Herbert Gallery News

Hello, I'm still here amongst my piles of threads, using them to sketch and paint my own personal memories and observations of nature.

It's less than three months until my exhibition " Seas Of Grass" opens at The Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry.

The Herbert have asked if I would do a talk about my work during the exhibition in December as well as a two day work shop in January which will include creative sketch book work and of course stitching.

When I get more details I will let you know.

If you check out the Herbert Art Gallery website you will notice that there are many other interesting exhibitions coming up, including Turner prize nominee George Shaw, who's childhood memories of urban landscapes, featuring housing estates, bike sheds and playing fields are painted with model making Humbrol enamel paint.

  

The Tree and The Mountain

The Tree and The Mountain

We returned from our holiday in Italy last week which already seems a distant memory.

As an artist the Italian landscape seemed like heaven.

Our journey took us inland from the coastal town of Albenga, travelling up into the Maritime Alps.

I became fascinated with the mountain's, densely populated with trees, it led to me sketching and photographing them everyday.

It has inspired a whole series of paintings and drawings as I try and capture the intensity of the light, the living breathing mass of vegetation and the sheer dramatic beauty of nature.

Colourful Landscape

We are off on holiday soon to Italy, so before we go, I thought I would share with you my latest stitching.
I wanted to continue with a large piece again as my mark making is far more gestural on this scale.
The abstraction has developed from an earlier painting, I find it exciting to continue to play with the balance of colour, stitching colour over colour, varying density of threads and leaving areas of loose fine fibers.
This is going to take a very long time so this piece may not make the exhibition, which means I will have to find another place to display it!

The Wistful Landscape

How did August arrive so quickly?

It seems as if the seasons are all mixed up , last week like autumn and now back to summer.

The last few days have been humid, yet there is a distinct Autumn feel to the trees, the leaves already yellowing, many on the ground.

Our Magnolia tree however is in bloom again, perhaps confused by our weather?

Last week I visited The Royal Academy Of Arts Summer Show in London which is on display until the 15th August.

It was a day of discovery and exciting to see the work of many artists shown altogether.

My sketchbook is filling up with many drawings and I have just started another two large textile pieces which I hope to show you soon.

Have a good week.

M x

Back To Stitching

It's a return to stitching this week and my threads are now my paints.
I'm just taking my time to enjoy working experimentally, playing with my ideas and exploring the recent mark making in my sketch book.
I visited Compton Verney this week to see the Stanley Spencer exhibition which is featuring many of his English country gardens.
His work is incredibly detailed and gives us a romantic view of village life in the 1940's and 1950's.
 But if you look closely you will see many boundaries, fences, walls, hedges and barbed wire which protect these beautiful idyllic gardens, which is said to have been Stanley Spencer's heaven.
Perhaps subconsciously he is protecting this very English garden of Eden.
You can find out more about Stanley Spencer here http://www.stanleyspencer.org.uk/

Sketching Stitches

This week I'm working in my sketch book.

I'm experimenting and developing my composition, looking closely at how I relate to my landscapes, how do they make me feel and how can I become a part of them?

I have finished my last piece for the exhibition which is a great relief and now I have some time to tidy my mass of jumbled threads!

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'.