tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25154507548723176722024-03-13T09:23:54.336-07:00Pat Kelly - Textile ArtistI am a textile artist living in the Isle of Man. I live on a farm which provides plenty of inspiration and resources for my craft. I am a mixed media artist and love to experiment but I do have a particular love for working with plant dyed fibres. The dyes are prepared using the vast amount of material in my forest garden. The garden is primarily a wildlife refuge but also supplies abundant food, medicines and photographic opportunities.
Contact me at pat.rhaa@gmail.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-63195851740014055132021-10-29T14:46:00.001-07:002021-10-29T14:46:09.277-07:00Natural dyes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kezFIdS2ch4/YXxTAShF1QI/AAAAAAAAc8Y/_wZ2Kmu9d18VSqMtAbstbjkkfGvXe1OvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210823_160912581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3Bg-TtqknY/YXxcdA4kGJI/AAAAAAAAc88/p1om0RxUeDgQEDNBBcwoYPDWsDoGC2mPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210823_160912581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3Bg-TtqknY/YXxcdA4kGJI/AAAAAAAAc88/p1om0RxUeDgQEDNBBcwoYPDWsDoGC2mPgCLcBGAsYHQ/w150-h200/PXL_20210823_160912581.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>I have spent much of the summer growing dye plants in tubs in front of the house. Some of them are specific dye plants such as coreopsis, dyer's chamomile, madder, lady's bedstraw and cosmos orange. These all give reliable colour and in beautiful shades. The second photo shows cosmos orange which is a beautiful plant in its own right. I have been processing this dye in a flask which is a really quick and easy way to dye small quantities. I put the fibres and threads in the flask along with the dye materials, add hot water and mordant and give a short stir. I then put the lid on the flask and leave it for one or two days. I am always amazed at how wool fibres and threads take up colour differently from silks. The results are shown in the third photo.<p></p><p>As well as specific dye plants I have also grown many others which give dye colours such as nasturtiums, chrysanthemums and pansies. The bees have had a wonderful summer visiting these plants and it is delightful to spend time with them all.</p><p>Later in the summer I dyed with buddleia flowers and stems. Quite a few of the flowers on the sprays were dead which gave a surprisingly strong orange colour to the dyed fibres and threads, the result can be seen in the photo where they are drying on the washing line. The addition of stems and branches to the dye pot also will help colour fastness due to the tannin content. As well as merino wool I buy many different types of fleeces from farmers in the Isle of Man where I live. At present I am using blue faced Leicester, romney and Lincoln longwool fleeces which I clean, dye, card and make into my many felted and stitched items . A large selection of these can be sen on my website patktextiles.com</p><p>Now that autumn is here I will be dyeing with tree leaves, branches, bark and cones. I will write about this in my next post.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--9wXSsQUEY4/YXxSzPPgywI/AAAAAAAAc8M/xedXwZCvZUghXHeQoKbjVSzF4Qym0165gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210919_143747274_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><p></p><p style="color: black; text-align: left;"><br /></p></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DmSVFCnn3RI/YXxk9ZJuVLI/AAAAAAAAc9o/cvJLZF0C_I0PkPM4OCuR85UxF9jKRtXFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210823_162813376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DmSVFCnn3RI/YXxk9ZJuVLI/AAAAAAAAc9o/cvJLZF0C_I0PkPM4OCuR85UxF9jKRtXFgCLcBGAsYHQ/w150-h200/PXL_20210823_162813376.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDzOAc-nF_k/YXxkUKGGSsI/AAAAAAAAc9Y/9JLIo37zsskKpAn_ik26AnrBIPjLcN1WwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210919_143747274_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1828" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDzOAc-nF_k/YXxkUKGGSsI/AAAAAAAAc9Y/9JLIo37zsskKpAn_ik26AnrBIPjLcN1WwCLcBGAsYHQ/w179-h200/PXL_20210919_143747274_2.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-By9eUFU8cz8/YXxS64HTSDI/AAAAAAAAc8U/MOiqXfsKeWwBiESD--xgDel80bgoXl8oQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210725_181004483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-By9eUFU8cz8/YXxS64HTSDI/AAAAAAAAc8U/MOiqXfsKeWwBiESD--xgDel80bgoXl8oQCLcBGAsYHQ/w150-h200/PXL_20210725_181004483.