I am about to begin my residency with Craftspace and in working with Los Amigos Hispanic group in Leamington Spa. The group meet together as a way of passing their language and culture onto their children  and myself and Stewart Easton will be working with them on the creation of 'mantel mas grande' ( big tablecloth ) over the next few months. In developing ideas for the project I felt it was important to create something together which would have a use by the group in future get togethers and celebrations. I sensed that the  group  liked to party so this went down well in our initial meeting!

I will be based in a studio beside the temperate house at Jepsom Gardens and  will also be creating work myself and am very interested in the idea of making work which explores the idea of passing on language and culture from migrant groups to their children.  I came across a lovely exhibition curated by Kevin Murray called  Joyaviva  which relates well to ideas generated already to my Kildas Project and my Making Moves Residency with Craftspace

'Joyaviva is an exhibition of ‘live jewellery’. Each of the objects you see on display has its own life as a device for sharing hopes and fears. They have been carefully designed and made by a new wave of jewellers whose focus is the world outside the gallery. Each object functions as a witness that links people together, transforming private wishes into shared stories.'

Not only do I have a residency in Mull later in the year but am also involved in a project Sea Change with Cape Farewell with An Tobar in Mull. Exploring  the effects of Climate Change  on birds, the project  Bird Yarns  will begin in March. 

'Sea Change is a four year programme of research and art making across Scotland's Western and Northern Isles. Sea Change involves over 30 UK and international artists working collaboratively and independently to consider the relationships between people place and resources in the context of climate change. The project culminates during the Glasgow 2014 commonwealth games. In 2012/13 artists will work with local communities across Scotland's mainland and the islands to produce workshops, work in progress presentations, community events and exhibitions of new work across all art forms. Each project draws on local materials and local knowledge and collectively the projects develop the themes of stewardship and local agency in a celebration of community resourcefulness, ingenuity and resilience. "

The works will be presented on their originating islands and mainland venues London Science Museum, Glasgow Science museum, Eden Project, SAMS festival of the sea, Dovecot. (to be confirmed)
Ruth Little ( Cape Farewell) 

I have been revisiting work from my residency  on Handa Island 2006  and in particular investigating artic terns.

2012 has started really well with being successful in applying for a Making Moves residency with Craftspace at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa. I will research and develop new work , work with a local group and mentor recent graduate Stewart Easton .

Later in spring  I will be starting a residency on the Isle of Mull in Scotland  with An Tobar and creating new work as a result of research into contemporary communities on Mull .

I also have started  one to one jewellery making sessions at The School of Jewellery with Alison Macleod and am beginning to experiment with ideas relating to a project 'The Kildas' exploring St Kildas in Scotland, Melbourne Australia + Dunedin, New Zealand.  

Watch this space for recycled silver coins and saintly medals!

Gin socks 

Shetland wool, silk

2005

Gin Socks and Football will be on exhibit at WOW at Gallery@Rheged 14th January - 15th April .  The concept for the WOW was developed by artists, Trevor Pitt and Rachael Matthews and the WOW exhibition has been curated by Trevor Pitt.

Gin Socks : In Shetland in 1700's women  knit socks in winter and when the dutch fishing boats came in they would barter their knitted socks for gin. 

 3 socks = 1 pint of gin.

White' at  Porte Peinte. France 10th December - 20 March2012.

My 'Emotionally embroidered shirt' ( patience ) is now on exhibit in 'White' at  Porte Peinte . Burgundy. France December - February 2012. 

"when I saw Deirdre Nelsons cabinet of emotionally embroidered shirts I laughed out loud. for anyone craving empathy, it was a delightful surprise: three exquisitely hand embroidered shirts – a blow against corporate uniformity and the machine age – decorated with hidden flowers inside the collar, daisy for patience, rosa eglanteria for compassion, pasque flower for empathy. and in many ways it was an emblem for this show"

jerwood contemporary makers review by Liz Hoggard  2008

Craft in Dialogue 
Dovecot Studios 4th November - 26 November

An exhibition celebrating the work of all of the makers who have received craft development bursaries from the Inches Carr Trust since it was established in 1996. Including a diverse range of work and showcasing many of Scotland’s leading craft practitioners.The purpose of the bursaries is to help established artists develop their skills or research a particular aspect of their practice.

