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.

Show time preparation...

Puffin, 2016
Applique and machine embroidery on linen

After a very busy first half of the year I was feeling a little flat in terms of my own personal practice, I'd enjoyed the projects I'd been working on but I'd not had much time for my own work. I got the year off to a good start with my daily drawing, keeping it going through January and February but as time went on things started to slide, as they do, and I lost the impetus a bit.

Assemblage, 2016
Painted wooden box and curated objects

Assemblage, 2016
Painted wooden box and curated objects

Assemblage, 2016
Painted wooden box and curated objects

One Sunday a couple of months ago I was meeting Mr. Stitches at the sports centre (not my natural habitat) and I saw a flyer for Carlisle Arts Fair. I'd been looking for a project that would give me an opportunity to spend some time developing my own work and provide an opportunity to share my work with others. This seemed like a good option as it was local, I'd been to one of the previous Fairs and liked it and I'd thought about doing this show anyway. I checked the submission details and realised that it was the last day for submissions so I went home, put together my submission and sent it off.

Memento I, 2016
Thread wrapped twig, feather, hand dyed indigo cloth

Memento II, 2016
Gold paint, twig, feathers, red velvet

Memento III, 2016
Gold paint, thread,  twig, feather, red velvet

I was very excited to be accepted and since then having an event to work towards has really helped me prioritise my own work and helped me feel inspired to get going and get working! I have so many different strands to my work as a whole that often my own work falls to the bottom of the list because it doesn't have a deadline as such so a specific event such as this is really helpful for me.

Starling, 2016
Fabric pastels and hand embroidery on linen

Starling, 2016
Fabric pastels and hand embroidery on linen

Starling, 2016
Fabric pastels and hand embroidery on linen

I've really enjoyed spending time in my studio drawing, stitching and making. These are the things I love doing and having time to devote to them has been really rewarding and made me realise that I need to make this more of a priority. It's also fired me up with so many ideas that I want to explore. I've focused on making work that is less conceptual for the Fair so I've been focusing more on skills and aesthetics which has been quite liberating as I've been less worried about what it all means. As I've been less worried the ideas have been flowing and I've got lots of avenues I want to explore.

Raven, 2016
Lino print, limited edition of 20

3 Small Feathers, 2016
Pen drawing on watercolour paper

2 White Feathers, 2016
White gel pen on black paper

I'm writing this post partly as a break from all the practical preparation that goes into showing work; labelling, pricing, mounting (so much tape) and so on but now I must get back to it. If you're in Carlisle next weekend it would be lovely to see you!

Starlings, 2016
Machine embroidery on linen

Gannet, 2016
Machine embroidery and fabric paint on linen

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.