Owl Moon

Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

Sometimes I have an idea for a piece of work and I get started and make it right away. More often though it takes a long time (years sometimes) for an idea to become a reality. On our first night in Islay on holiday three years ago we were lucky enough to get very close to a Tawny Owl. It swooped down and landed on a fence post right in front of us as we gingerly drove down a track to what we hoped was our accommodation for the week. It wasn't terribly impressed with us stopping to admire it but the experience stayed with me and since that moment I've been wanting to make a piece about that owl.

Tawny Owl, Islay 2015

Layering up fabrics

Layering up fabrics

As much as I love owls, I've resisted making any pieces with owls for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I only really make work about birds I've seen and been able to observe properly as I want my work to capture a bit of their spirit and to do that I have to get to know them. It's hard to observe owls in the wild as they mostly come out at night and they're very stealthy! Secondly, owls are very popular (I own many owl embellished items myself) and I didn't want to fall into the trap of making a 'cute' owl.

Building up the owl, using my drawing as a template and photograph as reference

Rust dyed silk for owl wings

Starting to add machine embroidery

For our exhibition 'Wingspan' at RSPB Geltsdale Visitor Centre, Mr. Stitches has written a poem about an owl hunting, called Owl Moon. This poem captures the wildness and skill of the owl and inspired me to finally get around to making my owl piece. As I mentioned, the idea for the piece had been in my head for some time so Nick's poem was just what I needed to kick start the process.

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

I'd found some interesting metallic fabric on a trip to Bombay Stores in Bradford and I knew that's what I wanted to use for the moon. I also knew that I didn't want it to be too shiny so I experimented with layering up pieces of silk organza that I'd dyed with logwood, giving a beautiful deep purple colour. I also used some indigo dyed organza and used some indigo dyed linen as a base as I felt the piece needed a more solid ground than the organza. For the owl I used pieces of organza that I'd dyed with rusty pins as it had just the right texture and patterning for an owls wing.

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

Like a lot of my work this piece was built up in layers. As always, I started by drawing and sketching my ideas before I started to play around with layering up fabrics. Sometimes the pieces of fabric come together really quickly and other times I spend a long time arranging and re-arranging until I'm happy. I used running stitch and star stitch to secure the background layers and chose to leave a lot of raw edges as I think this emphasises the wildness of the subject.

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

I then moved on to making the owl. Again working in layers I built up pieces of rust dyed organza, using my drawings as a template to cut out specific areas such as the wing feathers. I then worked several layers of machine embroidery in various shades of thread to build up the pattern and texture of the feathers.

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

Detail: Owl Moon, 2018
Hand and machine embroidery on metallic fabric and naturally dyed silk and linen

I'm really pleased with how this piece has worked out, I think that it is starting to marry together different parts of my practice;  the work I've been doing on my feather banners, my bird portraits and drawings and my increasing interest in and experiments with natural dyeing. For me this piece feels like the start of something, as well as the resolution of an idea that I've had in my mind for a long time.

Feather Banners: Journeys, Connections and Meanings

Flow: Connect 2016
Indigo dyed fabrics and threads, feathers, beads, hand stitch

Last year I made a piece of work called 'Flow:Connect' which I exhibited as part of Prism Arts C-Art exhibition and which was also on show as part of 'Random Acts of Art' at Gallery Artemis earlier this year. It's a small textile banner, hand stitched and embellished with beads and feathers. The piece explores the idea of everything being interconnected and a journey. This was an important piece for me as it gave me a new way of working and over the course of this year I've been exploring and developing these ideas and techniques.

Experimenting with layouts

Experimenting with layouts

Starting to stitch

As I wrote in my last post the natural world and our connection to it has been increasingly important in my work and in my life generally and it's something I've been thinking about a lot and exploring in these pieces. I've been doing a lot of natural dyeing and I've started incorporating these fabrics into my work, adding another layer of connection. The colours achieved by using natural dyes rather than synthetic dyes are much more subtle and variable and I like the slightly unpredictable nature of using natural materials.

Work in progress (on the train!)

Tea and threads

Work in progress

All of the banner pieces incorporate feathers, most of which I have collected (another connection to the journeys I make.) As my work is developing I'm also developing my own set of meanings for the materials I use. Feathers are signifies for birds which in turn represent us or more specifically our spiritual selves and our desire to transcend and move up to the 'next level.' Throughout human history people have tried to find out what (if anything) lies beyond our physical world and still today we are always pushing the boundaries and trying to find out more. Birds have often been used to represent the soul, their ability to fly connecting them to the sky and the heavens (in many religions, cultures and philosophies the 'next level' is above us in the skies.) I'm fascinated by this idea and our desire to move upwards and I'm intrigued by the idea of a spiritual self; this is one of the things I am exploring in these feather banners.

Of the Earth 2017
Naturally dyed fabrics, feathers, hand stitch, twig

I've shied away from writing about this element of my work before as I've worried that by talking about the spiritual I will put people off. However, I have decided to have the courage of my convictions and one of the great things about art is that it doesn't matter if it means different things to different people; it's not important that other people see (or don't see) the meanings as I do.

Fly to the Sky (Dusk) 2017
Naturally dyed fabrics and threads, silk paper, feathers, hand stitch

Fly to the Sky (Dusk)
Detail

Fly to the Sky (Dusk)
Detail

The different elements of the banners are held together with hand stitch, mostly running, feather, fly and cross stitch. The stitched lines represent the lines of our journeys, both physical and spiritual, and join up all the different layers, connecting the whole piece together. Because they are hand stitched it's very time consuming to make these banners but that's also one of the things I like about them. Working on them forces me to slow down and gives me time to contemplate what they mean to me and what they might mean to others.

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

I will be exhibiting my work at Farfield Mill later this year along with artist Daniel Cooper and I'm hoping that these banners will form a significant element of my part of the exhibition. Details to follow!

Ready to Fly 2017
Indigo dyed fabrics and threads, feathers, beads, hand stitch

Ready to Fly (detail)

International Postcard Show 2014

Postcard: Drawing, print and stitch

Last year I took part in the International Postcard Show 2013 at Surface Gallery which I really enjoyed so I decided to enter a postcard again for this years show. I like this project because it is small enough that it doesn't feel to intimidating or overwhelming but at the same time it gives me an incentive to stop thinking about doing some work and actually get on and do it.

The original layers; cyanotype, lace print, drawing and stitch

I had some cyanotype prints I'd done last year of lace and buttons so I started off layering these prints up with lace prints I'd done on tracing paper. I also did some continuous line drawings of hands stitching on tracing paper and added one of these as another layer. Having stuck it all together and added some stitching I then decided I didn't like it so I peeled apart the layers, which left some bits stuck to my tracing paper drawings, and layered it on top of a different print made using bubbles. I liked this much better and was pleased with the traces left from the original layering so I added a bit of detached blanket stitch and packaged it up ready to post.

Detail of detached blanket stitch

Detail of drawing

Last year was a very exciting and busy one for me, I got to work on some great projects with some great people and I have been able to expand my freelance work greatly. The slight downside to this is that I haven't had much time for my own practice so as part of trying to get a good balance in my life this year I am hoping to be able to spend some more time creating my own art. I find little projects like this are a good way to kick start the process and help me build up my confidence and enthusiasm.