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

My Work Space and New Work.

I am often asked if I have a studio and I wish I could say yes, as it would be a dream to be able to have somewhere big enough to hang all my large textile pieces.
When I'm working it frequently gets cluttered and I rarely have time to stop and sort out my creative mess.
However, last week I purchased an old apothecary chest which has 16 drawers for me to hide all manner of my threads and fabrics in.
I doubt it will stay tidy for long!



I have just about finished my large piece of work " Homage a Mattise", this as the title suggests is developed from a painting of a landscape I did near Nice, I have also incorporated the rhythms I feel when I have studied Matisse's paintings.
Matisse lived in Nice, he too was fascinated by fabrics, which he collected on his many travels, their patterns, colours and designs influenced his work.
I'm looking forward to visiting the Matisse Museum again on holiday soon, this will give me the opportunity to inspire me further in my work.
The Museum is situated in a beautiful villa surrounded by an olive grove, it contains not only his art works but his many collections of furnishings and fabrics.
Bye for now

Michala

 

May Stitching & Painting

Here is a painting I did early last week based on a few sketches I made and also partly my imagination.
It was nice to have a change and to experiment with my paints.

The last few days we have had blue skies and warm sunshine, Summer feels real at last, not just a distant memory and it feels good.
We have beautiful yellow fields here in May and the trees are full of blossom, my favourite time of year.
This has had a direct influence on my mood and colour choices and so I continued with my Matisse inspired brooches.
I do hope Summer stays with us longer this time.

Inspired By Matisse

Did you see the wonderful art programme on the BBC last Sunday, Modern Masters, featuring the work of Matisse?
If you didn't manage to see it, it's available to view on iplayer.
See here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sfsnd/hd/Modern_Masters_Matisse/
I was fascinated to learn how Matisse developed his work and how it changed dramatically when he moved to the South of France.
Influenced by the startling bright colours of the Cote d'Azure he revolutionized the way artists used colour.
This programme is a series of four, I have yet to see the first about Andy Warhol and I'm looking forward to seeing the next on Picasso.
So this piece is inspired by the way Matisse used colour in a Kayla coo kind of way!