With less than 2 weeks to go I thought I’d better start cutting the lengths of thread for the B95 migration path; it’s surprising how tangled a 5m length of thread can get! It’s not going as straight forwardly as I would like – having measured 20 lengths of threads and carefully winding them up so as to avoid the tangles, I had to unwind them to measure and mark up how far the dye needed to go.
Anyway one set is ready for dyeing just another set to go!
Only 3 weeks to go! With one module still to complete and my exhibition piece to make the pressure is really on. Time flies when you’re having fun or when you’re trying to meet a deadline! With over a thousand red knots done there’s still so much to do…
Breaking news from the ‘Friends of the Red Knot’ Facebook page:
“He’s Back!! Here’s the news we’ve been waiting for!! B95 was found this morning at Reeds Beach, by Patricia Gonzalez. Truly amazing!!!”
I’m so pleased to hear he’s alive and well.
I went to see the ‘Altered Images’ textile exhibition by ‘Diversity’ yesterday at the Forest Arts Centre in New Milton. The work was quite varied in style from beading to machine embroidery and 3D work. I was pleased to see a small piece of free machine embroidery by Elizabeth Randall, only sorry I didn’t get a photo of it. There was an interesting series of work by Helen Talbot inspired by her visits to Venice. I particularly liked Susan Vosper’s black thread landscape and her ‘Sunset’ and ‘Sea View’ pieces worked using sari silk ribbon and machine stitch. (apologies for photos taken with my phone, in a bad light and behind glass)
Ali Lindley is a creative artist specialising in watercolour and mixed media work and I was lucky enough to recently attend one of her workshops. She has her own unique style, which is quite loose, using colour and texture as the stimulus for a piece of work which is often finished with the addition of gold leaf.
Having no real experience in watercolour painting it proved to be a most exciting if somewhat nerve wracking day. We used a number of techniques such as stenciling, washes, dropping colour in and water spraying gold ink as well as simply letting the paint do its own thing; Ali made it look so simple but that’s years of experience for you. However under her guidance I managed to produce something almost recognisable!
Well the Red Knot installation for the end of year Degree Show is underway at last. Having made a number of revisions to the initial idea I’m now more or less back to the original one! It’s based on the migration of the Red Knot birds; B95 or as he’s now known ‘Moonbird’ has made this journey every year for around 20 years now and it’s his remarkable story that has inspired me to create my final piece of work for my FdA stitched Textiles course.
Working on the red knots:
Just spent a great ‘workshop day’ with Angie Hughes being “Inspired by Klimt”. Velvet, foiling and stitching -a very interesting and relaxing day. As you can see it’s not finished yet but it will have to wait, the Red Knots call….
Inspired by Klimt – work in progress.
Had a fun afternoon today experimenting with dying yarn, in preparation for my final piece for the Degree show.
I’ve been researching the Red Knot bird and one in particular, known as B95 or sometimes called the Moonbird. This is the basis for my installation and one thing I’ll need is lots and lots of orangey red yarn. Having found a suitable yarn in white, I need to dye half of it red/orange, hence today’s experimentation.
The ‘Fabricformation’ fund raising event ‘Tea with Matthew Harris’ was a big success being a sell out, attended by just over 120 people.
Matthew Harris gave a most interesting talk and slide show, allowing us an insight into his method of layering and stitching fabric. He displayed samples of his work, which everyone was able to see and actually handle, which was a real treat as not all textile artists will allow you to touch. We were also very appreciative of Matthew donating a piece of his work to be included in our raffle.
Tea and cakes were served after the talk, wrapping up a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
I am a member of ‘Fabricformation’, the 3rd year textile and stitch student group at Eastleigh College. As part of our degree we are fundraising for our final degree exhibition and have organised a talk by Matthew Harris. This will take place at 3pm on Sunday 16th March at Otterbourne Village Hall (SO21 2ET)
Wendy Fleckner 