i began researching different folk art, mainly European. for many cultures the main way of displaying these designs was through embroidery on household linens and national costumes. the national costumes have always been a way of displaying national identity and traditions. i started looking at garments, particularly skirts, as a vehicle for the ideas.

the above are details of a story skirt i made from a semi transparent fabric with text stitch into it. i then went on to make a series of paper skirts which i was not entirely satisfied with. i continued to use the graph paper and began working on the quilt inspired pieces again. moving away from text. still working with stitch i returned to the motifs and began looking at composition in the work. i liked the large amount of space around the stitch area. this was new to me as i have tended to work in an all over composition before.

i apologise for the poor quality of the image but i've had a lot of problems taking photos of graph paper, the camera just sees the background as grey due to the small detail of the grid. this piece is the same motif repeated in various sizes and colourways.there are only 4 colours of thread used in this piece but the techniques used make it look like there are more. i like the way the objects appear to be floating in space.

for this piece i wanted to continue with the large spaces and focus in on a section of a traditional cross stitch pattern of a rose, the stitches are quite large also. i wanted the effect of the image being sharply focused from a distance but more obscure close up. the further away you get the more concentrated the colours get.

i've always had an interest in photography, especially close up photography, but my love of textiles always overrides any desire to use it as my main medium. i started playing around with my camera in the studio and just taking photos of a variety of things to start with and through this started to find the objects that really interested me. i love the tape measure image because of the contrasting colours and the sharp combined with the blurred imagery. i always think of photography as secondary to my art work because its what i use to document it, but recently i've been thinking about how i can use it as part of my work. i think this was evident in the 31 days project. i like playing around with the out of focus sections and the macro technique, which i can't really do when i'm documenting work.

i really like this piece, its a close up of of three different pieces of work from three different times in my life, degree, masters and now, all blended together in one image. i wanted to create an image with subtle colour set against strong bright colour and the blending of the two through blurred and focused imagery.

folk shop

2007-07-01T05:24:00.000+01:00

today i've opened my own little imaginary shop that stocks lots of lovely things to buy. its the shop i would have if i had a shop, if that makes sense. its me dreaming but at the same time telling you all about the wonderful things out there that people are making for us. you can find it at http://folkshop.blogspot.com/

so this means that folk design will be solely about my own work and what i'm up to, whereas folk shop will be all about everything else in the wonderful world of craft, art, music, fashion and a few culinary delights to. hope you like it.

26 june 2007

2007-06-26T10:08:00.000+01:00

Well its finally here the last day of the 31 days project, the end. well not quite the end because this project will continue in the form of lots of bigger projects. i have an idea how i see the work developing but i've decided to take a week of from the blog and just take in and assess what i've done so far, i need a bit of thinking time. i have decided that the folk blog will continue in a similar way to the past week or so ie, looking at other artists, craftspeople and designers work, also interesting events i come across. i am thinking of starting a new blog for future projects and keep folk about everything else. but at the moment i'm going to have a little break and make some decisions. so hope to see you all in about a week. hope you like today's silent film inspired piece. i just found another blog that involves making a piece of art everyday, but this time for a year. the diary project involves making a drawing on an envelope and placing a mystery object inside, then kirsty posts it to herself and documents everything. the envelope can only be opened once the work is being exhibited. http://diary-project.blogspot.com/

25 june 2007

2007-06-25T05:23:00.000+01:00

today's work is a photograph of some of my books. some people say you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their bookshelf. mine definitely says i like embroidery, both contemporary and traditional but also contemporary art. i'm not a great reader of fiction but i love to read about art, travel and food. the artist sol lewitt has probably been one of the most significant influences on my work. a number of years ago lewitt produce a book called autobiography which consisted of a series of photographs of every object in his house, i was particularly interested in his bookshelf. i remember making lists of the books he read and looking for them to read myself. i'm always looking in the background of images for clues about artists, posters of exhibitions, books, ideas boards, i'm interested in where their inspiration comes from.

autobiogrpahy, sol lewitt, 1980

gary hume

2007-06-24T09:42:00.000+01:00

i was just browsing the bbc collective website and came across an interview with gary hume about his exhibition at the white cube. the video interview is well worth a look, hume is very open and honest about his work. if your like me and constantly questioning if what you do is good or valid, this may cheer you up. i do like hume's work and was interested in what he had to say about the materials and process he used, how he enjoyed working with his hands to make, the new works are made from stone and lead.

