Textile Study Group

Making:50

November 16, 2022November 16, 2022 Textile Study Group 0 Comment News Anniversary, design, embroidery, exhibition, Making50, Textile Study Group, textiles, The Ropewalk, Tweeddale Museum

The Textile Study Group reaches a milestone anniversary

The Textile Study Group will be 50 in 2023. For half a century this group has been at the forefront of innovative making, teaching, and textile art practice. Since its inception in 1973, and originally established to support tutors of embroidery, the group has evolved and grown in stature and is now one of the UK’s most prestigious and respected groups of textile artists and tutors.

The Textile Study Group maintains a core membership of 25 experienced textile teachers, all of whom are nationally and internationally recognised for their forward-thinking and challenging approaches to art practice, contemporary teaching and making. Many members are published authors of best-selling textile, art, and design books, and many have won prizes and awards for their outstanding work in the world of textiles, as have their students.

Making:50 a landmark exhibition

We will be celebrating our anniversary year with a significant touring exhibition – Making:50 – and by publishing a limited edition bespoke book. Both will include new and exciting work from our current membership, and acknowledge those who paved the way by initiating ‘Group ‘73’, (which later evolved into the Practical Study Group, renamed the Textile Study Group in 2010).

Each new artwork in this anniversary exhibition includes an element of 50 – either obviously or obscurely – and some artists will be discussing their work in an exciting series of online lectures and Meet the Artist events.

Exhibition details

Tweeddale Museum & Gallery, Peebles (1^st April – 5^th August 2023).

The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber (16^th September – 26^th November 2023).

Composition- Big, Bold & Brave with Ruth Issett

August 22, 2022August 22, 2022 Textile Study Group 1 Comment Summer School, workshops applique, colour, composition, design, embroidery, fabric manipulations, learning, Ruth Issett, summer school, teaching, Textile Study Group, textiles

Summer School 2022

Starting from simple black and white cut paper compositions, students worked through many possibilities. They then selected two contrasting paper colours and developed their ideas further, exploring a number of different challenges. They were asked to work quickly and to enlarge their ideas so that their work climbed the wall or covered their workspace. By sharing and being open minded students quickly produced a wide variety of possibilities that could then be adapted to simple bold textile pieces.

Using large pieces of pre coloured fabric supplied by the tutor, everyone developed their paper ideas further using layers of fabric, applique, cutting and manipulations as well as additional stitch. Despite the extreme heat the group worked happily together sharing and encouraging each other to develop new ways of working and becoming braver and bolder and sometimes bigger!

Ruth Issett

The residential Summer Schools are tutored by different Textile Study Group members each year, and are open to everyone. This year the Textile Study Group Summer School was led by Ruth Issett, Jan Miller and Mary Sleigh. The tutors worked with design, composition and ideas as fundamental parts of their courses, encouraging and supporting the students during their inspirational courses. Below are examples of students work.

Summer School 2023

August 18, 2022August 18, 2022 Textile Study Group 0 Comment News, Summer School design, embroidery, Julia Triston, learning, Lois Blackburn, recycling, repurposing, reusing, Shelley Rhodes, summer school, teaching, Textile Study Group, textiles, Transformation

Title – Salvage: Transform

The focus of the Summer School will be on salvaging and repurposing a wide range of materials. You may choose to work with a personal collection, finding inspiration in found objects, you could find new life in old materials or you might be drawn to work with discarded materials and the principles of fan making to explore ideas.

Your enthusiastic and experienced tutors will encourage and support you in finding new stories to tell through your work. Dates – Monday 17 – Thursday 20 July 2023. ( 4 days) Tutors – Lois Blackburn, Julia Triston and Shelley Rhodes

Further course information and Booking Opens – 27th September

TSG Summer School 2022

August 8, 2022August 8, 2022 Textile Study Group 0 Comment Summer School, workshops design, embroidery, learning, Mary Sleigh, Mixed Media, summer school, teaching, Textile Study Group, textiles

Making a Point

Coming into view: Remove I Reduce I Refine

We started with items kept and treasured by each student and started to try different ways of experimenting with a variety of techniques, exploring through mixed media possible ways of paring back, obscuring, hiding, revealing and seeing something familiar with new eyes. By allowing for change through these activities, different ways of working emerged and all the students came up with exciting and some unexpected results.

Everybody rose to the challenges including the weather! Despite fire, flood and pestilence all the students came up smiling with some very individual work. It was a happy and productive few days with a hardworking and enthusiastic group of students with lots more to develop.

Mary K Sleigh