Sky High: Exhibition at Farfield Mill

Around about this time last year I was busy working on my first solo exhibition 'As the Crow Flies' at RSPB Geltsdale. It was a really good experience for so many different reasons. It gave me an opportunity to focus on my personal practice and an incentive to see ideas through to finished pieces and it had a huge effect effect on my confidence; creating the work and putting it all up showed me that I could create a professional exhibition on my own and the feedback I got was so positive, the exhibition was extended as it proved very popular with visitors to the site. I also sold quite a few pieces of work which is always a good confidence booster too! It was also a good opportunity to bring my work together and see what I'd done and where I wanted to go with it.

As the Crow Flies, RSPB Geltsdale 2016/2017

As the Crow Flies, RSPB Geltsdale 2016/2017

Following on from the success of 'As the Crow Flies' and feeling inspired and positive I made an enquiry at Farfield Mill in Sedburgh about the possibility of exhibiting there. Farfield Mill is an arts, crafts and heritage venue based in an old Victorian Mill. I always enjoy visiting as they have a good range of exhibitions (with a strong focus on textiles,) lots of artists studios and an excellent cafe! I was delighted to hear back that they would be interested in displaying my work and would be in touch. Not long after they got in contact and asked if I'd be interested in exhibiting this Autumn. I was a little hesitant at first as it was not long away but I really wanted to show my work at the mill so I said yes.

Farfield Mill, Sedburgh

Installing (along with work from previous show!)

I went down to visit the mill and met Anne Mackinnon who as well as being a talented artist organises the exhibitions at Farfield Mill. It was interesting talking to her, especially as we had both done the Embroidery degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, albeit at different times. It was good talking about our work and looking at the different spaces. The space that the mill wanted to house the exhibition in is the Howgill gallery, a lovely big open space with lots of light. As it was quite short notice and it's a big space Anne suggested sharing the gallery which I thought was a good idea; it takes some of the pressure off but is also a good chance to work with other artists and see how my work interacts with theirs. We looked at several artists and decided that the beautiful, moody landscapes of Daniel Cooper would be perfect. Luckily, Daniel was happy with this idea to and so we set about getting the show organised.

Exhibition Views: Cyanotypes

Exhibition Views: Cyanotypes and banners

Exhibition Views: Banners

Having an exhibition to work to is both exciting and stressful, it is very good for focusing the mind and makes you really prioritise what you have to do, especially if you are working in a limited time frame. Daniel made a beautiful poster for the show and I did something I hate doing but which is quite useful; making a spreadsheet. I catalogued all my work with dates, dimensions, prices and lots of other information, I can't claim to have enjoyed it but it's a useful thing to have!

My Magpies in the windows...
Curiosity 2016

My Magpies in the windows...
In the Shadows 2015

My Magpies in the windows...
Hail to the Thief, 2014

Installing the exhibition was surprisingly easy. The people at Farfield Mill were really friendly and helpful and the hanging system is very easy to use. The downside to the system is that it's not always easy to get pictures, particularly smaller ones, to lie flat against the wall. What I like about it though is that it's easy to rearrange and there's no banging of nails and drilling of screws.

Exhibition Views: A Drop in the Sea, 2015

Exhibition Views: Sky Collar, 2017

Exhibition Views: Flight I and Flight II, 2016

I'm really excited to be showing my work at Farfield Mill and I'm really pleased with how my work looks up in the gallery. It's also very exciting to be exhibiting with another artist and I think our pieces complement each other well. I think it works well because although our subject matter is different we share similar colour palettes and are looking at similar ideas; the natural world and our place in it and our response to it.

Exhibition Views

Exhibition Views

Exhibition Views: Daniel Cooper's prints

At the end of the month I'm running a Mini Textile Banners workshop alongside the exhibition, which can be booked through Farfield Mill. If you go and see the show I'd love to know what you think!

Fabric Painting at Wiggonby School

Painting Flowers

This is another of my 'catching up' posts! Last year I spent a lovely day at Wiggonby School doing felt-making with Key Stage 1. They must have enjoyed it too as I was very pleased to be asked back again, this time to work with the whole school. They chose to do some fabric painting and as it was close to Mothers Day they wanted something the children could take home. I decided that teaching them some different techniques that they could combine to make flower pictures would be a good option.

I chose to share two different methods of fabric painting, one to create a background and one to create flowers, that could be combined effectively to make a piece of floral textile art for the children to take home. As often happens, the best laid plans don't always work out so although I had time to do both types of fabric painting with both KS2 (in the morning) and KS1 (in the afternoon) we didn't have time to put the pieces together. I tend to avoid painting in most of my workshops for the simple reason of drying time. Although we had a great time and I think most the students enjoyed it and learnt something it is frustrating not being able to finish something because it's not dry (that and finding space to dry 60+ pieces of fabric!)

