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studio randomness

and
here,
Mary Fedden

juxtapose.

A collection of photos that are my current mood board
- for a throw that should go on the sofa.

I'd like one of these containers please, and one of these beautiful bowls too.

tactile

After the exhibition in Ruthin I've been re-reading "On Weaving" by Anni Albers, I particularly like this passage: “All progress, so it seems, is coupled to regression elsewhere. We have advanced in general, for instance, in regard to verbal articulation – the reading and writing public of today is enormous. But we certainly have grown increasingly insensitive in our perception to touch, the tactile sense. No wonder a faculty that is so largely unemployed in our daily plodding and bustling is degenerating. Our materials come to us already ground and chipped and crushed and powdered and mixed and sliced, so that only the finale in the long sequence of operations from matter to product is left to us: we merely toast the bread. No need to get our hands into the dough. No need – alas, also little chance – to handle materials, to test their consistency, their density, their lightness, their smoothness. No need for us, either, to make our implements, to shape our pots or fashion our knives. […] Modern industry saves us endless labour and drudgery; but, Janus-faced it also bars us from taking part in the forming of materials and leaves idle our sense of touch and with it the formative faculties that are stimulated by it. We touch things to assure ourselves of reality. We touch the objects of our love. We touch the things we form. Our tactile experiences are elemental. If we reduce their range, as we do when we reduce the necessity to form things ourselves, we grow lopsided.” - then, I watch this program (I am seriously addicted to the way he cooks, and the beautiful space where he does it) and hear Nigel Slater saying: "making pastry by hand just gives me such pleasure...it's that whole tactile thing, the hands in soft flour... when you think about food it's just an end product: you should have some pleasure while you're getting there..." ...it is true that messages arrive from all possible directions!

a boat

I got this cute old shuttle as a very much appreciated Xmas gift from an old lady who still weaves at 96.
It's so short and chubby that I use it for holding my cards.

On Saturday we went to see this film. Fabulous.
I just loved it - and not only because Colin Firth is in it! -
if you're planning to go to the cinema, make sure you don't miss the set design,
especially Logue's studio.

Anni Albers

...another country, another exhibition!

Despite the weather, we managed to get to Wales
to see the Anni Albers exhibition at the Ruthin Craft Centre.
We stayed in a lovely B&B, and spent the morning in the Craft Centre.
I was incredibly curious to see Anni Albers' work - that I have so often seen on the web! - for real.
This was definitely my favourite.

The other part of the exhibition was formed by works by Dörte Behn, Christopher Farr, Ptolemy Mann,
Fiona Mathison, Laura Thomas and Wallace Sewell.
The piece that intrigued me the most was "three x five" by Laura Thomas :
a wall hanging composed of strips woven triaxially,
with a colour combination that I didn't like at the beginning but then found very compelling,
both from a distance and close up.
Her great blog (with more photos!) here.

The Craft Centre is a beautiful space, and I had fun trying to read the incredible amount of consonants
in the Welsh captions!

the rest of the photos, here

Elda Cecchele

I happened to read an advert about the exhibition of Elda Cecchele,
and as we were more or less near where it was held, we went to see it.

Elda Cecchele was a hand-weaver very active in the 1950's and 60's - unfortunately not very famous now - whose textiles were used by famous fashion designers of the time, like Salvatore Ferragamo.

I really liked the display: simple rectangular perspex covered boxes on tables,
with the occasional open box from which a garment would seem to float out.
The boxes contain both samples of her work and examples of the diverse materials she used.
She used fairly traditional weave structures but was very eclectic in the choice of materials:
leather strips, waxed cotton, raffia, tulle, metallic yarn, cellophane...

See all the photos here

Happy 2011!

...best wishes to you all!