Art Threads

Stitching my landscape

 

 

                                 Compton Verney

                                The Workshop at Compton Verney



I have been meaning to blog for quite sometime, firstly about the workshop I ran at Compton Verney which was two weeks ago.
It was a great pleasure to teach in such beautiful surroundings and everyone was inspired to create pieces all of which were individual, different and experimental.
The emphasis was on trying out new techniques while interpreting their own studies from sketch book work.


Last week I visited the  Pre-Raphaelites  exhibition at Tate Britain, a fantastic exhibition which includes many textile works including William Morris's four poster bed.
I admired the painting by William Holman Hunt inspired from verses of the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson , The Lady of Shalott.

There she weaves by night and day
  A magic web with colours gay.
  She has heard a whisper say,
  A curse is on her if she stay
  To look down to Camelot.
  She knows not what the 'curse' may be,
  And so she weaveth steadily,
  And little other care hath she,
  The Lady of Shalott.

This vivid painting rich in colour, painted like a heavy Victorian tapestry depicts the Lady Of Shallot, tangled in her threads!


Tomorrow I will be joining in with the festive fun at The Herbert Art Gallery for the Making Merry which will have many handmade and vintage stalls.
I will be there to help my Mum on her vintage stall and I will display a few of my small brooches.

Then it will be back to working on larger pieces for my display "British Romantic Landscapes" at Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch in the NEC in March!

Remarkable work on display at fabulous Herbert show - Art News - What's On from @covtelegraph

Remarkable work on display at fabulous Herbert show - Art News - What's On from @covtelegraph

I made it into The Coventry Telegraph!

Painting With Threads

One Of My Sketch Books At The Herbert Art Gallery



A few weeks ago Mary Miers the arts editor of Country Life Magazine came to visit me at home.
She was intrigued by my art work, collections of threads and the methods I use to create my landscapes.
Here is the article she wrote.

PAINTING WITH THREADS

Michala Gyetvai’s passion for threads infuses her swirling stitched and felted artworks, which can be seen at the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry until 24 January. The vibrant pieces express her deep-rooted love of nature, the seeds of which were sown during her childhood in rural Northamptonshire, when she roamed woods and fields collecting wool and other organic fibres. These she transformed with natural dyes and wove into ‘little worlds’ on a homemade loom. Since then she has squirreled away jars and jars of fibres - twisted twines and antique silks, lustred and matt threads shimmery and sheening, crocheted cottons and metallic strands – so that her workroom resembles a Parisian brocante. With no formal training, Mrs Gyetvai developed her craft-based fine art while attending evening classes; she derives particular inspiration from the English Romantics. Working from studies in pastels, she ‘paints with the fibres’ on old dyed blankets, moving around the piece like a dancer as she lays them out and punches them in. Then she draws in the lines and builds up the texture of the composition with her threads, stitching them in by hand and machine. The whole process has an affinity with music and ballet, the results being highly rhythmic and expressive of the physical energy that goes into their making. Trees are a favourite motif, conveying the artist’s own emotions as well as the landscape around her home town of Kenilworth.

By Mary Miers

I feel very privileged to tell you that she has recommended my exhibition at The Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry as one of the best to see in December, in this weeks Country Life Magazine including a small piece about me.

Final Preparations!

Only a few weeks until my exhibition opens and you can now find more information on The Herbert Art Gallery website here.
I will also be giving a free tour and talk about my work at the exhibition, you can find out about booking a place by looking here .
I'm also very excited to say I will be running two workshops at the gallery entitled" Landscapes In Threads" starting on Saturday 7th of January.
 This will be an opportunity to develop your own drawings through experimentation in your sketch book, learning how to translate it into stitch by using hand and machine work.
You will be able to play with many different colours, textures, fibres and threads, exploring there endless possibilities!
Booking is essential as places are limited, click here for details on how to book.
Looking forward to seeing you there if you can make it.
Michala x

June Stitching

My blog updates have been less frequent due to the amount of stitching I have, but the good news is I'm on my finale piece for the exhibition!

