Fiona Wilson

Acme Mangle

2012-02-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

So, I bought this just before Xmas from a little antique place I like to go wander around...

The plan is to turn it into a print press - I've seen a few conversions on the internet - so although I haven't got it all quite worked out yet, watch this space.....

Finally!!!!!!

2012-02-04T02:46:00.000-08:00

Its been a hectic full on week of teaching and talks, but today I am loving beingin the studio, making and FINALLY adding some of my wood blocks onto my etsy shop - which you can now see a sneaky preview of on the right hand side of the page. So spread the word, I will be adding more very shortly.

Process Driven Drawing

2012-01-13T04:25:00.000-08:00

Some more drawing results, really warming up exercises, but enjoying the process...

"Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've been. If process drives outcome, we may not know where we are going, but we will know we want to be there." Bruce Mau

Drawing Results

2012-01-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

So I was asked whether I would be sharing any of the experiments I did out of Keri Smith's book (see earlier post), so here are two of my favourites.

Its been an enjoyable process and got me back into the swing of drawing and being experimental. It feels good to be open to what happens without getting caught up in worrying too much about outcomes at this stage. Just having fun creating a new vocabulary of marks and seeing what the possibilities are.

New Workshop Dates for 2012

2012-01-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all and a quick post to say that I have now put up the new dates for my workshops in 2012. These include, Drawn Stitches, Screen Printing for Fabrics, and 3D Embroidery. You can find out more about them here http://fiona-wilson.blogspot.com/p/stitch-workshops-for-2010.html and here http://fiona-wilson.blogspot.com/p/workshops.html or you can click on the tabs at the top of this page.

Please get in touch to book your place.

Drawing Time

2011-12-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

What I am really looking forward to over Christmas, is having some time to draw and I am going to begin by using a book my other half bought me last year, called "Mess" by Keri Smith.

I love Keri's approach to drawing, it follows my own thoughts that drawing should be fun and playful. You can find our more about Keri here http://www.kerismith.com/blog

Chit Chat

2011-12-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

I will be talking at the Hepworth in Wakefield on Tuesday evening (6th December) about my MA work as part of the Pecha Kucha night, you can find out more about the event and the other speakers here http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/wakefield/4 and more about Pecha Kucha here http://www.pecha-kucha.org/what

Artist in Action

2011-11-29T02:38:00.000-08:00

I was really fortunate to be asked to be an Artist in Action at the Knit and Stitch show in Harrogate this year by Art Van Go. So thought I would share some of the drawing and painting I did with you.

I can easily see these being translated into screen prints and stitch, and they are potentially the starting point for a quilt I am planning.

The Harley Xmas Market

2011-11-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

Lovely weekend at the Harley, scrummy food, some very nice people and a bit of Xmas shopping done!

More work now being shipped down to Devon and Kent, more blocks being prepared....

Quietly Working

2011-10-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

I have been a little quiet recently on my blog, as I have been busy quietly working, both teaching and making. So I have a few events coming up, the first of which is Make in Devon, followed by The Art Market in Holmfirth and on the same weekend, The Headingley Arts Trail. Although I can't make it down to Devon, I will be at the Headingley Arts Trail on Sat 12th Nov and at the Art Market in Holmfirth on Sunday 13th Nov, so I hope to see some of you there. I have some new work to show, a little taster for you ....

Scaling Up

2011-10-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Finally managed to get my hands on some bigger pieces of wood to play with.......

Looking forward to creating something on a larger scale! Oh and Radiant Works where my studio is has a revamped facebook page, so you can find out more about where I work and see some of the other artists and designers who work there - link here Radiant Works

Sadly Dionne Swift my studio neighbour has moved her studio to be closer to home, but happily she does have a lovely new studio, which you can see here Dionne (but we do miss her).

Putting on a Show

2011-10-02T04:55:00.000-07:00

No, not the kind where you need tap dancing shoes and lots of make up, but last week was all about getting ready for the MA Show at MMU.

When I saw these tables in the cafe area of the Holden Gallery at MMU..

... I really wanted the opportunity to use them for the MA show. Responding to a buidling or a place, rather than just locating a ready made piece in the exhibtion, seemed like a really good opportunity and one I didn't want to miss out on.

So I managed to get hold of some old encyclopedias that just happened to be the right size and got on with some serious book demolition.

Sliced up pages transported and ready for installation

Building up the stacked papers

One box down, another 15 to go..

Lovely reflections from the building in the glass

The work is on show at the Holden Gallery at Manchester Metropolitan University untill 4pm Thursday 6th October.

Assessed and Passed!!

