rockpool candy

USA tour - month two

So I've been slacking in my posting. You know what? There are several reasons why.

Here's one. Life's just peachy.

We've been hanging out with my friend, Debi, and friends, on her 'dirt farm' as she calls it. 'Damn near perfect' I call it. This was taken about 2 hours' from her, just at sundown on a western Floridian beach.

There have been parties with fire dancing - you know the way it is....

And then there's checking that the pool water is the right temperature.....

But more importantly, there's been fibre fiddling. Meet Marvin Morgenstern. What he doesn't know about Overshot weaving, ain't worth knowing. The man is a genius. 

And luckily for the weaving world, he's documented every overshot pattern that he's ever woven. The library is extensive. I just hope that someone out there with the necessary archiving skills approaches Marvin and gets this stuff down officially. If there was a website with this stuff on, it would go into meltdown.

For our own projects, we've started sculpting loom weights from clay. Fir cones took our fancy. We've got 40 ready to fire. We'll build a neolithic-style loom to hang in the cathedral of trees on Debi's farm.

And then we've been acquiring new skills, like warp thread painting.

And there are three looms to explore no less.

And then there's the dyeing, the spinning, the rug hooking.

And I want to share it with you all, but, you know, it's hard to sit in front of a laptop when the sun is shining, the Thanksgiving cassoulet is bubbling on the firepit, and there are balls to throw for Lil' Bit.

 

And right now, we're busy in Washington D.C.

We're visiting artists at Pyramid Atlantic paper and print making studios.

Creative Director, and buddy, Gretchen Schermerhorn, gave us a crash course in papermaking.

 

Including bashing the heck out of gompi bark that we boiled. It makes THE MOST beautiful paper.

And we went to town on the process, adding in my wool, pieces of embroidery, peacock feathers from Debi's farm and anything else that didn't move quick enough to escape our clutches.

But you know me, I wanted to go 3D.

And to the onlook and thumbs-up of workmen working in the street outside, I created a few coral forms.

 

And then a few more....

It was SO exciting to watch as the paper dried in the hot box.

And the result of my labours?

I'm pleased to announce that I have fallen in love with papermaking.

It is a fibre after all.

 

And a HUGE installation is now in the pipeline. I'll need a space to exhibit, but I'm hoping that opportunity will present itself...

here's hoping.

USA tour - month one - part three

Hold onto your dashboard - I certainly did - as we snaked our way down winding roads with nothing but sheer cliffs, precipices and scree mountain faces to scare the living bejesus out of us....

The scaredy cat in me found relief oohing and ahhing at Carson City and Reno as we drove the smooth roads of Nevada.

We were running ahead of the snow, trying not to freeze our pretty little potooties off. Californina Ho! We drove through trees - literally.

 

Via Clear Lake. 

To redwood forests filled with wonderous fungi.

Silent dampness.

 

Misty clouded mornings.

Running to keep warm in the ancient moisture.

 

The Dyer Giant - Those are its roots. The hub's there for scale.

 

More beautiful fungi.

 

And finally, some sunshine and warmth

to ease our bones.

 

Cedar avenues.

 

Sun-bleached yarns in Mendocino weaving studio window.

 

And our hotel,

 

repleat with spinning spot.

I plied my Granny Smith's Citrus batt with a Funky Ulster Tweed Batt.

Think this may be where they invented sunsets.

And spooky river inlets.

Breakfast at a cafe with its original gas pump.

Jaws-style piers for lunch.

 

Duh du. Duh du. Dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum....dananaaaaaaa.

 

But we needed to catch a plane pronto. 

And so it was, to San Fran, but bypassing the city, and to the airport.

Tampa bound.....

USA tour - month one - part two

So from tree looms attacked by squirrels and natural leaf doilies on frosty mornings to our favourite place in the world. The Adirondecks.

 

And then pumpkin carving with our buddies before flying to Portland.

 

The population of Portland prides itself on keeping it weird. A tradition that they seem to have perfected. Way too weird for me - and I never thought I'd say that. But if it means we can eat Voodoo doll doughnuts and laugh ourselves stupid over mimosa cocktails with our buddies at breakfast, then it was fun.

And then of course. We (hopefully) broke the world record for the biggest crochet hook.

 

We made a basic web out of yarn we'd spun from wool. We went for texture and lumps and bumps, navajo plying it badly for extra texture. (There's me and Jimbo)

 

Then we used the hook. (That's Laurie of the CLF.)

And crocheted the outer part of the web.