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-24418215562665017142021-08-01T13:15:00.000-07:002021-08-01T13:15:16.110-07:00Rewilding<p> I live on a farm and have taken over the one and a half acres of the field next to the house that used to have calves grazing there or potatoes planted in it. 22 years ago I began the process of turning a third of it into a forest garden; it now contains over 60 fruit and nut trees, very many berry plants, herbs and shrubs as well as ground cover. It is a haven for wildlife with 30 different bird species, frogs, moths, butterflies and too any insect species to count.The rest of the area is now allowed to rewild itself by self seeding of trees and plants. I am documenting the progression of the rewilding. Firstly brambles and bracken covered all of the space but in the last 4 years 100 ash trees have self seeded there and are now a considerable size. They are loved by the birds and insects. Several sycamore trees are getting established as well as scrub willow. Wild flowers are now growing in the grass area which is mown every autumn; cow parsley, red campion, meadow cranesbill and trefoils started to appear this summer but the most awe inspiring sight is that of the vast area of rosebay willowherb as seen below. There are many thousands of honey and bumblebees gathering nectar from it. I am a textile artist and produce natural dyes from the plants in my garden. These are used to dye wool and </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJcrRk29jEY/YQcAE6147aI/AAAAAAAAanw/wOMsgKYomvQWrdP2rxaRuPFFngQDXFkxgCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/PXL_20210730_150954466.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJcrRk29jEY/YQcAE6147aI/AAAAAAAAanw/wOMsgKYomvQWrdP2rxaRuPFFngQDXFkxgCPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20210730_150954466.MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />this is felted to be made into items for my online shop patktextiles.com<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Znrtz2mVUw/YQb8XNdiIXI/AAAAAAAAanY/c_LBMGKVOZMwFeA-knSmIyhYrVBVIRcyQCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/PXL_20210724_191551705.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Znrtz2mVUw/YQb8XNdiIXI/AAAAAAAAanY/c_LBMGKVOZMwFeA-knSmIyhYrVBVIRcyQCPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20210724_191551705.MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyn2hYHag4Pqkyesdymj1pRAIcAAIzLvhKtzo-IdAKk6RoDABg8neMfa9nwjcCzo8w8BfrvlY4DY46nOXpcGw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-41719078988891878692021-02-20T11:57:00.003-08:002021-02-20T12:03:02.799-08:00Cards depicting herbs<p> I am intending to make a new line in my online shop. These will be cards depicting herbs, many of which I grow in my forest garden. I also started a very popular herb group in the Isle of Man U3A but have had to step back from it reecently due to health reasons. I use the herbs for many puposes, for medicines, food, dyes but mainly to attract wildlife to my garden. I have around 60 fruit trees and very many different varieties of fruit bushes which the birds, wasps and bees like to share in. </p><p>Due to the cold weather we have had in the last few weeks I have been throwing wild bird seeds on the frozen ground and now have 4 hen pheasants, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, robins, sparrows and dunnocks coming to my whistle as they know that there is plenty of food to go round. The bird hangers have peanuts, fat balls and sunflower seeds.</p><p>The card below is a depiction of Echinacea made from wet felted merino wools and mounted on a deckle edged card. It is for sale in my online shop patktextiles.com</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UTBRQQ4kYCA/YDFpnYeXEtI/AAAAAAAAXZM/sDAE6kLYz2I3ioMKlbQSv7ZRW1bFzdHMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20210218_111055299%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1751" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UTBRQQ4kYCA/YDFpnYeXEtI/AAAAAAAAXZM/sDAE6kLYz2I3ioMKlbQSv7ZRW1bFzdHMgCLcBGAsYHQ/w259-h303/PXL_20210218_111055299%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-37157105906308238742021-02-18T11:38:00.001-08:002021-02-18T11:40:12.667-08:00New Nature Based Online Shop <p> I have just opened my new online shop selling my Art and Homeware designs based on nature. I have a good selection of cards and coasters which have images taken from my original textile designs. Some of the cards are printed to give high quality, colourful images whilst the others are handmade using felted wools of various breeds, some rare. The cards are then hand and or machine stitched and may have embellishments. The coasters have high definition images of my textile art. I also sell a variety of one off original wallhangings several are made from stitched, dyed calico and khadi paper. Others are wet felted using a variety of wools and several have plant dyed fibres. I do a lot of natural dyeing using plants from my large forest garden.</p><p>To access the online shop go to patktextiles.com </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXC0tqGROAc/YC7B3NzLSjI/AAAAAAAAXX8/Ng5yHNeC1foQYpqQ3nMP-fmIJKN7VVEaACPcBGAsYHg/s1775/PXL_20210209_150129839%257E2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1775" data-original-width="1692" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXC0tqGROAc/YC7B3NzLSjI/AAAAAAAAXX8/Ng5yHNeC1foQYpqQ3nMP-fmIJKN7VVEaACPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20210209_150129839%257E2.jpg" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB0rUAXlYOI/YC7CBWPxmQI/AAAAAAAAXYM/HG4MsGKLwyUaOTnKoFUAV2FcweonLMCYwCPcBGAsYHg/s2903/PXL_20210121_171914705%257E2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2849" data-original-width="2903" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB0rUAXlYOI/YC7CBWPxmQI/AAAAAAAAXYM/HG4MsGKLwyUaOTnKoFUAV2FcweonLMCYwCPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20210121_171914705%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-82424598536727964192020-12-03T12:57:00.001-08:002020-12-03T13:00:02.049-08:00Stitched birds<p> I now have coasters of several stitched birds on handmade felt. They are chaffinch, great tit and blue tit. I have just finished 2 new designs; a puffin and a robin which I am going to get made up into both cards and coasters. I am very excited about my new venture and am getting a lot of responses and feedback already regarding my new products. I will continue making bird hangings as I love to get the character of each bird that I stitch. I will probably do some birds of prey next.