2011-10-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

Its been a journey, but I am pleased to say that I am now the proud owner of my MA Textiles from MMU! A few more pics from my assessment.

Lost Narratives

2011-09-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Nearly at the end of my MA, hung the work for assessment last week, and the final show is approaching. A few photos of the last few pieces I made, more to follow....

Unexpected gifts

2011-09-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

One of my studio pals gave me these today.....

They are a strangle little collection - so obviously I am unable to resist taking ownership of them.....
An odd archive of sorts.

Dyed wool samples in lovely cardboard boxes. Its hard to know what I like about them best, the containers, the contents or the lovely hand written recipes and test results.

Just debating as to whether I have time to develop these into something for my MA work, or whether to save them and not rush it. Thanks Martin - lovely present.

First Hurdle

2011-08-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Pleased to say that I have finished the last piece of written work for my MA! A few more weeks before hanging the practical work up for assessment, but it feels great to have got one huge task complete.

I have some decisions to make about what to exhibit, but definitely feels like I am on the last leg of this journey.

Excuses, excuses

2011-08-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy time, trying to complete the final piece of written work for my Masters (nearly there), and squeeze in time to create work for Art in the Gardens in Sheffield. All my excuses for not posting anything recently, but hopefully the state of my studio surfaces and drawers will show that I have not been sunning myself somewhere exotic (if only!).

Hope to see some of you in Sheffield at the weekend, come and say hello!

New Birds on the Blocks

2011-08-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

So I have a few things coming up, but next is Art in the Gardens in Sheffield, you can find out more info here http://www.sbg.org.uk/artinthegardens.asp

I will have some of my new designs available ......

More colours and designs coming soon, hope to see some of you in Sheffield.

International Relations

2011-08-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

I met the very lovely Viviane and Liliane from Belgium at my workshop at the Festival of Quilts, who has done a lovely write up of her visit here http://vidertextil.skynetblogs.be/archive/2011/08/17/festival-of-quilts-2011-3.html Some great photos to see, so take a look. Viviane also very kindly sent me some photos of the workshop.....

Viviane's final piece - love the way she has attached the embroidered piece to her paper for mounting.

Me - talking with my hands as usual!

Liliane's piece - beautifully looped running stitch.

Thanks for sharing Viviane and hope to see you next year!

Festival of Quilts

2011-08-15T02:09:00.000-07:00

Back from teaching at the Festival of Quilts with a brain full of ideas and inspiration after having seen some beautiful work. Met some lovely people on my workshop and at my lecture. My favourite exhibits are (quite rightly) the ones where you can't take photos, but here are the links if you didn't get chance to go, to some of my highlights.

http://www.jetteclover.com/Jette_Clover/Home.html

http://www.marylloydjones.co.uk/

Also the beautiful kantha quilting of Padmaja Krishnan - amazing tiny stitches of detail.

I had a great time and have to thank Dionne http://www.dionneswift.co.uk/ for giving me a lift and setting me up with accomodation while I was there. :)

If you went along to the Festival of Quilts, let me know what your favourites were....

Arty Book

2011-08-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

So, this was my entry into the Open Book Competition run by Bank Street Arts in Sheffield http://bankstreetarts.com/ that I sent off last week.

Sent in the post - despite the Post Office's attempts to stop me (don's ask - grrrr).

Looking forward to seeing all the other entries at the exhibition.

Take it apart - make it into something new

2011-08-10T02:02:00.000-07:00

The MA work continues, getting mean with my books.....

Too kind

2011-08-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

Some lovely mentions this week, find them here http://goingtopieces.blogspot.com/ and here http://itsallaboutthefabric.blogspot.com/ with lots of other interesting things to find on these blogs too, worth a visit.

New Textile Techniques Evening Class

2011-08-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

I have just written a new 6 week evening course for textiles. Click on the tab at the top for more info. Based in my studio, Huddersfield, it will run 6.30pm - 8.30pm on Tuesday evenings. Chance to push your machine embroidery and more that bit further and to learn new skills. Get in touch to book your place.

Dissolvable fabrics Machine Embroidery

Are you interested in fabric?

2011-08-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

Just a little reminder for anyone who is into fabric, textiles, printing, stitching, quilting etc that I will be visting the Festival of Quilts at the NEC from 11th - 14th August. I am giving a talk on the last day that you can book onto (telling you a bit about my journey as a textiler and more about my design process). For more info - check out the link and I hope to see some of you there...

http://www.twistedthread.com/pages/exhibitions/viewExhibition.aspx?id=31

I'm working on it

2011-08-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know that I am planning some new workshops to begin after the summer. I will be repeating some of my popular ones, just sorting out dates and there are some new ones in the pipeline, so keep coming back and I should have them all online by the end of the week. An evening class may be a possibility so if this is something you may be interested in, drop me a line and let me know what sort of techniques you would like to learn about.

