Textures

Just catching up on some of my favourite artist's blogs (Sophie Munns & Kathryn Clark)  and was really taken with the beautiful painterly quality of these two works that were brought to my attention.

white rag quilt by Barbara Wisnoski

This beautiful pieced quilt by Barbara Wisnoski is made up of hundreds of tiny fragments sewn together in a method she describes as "Happily freed from precision, this is cutting and sewing as mantra, as pure, riotous activity." This idea is incredibly comforting, to be freed from precision, from the fear that everything must be precise to be of value, to put aside doubt and just be present in the doing. Barbara's work has also really validated my inability to throw away even the tiniest piece of fabric.

07-D122 by Chun Kwang Young

The other artist I came across was a Korean artist Chun Kwang Young who wraps tiny blocks of foam in mulberry paper and creates these incredibly intricate works that resemble by their micro geometry a kind of 3D matrix over a landscape. I find a lot of similarity in their works and their methodology. I love the way they have built up of layers in an informal grid to create such a beautifully ornate yet, from a distance, visually simple aerial landscape.

Eco-printing linen with copper coins

I tried my hand at a bit of dyeing/eco-printing inspired by India Flint's bundle technique where you tightly wrap found plant matter or objects in fabric and soak/heat to transfer the colour on to the fabric (a slightly simplistic description I'm afraid!) My first attempt was using a jar of copper coins that I had to hand in an attempt to create a more regular design on some pieces of an old linen sheet that I had left over from another project. Here are the results which I pieced together to make into a top to wear because I was quite in love with the fabric.

From everything I've heard, I think I must get Second Skin.

Ye Olde Haberdashery circa 1805

We came across a wonderful museum to the old village store in Mid Wales recently, called The Thomas Shop which was restored as closely as possible to resemble the ambience and proper convenience that a village store in the early 19th century would have provided the local community. I especially loved the haberdashery "department" which occupied half of the shop with its wonderful collection of antique lace, velvets and woven Welsh blankets as well as all the beautiful old sewing notions. It was a real treasure trove, well worth a visit if you're travelling through Wales. And to top it all off there is a Wool Emporium upstairs and wonderful tea and cakes by the river. It was just heaven, a real lucky find.