Ruins 9: Cottonopolis Revisited

I am very excited to announce that I will be one of the featured artists at the upcoming ‘T’ IS FOR TEXTILES exhibition at the Rheged Centre in Penrith. Running from 27th March until 28th June the exhibition showcases the best in contemporary textile art across North England and Scotland. It features work from across a diverse range of styles and techniques and also touches on the textile heritage of the North.

The curator has selected three of my Ruins quilts that were inspired by the cotton industry in Salford and Manchester. I am delighted that these large pieces are going to be seen by so many people in what is a fabulous gallery space. As well as Ruins 9: Cottonopolis Revisited the exhibition will include Ruins 10: Salford Mills and Ruins 11: Bridgewater.

The Rheged Centre is more than just a fabulous gallery - it is a cinema, a theatre and has lovely shops and places to eat so is worth a visit. It opens from 9am to 5pm each day and admission to the gallery is free.

Ruins 9: Cottonopolis Revisited

It is always sad when you put so much of your heart and soul into a quilt, or a collection of quilts, for them to only get shown in public once. So I am very pleased to let you know that I will be taking some of the pieces from Deconstruction-Reconstruction-Evolution to The Scottish Quilting Show at Glasgow’s SEC from 5th to 8th March. The organisers have very kindly given me a lovely space to display my big quilts. And I will be in good company with so many other well known quilters sharing their work.

I will also be demonstrating within my gallery space and leading a workshop each day in which you can print a tote bag using textile inks. If you’re planning on visiting please use the code EV265 to get a £3 discount on your tickets.

My son Joe and I had a lovely time at the show last March. Maybe it is because there aren’t many shows in Scotland but it was noticeable how warm and friendly the visitors and the stewards on the other stand were. Of course my daughter lives in Glasgow and my favourite place in the world (apart from my studio) is on the Ayrshire coast so I may be a little biased!

Well maybe not quite as busy as 2019! A full teaching schedule, writing and publishing my first book, an absolutely amazing solo gallery at Festival of Quilts and unexpected drama on the home front meant 2019 was a bit of a roller-coaster ride. No wonder that I have spent a lot of the Christmas break sleeping!

However I did get into the studio most days even if only for an hour or two and spent my time working on the first two full pieces in my new series. I have given the series a working title of ‘Democracy’. I could have called the series Brexit but I want to make pieces that express my broader concerns about politics, the proliferation of lies and fake news and the way our political leadership is changing. And although the individual quilts may reference events in the UK I hope they will resonated with people in other countries. Despite the rather gloomy subject matter I am thoroughly enjoying working on a series. And, as per usual, I am spending lots of time machine stitching straight lines!

But the holidays are over and it is back to work for me. 2020 got off to a flying start - yesterday I gave a talk to the Manchester Branch of the Embroiderer’s Guild. This was the first of 8 talks I’ll be giving this year and the first of 4 that I’ll be giving to branches of the Embroiderer’s Guild. I arrived with a car boot full of quilts including some of the pieces I’ve exhibited in recent years. And, as you will already know, most of my pieces are big. Really big. Which means that some are quite heavy. So a big thank you to the ladies and gentleman who volunteered to hold them up! The difference in scale between my work and some of the pieces being worked on in the room could not be greater.

I also took along some older quilts and some sketchbooks from the City & Guild’s Diploma I did with the lovely and talented Linda Kemshall many years ago. Whilst doing my diploma I figured out that if you work onto separate sheets rather than directly into a sketchbook you can choose what you share. And you can back engineer a lovely looking sketchbook after you have finished making a quilt. OK, so I learnt that you could cheat. But much, much more importantly I learnt that I didn’t need to work into sketchbooks to produce art. It might not have been the intention of the course but this learning was an big step forward for me.

As well as talks I have a full teaching schedule this year. Most of my classes for the first half of the year are sold out but I still have odd places on my Simply Screen Printing workshop and my Print Your Palette workshop. I will also be welcoming my first three guest tutors into the studio. The workshops with Alice Fox and Christine Chester are sold out but there is still one place left on Ruth Browns Books for Textile Artists.

