Victoria and Albert Museum

This website has the most amazing catalogue of objects in the museums collection with lots of information and excellent quality images. An awesome resource and time stealer so be careful!

Here are a few textile pieces that caught my eye....

Lyon, France 1763

This design is a preparatory technical drawing for a patterned silk. It acted as instructions for the weaver about how to tie up the threads on the loom and then weave in the pattern. More

England, 1851- 1900

An appliqué coverlet of printed cotton silhouettes on a cotton ground, including both animate and inanimate objects: houses, socks, men on horseback, trees, scissors and a range of animals. At the centre is an octagonal ready-printed panel showing flowers on a pale-yellow ground. On either side are appliqued silhouettes of 'The Greek Slave' in printed cotton. Round the outer edge is a striped blue, white and yellow cotton border, cut into a zig-zag at its inner edge.More

Gujarat, India 15th century-16th century

This fragment is one of many hundreds of printed cotton fabrics from Gujarat which have been recovered from several sites in Egypt. This one (like the others in the V&A's collection) reputedly came from Fostat, the former capital of Egypt, which has given its name to the whole group, which are often referred to as 'Fostat fragments'. more

Shapes...

Experimenting with drawing shapes for a wall hanging. It didn't eventuate but I'm still quite taken with these shapes. 

Productivity and the Universe.

I've been pretty productive this past week, had some break throughs, discovered some new as well as some old techniques that I really enjoy. I've been making a lot without thinking too much or worrying about what the work means. I feel as though I need to get this out of my system and then I will go back to conceptual work. I'm also considering starting a lengthy new project that should last about a year. We will see.

Anyway, here is an image of a Kirra Jamison painting because I love these abstract forms and she is a genius with colour.

Universe 2012 acrylic and vinyl on polyester, 213 x183 cm

Just keep making....

(detail image of another unfinished work I must go back to!)

I've developed a bad habit of boiling the kettle and never making the tea. sadface.

Experiments...

An experiment I did at the start of this year to see how the crochet grid behaved when stitched onto paper. I wanted to discern whether it would provide a workable parameter for paper embroidery. It didn't turn out like I imagined (which happens more often than not) but was still satisfying to carry out. I'm still really interested in the grid and this distortion is very exciting!

Tying up loose ends.

Today is a day for finishing half completed works. If I have a new idea, I'll write it down and let it stew instead of launching into it straight. Productivity becomes me! (hopefully)

xx

gone but not forgotten

Work in progress.. this piece is taking far too long to complete, I feel as though I have left it behind and moved onto other things. I must complete it... and all the other pieces I've left behind.

Reverso II (gusto!)

Inky lines and neon angles. 

This one is for sale in my Etsy shop (almost don't want to part with it).

And the reverse side which is, again, holding my attention with great gusto!

Diggin' wet on wet and these shapes.

I love this little corner of this practice piece. I adore 

the lines 

the angles

the hand drawn 

the intersection of lines

the thick

the thin

the dark 

the light

the compartments

and the repetition.

(intersection & compartments)

O!

O! lines...

direction.

direction

grids

lines

arrows

components

restricted

ordered

inks

hands

intuition

presence

Ahhh Lauren Clay....

Aren't they fabulous?! Here is an interesting interview with Lauren Clay by High Fructose magazine about her amazing practice. 

reverso.

Reverse side of the work. 

Amazing. Must do something with this pattern. 

Excitement!

Painting and Embroidery.

Intuitive painting with ink.

Embroidery in response to shapes. 

Get into it!

new new new things!

slowly but surely my love comes into fruition!

ink and embroidery..

obsessed. 

more to come..

of course. 

El Anatsui

I love their impact, their metallic surfaces and their huge and gentle folds. But most of all, I love the transformation of unwanted, discarded fragments into stunning and enthralling works of art. 

new drawings...

I've been experimenting with new ways of working lately. At the moment, I'm addicted to drawing images, tearing them out and then arranging their elements to achieve a satisfactory composition. I'm also interested in exploring and expanding my drawing style. currently, I seem to be drawing abstract geometric patterns with lots of linework. It's cathartic and spontaneous as individual images aren't planned and therefore no two end up the same. I'd like to continue with this intuitive style of drawing but also enlarge its scale to see how it works REALLY BIG!

Gray Moments

Gray Moments

FRAU GRAU

I've been following the German illustrator, Frau Grau, for a little while now on Instagram and besides posting regular photos of her magnificent cat, she also post images of her recent illustrations. 

I love her talent and skill with both colour and composition as well as her consistent sense of style (something that I am working towards at the moment).

Here are a few of my favourite artworks and products by her. You can see more of her eye catching work here. Enjoy!