</p><p>I love listening to music as I stich and at present I am listening to Chopin nocturnes. I have just had a good friend make some bird boxes for me, there are 2 smaller boxes for blue and great tits These</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5FgbPz_DO8/X8lQJEbRoAI/AAAAAAAAWIc/6O7bhszugcAcPkeTAmB6DTxUMJDYTVyOACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20201128_123851858_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1997" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5FgbPz_DO8/X8lQJEbRoAI/AAAAAAAAWIc/6O7bhszugcAcPkeTAmB6DTxUMJDYTVyOACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/PXL_20201128_123851858_2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /> boxes are attached to trees in my forest garden. he also made an owl box which is in one of our sheds, Hopefully we may be lucky and have it occupied by a bard owl. Attached are the images of my latest work.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nKFR8XQ9eqA/X8lQkm4fitI/AAAAAAAAWIo/-bdm7lu3qnME21jlCrDqY3GW_JtmJkrPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PXL_20201203_113649982_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2037" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nKFR8XQ9eqA/X8lQkm4fitI/AAAAAAAAWIo/-bdm7lu3qnME21jlCrDqY3GW_JtmJkrPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/PXL_20201203_113649982_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-77736648287654972822020-11-22T09:09:00.000-08:002020-11-22T09:09:07.477-08:00Bird coasters<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-todSaF1Fy_Y/X7qUjAke0EI/AAAAAAAAV7Y/wHzYVMp--YsErVtQZdl3lQ2FEjnwvtfZwCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/PXL_20201121_124223111.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-todSaF1Fy_Y/X7qUjAke0EI/AAAAAAAAV7Y/wHzYVMp--YsErVtQZdl3lQ2FEjnwvtfZwCPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20201121_124223111.MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I had a very enjoyable time yesterday at the Christmas craft fair at the Corrin hall, Peel. I met so many lovely people including some friends that I had not seen for a long time. As well as selling my usual stitched textiles I brought along my new product lines. I have many good images from work that I have created, many of them now sold. I have had 3 of these printed as quality cards. The items that I am most excited about are the new coasters. they were much admired yesterday, the ones that sold particularly well were the ones with images of birds. As each image is from a photograph of my work I am now setting about to create a new body of work based on birds, flowers and butterflies which can be be sold as the original textile or as coasters. I am hoping that before too long I may have a website up and running and I will keep you posted regarding this.<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-46308298679690014802020-11-09T06:34:00.001-08:002020-11-09T11:25:49.327-08:00Computer designs<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YWxlAAZsAkE/X6lRWI4zkOI/AAAAAAAAVuo/nz1zeAKc3V4BFQdzzNMU8ZGwmTRJf2tzgCPcBGAsYHg/s2702/PXL_20201109_120348454%257E3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2702" data-original-width="2649" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YWxlAAZsAkE/X6lRWI4zkOI/AAAAAAAAVuo/nz1zeAKc3V4BFQdzzNMU8ZGwmTRJf2tzgCPcBGAsYHg/s320/PXL_20201109_120348454%257E3.jpg" /></a></div> I now have a Wacom One tablet which connects to my laptop. It is very easy to design on using the pen. There are many options to use on it including oils, gouache, indian ink and watercolour as well as many interesting special effects. It is a very quick way of producing a new design and I have uploaded images here of a computer design and a small wall hanging that I have just completed based on it. I also use Photoshop Elements where there are many options to digitally alter a photograph or a textile design. These include shear, twist, wave and zigzag resulting in very abstracted images which can be a jumping off point for a new design. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x1i_B4XdsoQ/X6lR8F30oYI/AAAAAAAAVuw/SBs4n1LRqxs38JzYeguhgQm6_KAKY3IOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/IMG-20201031-WA0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x1i_B4XdsoQ/X6lR8F30oYI/AAAAAAAAVuw/SBs4n1LRqxs38JzYeguhgQm6_KAKY3IOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG-20201031-WA0001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-19278159746450456262020-11-03T07:08:00.002-08:002020-11-09T06:35:46.318-08:00Florence<p>I have done a body of work for a joint exhibition with Maureen Kennaugh to be held in the Hodgson Loom Gallery in the Isle of Man. Unfortunately as with events all over the world the exhibition is now hopefully going to happen sometime next year. Well, it is an opportunity to do some extra work for it.