I have exhibited work produced on residency at IASKA in 2008, a series of 'historically modified crops' . A piece of text by Christos Tsiolkas accompanies the work and both works on exhibit present commentary from both resident and visitor to Australia. 

While on residency in rural Western Australia in 2008 , I became overwhelmed by the scale of things  ; the landscape ,land use and  troubled social history of such a vast country . My focus turned to the 'small' things such as the leaves and flowers of Eucalyptus ,  a tree which retains enormous cultural significance to the Indigenous traditional owners of the country.  Sheep,  wheat farming and gold mining are referenced in material choice and those materials are affected by salt ( salination ) , rain and sun to express the extremes of both weather and land use. The embroidered and written work presents commentary from both resident and visitor to Australia.

They say this is the wild west.

They say this is the back of beyond.

They say this is Out. Back. The back of Bourke. My friends and I joke, Nah, it is the back of Bulgaría.

But it is not.

This is not my country. I am fearful of this country. I am scared but I am also awed.

This is not my country, whatever my passport says. My citizenship is not enough to make me feel at home.

Country, they say, is the land that is home.

Country is a defintion for land that is not urban.

Country is a synonym for the nation state.

Country is the blackfella word for ‘my place’.

Country is a whitefella term for myth of origin.

Country is Hank Williams breaking my heart singing I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.

I am fearful of belonging to this country.

But any other sun, any other light; they’re not mine. The smells here are mine, the harshness of the wind and the vastness of the oceans.

Somewhere between the desert and a Hank Williams song on the radio, that’s my country.

Christos Tsiolkas

 aran 0.5
re purposed Ebay aran jumper

 Modern Languages Exhibition is now at National Craft gallery of Ireland . Kilkenny until 11th February 2012

'Modern Languages presents the work of five international artists and designers with varying relationships to Ireland. The exhibition focuses on the adoption and corruption of traditional craft practice and repositions the Irish vernacular to convey meanings that are dictated less by historic provenance and more by the personal objectives and narratives of the makers.' 

Curated by Katy West 

barántúil blog http://barantuil.tumblr.com/

Irish Times Article  HERE

PDF catalogue HERE

football to commemorate Anne Geary of Cobh Co Cork . 

( keen football fan, fisherwoman and knitter for Cobh Knitwear )

contemporary souvenir Sirius Arts Centre . Cobh . Co Cork

Installing Contemporary Souvenir todayat Sirius Arts Centre. Cobh. Co Cork . Sun light streaming into the gallery is calming the exhibition nerves.

one duck 

ceramic. hand stitched lace  

 

contemporary souvenir

I am getting organised with lables and additional information to support Contemporary Souvenir exhibition in Cobh.  Each piece made relates to a location within Cobh  so I have been playing around with maps and symbols.

Things have been quiet on the blog front as I have been busy getting work ready for Contemporary Souvenir a solo exhibition at Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh Co Cork. Ireland.   I was lucky to do two residencies there and now the resulting work will be on exhibit 14th October - 13th November. 

With an interest in social history I have  explored the colourful town of Cobh and its stories of lace makers, knitters, ships, emigration, and the sea . I attended lace making classes with local groups in order to learn techniques and to hear new stories. Many stories uncovered were of sinking ships (Titanic and Luisitania ) and of emigration. With an interest in presenting positive stories of the area and its people, Contemporary souvenir will present a series of positive 'souvenirs' for Cobh playing with the colour and characters of the area .

Amongst the works is a Sailors hat with a map embroidered on the top and a bowler hat to celebrate the visit of Laurel and Hardy to the town and the playing of their theme tune on Cobh cathedral carillon. A knitted football celebrates Anne Geary a local woman part of a knitting co-operative who traveled following the world cup in her later years .

A series of deck chairs have been made in collaboration with Anne Kiely ( printed textile artist living in Cork). These are created with imagery and stories of Cobh and the visitor is encouraged to sit upon them and look out to sea .