etsy

2007-06-24T05:10:00.000+01:00

suezybees

two little banshees

kirin & co

its your life

bombalaurina

auntie cookie

a.bel studio

previously i've mentioned a website that many of you will be familiar with www.etsy.com its a place where crafters, designers and artists can sell there work. i've picked out a few of my favourite sellers, it is a bit of a mix of work but there are some real gems hidden in there, its just finding them. if anybody has any other recommended etsy sellers please let me and everyone else know in the comments. i loved holly hobby as a child and still have my rag dolls, there much better than barbie so i love the jewellery for sentimental reasons.

24 june 2007

2007-06-24T04:47:00.000+01:00

this morning i was sat at my desk writing notes and thinking about today's work, not sure what i was going to do. i tore a page out of my moleskine notebook as i do everyday, it happened to be the last perforated page (the first half are none perforated the second half are all perforated near the spine). i noticed how interesting the stitched spine combined with the paper left from the torn pages looked. that was it today's piece was decided. i took a number of photographs with the date stamped as usual. sometimes inspiration can come from the strangest of places and that's what makes it so exciting. i've been using these little books for a number of years because i like the gridded pages, the cream colour and the brown cardboard covers combined with the stitched spine. it was obvious i was going to use this paper for the 31 days projects but i wasn't sure what size, the smallest worked well for most pieces but sometimes i did wish for a little more space. its seems apt that one of the works should be solely about the little book that contains my ideas and thoughts. today's idea is a little different in that its a series of photographs instead of just one, also the paper is still attached to the book. i like the idea that the book has now become part of the work as a work itself not just a carrier for the ideas.

23 june 2007

2007-06-23T14:23:00.001+01:00

as the end of the project gets closer i find i am thinking of this more and its what my ideas are about now. its been a bit more difficult towards the end and i will be glad to see it complete. i'm excited about starting new projects and making new work based on the ideas i've explored. i've also found it quite difficult to keep my mind on the project and work full time, when i have a few days off work the project seems to flow more and make more sense. the constant interruption of work makes it feel disjointed in places, but i understand this is all part of the project and it needs to be this way. today is marking off the days already done or is it counting down to the finish, think it may be more the latter.

peter callesen

2007-06-22T12:47:00.000+01:00

thanks nichole for introducing me to peter callesen's work. i've posted just a few pieces i like but if you want to see more visit is website http://www.petercallesen.com/

22 june 2007

2007-06-22T12:06:00.000+01:00

the 31 days are coming to an end so today i've been thinking about how i see the project being developed further. so today's work is my notes on each days piece and which i feel i want to continue with and which i see no future for at this present time. because the paper i'm using is to small to see the text clearly i will list the days i intend to look at over the next week or so. these are the ideas i see having potential to be developed into a new project.

27 may

larger

repeat

graph paper

28 may

multiples

29 may

stitch lists

30 may

more poems

2 june

larger

repeat

fabric

5 june

larger

paper

colour progression

9 june

series

10 june

multiples

11 june

larger

repeat

14 june

series

16 june

larger

composition

19 june

combine print + stitch

larger

21 june 2007

2007-06-21T02:31:00.001+01:00

today's piece is made from punched out, flower shaped, paper pieces to form part of a motif. i done a couple of pieces like this before and they work better on a large scale. for me the paper flowers are just like stitches, each one making up the whole design. this is really the reverse of the punched hole pieces early in this project. i've also looked at artists that use the traditional craft of paper cutting to make art such as abigail hunt and will schaff, you can check out more of schaff's work on the rag and bone blog. if you haven't already looked at the rag and bone blog i highly recommend you do, its one of my favourites.

will shaff

abigail hunt

20 june 2007

2007-06-20T13:03:00.001+01:00

today's work is again based on traditional cross stitch embroidery, the charts used to make the embroideries are as interesting as the work for me. by using colours instead of symbols its looks like a pixelated picture. i like the idea of blowing up the design very large so that the viewer can only see the object from a far, close up it looks like lots of coloured squares. i'm interested in combining new technology with traditional embroidery techniques.

