playing around with surface pattern....

these images are part of a study on tea shops and cafes that I undertook for my BA in Textiles, where hearing threads of conversation made me think of beaded strings, the background layer was acrylic pallet knifed onto paper, the colour mixed to emulate tea, I then set about building various layers with Photoshop, just playing around with some of the exploration work I had undertaken in my sketchbooks

I had sketched, with ink, many the chairs I had found in the tea shops I had visited

wanting to see what blue looked like to balance out the 'tea' colour

gingham had shown its face in several of the tea shops  and so went on to appear  in my images

the original background before adjusting it with Photoshop

just remembering the Harrogate Knitting and Stitch show….

Well it was wonderful being a the Knitting and Stitch Show, with so many great memories of my time there.  I exhibited as a member of the Textile Bursary Group, with 10 of us at the show and the time spent on the stand with others from the group was very much enjoyed. My beautiful niece Bethany also came along to assist and we couldn't have managed without her!

Around 40,000 people came through the show over the four days and as a Textile Artist and Designer it is a very positive experience having so many people come up to you and compliment you on your work. 

It was also great to meet many of the other exhibitors from the other stands with such a wide range of working practices and supplies. A wonderful experience, meeting so many like minded people.

I love this picture of someone looking at my work, thank you for letting me share it.

These are the pieces I took, from the series “Conversations”, sourced from my observations around the activity of drinking tea and the human interaction that often accompanies it.  My mixed media processes for these pieces were inspired by Blackwork embroidery, surprisingly not just black, which I researched through a study visit to the wonderful Gawthorpe Textile Collection in Padiham, Lancashire.

“Connected” originally a charcoal sketch, digitally printed onto cotton, embroidered with cotton and embellished with plaited silk cords and brass pins.

“Conversations Past” mixed media piece made as a reference to the older stronger women in our family, although often overlooked by todays cultural slant towards youth I felt the need to acknowledge their hidden strengths. Comprising of derelict teacups, sewn into organza with and fused with heat.

“Voices   a page from my art journal /sketchbook referencing the hum of conversation in a tea shop, linen, acrylic paint, ink, thread and organza.

Tea-towels; the “Cups” design created by drawing and carving small blocks, working with acrylic paint into my art journal and then manipulating the page on Photoshop and digitally printed onto cotton.   “Random Conversations 1 & 2”  were created after haunting tea shops and collecting conversations, then collaging them onto 00 sized paper with ink, acrylic paint and torn strips of paper, photographed from above with the aid of a stepladder and then digitally printed onto cotton.

a nice cup of tea and a good book, Happy Birthday to Me :)

This is a small section from one of my tea towel designs, digitally printed onto a lovely sturdy English Cotton. The initial art work was created by my first carving out some blocks and printing into my Art Journal, then manipulating with Photshop and finally having it digitally printed. I am sipping from  a nice big hot breakfast cup of tea as I write this. Later I will be starting to put together my Art Quilt which will be called Conversations. All about the connection people have over a cuppa and the related paraphenalia. It's my birthday today and as per tradition later on I will be treating myself to a wonderful book. This years will be; '1,000 Artisan Textiles, Contemporary Fibre Art, Quilts and Wearables' by Sandra Salamony and Gina M Brown........can hardly wait :)