The first technique I showed the students was using watered down paint on wet fabric to create abstract, watercolour like backgrounds. We talked a bit about colour theory and I encouraged them to choose one primary colour and one of the complementary colours including that primary (e.g. blue and green or blue and purple) and to see how many variations they could get using just those two colours. Choosing colours this way also helps prevent all the colours being mixed together into a brown sludgy mess! We added a bit of detail to our watery backgrounds by flicking thicker paint on top, always a fun method of painting and good to help loosen up those students who can get a bit stuck with fear of getting it wrong.

The second technique I showed the students was using the fabric paint more thickly and blending the colours on the fabric (again choosing two colours that would not create brown) to create flowers. We did this on a separate piece of fabric so that when the paint was dry the flowers could be cut out and stuck onto the watercolour backgrounds to create a unique piece of art. This was the bit that I didn't get to do with the children as the fabric wasn't dry in time!

One of the things I find really interesting as I'm working with different groups and in different places is people's different perceptions of what is 'good' art and in schools in particular this often means neat and realistic. One of the things I try and encourage in all my students is a willingness to try things and take risks. Creativity is not always about getting it right, it's about trying things and finding solutions to challenges.

I often find that the students who I'm told are 'really good at art' are not the most creative, they are often technically skilled but are also often quite set in their ways and unwilling to try new things as they've found a way that works and is perceived as good so why would they do something different. This was particularly noticeable amongst the older students, when we moved onto the second technique and I asked them to sketch out some flower shapes I was met with the familiar line of 'but I can't draw.'

There are lots of arguments about drawing and the 'I can't draw' scenario and the blame is often laid at teachers doors for not being supportive or encouraging enough, however, I've never found evidence of this in a primary school. I'm inclined to agree with Joanna O'Neil (whose drawing workshop 'Sonnets and Shopping Lists' I attended at Cumberland Embroiderers Guild last year) who believes it's down to personal perception; at a certain point children realise that their drawing does not match the object they are drawing. Their perception and understanding exceeds their technical ability, for some people this is an almost insurmountable block to carrying on with drawing.

Overall it was a very enjoyable day, we had a lot of fun painting and some of the students who thought they weren't so creative found out they were and we produced some beautiful effects.

The Chickens of Heathlands

Sometime last year we decided to brighten up The Heathlands Project site with a welcoming sign on our driveway, this was partly to replace the sadly weathered rainbow sheep who had seen better days and partly for fun. We thought it would be good to have large wooden shapes (probably animals) painted up to welcome visitors and show them the way in. The guys chose chickens (several of the staff do have chickens on site) and so we had a little competition to design some funky chickens. The best designs were selected by the lovely Janette (admin officer and fount of knowledge) and we asked one of our excellent volunteers to cut us several large chickens out of plywood.

Painting chickens

Detail

We then set to work painting them all up and getting them varnished and weather proofed. When this was done the chickens were installed in the lane, welcoming visitors to the site and hopefully brightening people's day!

Chicken of Art outside the Art Cabin

Hedgehog

The chickens were so popular that a request was made for more animals so I drew out some large silhouettes of various animals found on or around site and again the guys came up with a range of designs. Once again, they were cut from plywood, painted up, varnished and installed around site. Some of them have signs and point the way to places, others are just for fun. There probably aren't too many places where you can be shown to the cafe by a hedgehog or directed to the car park by a horse.

The stoat of directions

Happy bunny

Watchful Owl

Bumbling Badger

My New Studio

Bay window

We're in the process of moving house at the moment. One of the most exciting things (for me!) about the new house is that I have a beautiful new studio. It has a lovely bay window and is huge and bright. It is so fantastic to have not only space to have all my materials and tools accessible but to have loads of space to work too. I have my big table in the window and soon I will have a lovely sofa bed so that long suffering partner can come and sit and talk to me while I work and people can come and stay with us without me having to move everything (which was the case in the previous house.)

Before Painting

After Painting

Painted and empty

It was the first room we decorated (I couldn't wait) and I'm so pleased with how it's turned out. I think it's a lovely and calm, inspiring space even with all my stuff in. I like looking round and seeing everything and am looking forward to getting more work up.

With stuff!

Storage

Where the sofa will live

I love going over to work in my room, I'm full of ideas and it's great to be able to have a space to leave stuff out and to be able to work on several things at once. The only downside is I have to keep going to work so we can afford to pay for it! 

My threads, all accessible

Work on my table