I will be demonstrating at The Creative Craft shows in Glasgow and Birmingham in March and will have a stand at this summers Festival of Quilts. And I am delighted to have a gallery at the West Country Quilt and Textile Show in August. Phew! There was me thinking it wouldn’t be as busy as 2019!

I meant to write this post a few weeks ago but, as per usual, I’ve been busy and didn’t get round to it…. but I’ll put that right now!

During my exhibition at Festival of Quilts I was asked if I was willing to do a ‘meet the artist’ interview for a YouTube channel. I immediately said yes as I was very flattered and publicity is always welcome. It was arranged for the next morning.

Ten minutes later I started getting stressed about being filmed …. what would I say? what would I wear? what if I had a particularly bad hair day? …… Whilst I thoroughly enjoy talking about my art I hate having my photo taken and the thought of being filmed was, frankly, terrifying.

Thankfully Catherine Hill from Arnold’s Attic was brilliant. She said the right things to calm me down and had clearly spent time preparing her questions. She had taken the time the previous day to really look at the exhibition, to read my artists statement and to read the labels for the each piece.

She did a great job of editing the interview and I am absolutely thrilled to have this record of my first solo exhibition. If you have a look please take the time to like and comment - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KmBLjnBlAs

A big thank you to everybody who stopped by my stand at last weeks Creative Craft Show in Manchester. As well as giving a workshop once a day I was busy demonstrating breakdown printing on the stand. Always a bit of a challenge to work in a small space without easy access to a sink but the best thing about using dyes is that they don’t clog the screen when they dry out. I was quite pleased with the pieces I printed (above). And all from screens made using turquoise, rust brown and black dyes!

I also demonstrated stamping using textile inks and acrylic shapes. Easy technique and great for kids. And to prove the point my son, Joe, decided to have a go. OK so at 33 he is not exactly a kid any more but he really enjoyed himself printing a bag with stylised Batman and Joker logos. (And yes, I am aware of the copyright issue so my demo and the workshop I’ve developed using this technique did not use other peoples logos or images).

I really couldn’t do shows without Joe's help. So a very, very big thanks to him!

After a much needed few weeks working at a gentle pace it is now time to get back to work properly! I have a busy week ahead of me. I have a private group in the studio at the beginning of the week and am hoping that the weather is reasonably kind as we are going to be breakdown printing. And at the end of the week I will be demonstrating and teaching at The Creative Craft Show at Event City, Manchester.

Compared to Festival of Quilts this is a small show and attracts a broader spectrum of craft enthusiasts. But it is local, a mere two miles from home, so counts as easy! No need to hire a van and I get to sleep in my own bed each night. I will be teaching a workshop called Colourful Cityscapes which uses acrylic shapes and textile inks to print fabric for a small wall hanging. This will be the last outing for this workshop. I developed it for this same show last September and have thoroughly enjoyed teaching it but, boy, is it hectic when there are 16 people in the class! I have learnt a lot since then so the new workshop I’ve developed to replace this will not involve so much running around on my part and will much better paced - so no more red faced teacher and no more frantic activity in the last 5 minutes!

I’ll also be demonstrating on my stand (B24) and will have son Joe with me to take over when I’m giving the workshop. I’ll be breakdown printing (of course!) and, if I get organised, will be doing some mark making and stamping with textile inks. And drinking too much coffee. And talking until I’m hoarse. And doing lots of arm waving as I get a bit excited. Back to business as usual!

If you are coming to the show please stop by and say hello!

It’s been nearly two weeks since Festival of Quilts and life is getting back to normal. I’ve taken the opportunity to have some time off, to have a bit of a sort out in the studio, but also to sit back and consider ‘what next?’

What is actually next is the Introduction to Surface Design group that has their last day in the studio tomorrow so I’ve been busy cleaning and preparing. It will be sad to say goodbye to them but we’ll be celebrating all that they have achieved with lots of cake!

Quite a lot of ‘what next?’ is on a list of ‘workshop prep’ to work through ready for my workshops and other events this autumn. I’ve been neglecting this a little over the last couple of month and it feels good to start ticking some boxes!

In a couple of weeks time I will be demonstrating and giving workshops at the Creative Craft Show at Event City, Manchester. I’ve been working through the big pile of printed and dyed fabric that I have created whilst demonstrating in the studio and at shows over the last year and have started to make up packs to sell. Initially at the show but maybe online as well.

