Author: Textile Study Group

During our members interviews we have ventured behind the scenes, sharing these established practitioners approach to the creative process. It is evident that the level of commitment involved in making new work and pushing their practice demonstrates courage, determination and hard work.  Sometimes this can be daunting, but in Jenny’s words…Take a deep breath and begin to stitch.

Jenny Bullen
Are the ideas/themes for this project ongoing or new?
The work for Insights is ongoing and I was pleased to have the opportunity to do so.

I am lucky to live near the sea as well as woodlands and try to establish a sense of these places in my work. Walking along the shore, for instance, and observing how the tide comes in over the mud and pebbles and the detritus it leaves behind. Because of Lockdown the woods and footpaths have been more accessible than the shore and this year I have enjoyed watching Spring gradually appear and the return of the migratory birds.

I tend to stitch intuitively, and by hand,  collecting together fabrics and threads, piecing and patching and folding and creasing.  Recently I have become interested in producing small 3d works rather than wall hung pieces as I feel quite strongly that textiles should be touched and handled as they are so tactile. I draw and paint, not as a design source, but they obviously inform my textile work.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?
For me it is the moment when I thread a needle with the absolutely right colour and thickness of thread, and know that I have searched for  the perfect fabrics among the boxes and bags scattered around the house. I find the correct size needle for my thread, my tiny stork embroidery scissors, inherited from an old friend, a thimble, take a deep breath and begin to stitch.

The Textile Study Group is a group of artists and tutors, well known for innovative and challenging approaches to art practice and contemporary teaching.  This week we dip briefly into Alice Fox’s reflective approach.

Alice Fox
Are the ideas/themes for this project ongoing or are they new ?
The themes I am working on for Insights are ongoing. I see all of my work as a continuum and although pieces might be presented as discreet ‘projects’ they are really just steps along the same pathway. The brief we developed for Insights made it clear that we wanted members to work in their usual way, recording their development process and trying to understand more about why they do what they do. Writing about it would enable a sharing of that process but also perhaps a learning experience for us individually.

As a visual artist was it a challenge to write about your practice ?
I recently completed an MA in Creative Practice. Writing reflectively about our own work was something we were very much encouraged to do as part of the course. I really valued embedding that reflection in my practice and felt it was something I wanted to continue after the course finished. It can be a challenge to take the informal reflective writing that one might do in a notebook for one’s own use and turn that into something that someone else might want to read. I have enjoyed attempting to do that coherently. As the person responsible for bringing the publication together for the group (with support of other members and our Editors June Hill and Melanie Miller) I have so enjoyed getting to know my fellow members’ work more through this project. I’m really looking forward to sharing that with our readers when the book is published.

Time  to share a  brief insight into the thinking  and creative approach of Alison King, another one of TSG’s nationally and internationally recognised member . We hope that you have enjoyed these posts and in a small way allowed you to get to know the group.

Alison King
Are the ideas/themes for this project ongoing or are they new ?
My work for the Insights exhibition came hard on the heels of a three month long, two woman show   with Rosemary Campbell in Peebles last Summer. So the ideas and themes  for Insights very much follow on from those visited in that show – landscape and history. I stay, some of the time, in the Cairngorms of Scotland and you can’t live there, as an artist, without learning to love the fantastic scenery. I strive to reflect in my work not just the physical aspects of the landscape – the shapes and colours – but somehow the romantic, sad atmosphere. I am particularly drawn to the woodland around my home – when the sun creeps through the trees suggesting that another world lies just beyond. You will often find me out with my sketchbook observing how the land has been moulded by its history – from the ruins of old crofts and hamlets to the remarkable patterns created by the heather burning. These highly geometric patterns  are particularly inspiring . It’s amazing to witness the game keepers battling with the fire and the wind high up on the hill tops, trying against the odds to create an encouraging  habitat  for the young grouse.

