Emerald City and Oz link

WoO stuff
Lovely tapestry -I found this after doing my final textiles piece!

http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/kids/zoomroom/graffiti.htm

Crafts market and button stories

I have been making brooches out of recycled textiles and buttons for a while now and I've decided to try and sell these at markets, along with a range of other accessories. Photos from the market can be seen here.

Most of the fabric and buttons comes from donations from grandmothers, mums, vintage and charity shops and markets. I try to use as little new stuff as I can, although as I want high quality and long-lasting findings I make sure these are new and silver-plated where possible. Using recycled products in my work is a statement as I want to move away from the high street, mass produced goods we're all obsessed with today and which we buy and throw away with such carefree ease.

I never want to go to a party again where someone asks me where my jewellery is from and I say the high street - I want to say it's handmade, it's original and it's unique. Since many of the buttons I use are ones which have been given to me by friends and relatives, many of them have a personal meaning for me - the buttons in my button tin are ones I remember being on a cardigan or shirt belonging to a relative and sometimes I spot them while I look through old photo albums. This means I sometimes find it hard to let go of my pieces, not only because of the work that has gone into them but for the personal memories they hold. There are many buttons I will never let go of for this reason.

I like to think that everything I use that is recycled or vintage must have its own personal history and might be remembered by another grand-daughter - who knows, maybe one day she will spot that very button on one of my pieces at a market.

I saw these grates when I visited the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall this summer. I love the patterns in them and I think these would make a great basis for a textile or wallpaper design. This beautiful estate was left during the war and became an overgrown, wild area until it was recently rediscovered. The kitchen garden, greenhouses, lakes, flower gardens and many other areas were refurbished and the result is an inspirational, diverse and serene place.

Wizard of Oz links

Websites:
Warner Bros Wizard of Oz movie
Wikipedia
Ozclub
L Frank Baum
Official site

Artists suggested in brief:
Philip Starck
Paula Rego
Stanley Spencer
Marc Chagall
Helen Chadwick - rights of passage
The Lurie Garden Design Narrative

David Garland

I was spoilt by father christmas this year when he brought me two pieces of David Garland pottery - a cup and a bowl. These pieces are fairly roughly finished but with delicate blue colours over the base cream colour, applied in sweeping strokes.

Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

A couple of weeks ago I managed a quick trip to the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds - it was very quick however, as the gallery only consists of a couple of rooms. This was probably due to the current closure of the city art gallery. There was a furniture exhibition at the HMI, impressive more in the sense of the exhibiton layout, because such a large space was dedicated to such few items. I understand that the chairs are design classics, however you would not blink twice if you saw these in an old-fashioned office or doctor's surgery.

A surprise, however, was a small exhibiton of experimental photography with original photos and photograms from the Bauhaus Sculpture Workshop and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Again, it was nice to see techniques we have been taught being shown in a gallery.

Manchester Craft & Design Centre

This weekend I visited the Manchester Craft & Design Centre, where several artists (textile, jewellery, glass, ceramics, photography and painting) have workshops and showrooms within the centre. I was particularly impressed by Lee Page Hanson's ceramic tiles with bird and lace reliefs, similar to what we have been doing in our ceramics taster. On a larger scale, Linzi Ramsden made pieces focussing on floral designs in particular dandelions and using what appeared to be a slip decorating technique where slip is applied to carved out or impressed designs. There were also some original jewellers incorporating buttons into silverwork.

This visit did get me thinking about how viable it would be to rent one of these workshops - do the artists here make enough money to cover their costs and earn a decent salary? The craft centre was quite hard to find so I imagine you would not just stumble upon it, and many of the prices were more than you might spend on a whim.