January snow

Today we've had snow in Wakefield; it began last night, and settled, covering the landscape with white.
But it's that wet snow, that slowly drips away, soaking everything through. So tonight, the snow only sits on lawns, and undisturbed ground.

I've completed my portfolio for the City & Guilds textiles course. I hand that in tomorrow. We're doing felting now, so I'm having the opportunity to think about how to develop my skills. I'm working on some ideas from last summer, when I visited Star Carr in East Yorkshire. Those deer head-dresses continue to intrigue me! 
As they intrigue the archaeologists to this day!

Above is Jill Halsall's felt piece from our Woolgathering exhibition last November. Silver birch trees.

Woolgathering

The exhibition is up!

Jill and I went up to Westgate Studios yesterday, and put all our felt and textile pieces up in the Project Space.
Above you can see 3 of my felt pieces (right), and 3 of Jill's felt and wood pieces (left).

Jill has also made leaves from felt, which hang in the window space. Above is a photo of them displayed, and below is a close-up of one. You can just make out the way that the leaves cast shadows onto the window blind! Lovely.

Below is my fabric piece 'Palimsest', which I've shown earlier in this blog. 

But with a bit of photo-shopping, I've managed to get the whole piece into one photograph.

We worked really hard to put it together yesterday; and I came home ready for a relaxing evening. It's that moment of calm when there's nothing else to do, but just wait for Wednesday, and welcome in the visitors.

Woolgathering

The Exhibition 

'Woolgathering', 

                        1) to engage in fanciful daydreaming; the idle or absent-minded indulgence in fantasy.

                        2) gathering tufts of wool shed by sheep & caught on bushes.

After spending some time dreaming of, and counting sheep, Jan & Jill have gathered wool from various sources and created a series of art works using wool, and incorporating fabric.

They have made 2D & 3D works, reflecting their different interests and influences. 

Jill has been making felt for a number of years, recently completing a City & Guilds course. Jan became interested in wool and felt-making, and began to explore textiles as a medium. Through experiments with dye-ing using plants, stitching and mark-making, Jan is extending her artistic practise into the material world.

The artists; Jan Millington & Jill Halsall

The media; Felt and Textiles

The venue; Project Space, Westgate Studios, Wakefield

The date; Wednesday 28th November 2012 as part of Wakefield Artwalk

               (to view by arrangement with Westgate Studios after 28th)

Dyed, Printed, Stitched & Spun #2

Am still working on this piece. It includes print on fabric, spun and dyed wool, machine and hand stitching.
It's taking quite a while, but I'm hoping I can get it completed and to the framers in time for the 'Woolgathering' exhibition next month at Westgate Studios.

Up-date

Whitby Museum is a treasure-trove of fascinating objects. It's a 'proper' museum; none of this 'interactive' stuff here! Above is a photo of a woven/knitted outfit on display, taken on a visit years ago now. It seems fitting to include it here, as I'm working on a City & Guilds qualification in creative textiles. Nothing as elaborate as this, thankfully! We're creating mostly samples. It's taking up a lot of my time though, so I expect my blogging will lessen over the term/s.
And of course, my socks knitting continues. Still not near to turning the heel, which is where I'll need some help.
There's the upcoming exhibition to prepare for too; 'Woolgathering', at Westgate Studios, in November. So I'm kept pretty busy at the moment.

I've been out tidying up some of the garden; had baked apple tonight from my apple tree. A bad harvest this year, hardly any apples; but then everywhere has had bad harvests, with the weird weather.
Sitting in my home studio over the weekend, I spotted a squirrel lolloping along the fence outside. S/he did a stop-over at my birdtable, to collect anything the birds hadn't taken. Unlike some people, I don't mind squirrels on my birdtable. I don't have gangs of them. And there's plenty of berries around at the moment for birds and squirrels alike. Good harvests there then!

Felt; Bags & Boots! by Jill Halsall

Some examples of Jill's feltmaking!

I have no idea if she will be exhibiting these in November. Knowing Jill she'll have made a whole new set of felt-works by then!
Jill & I have an exhibition of felt at Westgate Studios 'Project Space' in November, for the Artwalk. We're calling it 'Woolgathering'....a reference to the material, and also a small nod to Patti Smith, who has a book called the same. 
I'm a big Patti Smith fan. And when Jon and I went to Iceland a few years ago, we were lucky enough to be there the same time as she was doing a gig.  It's the third time I've seen her; she's touring again this year. Has a new album out entitled 'Banga'.
As might have become noticable on this blog.....as well as art, I'm passionate about music!