 

Yes I am gurning as I strain to lift that darn thing. That's a genuine sweat being broken. But we did it!

Next  - the Coast Starlight train to Oakland.

Before surrendering to the beauty of Yosemite.

 

Marvelling at Lake Tenaya.

 

And crocheting and knitting my fugly sock on lake Tahoe. 

More in a few days.....

Twisted Halloween

For a perfectly surreal Halloween you will need:

One chunk of Jimbo genius, carved into a HUGE crochet hook.

A dolly mix of me.

 A splash of Crochet Liberation Front.

Mash liberally in a Twisted Yarn store.

And what do you get?

So what are you waiting for?

Come join us!

Artist in Residence

So for the last three weeks, I've been lucky enough to be staying at the most beautiful of schools, Shiplake College,

where the hub and I scored the deal of being artists in residence.

Set on the River Thames, it's like Harry Potter with rowing facilities. (Their Dep.Head is an Olympian Gold Medal Rower, don't you know...)

As you can see, the beautiful surroundings, wall-to-wall sunshine, misty mornings and general eagerness to explore and learn at the college were hellish....

With the luxury of an orchard all to myself, I was able to while away the hours crocheting on the trees,

using neolithic principles to build a loom

and creating a 12th Century-inspired spinning wheel from 21st Century junk.

I span Herdwick on the newly-built wheel. The resulting cob made my heart leap, as it mirrored the huge cones on a nearby fir. Pleasure perfection.

I ventured into new realms of natural graffiti, creating leaf stencils

and veneer marquetry to reinstall in nature.

Along with students, we explored the space amongst the trees using threads and fibres,

then challenged our egos by taking them down, often without even a photographic record. (These are two of the few taken.)

Ask yourself, as an artist, do you need everyone to know that you created a piece, or was the process satisfaction enough? Ironic to discuss on a public blog, but I for one, do not show and tell a great majority of my work. Sometimes it's a secret between me and the piece.

So the adventures continue to bloom and blossom, not just in England, but in just a fortnight across the pond, in the USA, too. Again with the hub, I will be exploring all these ideas and more, with the students of St Lawrence, Canton, NY. I am beside myself with excitement and cannot wait to meet them all. I hope they're looking forward to it, as much as me.

Alternative Fete

Stuck in London and craving a bit o' the countreeeeee, my lovers? Well, this weekend, the Southbank is being transformed into a village fete. I'm not sure if there will be hoopla and throwing sponges at the vicar, but, as a Dooorset gurl myself, I'll certainly be there, along with my very talented friend, Julie-Anne of Curious Tales. (Seamstress of my famous corset and bustle.)

My fibre movement, Let Me Ease Your Day, will feature, and I'll be hawking my spinning batts and Curious Tales' will be selling her fab designer clothing.

For full details, read the press release below.

See you there,

x

Watch this Space Festival, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1

Saturday 26th September: 12pm - 7pm

Sunday 27th September: 12pm - 3pm 

 

For the second year in a row, innovative live art and performance company, Home live art, presents a riotous weekend of artist’s, craft and produce stalls, performances and participatory activities which re-interpret the traditional village fete for the urban environment of the National Theatre.

At 12pm each day the Fete will be opened by a special Guest Star from the National Theatre….

 

Saturday will revolve around a vibrant stage programme - including a mass ukulele jam, contemporary barn dance, participatory skipping & hoola hooping and a spectacular bird of prey demonstration – alongside a wealth of fun, participatory fete based games and interactions that bring our traditional craft making practices into the 21st Century. The Legendary Miss Amy Lame invites you to make a pom pom for peace, while you can brush up on your knitting, sewing and craft skills with The Make Lounge, I Knit London and Rockpool Candy, as well as play fete games with The Society of Wonders and sample beautiful cupcakes and herbal teas. There will also be handmade toys and crafts using recycled and found fabrics.

 

Sunday's lunchtime programme will mark the seasonal move towards Autumn and Harvest with a series of innovative food and horticulture projects where visitors can share in the art of preparing, cooking and tasting to the sounds of anarchic Balkan beats from the Transsiberian March Band, ending with the fabulous School of Dance, where the audience can learn the Samba alongside the legendary Miss High Leg Kick and Boogaloo Stu.

Food artist Prudence Statie will be sculpting in chocolate, whilst Sharon Baker invites you to vote for your favourite bread breast bun, alongside cup cakes, home made jams & preserves, and innovative food interactions from performance company Curious and artists Lisa Cheung, Miche Fabre Lewin and Sophie Herxheimer.

