Currently the 62 group have an exhibition on at the Collins gallery.
What exactly is bending the line? Three themes are suggested:
- Firstly the manner in which the textile artists have bent their work. Challenging our expectations of what we expect from textiles. Examples of this are pieces that use wood, metal and photography.
- Secondly, the focus on the line (fibre) the simplest structure of the textile.
And thirdly, a literary connection, inspiration from Tennyson, Homer and poetry.
The theme I felt whilst looking around the exhibition was reflections on domestic life and women's roles. Such as the silk screened ironing board by Dawn Dupree alongside barbed wire. Are we trapped by our domestic chores?
Or this woman with a fish by Sue Stone, she seems proud of her catch, whilst the cat looks on enviously.
The exhibition is on till 14th August, catch it if you can.
The sewing is slowly progressing.
Other news is that I completed the Midnight Moo with my mum. Ten miles of walking, mooing, and many cow-related puns. All for a very, very good cause. And of course, the route went past a very famous herd.
Now back to the stitching!
After a weekend in very very hot England, it is lovely to be back in drizzly Glasgow! Awaiting my return was a super cute 'I love buttons' bag that I had ordered from Asking for Trouble. Now what to put in it?
Meanwhile I have started to stitch my kingfisher wall hanging, this is heavy going on the fingertips at times due to the layers of silk involved (up to 8 in places!). A thimble & hand cream are a must!
I finally finished my guinea pig cross stitch. I brought the design from RatTans, I didn't use the exact threads it mentioned & made a few mistakes along the way. I like how he looks quite cheeky!
For my next stitch 'n' bitch project, I am knitting some socks, using yarn I brought on holiday in shop on Granville island. I have picked a plain pattern to show off the colours in the yarn.
As for my kingfisher textile piece, when I started to sew the origami shapes on, I realised I didn't have enough!!! So back to making more squares!
I have a guilty secret to make... ...on the bus on the way to work I usually read the metro. I admit it. I read 'real' papers at the weekend - I promise! The reason why I am sharing this is because today on page 3 was a story about a textile artist! A cheesy title of 'The intricate art of Mrs Picassew', led to an article about Jill Draper an artist who machine embroiders landscapes. It was a great surprise to see, even though the article did get a little confused about the term tapestry. I look forward to more features on textile art in the metro (wishful thinking I know!).
Or this woman with a fish by Sue Stone, she seems proud of her catch, whilst the cat looks on enviously. 
The exhibition is on till 14th August, catch it if you can.
