Wall Hanging, and my first 2011 Journal Quilt!

This is the Wall Hanging that I have made for my little grandson in New Zealand. I decided on this space age theme, because hopefully, one day, it really will be possible  for him to fly to the UK in a super fast jet, or rocket  plane to visit his nanny and grandad.....(If we are still around by then ofcourse!) It should be winging its way to him right now, so I hope it arrives all in one piece!

This year, my 2011 Journal quilts are going to be inspired by Tribal Art. The size is to be 10"x10", and there are also three more criteria. The first four are to contain a circle, and the second and third  four some text, and a button/s, but at the moment I can't remember in what order! (must check). Above is my first for this year, and is called 'snowdrop'. I hand printed the dots with acrylic paint, so plenty of circles, albeit small ones!! I also appliqued the snowdrops, and free machined the background patches, and flowers themselves.

Contemporary Quilt, suitcase collection. Childhood memories.

Contemporary Quilt set a new 'suitcase collection' quilt challenge for 2011. The title, Childhood Memories , was to be A3 size, and interpreted in any way the maker felt appropriate. This collection of quilts, just under fifty in all, is now complete, and ready to be sent to any group in the country for perusal by it's members.

I have so many childhood memories, and couldn't really decide on which one to interpret into a quilt, so in the end, I decided to build up 15 little areas on the A3 background, each representing a year of my life from birth to age fifteen. I have a mild form of synesthesia, and certain letters, names and numbers relate to colours in my mind. I decided that this could be a starting point, and have used colours relating to memories for each year. I also learned to stitch at a very early age, my mother was always either at her sewing machine or hand sewing, so I have plenty of memories in this area. This was why I decided to hand stitch most of the quilt. It is a very personal piece, and although I realise that it may not mean much to whoever sees it, I still hope that the overall image will be a pleasing one to any observer. I have also included a close-up photo of one of the sections.  

Related articles

• Synesthesia (fishofgold.wordpress.com)

KAIROS preview at the Corner Gallery.

 Our KAIROS http://www.kairos-artists.com/ preview evening went very well, and we made a few sales straight away! There are now two weeks left for folks to call in and view the work, and to hopefully buy a beautiful piece of art. Don't forget the sea themed wall hanging that is also being raffled in aid of the SmileTrain charity. Tickets £1 each, or six for a fiver!!

These lovely hand painted ceramic plates on the left were made by Lucy Dean. Unfortunately the lighting was subdued, and I don't think I had my camera on the correct setting, but they were painted in black, white and turquoise. This photo does not do them justice.

 Next, are these wonderfully abstract pieces by Jodi Jones. Again, the colours have not been reproduced correctly, but Jodi uses lots of fabulous neutrals, some deep, and others lighter in tone, and sometimes rings of brass or other metal are embedded into her work.

Karen Moser also works with ceramics, and she

often uses objects from our modern technological age to produce pieces that resemble fossils of the future.They are distressed and blackened, but have a wonderful quality about them which is irresistable.

Again I have to apologise for the poor photographic

quality.

 On this wall, Angela Curror's work is on the top half, plus the three small square ones on the bottom right, and Jackie Harford's is below. Angela makes textile work, as well as manipulated photography, printing and book binding. Angela has most recently been inspired by the theme of 'the sea', and has produced some stunning textiles that reflect this. Jackie also works in photography, often manipulated with some wonderful results, and has also produced some pieces where she has combined photography, paper and stitch to make fabulous collages.

 I have already featured most of my work in a previous blog post, but here is a photo to show  how it is displayed in the exhibition.

Finally, but by no means least, is the food that we all made and brought along to be enjoyed by the evenings visitors! YUM!!

KAIROS exhibition

KAIROS is a small group of women artists that I belong to, and we are having an exhibition of our work at The Corner Gallery, Carshalton Beeches, starting on Wednesday 19th January. Apart from the art work that we are exhibiting, and hopefully selling, we are raffling the sea themed wall hanging you see here on the left. It is being raffled in aid of The Smile Train charity. Six of us have made a panel each, and one of us has in fact made two, giving seven in all. It has been put together to make a panel 50"x10", and looks fabulous. You can contact the gallery for tickets or more information.

Below is a selection of the work that I will be putting into the exhibition, but there will also  be ceramics, oil paintings, acrylics, photography and some installation work by the othe KAIROS members. More information on this exhibition can be found on the gallery website above.