 

Participants: The Benoit Viellefon Band, Bo-Peep Kids, Blue Field, Chrissy Cromer, Curious Tales, Cut a Shine, The Dulwich Ukulele Club, Golden Co-operative, The Hawk Experience, Hedgerow Provender, Miss High Leg Kick and Boogalou Stu's School of Dance, I Knit London, Lisa Cheung, Liz Bentley, The Make Lounge, MC Paul L Martin, Mary Mathieson, Miche Fabre Lewin, Peggy's Cupcakes, Pom Pom International (Amy Lame & Shane Waltener), Prudence Staite, Rock a Hula! Rockpool Candy, Roots & Shoots, Ros Badger, Sharon Baker, Simon Withers & Chris Jones, Skip Sisters, Skip Theatre, Society of Wonders, Sophie Herxheimer, Sugargrain, The Transsiberian March Band.

 

Notes:

home live art: ‘Home maybe where the heart is, but it is also where innovation takes root and thrives’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian. Launched in 1999, home live art is a dynamic team of creative producers with a passion for presenting live art and performance work in site specific contexts. www.homeliveart.com

Watch this Space Festival is The National Theatre’s annual summer festival of outdoor theatre, circus, music, dance, comedy and film on the South bank from 1^st July until 27^th September. http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/wts

For further information or images please contact: home live art: Laura Godfrey-Isaacs laura@homeliveart.com, Tel. 07957 565336. National Theatre: Caroline Ansdell cansdell@nationaltheatre.org.uk Tel. 0207 452 3231

I Knit (Dirty) Weekend

So there's a credit crunch and the summer's been crappy.
But it's sparkly in my studio.
I'm carding batts ready for the adventurous spinners who visit my stall at I Knit Weekend.

There's a saucy 'Dirty Weekend' range with lace and silky rags carded in.

A Gold-Rimmed Teacup range - some of which come in a bundle with your own vintage bone china cup, saucer and plate. (Well, who doesn't like a mid afternoon treat whilst spinning?)

And a special VEGAN range - all non-animal fibre blends. Martha Stewart Blues is my favourite....

Don't worry - not everything is sparkly. I've got tonnes of tweedy blends and colourful squishiness packed ready to go-go.

And because we're all on tight budgets this year, I've made up some bundles of 2 or 3 different blends, so you can explore a few colourways for the same price as one ordinary-sized batt.

And on top of that, Let Me Ease Your Day will be in full swing, too. So join in and make a hat to gift in a random act of kindness.

Let count down commence!

LET ME EASE YOUR DAY - fibre movement has launched

Take an idea...

Put it in a public space for 2 hours...

Collect a group of people open of mind and generous of spirit...

Add a monster plushie and engage interested passers by....
 

And before you know it, you've pieces created for gifting...

Knitted glasses cases and bookmarks...

Pillows for rough sleepers....

And cushions for tired commuters...

Wall-hanging tea pockets for a hostel and warm scarves....

Ickle monster surprises....
 

And hoorah! People are running with the idea and are starting to...

for complete strangers.

They are easing someone's day...

Can our fibery ways begin to soothe some of the fractures in society? I very much hope so.

My heart-felt thanks to everyone who jumped on board. You all made the launch a wonderful time and I thank you for your time and energy. It will be testament to your initial involvement in the way this idea now spreads.

Happy Birthday to me...

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm currently celebrating my birthday, running around the Crack! Festival in Rome with MyTarPit and a few hundred other artists. Will post pics when I return.

Supreme Broship

Or:- HOW ARE THESE GUYS SINGLE?

Supreme Broship? Supreme talent more like.

Be prepared to be impressed by Jim Mahfood's work, and even more prepared to snort milk out of your nose at Scott C's comedy genius. Their collaborative exhibition is awesome.

Mahfood's comic book black line captures that 'too cool for school' thang that makes me wish I was a lythe, urban, foxy minx.

Campbell's humorous editions make me guffaw in the most embarressing way, until my sides hurt and I feel giddy.

 

I want sneaky knights to fancy me.......

How come I know these talented, charming, funny, SINGLE American guys? Well, they're among a list of many. I reeled off names a-go-go recently of all the lovely US based men I know. My UK girlfriends were aghast. Why haven't I introduced them to our Isles? Well, I may just do so. So like some dodgy dating agency reflecting my art crushes.

And no they don't know about this post, so it may well be the last time they ever speak to me......

Catch their show at the London Miles Gallery til July 5th.