Best ideas

2011-08-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

Often find that my best ideas come when I can't sleep. (Or usually the day before a deadline!) Anyway, having been awake for a while, I have been reading in the spare room so as not disturb the rest of the household and came across one of my favourite books that has been hiding in one of my piles. Its called Fingerprint by Chen Design Associations. Link to it here on Amazon if you are interested http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fingerprint-Handmade-Elements-Graphic-Design/dp/1581808712/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312620598&sr=8-1

From one of the chapters

"The hand gathers and secures otherwise scattered notions, infuses each printed page with a human presence and the painstaking care of craft. Whether a structural necessity or an elegant embellishment, the finishing touch of a sewn thread or a wrapped package transforms everyday communication into gifts!"

Mary Kelly Exhibition

2011-08-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I missed the Mary Kelly Exhibtion at the Whitworth, but a few people have said I should seek out the exhibition catalogue and looking at these images on the internet I can see why. Wish I had seen it ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitworthartgallery/5512273952/in/set-72157625956501393

A tutorial with Alice Kettle

2011-08-05T02:17:00.000-07:00

A lot of you stitchers out there will know who Alice Kettle is and I was lucky enough to have a tutorial with her yesterday. Alice has such a great way at phrasing things and had some great ideas to move forward with my ideas. Finally decided that its good not to include words in my work, its more interesting when it is less explicit. This doesn't mean I won't continue to use text and the letter press, just a slightly different approach. I have another tutorial in about a months time with Alice - needless to say I am very exicited about it.

Overlooked

2011-07-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

A few things that didn't seem to grab the audiences attention during testing time for my MA. Left wondering why that was.....

Thanks to Jo who took some of these pics for me (I had forgtotten my camera - its my age)!

Work In Progress

2011-07-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

A little something I am plotting.... not finished yet, but its nearly there.....

Chelford Embroiderers' Guild Workshop Results!

2011-07-22T01:41:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely time with the Embroiderers' Guild Group at Chelford Village Hall. A talk on Wednesday evening followed by my Mapping Marks for Stitch Workshop on the Thursday. It was nice to hear that those who were nervous about their drawing skills, left the day feeling more confident and dare I say actually enjoyed drawing. Translating their drawings into machine embroidered samples and here are some of the results....

An amazingly diverse range of samples. The embellisher was a big hit too.

Last Minute Space on Workshop

2011-07-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

I have had a cancellation so now have a free space on my workshop this weekend. It's the two day Print and Stitch Workshop - more details on the tab at the top of this page or get in touch if you want more info. A great opportunity to learn screen printing for fabric and combine this with some machine embroidery techniques. Held at the studio in Huddersfield on Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 4pm.

Thoughts....

2011-07-12T02:48:00.000-07:00

Bit of time to reflect after Testing Time. Things that seemed to be working, things that were overlooked, wondering why and what to push forward with. These seemed to resonate well with the audience during the crits.

Although people were divided over the use of text. Is it making it too obvious, and can I trust my audience to figure out the messages without spelling it out for them?

People thought the book covers were beautiful, but a comment was made that perhaps I was romanticising the object. I am not sure if this is a bad thing or not. There is an element of nostalgia in the work, but I don't want it to look "twee"

Overall most people thought it was well curated, despite the Fine Art angle that there was too much on display. Do I have the confidence to display a single piece of work? And is this the right thing to do? Considering themes of archive, memory, collecting - would one piece be too minimal?

Big Opinions

2011-07-09T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well a week of crits during Testing Time for my MA has proven very interesting. My first crit was with the Head of the Design Department, who framed the whole thing very nicely by talking about opinions. Something along the lines of.... there are opinions........ big ones........ small ones and even......popular ones, but that none of these descriptions make any of them right or wrong. I thought they were wise words when we were all about to open ourselves and our work up to be critiqued. Overall people seemed to understand some of the themes and concepts I am trying to communicate. Silent crits (which means I don't say anything and the audience is left to work out what the work is about) were particularly insightful and raised up some ideas that I hadn't even realised could be read into it. Fine Art Lecturers had another view again - definitely of the less is more, and that I can afford to leave some things out and trust the audience to find meaning withouth spelling it out for them. Lots to go away and think about....