</p><p>I have been doing more experimental textile work using a fine tipped soldering iron purchased from Margaret Beale the textile artist who has written two books on the subject. this technique allows one to cut through and fuse layers of fabric which worked very well as a way of depicting the architecture of the Duomo cathedral in Florence. I have also used the historical event "The bonfire of the vanities" which took place in 1497 as a link between the burning of my fabrics and what happened in Florence on that date.</p><p>Other techniques I have used include Florentine embroidery and phototransfer with stitch. Below are 2 created using the soldering iron. They are based on images from a bishop's cloak in the Duomo museum and flowers in the Boboli gardens.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2czSFMsDpQQ/X6FvsuikE0I/AAAAAAAAVko/gYmOvgTBwqAxIJPxO6YkpuX-3P8yn-m6gCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200706_143204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2czSFMsDpQQ/X6FvsuikE0I/AAAAAAAAVko/gYmOvgTBwqAxIJPxO6YkpuX-3P8yn-m6gCPcBGAsYHg/s320/IMG_20200706_143204.jpg" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYqx1WGHuOA/X6FvY7iQAfI/AAAAAAAAVkY/1a5VTeRBZvMJd8BKfg6k2Yc-AviYxr9ZgCPcBGAsYHg/s4032/IMG_20200419_163335.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYqx1WGHuOA/X6FvY7iQAfI/AAAAAAAAVkY/1a5VTeRBZvMJd8BKfg6k2Yc-AviYxr9ZgCPcBGAsYHg/s320/IMG_20200419_163335.jpg" /></a></div></div><br /><br /></div>Margaret Beale books; Fusing fabrics and New ideas in Fusing fabric and Creative cutting, bonding and mark-making with the soldering iron. The first book can be sourced second hand.<p></p><a class="a-link-normal" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Ideas-Fusing-Fabric-Mark-Making/dp/1849940924/ref=pd_lpo_14_img_0/262-3567239-5538004?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1849940924&pd_rd_r=f3d288dd-cc4e-437e-b824-09e732a5cab8&pd_rd_w=4liBm&pd_rd_wg=a0GIj&pf_rd_p=7b8e3b03-1439-4489-abd4-4a138cf4eca6&pf_rd_r=HB2E0SATH0S7RF2KCRA6&psc=1&refRID=HB2E0SATH0S7RF2KCRA6" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007185; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;"><div class="a-fixed-left-grid-col a-col-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-left: -160px; min-height: 1px; overflow: visible; position: relative; width: 160px; zoom: 1;"><img alt="New Ideas in Fusing Fabric: Creative Cutting, Bonding and Mark-Making with the Soldering Iron" class="sims-lpo-image" src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51k9eEFDNpL._AC_UL160_.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" /></div></a><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 14px;"></span><div class="a-text-left a-fixed-left-grid-col sims-lpo-product-details a-col-right" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; float: left; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-left: 25px; min-height: 1px; overflow: visible; padding-left: 0px; position: relative; width: inherit; zoom: 1;"><div aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div aria-hidden="true" class="p13n-sc-truncate p13n-sc-line-clamp-5 p13n-sc-truncate-desktop-type2" data-rows="5" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: 100px; overflow: hidden;"><br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-41550656771507523622019-03-21T12:40:00.002-07:002019-03-21T12:40:22.717-07:00AfricaMy joint exhibition with Janice Cottier is called "Africa" and it opens on the 23rd March.<br />
It is going to be very colourful. I have used African colours, patterns and designs sourced from my trip to Morocco a few years ago; from visits to the British Museum where I sketched and took pictures in the Africa section and also from the the studies I made of West African textiles during Part I City and Guilds and the Diploma in stitched textiles.<br />
I decided that using the above sources as a starting point I would interpret the themes in a contemporary way using techniques such as slashing fabrics, nuno felting, painting and manipulating fabrics and fabric with photography.<br />
I concentrated on the use of hand stitching with the above which I find very rewarding and relaxing to do. My favourite piece is a large picture of a Cape hunting dog which I made by needlefelting some of my plant dyed threads along with woollen threads made from rare breed sheep wools.<br />
Below right is a small hanging of a South African flower made by couching threads on khadi paper and fine Indian cotton.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-62344949476148386842018-11-17T11:14:00.002-08:002018-11-17T11:14:41.081-08:00Africa exhibitionI have not been able to update my blog for 2 years due to organising the North Atlantic Native Sheep and wool conference which took place in October 2017. Some health issues since then have left me low on energy but I am pleased to say that I am recovering well now.<br />
I have been working all of this year on my textile art leading to an exhibition near the end of March next year, the title being Africa. My partner for this exhibition is Janice Cottier a very talented quilter and embroiderer who lived in Lesotho for 10 years.<br />
My new work is mostly hand stitched but as usual I have introduced mixed media with the textiles and I have enjoyed trying out experiments using African wax printed fabric which I have painted and manipulated.<br />
