Translate

Friday 27 December 2013

"Powerful Forces" New Exhibition Opening Soon.


Hello,
I hope you have had a peaceful Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year.
We have had a very busy few days catching up with family, one of my sisters has been living in Bangalore in India for the last six months with her husband and three children.
It's been wonderful to see them and to listen to their stories of India.
Sadly they are only here until the New Year, the next time I will see them will be at my younger sisters wedding at the end of May!

I have also been finishing off pieces for a new exhibition of my work which opens on the 9th of January 2014 at The Michael Heseltine Gallery, Chenderit School an arts College in Middleton Cheaney near Banbury.
I will be exhibiting with the sculptor George Wagstaffe , you will find his public works in the City of Coventry.
The following is the press release with information about the exhibition.

An exhibition of work by Michala Gyetvai and George Wagstaffe.
Michala will be showing her large textiles, drawings and paintings. This follows her successful solo show at the Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry in 2011/12.
Her work shows the passion for blankets and threads she uses and for the landscape she interprets. These powerful, three- dimensional images remain with the observer long after the initial viewing.
George wagstaffe will be showing a selection of his sculptures, mainly in bronze. These works, though complete in themselves, relate thematically to commissions completed during a long career, in particular to the early commissions for the City of Coventry in the 1960s. Whilst  the work of the two artists remains separate and distinctive, there is a shared concern to explore together those unseen forces that continue to determine the human condition.
The exhibition is housed in the Michael Heseltine gallery, Chenderit School, Middleton Cheney, from the 9th January 2014 to the 13th February.
The artists will be giving a brief introduction to the exhibition on the opening evening and will be on site to talk to visitors each Sunday from 2.00pm until 4.00pm.


We still have quite a busy time ahead, wrapping works and two days of setting up.
 If you live near and are interested in either textiles, painting or sculpture do come and visit.
I plan to be at the Gallery on the Sunday afternoons, no doubt stitching!

Have a Happy New Year!

Michala

Saturday 14 December 2013

Workbox


 


Last March I exhibited my work at the Fashion Embroidery Stitch and Sewing for Pleasure Show at The NEC in Birmingham, it was here the editor of Workbox came across my work and asked if they could feature my embroidery in their new look magazine.
So here I am, in the January / February 2014 issue of the magazine where you can read more about my art work.
It's been another busy month of stitching, drawing and getting ready for my next exhibition in Oxfordshire in January! ( hence my lack of blogging)
At the beginning of the month I visited the Cherwell Valley Embroiderers Guild for a days workshop
( I had previously visited to give a talk).
Now I was able to share machine with hand embroidery skills and to give advice on how members could develop their own work through experimentation using sketchbooks.
I find this process so rewarding and it was exciting to see how different everyone approached the task at hand, using various media including threads and fabrics.
 
I hope to get back to regular weekly blog posts soon!!
 
Best wishes
 
Michala
 
 
 


Thursday 17 October 2013

Exhibition at Ragley Hall & News

Sketching

Goodness, it's along time since I have updated my blog!
I have been very busy with talks, demonstrations and workshops, in September I gave a talk at the beautiful Dorchester Abbey in Oxfordshire for their Sew Saturday event.
Then last week I gave a talk for the very welcoming Leamington Spa embroiderers guild followed by a days workshop.
I have also been working towards an exhibition entitled 'Negotiating Heritage’ at Ragley Gallery and Studios
Opening Saturday 19th of October until Thursday 31st of October see here for details  

A group exhibition consisting of 11 artist who have been engaging with Ragley
Hall, Park and Gardens over the summer of 2013.

Mini Artists’ residencies are at the core of Negotiating Heritage. Eleven artists in
total including Ragley Hall’s Artist in Residence, Dawn Harris have been invited
to spend time at Ragley during the summer of 2013. Some of the artists have
spent time speaking with visitors, some investigated the history of the Hall,
and some spent time discovering the landscape that makes up the Estate, always
considering the question of what Heritage means to them. The Ragley visitor was
invited to witness,  and experience the creative process behind the
artist’s work at the Ragley Gallery and Studios.

I will also be running "Sketch & Stitch workshops at  Ragley Hall.
The surrounding landscapes are incredibly inspiring and we will have the opportunity to go out in the grounds to draw ( weather permitting)!
Please find booking information on my website Michalagyetvai.co.uk

The Stable Yard at Ragley.



I have also been stitching away for another exhibition of my work along side the artist George Wagstaffe.
This exhibition entitled "Powerful Forces" will be held at The Michael Heseltine Gallery, Middleton Cheaney in January and February 2014, I will share more details nearer the time.

Bye for now

Michala


Thursday 29 August 2013

Holidays, Sketches, Sew Saturday and news!