In terms of my usual way of working - it feel fairly stripped back and minimal, definitely different. Did I make what I thought I would? Absolutely not, where is the stitch I hear you ask?

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

2011-06-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

As part of the MA we have a process called Testing Time, where we have space to hang our work and sign up for group crits/tutorials with various Lecturers and also outside visitors suchs as curators of galleries and museums. I had a frantic day yesterday getting everything set up, plinths in lifts, plan chests on wheels and up and down stairs (thankfully the porters did the plan chest). Wouldn't have achieved it without the fabulous technicians and my other colleagues/plinth carriers. Its great to have sucha a large space to experiment with display although I am a little nervous about the whole crit thing!

We can use something called a 'silent crit' which means I don't have to say anything but just ask my audience to discuss the work and see what their response to it is - I am tempted to try this out first and see whether my themes are coming across in the work. I forgot my good camera yesterday, but there a few good images that I managed to get with my phone - will add a few more as Testing Time continues.....

You can see some of my colleague/plinth carrier's work here too http://sharonbainbridge.blogspot.com/2011/06/testing-time.html

Holmfirth Art Week

2011-06-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

I am taking part in Holmfirth Art Week this year for the first time. I will be there in one of the Open Houses, along with some other very talented artists, including Martin Smith's beautiful kinetic sculptures (Laikingland http://www.laikingland.co.uk/) Andrew Warburton's rugs http://www.arearugs.co.uk/portfolio.html, Dionne Swifts textile art http://www.dionneswift.co.uk/ and more. You can find out more and how to find me on this link http://www.dionneswift.co.uk/art-week-open-house-2nd-9th-july/. I hope to see you there.

Fiona Wilson - Vocabulary of Marks Series

What a lovely day!

2011-06-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

I have to say how lovely all my students were who attended the Mapping Marks for Stitch Workshop yesterday, they really engaged with the work and created some lovely samples. Thank you for making it such an enjoyable day. Here are some piccies of what they got up to....

Suprising how quickly a day can go! Some great embellishing work and a few stitches I had never seen before.

Stitch Business

2011-06-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

I have been very fortunate to have been featured in the newsletter of Stitch Business - an independent stitch school based in Durham, led by Tracy Franklin and Julia Triston. You can find out more here http://www.stitchbusiness.com/site/ and also subscribe to the newsletter yourself. Ali, a student who attended one of my workshops, and who is studying at Stitch Business interviewed me and has made a great job of editing it. So thank you - very kind, and I am now spreading the word in return - its good to share.

MA - yes I am still doing it!

2011-06-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since I posted anything much about my MA, partly because it had to take a back seat during my teaching and assessing of degree students work, and partly because I hadn't done much! Anyway, I have been back in the Letter Press and working with the Laser Cutter - all new to me, but loving some of the possibilities. We have something called Testing Time approaching, which is an opportunity to hang work and have group crits with people who haven't seen you work before. I have to say I am fairly nervous, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Will post some more pictures soon, but something to give you an idea....

Stitched and ready!

2011-06-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

My mapping marks for workshop is going on in the studio tomorrow and I have just been digging out some samples to share with my students, so here's a preview of some of the techniques we will be trying out. Looking forward to seeing you all....

Holmfirth Art Market

2011-06-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Phew, its been a long last two days, getting ready and making for the Holmfirth Art Market tomorrow - you can find more details here http://www.artmarkets.co.uk/ Bit of a taster of what I have been up to and what you can see ...

New wood blocks printed and wrapped with threads.

Studio tools

Hope to see some of you at the Art Market - looks like there will be some interesting artists to see.

Print Workshop

2011-06-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Well its a while since it happened and I have been crazy busy teaching and trying to do a few art trails and markets inbetween, but here are a few imags of the Print and Stitch Workshop that happened in May! A lovely group who shared their ideas and went away with some great work.

Saltaire Open Houses

2011-04-22T04:19:00.000-07:00

The website for the open houses event in Saltaire has now been updates, to find out where I am follow this link http://www.saltaireartstrail.co.uk/artstrail2011/openhouses.htm You can also see all the other artists involved this year, such as Samantha Bryan who makes amazing fairy sculptures and many more.

Wood, Thread and Prints

2011-04-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

Playing on the ideas of print blocks, I have been developing some more new work for the imminent art market and open house I am taking part in.

Soon to be added to my esty shop too.

Certified

2011-04-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Exciting news - I was awarded 2nd place at the Uttoxeter Quilt and Embroidery Show in the Innovative Embroidery Category. A good result for Radiant Works, as Dionne Swift, my neighbour in the studios got first prize. Always worth entering a competition, so get your application for the Festival of Quilts filled in - I am doing mine now.

