Enchanted Landscapes at The Knitting & Stitching Shows

After India

 So for my first blog post of 2016, I thought I should bring you up to date ( long over due) with all the exhibitions I have had the pleasure of being involved in and share a few images.
It was a very busy Autumn, starting with The Knitting & Stitching Show in London in October for five days, then Dublin and Harrogate in November!
I was very lucky to be able to bring all my larger textile works together for the first time in my exhibition and also to show a selection of my sketchbooks with smaller stitched pieces.
What an amazing experience, meeting so many lovely people who are incredibly enthusiastic about textiles.
I had no idea that so many students were studying my work at schools and colleges, it really was quite over whelming, but also wonderful to know that I have played some part in a younger generations creative journeys.

The show has a great selection of talented makers working in a vast array of materials and so many exciting stalls with threads, wools, fibres and materials. ( yes, I did buy more threads!!)
I'm pleased to say that I have been invited to exhibit my gallery Enchanted Landscapes with the Knitting & Stitching Show when it launches for the first time in Scotland.
The show will be coming to Edinburgh, 28th April  to 1st May 2016 at The Royal Highland Centre.

This year I will also be demonstrating on The Madeira Threads stand at The Fashion Embroidery Stitch show at the NEC in March.
Then in December I will be showing my work as part of a touring exhibition, more news about this to follow.

I have now produced a full colour, paper back book of my work, showing my textiles, drawings and paintings, priced £10.00 it will be available at the shows I visit.
I am also able to post out my book if you wish to order it, please either email me or contact me via my website.

You will also find a section about my art work in the inspiring Through Our Hands portfolio, this book is available on the Through Our Hands website.

It's back to my stitching and you can now also follow me on Instagram @michalagyetvai.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year

Michala

Detail of Seas of Grass

Books

My Stand at The Knitting and Stitching Show 2015

Lots of Stitching with Through Our Hands part 1 !

My Sea Picture

Laura Kemshall

Bobby Britnell

Alicia Merrett

Annabel Rainbow

Clare Smith



Mirjam Pet-Jacobs

Quilt on wall by Bente Vold Klausen

Bethan Ash



 

Eszter Bornemisza

Susan Lenz

Quilt on the floor by Linda Kemshall,  back wall Elizabeth Barton , hanging work Els van Baarle

Apologies for a great delay in updating my blog, due to my problems logging in again ( hopefully sorted now) and just a lot of things happening, stitching, exhibitions, holidays etc...

I have also been using Facebook and instagram as an immediate way of updating news.

My blog missed out on an event I had in June / July at The Bilston Craft Gallery with the  international textile group Through Our Hands.

Here are a few images of the exhibition, which had some fantastic work from textile artists from all over the world, sorry I have not got all the artists here, but you will find more on the Through Our Hands website.

This group also came together to exhibit at The Festival of Quilts and you may be pleased to know that there is now a portfolio publication available to purchase ( from the Through Our Hands website ) with information on all the artists and their work.

We have recently had two brilliant new artists join our group, Jenni Dutton and Sue Stone who exhibited with us at The Festival of Quilts, blog post to follow!

 

I am at this very moment, in the midst of stitching and organising my exhibition "Enchanted Landscapes" for The Knitting and Stitching Shows, opening October 7th at Alexandra Palace London and then on to Dublin and Harrogate.

This is my first opportunity to show all my large textiles together including my latest work and a range of my sketchbooks.

I hope to see you there!

 

Michala x



 

 

 

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

" Yearning For Spring"

"Yearning For Spring"

"Autumn Trees"

"Willow"

Hello,
I hope you are enjoying your Easter break despite the inclement weather, a return to Winter here with sleet showers and a cold blustery wind.
I did manage to make drawings of our Magnolia tree, in glorious, fleeting, full bloom, before the frost caught, browning the edges of the petals, which are now carpeting our lawn.

I have been busy stitching smaller pieces again, I need a break from the huge textile I was working on at the NEC.
So here they are and I am listing again on Etsy today, "Autumn Trees", " Willow" and " Yearning for Spring".
Wishing you a Happy Easter.

My Time Spent At Fashion, Embroidery,Stitch

Here I am busy demonstrating!

A display of my smaller art pieces

Jen Goodwin's beautiful hand embroidery

My work kept me warm while I was stitching!

A selection of my sketch books and small textile pieces

Hello,
It's been exactly a week since the Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch opened at the NEC Birmingham which I can't quite believe!
I was lucky to be able to show my work and demonstrate for Madeira threads.
As I had never participated in a show like this before, I was slightly nervous, but I was lucky to have lots of support and help from Maderia, as well as Jen Goodwin who was also demonstrating her embroidery.
Jen trained at The Royal School Of Needle Work, she told me about the embroidery she had done on the royal wedding dress last year, which was very interesting.
It was lovely to meet so many people and I was amazed at how far many had travelled.
Thank you if you came to say hello, blog friends, flickr friends and anyone who took the time to watch me stitch!
I hope to be exhibiting again next year which means I need to finish the very large piece I was working on, at least it gives me a deadline to work towards!

Back To Stitching Landscapes

This week it's back to the sewing machine, combining it with hand stitching.
I love the range of marks I can make with just a needle and thread, the repetitive hand stitching is addictive, whilst being absorbing.
Again I'm referring to my sketch book, this is from a range of sketches I made last year.