19 june 2007

2007-06-19T13:27:00.001+01:00

today's piece is all printed but made to look like stitch. the inspiration comes from old samplers and the their uses of motif and text. i like the way tilleke schwarz uses text and motif in her work but wanted to do something a little different. you can check out her work at http://www.tillekeschwarz.com/ i think it has lots of potential and would like to develop the idea further. one thing i have found while doing this project is how ,limiting and difficult it as been to work on such a small scale (8.75cm x 13.75cm), i didn't anticipate this at the start. i.ve worked small scales a number of times before and always thought i preferred it but know i'm not so sure, i want to start working bigger.

beware embroidery - tilleke schwarz

18 june 2007

2007-06-18T14:01:00.001+01:00

today's piece is for a very good friend of mine who needs cheering up today, you know who you are xxx. that's all i'm going to say about today's piece.

i will discuss some of the links i've put in the margin, some of you may have tried out a few already. firstly, the blogs are by people i know and just blogs i've stumbled across and found something interesting enough to go back and look again. they cover a variety of topics but all art related. she sees red is an artist who as set herself the challenge of visiting a gallery a day in london and posting her comments on the exhibition daily. create craft, drawing words and journey quilt are new blogs by 2 local artists. list off is an amusing blog of lists. rag and bone and seamripper are beautiful blogs by crafts people more than artists but well worth a look.

the websites are too numerous to mention all but my favourite embroidery sites are hannah lamb, karin akesson, petra bose, public embroidery and poppy treffy. i also plan to add my favourite etsy sites soon.

17 june 2007

2007-06-17T12:41:00.000+01:00

gone shopping for shoes so could be a while. today is a blank page (well almost) this is because i don't have enough time to do any work today.

16 june 2007

2007-06-16T14:17:00.000+01:00

well here it is the same as yesterday but with stitches. i like the disjointed look of the lines and the dominance of the holes. it looks a bit clumsy to, i'm interested in the idea of enlarging the stitches so that work can be viewed from a distance clearly and begin to lose clarity the closer the viewer gets to the work.

public embroidery

2007-06-15T11:05:00.000+01:00

i've just found a website for a swedish artist who cross stitches patterns on bus and train seats in sweden. i think their great, nice and quirky. if anyone as seen one these embroideries please let me know. you can find out more about her at www.ulrikaerdes.se but to give you an idea of what she does here is some of her handiwork.

15 june 2007

2007-06-15T10:19:00.000+01:00

while doing this project i am aware that some days just seem to flow on from each other, almost like i planed it that way, and others just seem very disjointed. today feels a little like a backward step, but that's ok. this isn't meant to be a refined work of art, its an experiment and more of an ideas or sketch book. so today i've returned to the holes without the stitches, similar to june 13 and the use of large areas of space. its the viewers role to join the dots and come up with an image. i particularly like the delicate nature of the work and would like to use this technique to create pieces based on lace. tomorrow i will repeat this piece but with the stitches intact. this still complies with the rules as i will not start any physical work on the piece until tomorrow, although the mental work is complete. this is the first time during this project i have done this, that is not to say i don't think about future pieces, it would be very difficult not to. so not much of a surprise tomorrow but that's the way life goes, sometimes we do know what will happen next.

14 june 2007

2007-06-14T11:44:00.001+01:00

we've all got them hid away somewhere and when we do one day need them we probably won't be able to find them, i'm talking about the spare buttons we get when we buy clothes. i've got loads of them, unfortunately i'm not organised enough to put them all in the same place, but there is something i really like about them. i'm not sure if its the little plastic bag they come in or that they look so lonely all on there own in their little bag. i told you i love buttons. i often find one of these button bags and i'm reminded of the garment it was saved for, sometimes i no longer have the garment, all that remains is this solo button. the section of the photograph is the top this button was saved for, its as though they are re-united in this work. i would love to photograph and re-unite many more garments and buttons as some kind of record that they existed.

after watching 'the art life' last night it got me thinking about my own work and how i explain what i do to others. i admit i sometimes struggle and this project as been a way for me to collect my thoughts and ideas and make sense of them. the main theme of the programme was 'suburbia', all the artists interviewed worked with living in the suburbs as the basis for their ideas. they are interested in the ordinary in life, what makes us who we are. in some ways this is what my work is about, the ordinary and almost unnoticed in our seemingly mundane lives. the idea of recording time is partly about how we seem to waste time. i've always thought it consisted of various ideas that i sometimes struggle to bring together, but i'm starting to realise how everything links together and what the 'big idea' really is. not sure if this makes sense but i need to write it down for future reference while its fresh in my head. i'll make sense of it later.