Theinspiration for my part of the exhibition has been techniques used in African art, masks and the wildlife and flowers of the continent. I am making a number of small baskets made with faffia or African wax print fabric. These are very relaxing to make and can be picked up and worked on anywhere. A photo of one of the baskets is shown below.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-20130764456407739382017-01-06T12:01:00.001-08:002017-01-06T12:01:12.174-08:00Sheep and Wool ConferenceI am helping to organise the 7th North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference on the Isle of Man from the 12th to the 15th October this year. Participating countries and areas are Norway, Shetland, the Orkneys, Faroe Islands, Iceland, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man and Greenland.<br />
I have previously attended conferences in Iceland, The Faroes and the Lofoten Islands in Norway.<br />
The aim of them is to stimulate interest in the endangered native breeds of these regions, to network with farmers, wool workers, craft workers and anyone else who has an interest in helping to make the production of wool more sustainable. The landscape that these sheep are reared in is also of importance and methods to preserve such places is also discussed. Some of the ideas explored in previous conferences are better branding of wool and its products, practical lessons in grading wool, high value fashion garments and diversity of products.<br />
The Isle of Man is home to the iconic Loaghtan Sheep and we will have local speakers and one from England talking about the sheep, landscape and products produced locally from the wool. The rest of the speakers will be from the other participating countries, some of whom will discuss the great improvements that they have made since they hosted the conference. This gives us a chance to learn not only of their successes but also the pitfalls they have come across and how they have overcome them. I have made great friends since going to the conferences. there are delegates who travel from Germany, U.S.A., Canada, South Africa and all the Nordic countries. There will also be workshops, exhibitions, trips to heritage sites and a fashion show.<br />
There is already great interest in the one to be held on the Isle of Man and anyone who would like more information can e-mail me at pat.rhaa@gmail.com<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-39305939794580713262016-03-28T12:54:00.001-07:002016-03-28T12:54:08.436-07:00Upcycling jumpersI have done 2 pieces of work with old jumpers as the base, one was a brown merino woollen and the other was a blue woollen one. I had a lot of sample lengths of threads in various thicknesses, colours and textures. Some of these threads were used to create the shape of the flower and were then embellished onto a piece cut from the jumper.<br />
The first layer was white poster paint which I brushed over the surface including the threads so that some areas had the colour of the jumper and some of the threads showing through. When this was dry layers of acrylic inks in various colours were painted on, allowing the colours to blend with the result that secondary and tertiary colours were also produced.<br />
Finally the image was stitched into using both free machining and hand embroidery.<br />
I really liked the final outcomes which were unlike any work I had done previously. The top left image is called Dahlia-Inspired by Picasso and the one below it is called Echinacea-Inspired by Picasso. The photo on the right is a close up of Dahlia<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-27444295297297273522016-01-25T09:05:00.001-08:002016-01-25T09:05:01.186-08:00Dionne Swift Developing sketchbooks courseI have just finished an online Developing Sketchbooks course run by Dionne Swift. I would highly recommend her courses as they are so inspirational. I hadn't created a colourful sketchbook since my City and Guild's days but instead concentrated on lifelike pencil drawings of plants. birds and butterflies. This course made me open my mind to lots of new possibilities regarding colour, form and flow, all done in a relaxed, experimental manner. It will now encourage me , not necessarily looking at the whole of something, but to look at the world in a different way, exploring its constituent parts. I am very much looking forward to my next course with her which is Drawing for Textiles. Below are some of the images from my new sketchbook.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9CtQeRAubJw/VqZRWQTxxwI/AAAAAAAAETE/_avDLaNPcX4/s1600/IMG_20160119_192217-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9CtQeRAubJw/VqZRWQTxxwI/AAAAAAAAETE/_avDLaNPcX4/s320/IMG_20160119_192217-4.jpg" width="240" /></a>The lower part of the pink image is coloured by painting beetroot juice on it and then rubbing a cut piece of beetroot on top to give it those lovely smudges.<br />
The image with the pink circles had as it's base inked hand made paper, stitched with free machining and the circles are various fluffy threads embellished on top.<br />
I have experimented in my sketchbook with torn shapes, printing, punching holes, overlaying media and many other techniques. The use of negative spaces was also explored.<br />
My next sketchbook is going to be based on winged creatures so I will be looking carefully at all their various parts to extract design elements.<br />
