URCHFONT MANOR OPEN DAY

A frosty morning in this pic, belies the warm welcome you get at Urchfont Manor, particularly in July!

A typical buffet lunch at Urchfont Manor.

Visit the Distant Stitch exhibition and meet the team of tutors at Urchfont's Open Day.

Sunday 3rd July, 10.00-15.00

This year Urchfont Manor is hosting Machine Embroidery, Textile and Craft Open day to showcase the work in a range of disciplines and to celebrate City and Guilds Student Graduations. Come along and meet the tutors and current students and discover why studying at Urchfont Manor is so special.

Textile Traders

Refreshments

Lunches £14 (by prior booking) 01380 840495 urchfontmanor@wiltshire.gov.uk

For Alison

Looking through the train window at the road bridge running parallel whilst passing over the River Tamar at Plymouth. Cropped patterns, reflections in the window and in the water and shadows of the rail bridge all create interesting and unusual shapes in these images.

Message to Distant Stitch Students

Tonal Contemplations by Jan Evans

Travel Tokens by Mary Sleigh

Summer School will soon be full so you have a very short time to decide to book. It is at Urchfont Manor College, Wiltshire from 3rd to 6th June. If you are studying on the Embroidery Certificate or Diploma, come and enjoy the fun of working with fellow students and with two very inspiring tutors, Mary Sleigh and Jan Evans. See examples of their work above. Take a look at the Distant Stitch website for details and how to book.

Easter walk

Summer came so early so good to enjoy being outside gardening and walking. One of our favourite walks, close to home, is along the north Somerset coast at Kilve, known for its wonderful rock formations and fossils. Husband Roy has a chat with some friendly beasts we met along the coatsal path.

The cliffs end at Minehead in the distance - but we didn't walk that far!

What pattern! The cliffs seem to 'melt' into the sea.

50/50 exhibition in Bath

A great exhibition to see if you can get to Bath before 3rd April. It is a joint exhibition by Matthew Harris (embroiderer) and partner Cleo Mussi (mosaic artist) at Victoria Art Gallery, Bridge Street (near Pultney Bridge). It was a virtual sell-out when I visited it on Saturday - I've never seen so many red spots!

A piece by Matthew Harris that I'm pleased to have had on my studio wall for a few years. It is unmounted and unframed but I've pinned it to the wall and placed an old frame around it - so you see, I did frame it Matt!

Greetings from Swansea on International Women's Day

It was a walk down memory lane for me on my recent visit to Swansea where I was born and brought up. Fellow 'Wonderful Welsh Women', besides my mother and myself of course, were actresses Catherine Zeta Jones and Joanna Page, opera singer Katherine Jenkins, para-athlete Tammy Grey-Thompson, authors, academics and other women of note. Their images, biographies and news clippings adorned the display boards. Iris Martin, my mother, was included for her contribution to the cultural life of Swansea and Wales in general with her design and embroidery teaching and work in churches, cathedrals and large public buildings. My work was included as 'daughter of Iris' and you can see a sample piece from 'Tread Softly' in the glass case behind me in this photo. It was lovely to meet up with Gwen Soomre (Distant Stitch student) and Jackie (ex Distant Stitch student) who came from Cardiff for the day to meet me; also Margaret, chair of the Swansea Embroiderers' Guild.
A bonus was a quick visit to the wonderful fresh produce Swansea Market to buy lava bread (seaweed) and Welsh cakes.

If you live in the South West

MAPPING THE FUTURE:WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
This year's annual conference, organised by 'Textile Forum South West' is being held at Somerset College on 26th March 2011. There are four exciting speakers, an excellent buffet lunch and a super book stall. I can email you the booking form and details or you can visit the website http://www.tfsw.org/. I shall be there so will be pleased to meet you if you are interested in joining me for the day.

A lovely exhibition at in the Lutyens Gallery at Hestercombe Gardens by Viv White, textile artist and Distant Stitch tutor, featuring themes of 'the garden of Eden' and flora and fauna with fun chickens, swooping starlings, elegant herons in exciting combinations of print, paper and stitch. Visit the magical Gertrude Jekyll designed gardens and the newly discovered valley as an extra bonus. The gallery is in a converted stable block, which explains the interesting wooden screen in the photo of Viv below. This exhibition finishes on Sunday 8th March.