I’ve also taken the time to develop a new mini-workshop for the Creative Craft Show at the NEC at the end of October. Still needs fine tuning but will involve printing both sides of a tote bag using textile inks.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be finishing my preparations for the Contemporary Quilt Summer School where I’m teaching a colour class. Preparation mostly involves figuring out how we can dye fabric and print fabric in a room without sinks! I do like a challenge. And I have things I want to do ahead of my first Creative Surface Design class which begins in September.

But beyond my ‘to-do’ list I’ve also been thinking about how I want the ‘business’ side of me to develop. This is the bit that includes the studio, teaching and writing. I’m striving to keep this from swamping the ‘artist’ side of me but, at the same time, it is the bit that pays the bills. This last year has been so hectic that I know that I need to slow down a little so my plans need to be longer term. And to maybe involve a series of smaller projects rather than the stupidly ambitious challenges I set myself recently. I’m thinking of developing a small online shop that sells some of the dyes, screens and fabrics that I already sell in my studio. But this needs a lot of thought before I jump into it as it probably involves a major revamp of my website. So watch this space.

I’ve also been thinking about ‘what next?’ for me as an artist … but I’ll talk about that next time!

Oh my, where do I start? Having my own gallery at last weeks Festival of Quilts was amazing, brilliant, fantastic, awesome, and the best fun ever! My face still aches from grinning so much!

I felt honoured to be given the gallery and humbled to be showing my art alongside that of Michael James, Eszter Bornemisza, Karina Thompson, India Flint and more. I was overwhelmed by the number of visitors and by just how many of them stopped to speak with me or to write a note in my visitors book. The series of works on coal mining got a lot of attention and I was moved by the stories of fathers and grandfathers working in the mines and the sense of sadness that still exists over the closing of mines and loss of communities.

There are so many people to thank. Festival of Quilts for giving me this wonderful opportunity. My family for putting up with me when I abandoned them to work silly hours in the studio. My sons Joe and Callum for hanging the pieces and staying cool when I fretted about getting everything perfectly aligned. An extra big thanks to Joe as he was with me throughout the show - he kept me supplied with coffee and did his best to make sure I didn’t do too much (which is not an easy task!). And thank you to the lovely ladies who provided cover during the show so that Joe and I could take proper breaks.

Thank you to my students and all of you who follow me on social media - your support and encouragement over this last year has spurred me on to achieve so much. Thanks to all those who visited the gallery, to those who brought books and postcards, to those who booked on workshops and to a very special lady who brought Mill Town 1.

But what next …. well I will post about that soon but for now I’m taking it easy. Although, because I am me, I will be in and out of the studio catching up on paperwork, tidying and cleaning, adding photos of the new pieces to my website …. and maybe doing a bit of stitching!

Just 14 days until this years Festival of Quilts opens at the NEC, Birmingham and along with it my gallery Deconstruction-Reconstruction-Evolution. I’ve just started work on the final three pieces and am reasonably comfortable that I will be ready with a few days to spare. A few days to catch up on sleep and recharge my batteries! I need it. I have really pushed myself for the last few weeks - I have dug deep as the saying goes.

But isn’t it easy to find that extra level of energy when you are doing something you love? Tired but happy sums me up right now.

Of course there have had to be some sacrifices in the name of art. I can confirm that not cleaning the bathroom for 8 days does not lead to an outbreak of plague. That having toast and jam for breakfast and lunch each day saves time. Especially if you leave the bread, butter and jam next to the toaster. And use the same plate. That my family showed a deep level of empathy by not commenting on the fact that I wore the same top for four days. Actually they are all male so probably didn’t even notice. Which also makes not cleaning the bathroom easier to get away with ….

As well as making art I have been busy doing lots of other stuff in preparation for the exhibition. I have a delivery of more books arriving tomorrow, new flyers are also on route and the fabulous Moo Printing are busy printing postcards. And I have been very honoured to takeover the Festival of Quilts Instagram account for three days this week. If you ‘do’ instagram have a look at @thefestivalofquilts.

And now I need to get back to work ….