One of the big bonuses of doing an online course has been interacting on Facebook with the other participants, being inspired by their ingenuity and different ways of seeing.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-70635627777111011242016-01-18T11:19:00.001-08:002016-01-19T08:19:46.334-08:00The Butterfly effectThe second of my pieces in the "Air" competition is called The Butterfly Effect. .For this work I again did a background of hand made felt using pre dyed merino and Nepalese wool. The tornado shape was added to the base level with white merino wool,<br />
I decided to hand stitch a large butterfly using a small needle and single stranded cottons with the template being a Peacock butterfly which are frequent visitors to my garden. It was quite tricky getting the patterns to match as I did it by eye, not having drawn all the internal shapes out as I felt this gave a more natural finish. There is a line of merino wool going from one wing to the tornado to mimic the effect of the butterfly flapping its wing and thus having a direct influence on the formation of the storm.<br />
I visited London 2 weeks before Christmas and went to the Museum of Food near Southwark which was very small and only open for a few months but they are hoping to get funding for a large permanent museum on that theme.<br />
One of the areas was a butterfly house with many exotic butterflies, the idea being to make a link between food and some of the vital pollinators. See one of those butterflies below.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aNHRMy4TxAw/Vp06frqF5wI/AAAAAAAAEMs/pNYP8k3k-tI/s1600/IMG_20151216_131240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aNHRMy4TxAw/Vp06frqF5wI/AAAAAAAAEMs/pNYP8k3k-tI/s320/IMG_20151216_131240.jpg" width="240" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-66990999116524729002016-01-17T12:10:00.001-08:002016-01-17T12:12:42.750-08:00Birds of ParadiseI have 2 entries in the annual Hodgson Loom Competition. This year the theme is air. I have taken the quote from the Gospel of Matthew which starts-All the birds of the air.<br />
I did research on different types of Birds of Paradise and other exotic birds and did sketches of them, see one of them below. I made a felted background using bought merino and Nepalese wool in varying shades of blue to represent different layers of the atmosphere. I then hand stitched each bird with tiny stitches using a beading needle and stranded cotton. Finally I did Kantha stich all over the background to give a sense of movement. A photo of the finished work is shown below along with a few individual birds.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-15087679801715024652015-10-18T09:47:00.002-07:002015-10-18T09:47:25.429-07:00Birds, bees, butterflies and other creatures.Despite the wet summer there have been very many bumble bees in my garden this year of all sizes and colours. As I have large areas of brambles and rough grass there is always plenty of nesting areas for them. Unfortunately it has been a very poor year for the honey bees which is worrying and a disastrous summer for the butterflies. We have had 3 weeks of very fine autumn weather but even then there were only a few butterflies- small tortoiseshell, red admirals, peacocks, white and green veined whites and quite a few wall and meadow browns. The only butterflies to do well this year again are the speckled wood which have only recently appeared on the Isle of Man.<br />
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As I have such a huge variety of wild plants and herbs I always have great numbers of other flying creatures and spiders, too many to know what they all are and also there are quite a few small frogs hopping about the place.<br />
I attended a wonderful event last nice held by Mother T's Community Cafe in Laxey. Great company, music, food , friends old and new and all very local. Wonderful! We need more events like this.<br />
I had some of my small dragonfly hangings there for sale as well as a lot of other work of mine.<br />
The photo on the left is an area of my garden that self seeds now with brassicas, broad beans, poppies, cornflowers, ribwort plantain and many other edibles and wild plants. It certainly is easier than sowing them. There are also goldenrod plants that I use as dyes and Euphorbia mellifera plants that are now enormous. The latter have very boring loooking flowering parts in early spring but they have a wonderful smell of honey which makes me want to run in and butter a piece of bread to go with some of our locally produced honey. By the way, the honey is now spun from our area only and since then my asthma has improved dramatically. the Euphorbia is a great attractant for insects in the spring, a welcome early feed.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-40853459627996523362015-09-18T12:36:00.002-07:002015-09-18T12:36:36.609-07:00Faroes sheep and wool conferenceI have just returned from the wonderful North Atlantic Sheep and Wool Conference in the Faroe Islands.<br />
It was great to renew friendships from last year and make new ones. We learned a great deal about the difficulties of wool producing in the Faroes, as always, the problem is obtaining a fair price for the fleeces. We visited sheep and wool producers and got a chance to purchase some of their products. The scenery was outstanding and we were given a very warm welcome from the Islanders.<br />
