More Bird Portraits...

Curlew. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

Back in September I wrote a post about the work I'd been making to sell in Gallery Artemis in Cockermouth. One of my bird portraits was then featured in Cumbria Life's Christmas gift guide and I was happy to learn that I had sold several of the pieces I'd made and the gallery owner asked me for more.

Bluetit. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

Nuthatch. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

Blackbird. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

I really enjoy making these pieces, it is like drawing with the sewing machine and I love the quality of line it produces. Because of this I had been continuing to make these portraits and so when I was asked for more pieces I already had several ready. In this post I thought I'd share a bit about the inspiration and stories behind the pieces.

Young hooded crow on the beach, Oban 2015

Hare in the grass, Islay 2015

Female Blackbird, Lake Carda, Italy 2015

The starting point is observing the birds, I've been interested in birds since I was a child and it's something that I've really started to get back into in the last few years. I am fascinated by them, their movement, their patterns, their characters. I do try and draw them 'from life' but because they are almost always on the move this is often difficult so the next step is to collect photographs and images and draw from these.

Sketching from life

Work stretched in an embroidery hoop

To create the embroidered pieces I first sketch out a rough outline on the linen using a fabric marker that disappears in air (usually after a few hours, depending on the fabric.) This helps me get the proportions correct because I only work on a section of the bird at a time as I need to keep the fabric stretched out in a frame to prevent it distorting too much.

Young Hooded Crow. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

Robin. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

Once I've drawn my rough outline I stretch the fabric in an embroidery hoop and start stitching, using a darning foot on the machine and with the feed dog lowered. It's a bit like drawing by moving your paper rather than your pencil. It's a bit odd at first but good once you get the hang of it. I like the fluidity of line this process can create (it's similar to my continuous line drawings) and for me the challenge is to capture the character of the bird without over working the piece. I often cut sections of stitching out and rework them until I am happy. One of the things I love about sewing is that if you don't like it you can just unpick it and start again! When the pieces are finished I press them and then mount them on cardboard mounts, ready for display.

Hare in the Grass. Machine embroidery on linen 2015

Hare detail

Several of the pieces I've created this time were inspired by our holiday on Islay. As well as lots of birds we saw lots of hares so I decided to branch out and have a go at a hare this time as well as birds. We'd seen a hare crouching in the grass just behind our cottage and I'd managed to get a quick photograph before he spotted us and bounded off and I used this as the starting point for my embroidery.

My piece featured in Cumbria Life's Gift Guide

My piece featured in Cumbria Life's Gift Guide

So, if my choice of birds sometimes seems a little odd it is usually just that I like to work with birds that I have seen and am familiar with. The nuthatch, for instance, we saw on a lovely walk in Gelt woods a few weeks ago. If you'd like to see these pieces 'in real life' then Gallery Artemis is a lovely place to visit. Yvette is very friendly and the gallery has a wide range of work by lots of talented artists and crafts people and there's always something new to see.

Gallery Artemis: Drawing Exhibition

Exhibition View

My year got off to an exciting start with the opportunity to exhibit some work at the lovely Gallery Artemis, so just after Christmas I headed over with some of my drawings and a few textile pieces. From the start of January until 14th February the gallery has been showing a drawing exhibition, which includes some of my work. As one of my goals for this year was to get more of my work on display I am obviously very pleased to have started the year with some work on show.

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

I've been trying to get over to Cockermouth to see the exhibition since it opened but work and the weather have been conspiring against me. However, this weekend Mr. Stitches and I finally made it across and I'm so pleased we did. The exhibition is hung in the first 'room' of the gallery (it's quite open plan but naturally divides into 3 separate spaces), it's a lovely light space with wooden floors which make it feel warm and inviting. The drawings are hung close together, inviting you to get closer and look at the individual pieces. Several artists are on show and I love how different everybody's work is. There are quite a few life drawing pieces but again they are all different so it's great to see the different approaches, styles and media employed.

Work by Keith Fitton

Work by Ros White

I thought that all the drawings were of high quality and all had different qualities to recommend them but my favourites were the Chinese brush drawings by Keith Fitton and the beautiful charcoal and graphite poppy drawing by Ros White, With the centenary of the Great War last year the subject matter and dark tones I thought made a powerful memorial, I'm not sure if that was the intention but then one of the great things about art is that it can mean something different to each viewer. I left feeling inspired to come home, get into the studio and get drawing more.

Exhibition view

It was also really good to catch up with the gallery owner, Yvette, who is enthusiastic and friendly. She told me there have been positive comments about my work which is great and I have also sold a few of my brooches. As always, I have a head full of ideas so it's time to stop typing and get back to drawing and making...