13 june 2007

2007-06-13T11:56:00.000+01:00

today's idea comes in two parts, before and after. i liked the look of the cube without the stitches as much as the with so i decided to take a photo of both. i like the idea of mentally filling in the work, but also the use of stitching it together. i've wanted to do something involving dot-to-dot drawings for a while and i'm still not sure how this will happen yet. but this is a start at least. sol lewitt did a series of incomplete open cubes, where the viewer was required to fill in the blanks mentally. i didn't chose a cube because of this more because its an easy shape to use just get an idea into a physical form.

i want to mention a tv series that started last night on abc australia, its called the art life and is about australian contemporary art. the style of the presentation is similar to the art crazy nation series that matthew collings did in england a few years ago. i was a big fan of this series the way collings explains art, so everyone can understand it. if your in australia i recommend you check it out, its on abc at 10pm on tuesdays. the other reason why i mention this programme is because it actually started life as a blog, so if your not in australia you can still check out the blog http://www.artlife.blogspot.com/

12 june 2007

2007-06-12T12:03:00.000+01:00

today's piece is using the punch tool again but with the single motif. i use various motifs in my work as a link backs to traditional embroidery techniques. most of the work references the antique samplers and charted cross stitch embroideries of the past. my love of embroidery really started when i discovered antique 'samplers'. i used to stitch and design my own traditional looking samplers, before studying embroidery and discovering a much more creative and broader meaning of the art form. even the concrete poetry reminds me of cross stitch charts. i particularly like the european folk embroidery, this is partly why i chose the name folk. i think it just a really good word, i like the various meanings, the way it looks and that its straight to the point. alos it connection to other words such as folklore, because a lot of art is about telling stories.

11 june 2007

2007-06-11T02:54:00.000+01:00

today i've used the process of punching holes again, their are 3 layers and 2 are punched, the top layer is semi transparent paper. the same motif is punched and then moved 1 square to the right and 1 square down. as with the last punched piece, june 7, i see this being repeated over a large surface. the use of repetition creates a mesmerising surface which the viewer is drawn into, almost contemplative. the work will also look quite different from a distance as compared to close up.

many of the artists i admire have used repetition or serial repetition in their work, such as sol lewitt, hanne darboven, maxine bristow, eva hesse, anne hamilton and on kawara.

ALL ONE TWO THREE AND FOUR PART COMBINATIONS OF LINES IN FOUR DIRECTIONS AND IN FOUR COLORS, sol lewitt

hanne darboven

maxine bristow

10 june 2007

2007-06-10T08:00:00.001+01:00

something a little different today, it comes in two parts. the first part is the diagram of how to make the second part.

i've talked about drawing and its many forms over the last couple of days and to day is another variation on how i use drawing. i see the diagram on 'how to make' as important as the made object, not merely a means to an end. i'm also interested in packaging and origami. i would like to make lots of these little houses in different papers and also stitch into them.

structural package design is a great book , full of diagrams of all sorts of unusual packaging, mainly made from cardboard. 'how to wrap five more eggs; traditional japanese packaging' is a fantastic book with lots of unusual ways to package items, it might be out of print but check second hand bookshops.

09 june 2007

2007-06-09T07:40:00.000+01:00

Yesterday i was talking about drawing and its role in putting ideas into a physical form. drawing is as much about 'mark-making' as it is about representing something that already exists. so today's idea is a drawing of the passing of time, 5 minutes of marking notches on paper. marking notches as a way of counting the passing of time as been around forever it seems, so it seemed appropriate to use these in one of my time pieces. i also like the way the marks look on paper, each one is very different in size, the pressure of the pencil on the paper, the sharpness of the pencil , the spaces between the marks and also the over all look of the work. the use of the hand is obvious, this work was not produced by a machine, i don't think it would be possible to produce something like this my machine, at this moment in time. the humanness of the work makes it very 'real'. although my work is heavily influenced by fine artists my background as always been craft, i love to work with my hands and make things. the art versus craft debate is a long one and i'm not going to jump on my soap box and discuss it here. i see my work as both art and craft and many artists are starting to think in the same way. i don't like to be pigeon holed, but understand in some ways it is necessary to understand artists work, to know where they are coming from. craft generally makes useful objects whereas art makes us think, so why can't both do this?

