Fibre Arts at NSCAD

SeaWeed inspired necklace,
felt and embroidery
by Allison

Every week in class we begin with show and tell - where my students bring in the projects they are working on that demonstrate the techniques they have learnt. 

Allison, a marine biologist, is inspired by the shapes, colours and textures of seaweed. She is creating a necklace using felt and embroidery to achieve her desired result. 

I think it is fabulous!

Intro to Tapestry at NSCCD

The year is off to a good start as we gathered for my Introduction to Tapestry weaving 2 day workshop. 

Tapestry is a fun, portable and expressive weaving technique with endless possibilities. Its also a fabulous way to use up small lengths of yarn.

Once you master the basics, you can paint with wool - the only thing that limits you is your imagination!

During the course I demonstrate how to blend colour, learn different weaving techniques including the slit and dovetail methods for creating a design, build geometric shapes, weave circles, and make waves.

Once you can create these shapes you can weave any design you wish.

Weaving a circle is by far the trickiest thing to master, but even the youngest in our group picked it up pretty quickly. 

Some were even bitten by the bug and did extra work over night to complete their design, and ended up completing 2 small tapestries by the end of the class. 

Sample by Charlotte

Sample by Teresa incorporating her hand spun yarn

Sample by Charlotte

SIM residency Iceland wk1: textiles

Korpulfsstadir, Reykjavik 

I have begun my SIMs Iceland residency at Korpúlfsstaðir, a large old building (almost 100 years old) that used to be Iceland's largest dairy farm, on the outskirts of Reykjavík with beautiful view of mt. Esja and the fjords. Korpúlfsstaðir is on the eastern outskirt of Reykjavík, about 10 km away from the city centre. Korpúlfsstaðir also houses 40 SÍM artist studios, a textile workshop, a ceramic workshop, and artist run gallery. 

View of the Fjord, a 5 min walk from our residency

The attic studio - love those old wooden beams
And a very clean desk - you can tell this photo was taken on the first day here!

For the next month I will be sharing the accommodation and studio space with two other visiting artists, Kim Mirus a textile artist, and Jonathan Lipkin, a photographer. Its fabulous to have the opportunity to share with like minded people - not only are we sharing space, but also ideas and swapping of knowledge.

Outside the Alafoss wool store

Almost as soon as we landed we started exploring. Kim has been to Iceland before and was familiar with the fabulous textile stores and on the first day we visited Alafoss, a well known textile store that specializes in all things relating to Icelandic wool. Here I was introduced to yarn being sold in 'plates' and sold by weight, rather than the typical skein or ball of wool. Of course, I couldn't resist and bought some beautiful fleece with the intention of learning how to learn to drop spin whilst I was here (Kim promised to show me how!) 

The next day (Saturday 4 Nov) we travelled to Thingborg, Selfoss, another sought after textile location to buy raw untreated fleece which came in the natural colours of black, brown and white. The lopi is soft and without synthetic dyestuffs so the natural colours are truly warm and lustrous. There are two layers of wool, tog and þel, (outer- and undercoat) which are separated by hand. The “tog“ has coarse, long and lustrous hairs but the “þel” is soft, resilient and warm. It is very luscious - and it looks very different to the Australian fleece that I am used to. 

Secret Lagoon

On our drive back to Reykjavik we stopped in at the Secret Lagoon for a quick dip. Whist the weather was below zero, the water was incredibly warm and I ended up soaking in the rejuvenating waters for over an hour! I can see why the hot pools are where everything happens (business negations etc) since this is such a pleasant place to be. 

Thingvellier

Everything is breathtakingly beautiful here and at every twist in the bend we can't help but utter 'wow' as we happen upon more stunning scenery. I rely in my iPhone for most photograpy these days, and now I wish I brought my SLR (note to self: remember it next time I come).

Sunday 5 Nov required a visit to Guðrún Bjarnadottir at her dye studio in Borgarnes. Her studio, Hespa (Icelandic for skein of wool) was only open by appointment. Guðrún was so kind to welcome us and to share with us her story of naturally dyed Icelandic yarn. She specialises in lichen dye (rust colour), along with Lupin and Rhubarb (greeny yellows, both with occur in Iceland as introduced species). 

Amongst all this activity we were also actively watching the skies at night for a glimpse of the Northern lights. We have been incredibly lucky and have seen them on a few occasions. We saw the most spectacular display of green, whites and pinks dancing across the sky due to a solar storm. Now all my dreams have come true!!

Northern Lights

In order to maximize our time with the hire car, we also squeezed a day trip to Snaefellness Peninsula, which is a microcosm of all Icelands delights. We saw the elusive arctic fox, seals, glaciers and pointy mountains, a natural mineral spring (just like Sanpellegrino) which was reputably for 'people who suffer from heart and kidney disease as well as diabetes, Just in case I bottled some for the drive! 

