tea bath - Amanda's post

busy year for all by Amanda

All the Forum members have had a busy year since our residential week last winter, we all have numerous projects on the go as well as juggling family life, work etc. and we are working towards a group exhibition in February 2012. I have completed my signature piece (a signature piece is a starting point for developing an idea) for Stitching the Legend and am working on a series of painted and stitched panels on the theme of Legendary Fashion Designers. The Mary Quant panel is a departure from my neutral colour scheme from last year and ventures into primaries. The panels are on tea-dyed cotton cloth, painting is in process using acrylic paints and fabric medium. My plan is to stretch them over a wooden frame for hanging but, at this stage in the making, plans could change!

Currently most of my time is being spent on various printmaking projects, a learning curve in which I am learning new skills to incorporate into my textile work in the future.

update from Jan

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 months since the residence week and while there isn't a day that has gone by that I haven't thought of the current project I must admit there have been less where I've actually sat at my machine. I have spent time both on creating samples and also keeping a journal that has saved me time in the end I now see as I can go back quickly to get settings based on the samples. This is my latest sample where I've created characters to follow the yellow brick road that are about 2" in height. I will define the characters with stitching and using ink/pens. I expect to have this top that these pieces will be a part of finished within the week now so I'll be down to quilting the 3 pieces I've completed to date.

Ester Kiely: update on 2011 residential at Ballyduggan

We're just back from our 2011 week's residential at Ballyduggan, Co. Down. This was my second year attending and I think I settled in easier this year and therefore achieved more.

I arrived with my 'signature piece' completed and quite a few sketches, collages and notes in my sketchbook. This helped me to start working quickly.

There were four of us again this year. Jan, Frances Amanda and myself. Tania couldn't make it but hopefully will meet up with Jan soon to get herself up and running on the theme 'Stitching the Legend'.

My initial pieces are based on tree silhouttes against various backgrounds. I have 3 pieces in various stages of progress.

But I also have more ideas in my head based on the next stages of the legend of 'Eithne the Fairy Bride' associated with Knockma, Co. Galway.

Let's hope I can keep the momentum up!

update from Ester Kiely

For this year's theme, "Myths & Legends" I decided to continue to explore the landscape where I live in County Galway.

My house faces the hill, Knockma (Cnoc Maigh - the hill on the plain). It is the only high ground in a very flat plain of land that stretches to Loch Corrib and to the mountains in Connemara beyond.

According to local folklore, Knockma is a fairy hill and site of the palace of Finnvarra (Fionnbharra) King of the Fairies. There are many stories of people being 'spirited away' by the fairies and lots of superstitions.

Another legend says that Queen Maedbh is buried there. There is also mention of Ladra, a Nordic explorer, who apparently populated the surrounding area! Not to mention St. Patrick who passed by his way to Downpatrick. The old abbey of Donoghpatrick is just a mile away. I'll soon be follow St. Patrick to Downpatrick as I head to Ballyduggan for this year's residential.

But back to Knockma and a legend of 'Eithne the fairy bride' where a local chieftain's wife, fell into a trance and was spirited away by Fionnbharra, King of the Fairies. With this in mind, I began to collage and doodle in my sketchbook to see what images might come up.

A photo-collage of tree-silhouettes against a night sky.

A torn-paper tree with the words 'mo ghrá thú' (literally translates as 'you are my love' but is said as an endearment).

Metallic continuous line drawings to simulate metallic thread stitching.

Black calligraphy pen drawings on white. White pen on black background.

This sketchbook page was the one I decided to work with for the challenge.

The challenge is for each member to create an initial piece based on their own interpretation of 'Myths and Legends' but it must include black and gold metallic thread and tea-dyed calico, stretched over a 50x50cm canvas.

exhibition update - don't miss it!

The Forum's exhibition "Make it New" is now showing at Ards Arts Centre in Newtownards Town Hall, Conway Square, until 25th February. Open every day except Sunday, until 4.30 Mon - Thurs and 4.00pm Fri and Sat. There is a variety of work on show including Jans' handstitched hexagon patchwork, Esters' machine embroidered stone wall interpretations, Frances' skillful colour-play and Amandas' experimental fabric composted pieces. If you visit the exhibition let us know what you think, either comment here or sign the guestbook at the Arts Centre.