08 june 2007

2007-06-08T04:52:00.001+01:00

i've always been interested in drawing and artists who use drawing in ways we don't normally associate it with. i've little interest in drawing as a photographic representation of something, more as an exploration of an idea. i would classify many of the ideas in this project as drawing, its not just about pencil and paper, drawing is far broader than that. i went to see the jerwood drawing prize exhibition at the lowery in salford, england a few years ago and the piece i remember distinctly was a kitchen table with a coffee mug stain on it, i thought it was brilliant. so today's idea is a drawing of a line, i love working with different materials and processes to visualise an idea and buttons are a particular favourite that i don't use as often as i should.

i love buttons, think they remind me of playing with my mums button box as a child. i now have my own button box which my 20 month old niece thinks is great to shake as a make shift musical instrument. she also likes playing with the cotton bobbins, think we may have another embroiderer in the family. If so she will be a 5th generation embroiderer, as far as i am aware, in my family.

it reminds me of being in Peru and learning how to weave on a back strap loom. I was lucky to have 2 generations worth of knowledge (mother and daughter) teaching me. mercedes would bring her baby daughter along and encouraged her to play with the wool, this was the first step in her weaving education. mercedes explained that she had 2 more children who where already weaving far more complex designs than she was teaching me. in mercedes and margaritas village most of the people earned a living from weaving, its something they were born into.

mercedes and baby

mercedes and margarita

07 june 2007

2007-06-07T03:30:00.001+01:00

i'm sure you've already realised that the amount of time i spend on the daily works is not only restricted by the 24 hours in the day but also by other commitments i have such as going to work. some of the pieces take only an hour whereas others can take a few hours, today's piece for example took less than 30 minutes to make. whereas tomorrow i'm not in work and will have much more time available to work on the pieces. i find this an advantage rather than a obstacle because i can be a bit lazy, like most people, when it comes to getting my ideas into some kind of physical form. coming up with the ideas is fine if i can get them out of my head quickly before there lost.

i see this project as the start of a much bigger project that will continue once the 31 days are over. this is like my sketch or ideas book and the 'real' work will be made after. take today's piece for example, it looks pretty ordinary on its own but if that motif was repeated over and over again using the right materials it could become a very delicate a beautiful work. the process involves repeatedly hitting a punch tool with a hammer to create the pattern, very laborious and noisy, you end up with a headache after a while.

06 june 2007

2007-06-06T13:39:00.001+01:00

today's work, just like this blog is exploring the passing of time. this is what i did today, not everything i did, but moments of the day that may be seen as markers that break the day up. they may be seen as significant, whereas, everything else in the day may be seen as mundane or seemingly meaningless. today appears to have been quite a boring day in my opinion, i got up, went to work, came home, had tea and posted this blog. it is everything else that happened today that interests me, the unmentioned events that for whatever reason i chose not to include.

this blog is a diary, a diary of ideas and thoughts about my work. this project is a diary, a way to get my ideas into reality rather than just in my head. this work is a diary, a diary of what i did today.

05 june 2007

2007-06-05T14:27:00.000+01:00

today is a return to stitch and the start of an investigation into seriality. i've always been interested in the use of series and repetition by other artists, i'll talk about these more over the next few days and the artists that have influenced my work, i use both repetition and series quite a lot in my own work. Until recently colour had never played a big role in my work, i would use it sparingly. I now use a lot of colour mainly in sequences where it is the colour that changes and the motif remains constant, repeating it over and over with different colour combinations.

internet art projects

2007-06-04T10:05:00.000+01:00

i want to share some of the internet art projects i've found interesting. if anyone finds any more internet based art sites please let me know and i'll post them on the blog.

i've already mentioned www.numeral.com , i came across this site a good few years ago and forgot all about it until i was reading through an old university journal recently. this reminded me of another site i read about in textile: the journal of cloth & culture, is the site of professor Brenda Danet and is used as a way of communicating through text based images.