A New Year Of Stitching

What a year of stitching I have had, it has taken over my life, yet as far back as I can remember threads have always been an obsession.
The need to be creative is always there, in part, it is the desire of trying out new threads and materials in my art work.
I can't stop at the drawing or painting there is always the need to express it with the complexities of  surface texture, for the fabric to take on the energy of my landscapes.
For 2012 the plan is to continue developing the larger pieces, although they take considrable time and energy, combining them with the smaller collectable works which I will occasionaly add to etsy (some added today).
Next week I have the first of two workshops I will be running at The Herbert Art Galley and I'm hoping that I may be able to run more in the future.

I have been featured this week in the online art magazine Art Daily and my local newspaper The Kenilworth Weekly News .
I also want to thank Lorrie of Illusio Creative who has kindly included me in her blog post "I must go down to the Sea"

The combination of fine art and craft is growing across many different fields, this was apparent at The Birmingham Musesum's Exhibition "Lost In Lace".
What a fantastic, exqusite, thought provoking exhibition, do go if you can, you can view images on Birmingham Museums flickr page here including many paintings from the gallery.

Wishing you a very Happy Creative New Year!

Michala x

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

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.

  

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/

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'.

Pink Sky

Another stitched landscape to add to my collection.

Working For The Exhibition

Another piece finished, smaller this time 28cm by 36cm although when framed it will be of course larger.
Inspired by the trees, near a small village where I live, their beautiful roots exposed and entwined.

I have a very busy a week ahead with school, I am working with the A'level art students which is very exciting for me.
There are lots of new displays to put up and many projects to sort out, not to mention all the stitching I have to do when I get home!
My children also start back and for one of them it will be their GCSE year, how did that come around so quickly?

Bye for now M x

I Think It's Finished!

It's finished, I think, although I may be tempted to add a few more stitches!

Tree Shadows & New Painting

The holidays have given me more time to spend on my art work, although I have taken to hiding the washing upstairs in a big pile and ironing as and when!
I have been stitching my ' Tree Shadows' piece which has flowed, in a very organic, rhythmical way, through the machine.

I have also been sketching and painting,' A Sea Of Grass' my most recent work, which holds many thoughts.

Yesterday I booked my tickets for my Mum and I to visit The Festival Of Quilts in Birmingham.
This will be my first visit and I'm so looking forward to seeing the fine art quilts and a day out!

Reaching Out To The Sky

I spent the day sewing yesterday, yes nearly all day, although this was at an embroiderers guild work shop I attended in leamington.
Our tutor was Jo Owen, a lovely lady who shared her passion for textiles with a wonderful talk and a display of her varied work.
We could stitch any landscape and I dipped into my sketch book for inspiration. The only requirement was to use only one type of stitch by hand, I chose couching.
Today I have been catching up with house work, but in my head I'm still placing stitches in patterns!

Textile Paintings

I have had time to play with ideas this weekend and today, as school is closed for half term.

I have been looking forward to the break as it is always quite frantic at school just before the holiday, finishing off projects etc...

I completed blossom tree brooch and then decided to use up some pieces of wool that I had dyed a navy blue for another miniature landscape.

The fuchsia thread is from a vintage reel of cotton and it is a wonderful colour, especially against the dark blue.

If you're anything like me, you will no doubt have many small bits of fabric and lace which you can't throw away as

a. It's too beautiful to part with even if it's so small you can hardly see it.

b. It is very old so how can you possibly be the one to end it's life.

c. You have an emotional attachment to it (It was part of an old dress that belonged to a great grandma)

d. You need to recycle.

e. You are a very strange person who hordes small scraps because you like to paint pictures with them.

f. You are completely mad because you think all fabrics deserve a chance of a different life.

g. How could you part with it because you will never get that design, colour again etc...

h. You are inspired by the work of Edrica Huws see here http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2007/aug/13/art and here amazing work.

Which leads me on to these two 'still life brooches' which I have been able to incorporate tiny fragments of lace and fabric.

Have a great week.

Mx

Stitched Landscape

I have been working on my landscape and it's getting there.

I'm finding the layering of colours quite interesting now and I'm going to find it difficult to stop!

This has taken so much time and I wonder how you could ever be commercial working to this scale?

Last week I did my first demonstration and talk on my work for a lady I know through my art society.

She organises different workshops every few months in her wonderful art studio.

I found it very rewarding and everyone seemed to have a great time experimenting with fibers and stitch.

Perhaps this would be the right direction for me, still for now it's back to stitching.

Embroidery And Threads

Oh dear!

The thread pile has grown again.

I have been very absorbed in my large textile and my thread pile has sort of spread into my stitching!

I have been adding more textural stitching to the foreground by hand.

I still have a lot more stitching to add, as I need to make the texture blend more into the background.

I have placed one of my brooches against the piece for you to see this is so much larger than my normal work.

I hope the scale of stitching is working in this piece, I'm constantly changing threads!

I needed to get back to some smaller stitched brooches and I have made this lace tree.

I thrive on the satisfaction of completing an art work and this is why I usually stitch on a smaller scale.

It's quite exhausting working on this larger landscape, but at the same time I feel I'm really pushing myself.

One of the positive aspects of blogging is, I have even more of an incentive to complete it!