The highlight of the day was stopping at Djupalonssandur (translated as black lava pearl beach) and it was just like stepping into a lava wonderland. It is known for its elf churches and stone trolls (rock formations) - with such descriptions, we had to visit it.

I think there is definitely magic here. 

x

Introduction to Tapestry Workshop at NSCCD

On the weekend I taught an Introduction to Tapestry weaving workshop. Over the two days we explored weaving with alternate colours, creating organic waves, different ways to build colour blocks and joining them to create images, and learning how to design and weave an image. 

As always, I love how everyone brings their own unique perceptions and creative influences which result in the selection of different colour combinations - quite often very different to what I choose, and so I learn just as much from the participants as they did from me! 

Amy

Emily

Ewan

Lexi

Daphne

Nadine

Alice

Joan

PIN 7 exhibition at ANCA Gallery, Canberra

#178
Felt, cotton, stainless steel wire, purple turquoise

I am delighted to share with you that my work will be featured in PIN 7, is the seventh annual brooch exhibition at ANCA Gallery in Canberra, Australia. The pins continue to explore the theme 222 Grips for a stone, a 2 year fascination and investigation of different ways to 'grip' a stone. In this part of the series, the stones are semi-precious, and a variety of stitching methods have been used to fasten them in place.

# 174
Felt, cotton, stainless steel pin, quartz crystal

The concept of reducing scale and honing in on a wearable miniature platform appealed to artists from a broad range of practices including sculptors, printmakers, painters, ceramicists, silversmiths, machine makers, photographers, wood workers and glass artists. Following the success of the
inaugural exhibition ANCA ran ‘PIN’ exhibitions in 2012 (rePIN), 2013 (PINup), 2014 (PINHaH4), 2015 (sPIN) and 2016 (PIN SIX).

 

#175
Felt, cotton, stainless steel wire, opalite 

ANCA Gallery is running this hugely popular exhibition for the seventh time in 2017. PIN 7 will be exhibited at ANCA Gallery from Wednesday 28 June to Sunday 9 July 2017. 

#177
Felt, cotton, stainless steel wire, quartz druzy and Nova Scotian pebble

NEW!! 2 Day Weekend Tapestry Workshop

I wanted to share with you some of the exciting textile courses I am teaching at the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design.

The 2 Day Weekend Tapestry Workshop is a fun course where we learn various weaving techniques suitable for creating both geometric and organic designs while exploring form, colour and texture. 
Tapestry weaving is portable, fun and expressive technique with endless possibilities to create fabric for rugs, cushion covers and decorative wall hangings. The technique is incredibly appealing as the yarns can be used to 'paint' a picture across the supporting warp.

By the end of the two days we aim to have finished a small wall hanging. 

Join me for more creative adventures. I'd love to see you there. 



REGISTRATION CLOSES : May 19, 2017

COSTS : $60 + materials fee $30 payable to the instructor on first day of class

WHEN : 12:30 - 3:30pm Sunday 28 May & 4 June 

WHERE: Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design, Halifax  

 

Madder

This week in the Irresistible Dye class we experimented with the natural dye, Madder. 

Madder (Rubia tincture) root is one of the oldest natural dyes and has been used for many centuries in Turkey, Iran and India for the production of beautiful carpets and wall hangings. The deep rich colour, also known as Turkey red, was a closely guarded secret in this region for centuries.  

Delightful array of colours. The dye reacts differently with silk, wool and cotton.

 Madder extract produces a wide range of reds from orange, brick, blood and fiery reds. And the colour is dependant on the mordant used to fix the colour.

Alum = brick red
Tin = bright orange
Chrome = burgundy
Iron = brown

We used alum and achieved a wide array of colours as can be seen in the photos. The deeper stronger colours were achieved using protein fibres (wool and silk) with beautiful salmon colours on the cotton.

Fabric in the dye bath which was kept at 60 degrees celsius 

After dying with the madder, the fabric was removed from the dye bath and we added some iron mordant. The added iron darkens the dye bath to achieve rich chocolate brown colours.  Known as an after-mordant, it is a fun way to extend the life of the dye bath and achieve some varying colours. We let the fabric sit in the cooling dye bath (the dye was taken off the heat at this stage) for about an hour before washing in cold water. 

left: wool, cotton, silk with madder and iron
right: wool, cotton and silk with madder and alum

We have a Facebook page for the class which everyone can upload their images of the experience too. 

Hyperbolic Crochet

Some of you may have heard of Hyperbolic crochet before. 

I became aware of it in 2008 when an exhibition of crocheted shapes made to resemble a coral reef were exhibited at the Haywood Gallery, London UK, where I was living at the time. The project, organised by the Los Angeles-based Institute for Figuring was a direct response to the plight of coral reef from pollution and global warming.