http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~msdanet/cyberpl@y/

the following quote is taken from the a fore mentioned journal, volume 1, issue 2, pp118-143, Pixel Patchwork: "Quilting in Time" Online,
"Text' and "Textile" share the same Laton root -textus, or "woven". In the 1960s and 1970s a digital form of amateur text-based art known as "ASCII (pronounced AS-kee) art" began to flourish - images created with letters and other typographic symbols on the computer keyboard. Since the advent of windows 95, participants in certain "channels" (chatrooms) on IRC (Internet Relay chat) have developed a brilliantly colored form of text-based art, an elaboration of ASCII art. this art contains much play with ornament, pattern and symmetry and may be either abstract or figurative. In a highly ritualized mode of playful communication,images are displayed on the screen in real time to greet other participants. thus, images are both "art" and "communication." Despite its intangibility, this art has many affinities with traditional weaving, embroidery and especially quilting. It is a form of "quilting in time" rather than space."

the article goes on to discuss the work of an IRC group called Rainbow.

other sites worth checking out are;

http://www.adaweb.com/ this website includes the work of Lawerence Weiner who as done some interesting work using text.

http://www.furtherfield.org/displaylinks.php?link_set=11 this is a site with links to other art blogs

http://blog-art.blogspot.com/ similar to furtherfield

http://closky.blogspot.com/ worth looking at

04 june 2007

2007-06-04T09:53:00.000+01:00

today's work is based on the work of john f. simon, jr and his website project every icon, 1997. rather than explain his project i'll give you the website to check it out for yourself www.numeral.com. as part of the project you are invited to create your own every icon piece, using a 7 x 7 grid, then submit it to the gallery. unfortunately it didn't seem to working when i tried, so i've recreated the 7 x 7 grid i would have submitted for today's work. the site isn't very up to date but interesting none the less.

03 june 2007

2007-06-03T05:16:00.000+01:00

home is where the art is follows on from yesterdays piece of home sweet home, this was not intentional but just happened as a natural progression of the thought process. on looking back at the work so far i can see a pattern starting to develop and a coherent progression of ideas. i wasn't sure if this would happen at the start but was certainly conscious of the possibility of it.

eventually i see this piece being made quite large scale and stitched on fabric or paper. i'm interested in the play on words and connection to cross stitched work traditionally made for the home. the use of repeating the phrase over and over again creates an all over pattern but can also allow the words to read out of order. if the phase was just typed once that's how it would read, whereas when repeated it could be read in numerous ways, for example;

home is where the art is

art is home

home is where?

where the art is, home is

02 june 2007

2007-06-02T16:03:00.000+01:00

today's work as been a bit of a challenge for time. i have been at work all day and then started this work when i got home. although it appears quite plain and straightforward it is still time consuming to complete. the work isn't actually complete, the last 3 lines are just holes, hinting at what should be there. i do like it being unfinished and it has given me new ideas to try out. the idea behind today's piece is the influence of old samplers and more modern home sweet home cross stitch patterns combined with my love of repetition and monotony. i would like to do a larger piece where the text is repeated over and over again so it almost becomes an image. this refers back to the concrete poetry, the text creates a surface where the words almost dissolve into it and we are left with an image of it in our mind.

01 june 2007

2007-06-01T13:17:00.000+01:00

this work combines 2 of my favourite things cross stitch and text. the text being instructions on how to construct a cross stitch. i like to keep the work simple and clear so the idea is paramount but at the same time i want the work to be visually appealing. i have previously worked with dictionary definitions of words to convey my ideas but wanted to try something a little different with this piece. i often use text in my work because i feel it adds another layer to the work. embroidery and cross stitch in particular tends to dominate alot of my work, i like the simplicity of it.

the above is a work by one of my favourite artists, joseph kosuth. what i love about kosuth's work is the instant understanding of the idea combined with the refined visual aspect of the work. this work is one of his more well know, it shows a photo of a chair, a chair and the definition of a chair, genius in my opinion.

31 may 2007

2007-05-31T13:47:00.000+01:00

today's work is for my nephew who turned 5 today, the full text says 'happy birthday mitch'. mitch loves to colour in so i thought it would be appropriate to produce a work that uses this technique. i've blown up the text so only a section of it can be viewed. i want to make pieces that play around with composition, blowing an image up to cover a whole page or just working a small area of a page.