"Make it New" an exhibition by the textile art forum in co. down

The Textile Art Forum

presents

Make it New

an exhibition of textiles at

Ards Arts Centre,

Newtownards Town Hall,

Conway Square,

Newtownards,

Co Down, BT23 4DB

Official opening: Thursday, 3rd February, 2011: 19.00-21.00

Exhibition runs from 2nd - 25th February 2011

Opening times: 10.00 – 16.30 Mon - Thurs, 10.00 – 16.00 Fri - Sat

update from Jan

Well hopefully we all made it through the rough weather in December and all of you are being as enthused as I am right now. I'm finally getting my head around the new theme and sketching out ideas (some off the beaten path but will lead to great conversations in Ballyduggan) and will hopefully have done some samples for the signature piece within the next few days. I'm including the final hexagons - other than the one I may bring in March for me - that was part of the cushions I made for each of my sisters out of fabric that they would have used in the 1960's. I will hopefully post either some sketches or samples within the next couple weeks and do look forward to where each of you are going with the theme "Stitching the Legend".

december arrives...by Amanda

I promised an update mid-November, well, it's December now, other projects pushed their way to the fore and Forum work is waiting for attention. I have spent a month developing a character design for a pre-school children's book. This is almost complete now so will be sharing that on my own blog before Christmas.

Life is full, Stitching the Legend is still in process. Sometimes it takes months of waiting before an idea sparks the project off again - it's all part of the creative process. The Ulster Musuem has a small costume display which includes a beautiful Schiaperelli gown. I'm not sure what the fabric is because there is little detail and you can't touch it to find out! I'm guessing it's silk crepe de chine. The colour is a muted soft pink so that will have to be included somehow into my Schiaperelli piece for Stitching the Legend.

Here's a quote from the famous lady herself:

'Never fit a dress to a body but train the body to fit the dress'

Back onto the exercise bike for me then!

eager to stitch

Seeing the cartoon, Amanda, makes me eager to get back to this project. Until I get a 'thumbs up' from the surgeon, however, I continue to be limited to thinking and researching. See you all at the Bee Hive on Saturday. Frances

looking ahead by Amanda

Our Make it New work is still available for exhibition until next summer but meanwhile Forum members press on with our new theme 'Stitching the Legend'. We are planning for and looking forward to our next residential week in March 2011 when we will be focusing on the theme and working together to bring our ideas into reality. Meanwhile Autumn is here, the weather is cooler and the days are shorter, the perfect season for turning up the heating in the studio and spending time in creative mode. Each Forum member is busy with their own lives and work, slotting in Forum time whenever possible. For me, October is an important month for updating my own website and for working on the allotment, planting fruit canes etc -November /December are my forum months so, all being well, expect an update from me mid-November, maybe sooner if inspiration takes over and I start working through the night!

update from Amanda

The exhibition is in progress, so while we wait to hear the responses of visitors, work continues on our current projects. My Stitching the Legend pieces are in the 'thinking' process. Who knows how long this will take - while I meditate on the work so far and make decisions about the next step my fashion icon outlines stare at me from the wall of the room where I work waiting for inspiration to hit.

Until I have further news here are a couple of photos of the fabric collage that I made to accompany the dress in the current exhibition. Photographs of my model have been transfered onto composted cotton, applique has been added and the resulting quilted piece stretched around a frame. The colours are muted yet earthy, the message is gentle but potent - 'Respect the Planet' - Let's take care of this wonderful, unique place we call earth.

more Cavan exhibition photos from Jan

Finally back looking at the pictures I took on the current exhibition in the County Cavan Museum in Ballyjamesduff I thought I'd share the following from the exhibition. When we were in Ballyduggan, County Down in March of 2010 one exercise we all did was to do a self-portrait as a single line drawing which was quite entertaining and both Frances and Amanda managed to get their drawing moved to a composted fabric and included in the exhibition as seen here:

Here are two of Esters rock pieces; one with the rocks as separate pieces incorporated into the wall hanging and one that was one piece of fabric that with the use of just threads she created the same effect - most amazing when you sit and really enjoy the work done:

The final series of Will Tell pieces that I did were done with the original design (using only arrows - palms depending on how you see it) that incorporated fabrics from the Escheresque series and while not as striking as the red/yellow series has a unique quality with the different fabrics and threads used in the quilting of these A4 pieces:

Cavan county museum exhbition starts

Well finally we've gathered all our pieces and have hung the exhibition at the Cavan County Museum from the 1st of September 2010 through the 30th of September 2010! I'll be adding pictures over the next week or so of the pieces but thought I'd start tonight with a shot of each of our primary walls (except I forgot to take one of mine). Amanda had her pieces centre around the bull rushes that we see during our residence week in Ballyduggan. She used techniques like dress making using stamped fabric and fabric painting/stitching them as a wall piece; all of which have been done on composted fabric.




Ester has included a few larger quilts so we have one wall that contains all her rock wall hangings that each contain their own unique style. I hadn't realized that some of them were created from one piece of fabric and the stitching was what defined the rocks vs the ones that had individual stones (of various sizes and fabrics). In the next few days I'll add along some of the bigger quilts which include fabric from her son's early shirts along with detailed pictures of the rock series.