As a visual artist was it a challenge to write about your practice ?
I’m not sure I can say that I enjoyed writing all of my chapter in the Insights book but I do know it was very good for me! It certainly focused my mind. It led me to analyse my way of working and appreciate which aspects of the creative process are most important to me. I am very lucky to have a  large studio to work in so I can lay out areas of assorted fabrics, print and collage on a big scale. Painting is also a large part of my practice, so I have easels and pin boards to work on. This space has probably turned me into a very messy artist, mostly working intuitively and probably in need of some organisation!

We are just over  half way through our artists interviews, with another 11  artists to be profiled.  This week we are in conversation with Lois Blackburn.

Lois Blackburn

During this project have you looked at a new way of working? 
Like so much of my work, ‘Blood Sweat and Tears’, was about finding new ways to give voice to difficult or unexplored subjects.  It was also a first for me, blurring the boundaries between my personal work and the work I do with arthur+martha, bringing together my love of quilt making, text and silk painting in one piece.   

 I’ve created a double bed size quilt, covered with paintings of objects I associate with the menopause. It might be a Spanish fan carried with me, prepared for hot flushes, or handfuls of chocolate to counter the drops in Magnesium. Written onto the objects is information garnered from the internet, research and personal accounts. 

 The writing for the project was a big challenge for me, but the thinking, planning, making of the quilt I found a wonderful process. A confidence boaster, a stimulus for new work. I’m a peri-menopausal women, in a household with a hormonal teenager – a recipe for disaster. One way I manage the increased levels of anxiety, stress and unhappiness is through the artwork. For many years, through the work of arthur+martha www.arthur-martha.com

I have seen the positive effects of creativity on other people, on their health and wellbeing. But I have often taken it for granted for myself. This project has helped me benefit from what I share with others through my collaborative practice.

 During the project I wrote a couple of diary accounts, reflecting on my way of working practice, here’s an example from 1^st Feb 2019.
It’s been a hard few weeks, there are things that help- getting out for a walk, Pilates, creativity and chocolate.
I’ve created enough paintings on fabric now to give me a good idea of what it might look like as a double quilt size piece. Right now it’s looking a bit messy. It’s when I have to hold my nerve. I’m at the point when the lack of designing, might bite me on the bum. If I had sat down and worked out a composition on paper I might be better prepared… But right or wrong this way of working continually keeps it fresh for me. My current challenges- creating a composition that works. This is just an eye thing- (one of these days perhaps I should revisit the classic composition devises- maybe my next project) I am lucky enough to recently have room for a design wall. The bits of fabric get moved around, pinned and re-pinned.
I’ve started to cut up the pieces of painting that didn’t work so well- and am thinking about collaging these on other bits that didn’t work, or in gaps, this technique of cutting up and playing a lot- it suits me in its looseness.
The other thing I’m thinking about is how to quilt it. I’m dipping in and out of Pinterest, seeing how other artists are doing it. I’ve done one quilting sample- but rushed in and it went a bit lumpy. Next sample I will properly tack together. I’m trying to not get distracted by emails or the time ticking until the school run. 

What is your favourite part of the creative process?
One of my favourite parts of the creative process is responding to life’s challenges, to tell stories. Using art as a way to release tension, share delight in the world, and to see the positive benefits of health and wellbeing.

In these challenging times of Covid 19, I feel very lucky to have creativity as part of my everyday life and find joy in being able to share some of my work practices with others. I’ve just started a new project, ‘Here Comes the Sun’. I am inviting people from across the globe to make embroidery for a new quilt. Whoever you are, where ever you live, whether you regularly stitch, make art, or haven’t picked up a needle and thread since school, everyone’s welcome. I’m delighted by the response so far, it’s full of potential, full of un-knowns, a bit scary. Being able to quickly turn an idea into a reality, it’s got to be the best part of the creative process for me. If you are interested in joining in, or know of someone else who might, take a look at our website: https://arthur-martha.com/portfolio/here-comes-the-sun/  .