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Inspired by Pre'lude a' l'apre's - midi d'un faune by Debussy

I have spent nearly every day of my holiday drawing, many of my sketches you will find on my Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michala-Gyetvai-Kaylacoo/133372320850
I will be up dating my blog with some of my new work soon.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Warwickshire Open Studios 2013 George Wagstaffe & Michala Gyetvai

Exhibiting over the next two weeks for Warwickshire Open Studios, check out my website for opening times. The weather is forecast to be sunny!!

Thursday 27 June 2013

June at Ragley & Warwickshire Open Studios



"June" My first month working at The Dawn Harris Art Gallery and Studios at Ragley Hall.
Each month I will share with you my visual diary, the studio artist's work and the landscape changing through the seasons.


Open Studios is a wonderful way to meet artists and to find out more about the way they work.
It's also a free event so do come and visit.


I will be exhibiting in three places for Warwickshire Open Studios!
Firstly, I will be displaying my larger works with the artist and sculptor George Wagstaffe in his studios at,  258 Hawkes Mill Lane, Coventry.
The opening times are 29th,30th of June 10.30pm until 4pm. Thursday 4th and 11th July 2pm until 8pm.Sunday 7th and 14th of July 10.30am until 4pm.


I will also have a range of work in my studio at The Dawn Harris Art Studios and Gallery at Ragley Hall. I will be there on Thursday 4th and 11th of July 11am until 1pm.
In both venues I will have a selection of my smaller stitched pieces, cards, paintings and prints.

There are many other artists exhibiting with a huge range of work in different mediums.
 

I will also have a piece of work exhibited at Rugby Art Gallery & Museum during the Warwickshire Open Studios event.
 I hope it will be a busy few weeks for all Warwickshire artists!
Good luck to everyone taking part.



Tuesday 25 June 2013

Sunday 2 June 2013

Studio Artist At The Dawn Harris Gallery & Studios Ragley Hall

Gallery & Studios

Views From The Stable Block

A Vista at Ragley

Tree!

Ragley Hall

The Woods At Ragley

My New Studio!

My Studio Space

My Installation

New Drawing
 
 
It's been a while since I have updated my blog which is due to a very busy few weeks where lots of things have been happening!
A few weeks ago I met Dawn Harris who is the artist in residence at Ragley Hall near Alcester, not far from Stratford Upon Avon.
I visited Dawn at her Gallery and studios which is part of the very impressive Ragley Hall estate and is within a section of the very old stable blocks.
Dawn has set up the studio space with Gallery as part of her residency, to create an artists community, to support artists professional development through projects, exhibitions and critical discourse.
I'm excited to say that I am now one of the new studio artists and I am looking forward to working  along side Dawn and the artist at Ragley.
I will be able to spend  time outside in the beautiful surrounding gardens and  grounds,which will no doubt have a huge influence on my art practise.
 
To begin with, I will be at Ragley a couple of days a week as I am also in the process of organising my Open Studios over in Coventry with the artist George Wagstaffe.
The Gallery,studios are open to visitors most weekends and some week days, you can find opening times on Dawn's website here and details of art courses with Dawn.
Please double check before you visit, as Ragley Hall has varied opening times. or contact Dawn via her facebook page here ( The Gallery will sometimes be closed in the holidays) 
My next blog post will introduce you to Dawns art work, including the other studio artists.
Bye for now
 
Michala
 
 
 
 
 


 

Friday 17 May 2013

Sea Pictures




At the moment, I am working directly from my sketch book, which is filled with observations  of studies I have made of the Mediterranean sea.
Listening to Elgar's "Sea Pictures" and Debussy's "La Mer" I am transported back to the shoreline, using all my senses I can see and feel the shapes in the music.
I will be working on this piece during Warwickshire Open Studios at the end of June, where I will be exhibiting along side the artist George Wagstaffe.

Friday 19 April 2013

Mastering The Art Of Embroidery

            My Four Season Cards
 
 

         Two of my landscapes
 
My "Abbey Fields" above image

  Image 3 is by Viv of Hensteeth



I have just returned from my holiday, a lovely sunny week spent in Nice France where I spent many hours sketching, I will share photo's and sketch book pages with you soon.
Whilst I had been away I had received in the post a copy of a new embroidery book entitled  "Mastering The Art Of Embroidery" by Sophie Long.
Sophie is a graduate of the Royal School Of Needlework and this book covers many different technical aspects of stitching.
It's full of beautiful photographs of a range of embroidery styles, a great introduction for the beginner and the sheer quantity of visuals will inspire you.
It was lovely to find that the publishers had selected some of my images for the machine embroidery section in the book.
I also found that a few fellow bloggers that I know, had their work featured, including Viv from Hens teeth with her lovely vintage inspired creations and Karen Ruane from Contemporary embroidery with her delicate stitch work.
The back of the book contains a list of contributors with their blog and website details which will be exciting to explore!

You may like to know I have recently added a range of my greeting cards to Etsy and I hopefully will be adding more items soon.