30 may 2007

2007-05-30T13:04:00.000+01:00

today's work is a piece of concrete poetry. i have been interested in concrete poetry since university where i first came across it. i like the use of text to make pictures or images. it doesn't have to be readable as normal poem would be its much more visual.

this is a concrete poem by a garnier & garnier. i've chose this because i think they were one of the best creators of this form of art. the following is a quote by john ciardi, poet "the everlasting difference between poetry and any other form of writing is that every line ends not at the right hand margin of the page, but against white space . . . in a poem the white space is actually part of the poem."

As this project progresses it should become apparent why i chose that quote, the space on a page is very important in my work, i like to play around with composition and i'm not afraid of big blank spaces.

29 may 2007

2007-05-29T11:09:00.001+01:00

todays work is inspired by Richard Serra an artist who work i admire. over the next few days i'm going to talk more about the artists that influence me and whos work i admire. below is richard serra's verb list.

28 may 2007

2007-05-28T04:15:00.001+01:00

the second day of the project and i'm finding it hard to hold back, i want to get on with the next days work. i intend to keep to the rules of the project and wait until tomorrow. its my mums birthday today so this piece is for her. happy birthday mum xxx

27 may 2007

2007-05-27T13:19:00.000+01:00

this is my first days work, still not sure what tomorrows will look like but thats all part of the work.

new project - 31 days

2007-05-27T12:23:00.000+01:00

today i've started a new project that i'm calling "31 days". basically it involves me making a piece of work everyday for a month. there are a set of rules i must follow but apart from that i am free to do what i want each day. the end piece will be all the days displayed together. everyday i will post an image of the days work. i hope other people will join in and make there own month of art, i'll post them on here or display links to them.

rules or instructions

1. work should be on paper, this can be any size, colour or shape, printed or plain. the same paper should be used throughout so make sure you have 31
pieces.
2. each day a new piece should be made, if there is not enough time to finish the piece on that day it should remain unfinished. each piece should be dated in some way. if there is no time to make a piece on any given day then a dated blank piece of paper should be used to represent this.
3. any process or technique and design(s) can be used and re-used. it is the makers decision to use the page in any way they choose. text is also allowed.
4. the work can begin on any day and continue for one month exactly.
5. this is not a diary but could be interpreted as such. It is an exploration of time and the mundane.
6. the date must always be in clued somewhere on the piece.
7. work can only be done during that day. once the day is over no more work can be done on that piece.
8. the pieces form one whole piece of work that cannot be split, it is up to the maker how this work is eventually displayed and viewed.

orla kiely

2007-05-13T10:33:00.000+01:00

still learning about blogging. my brother as just showed me how to insert a hyperlink so this is just a test run. decided to use the orla kiely website basically because i love her designs. you can check her out at www.orlakiely.com

in the studio

2007-05-06T14:00:00.000+01:00

this is a snap shot of a pin board in my studio to give you an idea of what i'm working on at the moment. i've been looking at traditional embroidery patterns and how they can be used in a different way. recently i've begun stitching into paper rather than fabric, i like the crispness of the paper combined with the variety of patterns available to stitch over. my favourite stitch is cross stitch and i also like running stitch for there simplicity.

this is detail of the stitched area of a piece i have been working on today. i am currently playing around with composition, looking at work that doesn't fill the whole space, similar to Olitski's paintings of the 1950's. the idea of huge areas of nothingness with a small space covered in detailed stitch is something i want to explore further. i have always been interested in the overall repetitive pattern and will still continue to explore this.

getting started

2007-04-30T13:56:00.000+01:00

this is my first attempt at blogging so we'll see how it goes. the main aim of this site to share ideas and thoughts about my work. i sometimes struggle to define my work, its a bit of textile, art, craft, fashion, illustration, graphic design and photography. the work is about the ideas and i work in which ever medium i feel best portrays the idea. So i would love to get lots of feedback on what i'm doing if you like it or not. i'll also introduce you to other artists, designers, fashion designers, photographers, books, films and anything else that excites me. i'll also feature some of my favourite blogs and websites. so really i'm being very self indulgent and just ranting on about all the things i like, hope you like some of them to.