Inspired By India & Exhibition News

My sketch book " India"

Jaipur

Elephant Ride at The Amer Fort

Sundar Rang

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I would share more of my time spent in India, an immensely inspiring place, particularly to me, as country which has a strong cultural identity through its crafts and textiles.

After a few days spent in Bangalore I had a surprise journey to Rajasthan to visit the "pink city” Jaipur and then a five hour drive to the "blue city" of Jodhpur.

In Jaipur we visited the stunning Amer Fort a short tuk tuk ride from the city centre.
On route you can see a serene floating palace on a large lake where you can stop and take photos.
We rode on the back of colourfully painted elephants up to the gates of the Amer fort.
This imposing building is covered in beautiful paintings and glass mosaics. 
Our driver took us to a spectacular white marble temple with ornate carvings; an abundance of wild life greeted us, hundreds of wild monkeys leaping along the walls of the ancient monuments.

 The next day we drove from Jaipur to Jodhpur, which although a long journey, was fascinating because of the changing landscape, the small towns we passed through and the cows and camels in the middle of the road!

We stayed in the small village of Chandelao in the elegant 18th century Rajput style hotel Chandelao Garh .

We watched wild peacocks and flocks of squawking, emerald green parrots on the roof top terrace as the sun went down. 

In the village we bought handicrafts made by the women, they told us that the aim of the project named Sundar Rang, is to support the local craft skills and develop high quality products with unique Rajasthan designs, thus creating a sustainable source of income for the women in Chandelao village.

The women took pride in showing us how they stitched the great range of textile goods and they were delighted to learn that I too worked in threads!
In the morning we left and drove on, visiting the Imposing  Merangarh Fort perched high above a wave of blue and turquoise painted buildings; the city of Jodhpur.

It was a fantastic experience; the fort houses exquisite paintings, textiles, sculpture, glass and      mosaics. The architecture is spectacular, as is the walled gardens, with many different exotic plants and trees.

Chandelao Garh

Jodhpur " The Blue City"

    

Next week I will tell you about my trip to the desert and my time spent exploring the textile markets in Bangalore, heaven for thread lovers!

As you may know, I'm a member of the international textile group Through Our Hands and we have an exhibition opening called "The Liberated Quilt" on Saturday15th May at The Bilston Craft Galley in Wolverhampton.

"The Liberated Quilt provides a showcase for 23 international artists working mainly with stitched textile techniques, including quilt-making and embroidery. Their work challenges and expands the boundaries of textiles, showing how innovative ideas can evolve from a traditional art form. Strong narratives, bold visions, and raw emotional response are key features of the work on show. Curated by Through Our Hands, this exhibition offers the opportunity to experience work by textile artists considered to be amongst the best in the world. - See more at: http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/events/liberated-quilt-new-work-hands/#sthash.EeGYkaOO.dpuf

I'm looking forward to seeing a fantastic range of textile art in this wonderful spacious gallery. 
I will be there at the opening in the afternoon, with some of the other members of  Through Our Hands.
I do hope that you may get chance to visit.

 

 

 

Still Drawing & Stitching in 2015!

I have recently had problems logging into my blog, in fact I thought perhaps all was lost, but thankfully and miraculously I am now back to blogging!
So much has changed with social media since my tentative steps into sharing my work on my blog.
Facebook, Flickr, instagram to name a few and I have only recently acquired an iphone!
This year I have been using instagram as it's so easy and quick to upload my photos , if you use it you can find me here  http://instagram.com/michalagyetvai
I have been stitching more than drawing during our cold Winter months, at the moment I'm trying to finish my very large landscape based on the poem by Stephane Mallarme L'après-midi d'un faune and this inspired Claude Debussy's  music of the same name.
I find the music incredibly inspiring, the flute mysterious, it takes me on a journey through a deep colourful, enchanted  Summer forest.

"[This prelude] was [Debussy's] musical response to the poem of Stephane Mallarmé (1842–1898), in which a faun playing his pan-pipes alone in the woods becomes aroused by passing nymphs and naiads, pursues them unsuccessfully, then wearily abandons himself to a sleep filled with visions. Though called a "prelude," the work is nevertheless complete – an evocation of the feelings of the poem as a whole." I hope to exhibit this piece at Bilston Craft Gallery opening on the 16th May with the international textile group Through Our Hands. The exhibition is called "The Liberated Quilt" I'm really looking forward to meeting all the other artists who belong to the group. I will also be showing my textiles with them for the first time this year at The Festival Of Quilts at the NEC in August. Then at the end of the year, again a first, I will be exhibiting with The Knitting & Stitching Show in London, Dublin and Harrogate! So I hope you may be able to visit me in one of these venues. Next week I'm packing for a trip to see my sister in India! I will be staying in Bangalore but I will also be travelling to Jaipur and Jodphur, I'm very excited, as I have never travelled beyond Europe before. My new sketch books have been purchased, I'm sure the experience of a different culture will have an impact on my art work! I hope that I will have a lot to share with you on my blog in the near future.

 

Spring Poem

 

Hello,

This week Spring arrived through mists and fog, every where I looked bursts of colour became visible in the gardens at Ragley.

I thought I would share with you a poem I wrote inspired by the changing seasons.

The Woods

The woods are sleeping a restless sleep.
Huge hands reach up and claw a polished sky.
Golden gowns lay rotted, devoured by the earth.
Trembling in icy winds they whisper in their creaks and cracks.
Exposed, raw wounds.
Listening for the bird song, inviting them to dance.
When heavens chorus begins the virgin buds will bloom.
Spring takes Winter and leads him back to bed.
The trees uplift their heavy sleepy heads.

Next week ( on Saturday) I am running a sketch and stitch workshop at Ragley Hall.
I'm hoping the weather will stay fair so we can make the most of the stunning landscapes, fingers crossed!

Exhibition "Powerful Forces"

Hello,

The exhibition at The Michael Heseltine Gallery has been open for three weeks and we have now have just two weeks until it closes on Thursday 13th of February.
I thought I would share some of my images of the exhibition which I have shown on my  facebook
page.
I will be there the next two Sundays with the sculptor George Wagstaffe ( we are open 10.00am until 4.00pm)
The exhibition is open Monday to Friday 9.00am until 5.00pm.
I managed just about to get through the opening despite a heavy cold, I think the adrenaline got me through it!

Just to let you know I will not be exhibiting at the NEC this year despite one of my stitched pieces featuring on the front of The Fashion Embroidery Stitch leaflets!!
They took the image when I was at the show last year.
I decided I wanted to spend more time on my work so I had something new to show another year and also I had other commitments.

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.