We were very lucky in having warm, sunny weather so we didn't miss any of the spectacular views, the quality of both the air and the light were wonderful. Pictured on the right is Johanna who along with Karin originally set up the conferences and work hard to keep interest in sheep and their products, on which many Islanders depend, very much alive.<br />
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I am starting to harvest large amounts of food from my forest garden. This is what I had for lunch today.<br />
Stir fried combination of all the following- Black Russian tomato, yellow courgettes and basil from the greenhouse; mushroom which grew in the mushroom compost I use in the fishboxes where I grow my tomatoes; shallots which I planted last autumn, sorrel and Greek cress from the garden and shop bought peppers and ginger. It then had cold pressed Palestinian olive oil drizzled over it along with the spicy thyme dried mix which came free with the olive oil.<br />
It was a feast.<br />
For dessert I had home grown raspberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants with shop bought ginger ice cream.<br />
I have had a huge crop of salmonberries this year ( Rubus spectabilis) and have frozen loads to have with my yoghurt for breakfasts. I am having a problem with the salmonberries as they are starting to take over large areas of the garden. they form large clumps and the birds spread the seeds all over. Some drastic action is needed with my favourite gardening tool, the mattock.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-80023013459871925472015-05-18T13:35:00.002-07:002015-05-18T13:39:21.467-07:00Dyeing with flowers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am growing many flowers and shrubs this year especially for use as dye plants. I put mixed fibres and threads in a flask, add the appropriate modant, put the flowers in the flask and then add hot water. this is left to stand for a couple of days, shaking the flask several times.<br />
The photo on the left shows my first experiment which was with wallflowers using alum and cream of tartar as a mordant.<br />
The wallflowers came from several different plants, some with yellow flowers and others with bitter orange coloured flowers, all put in the same flask. The silk threads and cocoon strippings had a preferential uptake of the orange coloured flowers and this produced coral pink shades. The other fibre is ramie (Boehmeria nivea), a flowering plant in the nettle family to be found in Eastern Asia. It has a long history of usage and was even used for wrapping mummies in Egypt. The ramie fibre I used was very lustrous. Wool turns a soft banana yellow when dyed with wallflowers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-89543328854673302902015-02-22T04:12:00.001-08:002015-02-22T04:12:33.453-08:00romance of gardensI have a joint exhibition coming up next month with the wonderful mixed media/textile artist Maureen Kennaugh. The title of the exhibition is The Romance of Gardens. We are exploring gardens in history, poetry and especially gardens that we have seen in our extensive travels. I have concentrated on my first love which is hand stitching using a great variety of threads dyed by myself using natural and procion dyes. There is also some mixed media work on brown paper coloured with acrylic ink, bonded to painted nappy liner and then distressed. Hand stitched goldwork motifs have been added to this based on 1960's floral wallpaper patterns. I have also procion dyed lint bandages which took the colour very well and on this I have hand stitched small images reminiscent of Japanese gardens. I take a lot of photos during my travels and these have been the inspiration for a lot of the hand stitching, the trips included visits to Kew gardens and the Floriade in Venlo the Netherlands in 2012. I have also included new plant dyed felted works.<br />
For a very interesting blog about all things wool and felt send a request to be added to the e-mail listings at robson.deborah@gmail.com<br />
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There are spaces for residencies at the fabulous textile centre in Blonduos. See the link below.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><a href="http://www.textilsetur.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">www.textilsetur.com</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-90537086964628538702014-10-02T10:31:00.001-07:002014-10-02T10:31:04.046-07:00stitched butterfliesI bought an Indian handmade light box from the wonderful Fair trade shop Shakti Man, a link to this later. It reminded me of the boxes used by butterfly collectors so I decided to make handstitched butterfly brooches to go in it. These were exhibited in my recent exhibition 2 Connect at the Hodgson loom Gallery. As 2 were sold I have replaced them with 2 new brooches to go in the upcoming show that starts on the 9th October at the Isle Gallery. The show is a joint one with 4 other very talented textile artists. These are all based on actual butterflies from around the world and are hand stitched with single thread cotton using a beading needle. The bodies are made from wrapped wool, they also have beaded eyes and metal thread antennae. As the stitching is done on calico and wire, the butterfly wings can be posed in different ways. The link for Shakti Man is shaktiman.co.uk<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-81990551988265818082014-07-28T12:52:00.001-07:002014-07-28T12:52:07.551-07:00Lichen textilesMy exhibition held in conjunction with my very talented friend, Sheena Quayle, the other half of 2 Connect is now in its second week. I will give some details of a number of the works seen below.<br />