Yesterday I spent the morning at The Herbert Art Gallery going through the work I will be exhibiting, checking measurements, how it will be displayed and lots of paper work.
There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes prior to an exhibition with many decisions to be made.
I have included a range of  paintings and drawings which are the starting point of my textile pieces and you will also be able to see some of my sketch books.
The piece above is a section from my piece titled 'The Magic Oak Tree'.

Sketching Landscapes

I had some news from The Herbert Art Gallery this week which has been making me nervous, well, I think it's positive nerves because it has spurred me on with my stitching and drawing.
My work will now be in a larger gallery space measuring 44 display running metres and I now have some pencilled in dates for the 3rd December 2011 until 29th January 2012.
So, I have an extra few months but I will need more work!
As I write this, I have various blankets submerged in dye, including some very large pieces, one in the sink, a bucket and a washing up bowl, not to mention purple fingers because of a hole in my washing up gloves!
This weekend I will devote my time to my sketchbook and sewing machine.

Here is one of my sketches from a few weeks ago, before the leaves started to turn.
Have a great weekend.
M x

This Could Be For You

Hi
I've been a bit slow on the blogging due to the Easter Holidays, having been busy stitching, drawing and...going out at every given opportunity for tea and cake!
On Tuesday I visited the Herbert Gallery in Coventry to take a few pictures to share with you.
My work is the one above the box with shoes, the landscape with trees, sorry not a great photograph.
As you can see there was some wonderful,inspiring work.

They have a lovely Cafe with interesting art work and sculpture, I like how you feel you are sitting actually in the gallery with plenty to see, including a patio area with more sculptured works.

I have more drawings and stitching to share which will be in another post soon, but first I want to say thanks for anyone who takes the time to kindly visit.
If you want the opportunity of winning one of my brooches from my still life series, just leave a comment before 8pm Saturday 17th April and you will be entered into my draw.
I hope you have a great weekend.
M x

Easter Stitching

Happy Easter, I hope you are enjoying your Easter break.
We have just finished our roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with a nice glass of wine.
It's still bright and sunny outside although a little cold.

Last week has been very busy and I have been looking forward to having time to catch up with general jobs at home, including a major tidy up in the garden which has been some what neglected!

On Thursday I attended the preview of the 2010 Open exhibition at The Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry where my 'Abbey Fields' embroidery is on show.
I will post some pictures soon, as we are visiting it again tomorrow, to take pictures of the gallery.
If you can visit I need your votes!
They have a peoples choice award and the work with the most votes, will be fortunate to win an exhibition of their work at this prestigious gallery.
This would be a dream come true, if I were lucky enough to win, although the chances are slim, as there are seventy excellent art works to choose from.

I have added a few more wooden dolls to my collection, one I found in a charity shop.
I'm sure my obsession for them stems from the comfort they give me in bringing back memories of my childhood.

More stitching to share with you, I'm still working on the large piece and also a few more brooches.

I'm in the process of making a brooch for a blog give away this week so more to follow soon.

Exhibitions & Cotton Reels

Hello,
I had some exciting new this week, when I found out that one of my embroideries has been selected for the 2010 Open exhibition, at The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry
I did enter my larger piece which was not selected but luckily this one above of Abbey Fields, a park near where I live was chosen.

The opening night is on April 1st and the exhibition ends June 13th.

Today I have been at The Sewing For Pleasure Show at the NEC, I had a great time and saw so many people I knew.
Hello to Judy a fellow stitching friend, who has not got a blog yet, but should have one!
If you are going to the show, say hello to Kathy on the Embroiderers Guild magazine stand, who is very kindly displaying my work again.
There was so many inspiring textile works on display, including a display of work from the book, Inspired to Stitch by Diana Springall.
I loved looking at the Oscar winning costumes from the film 'The Duchess' starring Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes.






I have many old wooden cotton reels as I can't bare to throw them away.
I know I'm a bit strange but my life revolves around threads, so I have painted my own landscape on one of them, I think I may need to get some smaller brushes!