Hyperbolic plane where the repeat is increasing into every 5th stitch

Hyperbolic crochet is a pattern where one simply increases stitches at a regular rate in every row. The more often you increase, the more quickly the model will ruffle up. It is a pattern that replicates the geometry found in nature, such as the anatomical frills sea slugs and kelp. 

Double hyperbolic plane where the increase is one in every two stitches

 In 1997 Cornell University mathematician Daina Taimina finally worked out how to make a physical model of hyperbolic space that allows us to feel, and to tactilely explore, the properties of this unique geometry. The method she used was crochet.

Seed-pod model 

Recently it has been proposed that the shape of our universe is hyperbolic as well. 

Pseudosphere. Crochet in the round at the increase of one in every three stitches

As many of you know, my recent investigations and concepts in art focus on the Pioneer or Settler. And my interest in lichen was piqued when I undertook a residency at Hill End in 2013 and observed many different varieties growing around the area. I photographed them extensively and recorded a few here. 

My current thinking about this is that lichen can be seen as a metaphor for early settlers and pioneers. Indeed, it is even considered a pioneer plant itself.

So I am currently exploring ways of recreating lichen using various techniques. The hyperbolic plane crochet technique lends itself well to the idea, and I have undertaken some experiments using wool. My next step is to see what happens when they are immersed in a ceramic slip, or recreated using wire instead of wool.

If you would like to try making your own hyperbolic crochet forms, the pattern can be downloaded here.

Antique style Russian Floral Mittens

I don't know about you, but I can't resist buying beautiful yarn. Even when Im not sure that I have a project in mind for it.

I bought this beautiful yarn (Filatura Di Crosa 127 Print) many moons ago whilst I was living in London, UK. I was romanced by the colour (fuscia pink) that was teamed with navy blue, mustard yellow, charcoal grey and olive green. And since its purchase it has moved with me from location to location, always with the intention of knitting something special with it.

As you can see in the picture above I had already attempted to knit it, but I wasn't happy with how the various colours in the yarn were knitting up in pattern. I was getting the dreaded tiger stripe - to which I have a great aversion! 

I wanted to try try knitting something different which would only require a small amount of wool, like one or two skeins.  Having mastered knitting socks some years ago and looking for something different, I decided to try mittens. 

I found a fabulous pattern on Ravelry but to my dismay it was written in Russian. Thankfully I could follow the chart, but I had to improvise a little with the actual mitten pattern, and I made a note of the pattern in English here.

With the help of Espacetricot's blog post on how to knit a basic mitten I came up with the above result. 

I was very happy with the result of blending the multicoloured yarn with the creamy white. The combination of wools reminds me a little of antique floral patterns. They're perfect and I love them. And so easy and fun to knit! 

(and a good excuse to watch a movie or two. Whilst knitting them I watched the magical French movie City of Lost Children, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, who recently directed the beautiful movie, Amelie) 

Fair isle flower wrist warmers

For Christmas this year I knitted up some wrist warmers for my friends in colder climates.

Using a pattern by Matilde Skår on Ravelry 

'Abra Abra' knitted wrist warmers by Matilde Skar 

combined with a fair isle flower pattern initially designed for socks

Image from http://illusiveweb.com

 I created the following gloves

Such fun! And a great way to use up odd balls of wool.
Happy knitting x

And then the rain came .... wet weather projects

View from my studio window 

Its been rainy and overcast for about a week  now. Not that Im complaining, I love this sort of weather and its always a good excuse to curl up with a project. Ive been working on finishing a couple of projects (new years resolution and all that) and Im excited that Im actually getting some stuff finished. 

100 Granny Squares

Ive been watching loads of tv so that I can finish my granny square rug (series one and two of Grand Designs on DVD - Im now inspired to build something, but thats another story). Ive completed the 100 squares and now its ready to put together. Being a bit new to crochet I wasnt sure the best way to join the squares, and found a fabulous tutorial at Attic 24. Not only was the tutorial fabulous, her whole blog is really interesting and well worth a visit.

Kochira the cat helping select the blocks for my Gate Quilt

Over a year ago I was part of an online patchwork bee - you may have heard of them. A group of people get together via the internet, and each month a person sends out their fabrics to the rest of the people in the group with some instructions on what they would like to have made. It was a great introduction to quilting for me (I also met up with some friends who were part of the group and I learnt some great techniques, as well a lovely excuse to eat cake and drink cups of tea). The down side is that some people are less likely to complete the project than others. Consequently, I have received finished blocks from half the group, and the other half seem to have disappeared!  

My block was inspired by a gate design I saw in Sydney (it also happens to be the same design as the gate on my little cottage - a very nice coincidence). It is a little tricky to put together, and it looks like I have to sew about 8 more blocks to make up for the missing ones sent out to the quilting bee. Thankfully Ive got a stack of DVD's to watch and its perfect weather to be indoors ....

x