Last minute stages to complete work for 'a collaborative exhibition at the Black Swan, Frome, Somerset - 'Traces of Time'.
'Flying and Floating' in painted linen in response to the watery landscape of Avalon Marshes which we've been inspired by during preparation for this exhibition.
Pauline, Lesley and myself (ARTWORK TOGETHER) have been visiting Avalon Marshes during the last couple of years to observe the seasonal changes, drawing in icy temperatures and gusty winds, but enjoying the experience of this oasis.
We've followed the trackways, lined with high grasses and reeds along long stretches of misty, watery areas and quietly wooded enclosures. It's easy to imagine how our ancestors followed these tracks for safe passage between one higher level settlement and another to visit and perhaps exchange goods and to trade.
'Un-natural Selection' was accepted in the RWA last year.
'Transformations' was a recent successful exhibition with painter, Pauline Lerry at the beautiful Malthouse Gallery in Lyme Regis, Dorset.
Inspired by the changing landscape we showed a collection of paintings and textiles we called 'Transformations'. I was particularly inspired by the textural undulations of the natural surfaces along this coastline, and fascinated by the contribution to natural science of Mary Anning who is commemorated in this statue on the coastal path.
‘PROCESS’
Siân Martin was inspired by reading the story of June who
started as a ‘burler and mender’ at Sunny Banks Mill which was written in the
same year as the artist’s own birth, so an immediate connection was made. The
archive diary says that June’s job was
to pull up knots – burling – every day for ten hours for £2 per week.
Although a labour of love and not a laborious task, unlike the labours of June, when learning the skills of dress-making as a child, Siân remembers being intrigued by the way a few tailor’s tack stitches could be used to accurately transfer the markings of a simple construction shape such as a tuck, through more than one layer of fabric. She remembers the magic of seeing how the stitches left their marks on the underneath when the layers were gently eased apart.
This piece – ‘Process’ celebrates the traditional dressmaking skills specifically devised to accurately mark layers of fabric – a vital stage in the process of being able to create a 3D sculpted fabric surface such as a garment from a flat 2D fabric surface.
Repetitive and rhythmical stitching in ‘Process’ celebrate this stage in the process of making a tailored garment.
My current project during the Christmas period has been to respond to the word 'Tailored', the next title for the 62 Group of Textile Artists. This is an investigation of one of the necessary preparatory processes used in making tailored garments. The two dimensional fabric is sculpted into a three dimensional form in a series of processes, one of which is the use of temporary 'tailors' tacking' stitches that mark accurate outlines through the layers of fabrics of shapes for the next stages of tailoring.
Tailor's tacking is a loopy type of back stitch done by hand through more than one layer of fabric (below left). The layers are then separated by cutting through the tacking stitches, leaving temporary rows of cut stitches on both layers (below right).
I worked with two layers, one square yard, of black silk organza and enjoy how fascinating the stitching on the layers become when the layers are cut apart.
I'll be posting more as I progress with this piece.