Gallery Artemis: An exciting opportunity for me

Feather Fan, 2014
Pen on tracing paper

A couple of weeks ago on the way back from my birthday weekend away Mr. Stitches and I stopped off in Cockermouth. This is one of my favourite places, it's such a lovely quirky little town with good shops, nice places to eat and it's very picturesque. A couple of friends had told me about a new gallery called Gallery Artemis so I considered it destiny calling when, having found a parking space, we got out the car almost directly in front of the gallery.

Mounted, framed, ready to go...

Hands Knitting, 2014
Machine Embroidery on silk organza

Detail: Hands Knitting, 2014
Machine Embroidery on silk organza

Gallery Artemis is a lovely space, it is fresh and light but also feels very welcoming. Although it is painted all white the work, the wood floors and the layout mean that it doesn't feel cold or off putting, as some white gallery spaces can be. There is a great selection of work in a wide range of media so there really is something for everyone. Whilst we were in the gallery we got talking to the owner, who is very friendly and helpful. With a bit of nudging from Mr. Stitches I mentioned that I was an artist and she asked what kind of work I do. When I said drawing and textiles she said she was looking for another textile artist and was having a drawing exhibition in the new year and would I like to bring some work in.

White Feather, 2014
Gel pen on tracing paper

Small Feathers, 2014
Pen on paper

Scruffy Crow
Ink and acrylic paint on paper

Obviously I was very excited and said I would like that very much. Later that day I had an email saying she'd been looking at my website and some of the pieces she'd like to display in the gallery. So, the past two weeks (as well as that whole festive thing going on) have involved framing, mounting and generally panicking about my work. It has been a very useful experience as it's made me really think about how I present my work and in future I think I will be a bit more aware of this when I'm making work. As I have a tendency to work with whatever I have to hand it sometimes means that work is hard to mount as there is no room round the edge, for instance. It's also made me resolve a couple of pieces including the stitched hands piece, which has been floating around my studio waiting for me to do something with it!

Hands Knitting
Graphite on prepared paper

Female Nude, 2013
Pen on paper

Kneeling Man, 2013
Pen on paper

Yesterday we headed back out to Cockermouth with a car full of work and a very nervous me. Handing over your work to be put up in a real gallery that real people go and visit and buy from is, in all honesty, a little bit scary as well as exciting!

All that Glitters is not Gold, 2014
Screen print, hand embroidery and beading on cotton

Hail to the Thief, 2014
Machine embroidery on dyed, painted and printed silk organza

Once we got there Yvette soon put me at ease and I left feeling really excited and inspired. I've worked really hard to get to this point and it's exciting to have an outlet for my work. The drawing exhibition is going to be up from 2nd January until 14th February so if you're in the area please do go and have a look, it's such a great space I'm sure you'll love it! Some of my textile pieces will also be up in the gallery and they do generally look better in real life than the photographs. This is an exciting start to the New Year for me (I know it technically hasn't started yet but we're not far off) and I look forward to seeing what other opportunities come my way.

Some of my brooches will also be available for sale in the gallery

Some of my brooches will also be available for sale in the gallery

Plastic Fantastic

Some of my melted plastic decorations in my studio window

Last month I did two Melted Plastic Decoration Workshops at The Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth. I really enjoyed them and it is a lovely place to work with very friendly staff.

In the window at The Kirkgate Centre

All the materials set up ready to go!

The workshops were drop-in sessions and I taught people to crochet using plarn (yarn made from strips of plastic bag.) I then showed people how to melt their creations using an iron to create beautiful, light-weight decorations.

Picture made from melted plastic bag pieces

Flower decoration made from melted crochet chains

There were some beautiful creations; unfortunately I didn't get many photographs as I was far too busy crocheting and melting, which as regular readers will know is one of my favourite ways to spend time!

Another beautiful crochet flower

Flock at Woolfest

The FLOCK

I was very excited at the weekend because I made it to Woolfest! I've missed it the past couple of years for various reasons but managed to get there on Saturday and I had a really good time. Having had a stressful few weeks it felt really good to do something I wanted to do and that wasn't really connected to work. I spent lots of my shiny pennies on various fibres and threads and am looking forward to having a play with them.

Detail of FLOCK

More Sheep!

Also at Woolfest I saw FLOCK again. This is a project I'd taken part in with my Heathlands textile group and when we went to visit Farfield Mill a few weeks ago we saw it installed there and one of the members spotted their sheep (quite impressive as there are now over 5000 sheep!) We'd also seen part of the flock at Rheghed, not that we're following it round! I really liked the way they'd installed it in one of the livestock pens at Woolfest and I was very excited to spot my sheep!

Sheepy

My Sheep!

Curious sheep

Part of the Flock at Farfield Mill