Michala

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch 2013






Hello,
It's a week since I set up at the NEC for The Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch show and what an eventful week it has been.
Firstly, where has Spring gone??
The weather could not have been worse, with snow on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday ( I woke up to a blizzard on Sunday morning).
Luckily I managed to get in OK, driving very slowly through the country roads.
Despite the weather I had a very busy few days, although predictably, Sunday was much quieter and both my sisters who had planned to come then could not get there, due to the icy roads.
I met some lovely people, so many enthusiastic stitchers and I'm very grateful that they had battled to get in.
The show had some fantastic exhibitors with such a wonderful inspiring array of work, I wished I had been able to spend more time looking.
Thank you very much if you came to see my work and if you could not get in I have a video which you can view, my very first time on You tube! See Here
Now it's time to get back to my stitching, I think I'm going to retreat into hibernation!

Friday 15 March 2013

Homage a' Matisse


I have a very busy week ahead organising my work for The Fashion, Embroidery,Stitch show at the NEC in Birmingham which opens Thursday next week!
One of my textiles I will be displaying is Homage a' Matisse which stands 8ft tall and took me around two years to complete. ( featured in the March issue of Embroidery Magazine)
The piece is developed from studying the rhythms in the work of the French artist Henri Matisse.
I observed the musicality in the way in which he placed colours and shapes, I took particular interest in his paper collages, "The Snail" and "The Kings Sadness", I combined these themes with my own painting which then led to this work.
Throughout the piece I have layered different threads in machine and hand stitching, emphasising areas of the work which became three dimensional.
I then manipulated those areas further by stitching the work on to a large blank canvas.

On Wednesday I will be transporting ( hope everything fits in the van)! and hanging all my pieces.
I will also be running free one hour workshops at the show everyday, places are limited to ten and need to be booked on the day of the show.
Hope to see you there!

Michala










Wednesday 27 February 2013

Sketch book


Here is a recent page from one of my small sketch books, they are for me a vital tool.
A diary of my own visual language, a link between, thoughts, actions,feelings and dreams.
How do we see nature , as it is or as we want it to be?

I took all my sketchbooks and textiles to a small village near Banbury this week.
It was my very first talk for The Embroiderers Guild and The Cherwell Valley branch made me feel so welcome.
I was more nervous of trying to find the location than the actual talk!

last week I also finished putting together a new website which you can see here http://www.michalagyetvai.co.uk/  I have updated it with information on exhibitions and workshops.
I hope you will enjoy visiting it.
Now I will return to my stitching as I have only three weeks until I display my work at the NEC!


Thursday 31 January 2013

"Within The Forest Of Threads"


Here are some new pieces which I am working on directly from my sketch book.
I still have many paintings of landscapes which are crying out to me to be stitched but I felt compelled to work with these new ideas.
I have been asked if I could run a few one hour workshops for Maderia threads at The Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show in March, when I get more details I will share them here.

Michala x





Wednesday 23 January 2013

Under The Blossom Tree

Under The Blossom Tree by kayla coo
Under The Blossom Tree, a photo by kayla coo on Flickr.

Another textile piece I have been working on.
This will be exhibited at The Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show in March.

Monday 21 January 2013

Faces In The Landscape




I'm not at all up to date with my blog compared to my face book and flickr pages which is why I have uploaded these images as a mosaic.
I have been using many different methods of recording and documenting ideas, these quick sketches, apart from one, have been on my ipad ( a wonderful Xmas present).
The figures have come about quite naturally, each one emotionally linked to the landscape.

When I was a child I lived in a small Warwickshire village surrounded by woods and fields.
I spent many hours playing in these surroundings, making dens, climbing trees and playing with all nature had to offer.
Not far from the local church, where I played, was a beautiful country track which was free from traffic as it led to open fields.
I will never forget the day when all the mature Elm trees which lined that hedgerow had been cut down, each one lying side by side in full leaf.
At first my friends and I played amongst those fallen branches, excited by the natural climbing frame, unaware of the impact to our local landscape.
A few days latter we returned to find no trees,  I remember to this day the devastation I felt at seeing the tree stumps.
 My vivid memories of this this time form the philosophy of the my art work, my feelings are linked to my landscape.
I will update my blog again very soon as I have more stitch work to share with you ( you can find more recent images on my face book page).
Bye for now.
Michala




Monday 7 January 2013

New Year & New Work



This piece entitled "Snow on Snow" is inspired by the poem In The Bleak Mid Winter by Christina Rossetti.
I made many sketches after a walk in the snow over the fields near us, which then led to a painting.
The work above measuring 45cm x 63cm  has taken hours of stitching and includes many different threads with fibres.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.


I will be exhibiting this work at The Fashion Embroidery Stitch Show in March as part of my British Romantic Landscape display.
You can find more details about the event here http://www.ichf.co.uk/fashion/

My sketch book is filling up with new ideas and figures which are growing out of my landscapes, you can see more of these here http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylacoo/

Best Wishes for The New Year!

Michala