Frances has continued on with the Making it New theme to include a series of watercolour techniques for the 4 seasons of the year along with heartfelt depiction of the disasters that have hit the waters of the world with the Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989 and more recently the Gulf Oil spill caused by a catastrophic uncapped oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally my favorite project involved taking a quilt I had started in 1973 when I started a Grandmothers Garden pattern (long before I knew what quilting really involved) made of scraps of fabric my 4 sisters and I used to make clothing in our teens. I have since taken it apart and put it back together and loved the memories as I worked. For anyone actually attending the exhibition you'll see almost all my entries are hexagons (the framed piece includes hexagons that are only 5/8" big) and hopefully I've outgrown that phase at this point!

here comes the Exxon Valdez

At last! The piece is finished and titled 'Here Comes the Exxon Valdez.' It is a warning to us all of the havoc brought on by the greed of oil companies, by our own thoughtless use of petrol and by moronic statements such as those from Sarah Palin, "Drill, baby, drill." And, to my delight, the quilt placed second in the wall quilt category at the recent Tinahely Quilt Show.

Ester: stitching the legend

When faced with the challenge of creating new work based on the theme of 'Stitching the Legend' I begin by looking at what is on my doorstep.

I moved to Co. Galway in 2005 and by coincidence our new family home is not far from Tuam where my mother grew up. The front of my house looks towards a hill called Knockma, of which I knew very little.

Local folklore says it is a fairy hill, and that Finvarra, king of the Connacht Fairies and Queen Maeve of Connacht are buried there.

Archaeologists believe it was a significant ceremonial area dating from Neolithic times. There are four stone cairns at the summit and there may be passage tombs. Several new tombs and the remains of a hill fort were also found on a nearby ridge.

One of Galway's 'tribes', the Kirwan family, built its base at Castlehacket, at the foot of Knockma in the 18th century. It seems that the monuments at Knockma were 'remodelled' around that time and that other field monuments nearby were destroyed, without excavation, by farming. Today, local quarrying poses a further threat to this landscape.

I often walk on Knockma, where there is now a signposted 'Golden Mile' walk. This photo shows the view from the summit looking back towards my home. There is something magical about this landscape where the surrounding plains stretch towards Loch Corrib and the Maam Turk mountains in Connemara.

june update from Amanda

It's the start of another creative season for The Textile Art Forum. Our new theme is Stitching the Legend. As usual, each of us will interpret the theme in our individual way, exploring concepts that catch our imaginations and spark creativity.

For myself the theme keeps me in my beginnings as a clothing designer and I plan to explore images from the work of three legendary fashion design icons: Schiaparelli, Dior and Quant. Their distinctive design silhouttes are the starting point for my work this season.

Each of the Forum members has a piece of matching tea-dyed cotton, a reel of metallic thread and an 18" canvas to make a signature piece which describes the flavour of this year's theme. These are my first pictures - my idea in the raw - paper-doll like figures dance across the cloth, capturing the essence of their era with a connecting timeline linking them together. There isn't any stitch on this yet, but there will be soon...

update from Frances

During the residential retreat in February at Ballydugan I played around with this wall quilt, using my hand-dyed fabrics and a sort of cathedral windows and bargello combination. Then it sat on the shelf. When the April oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, I knew that I needed to finish this piece and dedicate it to the lost sea creatures, to the birds of the air, to those who lost their lives on the oil rigs and to those whose lives will be forever altered due to this rape of the environment. I also wanted to raise awareness of the greed that propels companies such as Shell, BP, Exxon, etc. The quilt's body is almost finished with the quilting process (lots of lumps and rumples to sort out), and I am now experimenting with black and white organza to use as symbols for the oil gushing without stop, killing without end. Titles: "Drill, Baby, Drill" as a reminder of the moronic Sarah Palin and her disregard for the environment; "Here Comes the Exxon Valdez" as a memory of the attack on the ice columns of Alaska; "Coming your way from BP" as a statement that what the oil companies have wrought can never replace the nature they have shredded. Sadly, there are too many titles.

time for an update from Amanda

It's been a while since I posted...I'm wrapping up my work for the 'Make it New' theme, printing out photos of the Bullrush dress and tranferring them onto fabric, tying up other loose ends and framing. My Black and Blue series of prints have been finally finished. After some months of considering their purpose they clicked into place as a message bearer regarding the oil spill in the Mexican Gulf... eco-friendly prints using water based inks on natural cotton, framed with petrol blue silk, they seemed appropriate for adding text and saying how I feel about events. 'Respect the Planet'

An update from Jan

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since we left Ballyduggan but finally I'm feeling like some of my projects are really wrapping up. I've complete the wall hanging of the 4 small William Tell series and it needs to be quilted but after getting some backing material that will be accomplished this week as I'm home nursing my dog who got her pacemaker last week. I've also almost finished the grandmothers garden quilt after deciding to add some half-blocks where I thought I was only going to use calico. My goal is to also have this on the machine for quilting within the next couple days. Time will tell. Here is an "in-progress" view of the William Tell series.