caroline's blog
I've been building a new portfolio as a showcase of my work, and have been raiding my own and friends' cupboards for examples of my work over the years. I've found some interesting things- here are a few.
The oyster bag was made in 2000, I think. The silk shaded rose I made this year.
Some images from the class I ran on the 1st/2nd October at the Royal School of Needlework. See more about it at www.twin-needle.co.uk. The course was about trying lots of different techniques with fabric and learning how to modify your clothes to fix a problem or to suit your style.
I was keenly interested to see the Royal wedding on Friday, with a special reason: I was privileged to be part of the team at the Royal School of Needlework, who created the lace for Catherine Middleton's dress, designed as everyone now knows by Sarah Burton. It was intricate work, and a beautiful design. I'm only just beginning to realise what a privilege it was to get to work on such a one-off project. Read more »
Tired of your textiles? Bored of your clothes? Learn how to revive them and turn something old into
something new! This class will introduce you to different ways of customising your garments and
furnishings, and stamp them with your style. Learn to assess your clothes and furnishings for their
potential; gain the skills and ideas to make the changes.
I've uploaded some images from my collection of jewellery designs overthe last ten years - some just a few left, others no longer available. The represent my most successful designs: those with flowing design lines, and those whose colours I most liked. There'll be more images being added over the next few weeks.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm reading Lewis Hyde's 'The Gift', about the problem of making a living from creative pursuits. As I make it out, he argues that a society increasingly dominated by markets breaks down the emotional bonds between us. Buying something concludes the transaction; there's no bond with the vendor. Giving creates bonds, and there's something in that that is beneficial to artists, creative talent being a sort of gift. Read more »
A copy of 'the Gift' by Lewis Hyde fell into my hands on Friday. I've been struggling for some time (years, in fact) with 'the art world' and how to be a happy creative maker yet still make a living. In recent years selling became so all-consuming that in the end I ceased to be able to make. I got stuck in a miserable cycle of trying to guess what people would buy, and making that, and my work became more and more constricted until it stopped. There is a lot of pressure to think about 'the product' and 'filling a need', and to develop marketing plans and branding for yourself. Read more »
A little bit of website development this evening; I've uploaded some sketchbook images taken from different books over a number of years. It's been fascinating looking back over them: I remembered places and people very vivdly as I looked over my own interpretations of them. These pictures interest me more than finished works in some ways - I got into difficulties at one university interview in the mid-1990's for saying that! Artists' skectchbooks are so immediate and lively.
I
'm working on a commission at the moment: it's a project for a set of jewellery based on freesias, a very challenging flower for my technique. I've worked the deisgn so that each bud of a flowering stem is supported as much as possible by surrounding parts such as stems or leaves. I need to avoid having a part of the design hanging out in space where it can get distorted. It takes a little while to get back into the rythm of such intense stitching - I had forgotten how much I need to hold the image of the design in my mind as I work. I do have a pencil outline to follow, but it soon become obscured once I start stitching.
I am also planning a sewing workshop with my sister, the hand embroiderer Sarah Homfray . It's to take place at the Royal School of Needlework next year and will be a new departure for us both. We're looking at ways of modifying clothing creatively, using hand stitch, print, applique and machine embroidery. At the moment I'm having a great deal of fun experimenting with printing motifs.
Read more »I ha d a project to go for a walk. Naively I thought that there would be public footpaths and marked routes to follow. But of course, in a country too hot to walk around in for most of the year, there aren't. I am having to give up my desire for map accuracy and predictability. Read more »
Friday - the hubbub voices of Kourtney's private view party in the background while I take five minutes away for a quick write. The brazier (oil drum) is burning, the peanuts and marshmallows disappearing, and the wine bottles emptying. The leader of the archeology school from next door came along with a Phd student Liz, to look at the work- an attempt to foster interdiscplinary relations. Ilearnt of a ruined turkish village down the road from Pafos - somehwere off the beaten tourist track to see. Read more »