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These first two pictures are from a piece of work based on photographs I took of lichen and mosses on a tree. Most of the threads, braid and muslin are procion dyed The background is tyvek and tissue paper both painted with diluted acrylic inks. I then made layers which were integrated using hand stitching in both chunky and fine threads. My favourite stitches which I used were French knots, fly stitch and couching stitches. I wanted a sense of depth and also flowing and sinuous lines. It is surprising when studying the bark of trees that there are a great variety of colours and shades which can be quite startling on an old tree.<br />
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The 2 pictures above are based on photos of lichen and moss from a different tree. As in the other work the background was acrylic painted tyvek and tissue paper this time the tyvek was heated after painting to concentrate the colours and to give added texture as the tyvek warps when heated and forms interesting holes. Procion dyed muslin and threads were then applied, this time the stitching involved French knots, couching stitches and lazy daisy stitches.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-47552343175618630352014-07-26T12:23:00.001-07:002014-07-26T12:23:53.178-07:00BerriesI am able to catch up on my blog at last as my exhibition with Sheena Quayle at the Hodgson loom Gallery is now open for the next two weeks. Pictures from that to follow in the next post.<br />
I have been busy for the last month picking berries from my Forest Garden and have some new additions this year. The biggest crop has been summer fruiting raspberries which have been very well flavoured this year; the autumn fruiting raspberries will be ready in a couple of weeks. Sadly our strawberry crop has been a failure as I didn't renew the plants to replace the ones that have been hugely productive over the past 4 years. A job for next season.<br />
The redcurrants mostly were eaten by 6 blackbirds but as my garden is mainly for wildlife I don't mind too much. The blackcurrants and gooseberries have done well though. My favourite berry is blackcurrant which I prefer to eat straight from the bush. As I made 50 pots of jam last year, thankfully, I don't have to make any this year so the fruit is going in the freezer to be used in the winter with yogurt for my breakfast. I make a lovely desert by crushing digestive biscuits in a ramekin dish, cover them with my raspberry puree with a teaspoonful of whisky and then put Creme Fraiche on top....yummy.<br />
I also grow loganberries which are now forming strong canes, Tayberries, Blueberries and Salmonberries, the latter unfortunately are taking over my garden.<br />
The latest additions are Japanese Wineberries, a beautiful plant, pictured below and Balloon berries which grow on canes with nasty spikes and the berries are a strange black with white which gives the appearance of mould but isn't. My Nepalese raspberry plant grows rampantly over the ground but as it has been there for 4 years and produced no fruit I threatened to dig it out. The next day one flower appeared but no berry yet so it lives for another year!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2515450754872317672.post-67746896337920800142014-07-03T13:34:00.003-07:002020-11-09T06:49:31.281-08:00Biological forms<div class="separator"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qe2bLLxCv-c/U7W9ZdH3SbI/AAAAAAAAAgw/xhsURj5hlRY/s1600/DSCF1924.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="438" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qe2bLLxCv-c/U7W9ZdH3SbI/AAAAAAAAAgw/xhsURj5hlRY/w395-h438/DSCF1924.JPG" width="395" /></a></div>I am about to put on another exhibition with the hugely talented Sheena Quayle under our exhibition name<br />
2 Connect. I have been studying biological forms and Sheena has been looking at form and function.<br />
Most of the work in this exhibition for my part has been hand stitched, my first love. I did sketches from my forest garden at the end of last year and used some of these as the basis of several pieces. I run a U3A herb group and several framed works are of herbs. I have used a wide variety of media with the stitching including watercolour pencils, paper, painted fabric and glass paints. It has been a great pleasure working for this exhibition and if anyone living on the Isle of Man would like to see it, the details are below along with a couple of pictures of my work that can be seen at the gallery.<br />
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I have also hand stitched butterflies which I hope to turn into brooches. I found a wonderful box, hand painted in India which is padded inside and has pins which I can use to display the butterflies in the manner of a collector. These will also be on display at the gallery.<br />
On the right is a piece of work based on plantain with watercolour pencils, hand and machine stitch. Below is a photograph of lichen printed onto tissue paper and then machine and hand stitched.<br />
Both of these pieces of work have since been sold.<br />
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