Preparing Papers, Developing Work

2011-04-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Whenever I get a bit lost, I find painting papers extremely satisfying and it helps to get my brain working again.

Its good just to let things happen, without worrying too much about the results

Book your place for the Stitch and Screen Printing Workshop in May

2011-04-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

I have some places left on my Print and Stitch 2 Day Worshop. Details are below - please get in touch if you would like to book a place and forward details onto your friends if you think it might be suitable for them.

Stitch and Print 2 Day Workshop - £90 per person

Day One will cover some fun and easy drawing and mark making techniques which you will then learn to translate into machine and/or hand embroidery samples that will be used as the starting point for Day Two. The second day covers screen printing techniques to experiment with ways of combining your stitched samples and print onto fabrics. If you have been on my previous workshops, this 2 day workshop is ideal to push what you have learnt so far even further!

Please note - you will need your own sewing machine for this workshop

Times: 10am – 4.00pm

Dates: Saturday and Sunday 14th and 15th May 2011 or Saturday and Sunday 23rd and 24th July 2011

To book: email me on wilson.fiona@rocketmail.com or phone me on 07811 211906.

All workshops are held at my studio at Radiant Works http://www.radiantworks.co.uk/

New Work for the Quilt Museum

2011-04-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Some new pieces that will shortly be wending their way to the Quilt Museum in York to go in their shop as part of the Made in Yorkshire Exhibition that I am exhibiting in, along with other artists such as Dionne Swift and Serena Partridge. You can find out more here http://www.quiltmuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/forthcoming/made-in-yorkshire.html Open from the 7th May.

A little bit of time to reflect

2011-04-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

Preparing for a tutorial tomorrow, just laying out my work and having a review of where I am at. Some things are working - there is still a way to go, but its good to see it all together - just shows that when you don't worry too much about the outcome, things tend to flow. Despite some of my earlier frustrations with this work, its starting to resolve itself, now that I have taken some advice and remembered to enjoy the experimental phase - something I'm always telling other peope to do!

Saltaire Open Houses

2011-04-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to have been selected for the Saltaire Open Houses this year - you can find out more about the event here - http://www.facebook.com/saltaireartstrail - become a fan of the page and every day there will be features about the artists involved - some amazing work this year - so have a look and hopefully you will be able to come along and see me. More details to come nearer the time.

Captured

2011-04-12T05:07:00.000-07:00

Been playing around with some new ideas for some art market/open house events I have coming up and rediscovered my vintage 35mm slide mount collection. Work in progress, but potential perhaps?

I don't like to preach...

2011-04-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

but todays find are these set of World's Great Sermons. I just love the colour and they are such a nice size, just a bit bigger than my hand. However, if you have seen my other posts, you will know that these are unlikely to remain in one piece!

and I have already taken the contents out of this one. I like how the pages expand in width once they are released from the binding of the book. Its sort of how I imagine the contents or memories in our heads if we could stack them all up one on top of the other.

Printing Blocks

2011-04-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in a previous post, different ways of printing (i.e. not screen printing) and thought I'd share some of the printed blocks I've been making from erasers and card and papers. The erasers are a particular cheap way of making your own print blocks - you could even make letters and words this way. I will show some of the results soon.

Threads of conversation...

2011-04-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

Conversations with my grandmother continue, I love listening to her repeat the stories she tells me. As I listen I learn them for myself, threads continue, new threads begin, I pick up another strand and discover my grandfather was away for nearly 6 years during the war, that he was based in Iceland for a while - how do I only know this now? "I remember it all" she says. Making time to keep these records is a valuable time. Threads become long strings of words from small beginnings....

Something's brewing

2011-04-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

I know, there has been a severe lack of blogging recently. I've been doing a lot of teaching, which always makes me reconsider my own work. I have been experimenting with a lot of printing techniques with my students, using polystyrene sheets, cheap erasers, making our own printing blocks using whatever comes to hand, they (the students) have made some very experimental work. My work for the MA is moving along, slowly, but here's a hint of what I'm stewing over.....

Teaching at Festival of Quilts

2011-03-31T03:19:00.000-07:00

I am teaching at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC this year, a workshop and a lecture - follow the link to book your place. The workshop is nearly full, so be quick, running on the 13th August at 3.30. My lecture - a talk about my work and how I create my embroidered and printed panels is at 11.30 am on the 14th August. Hope to see you there.

http://www.twistedthread.com/pages/exhibitions/viewExhibition.aspx?id=31&view=eventgroup&eventGroupId=45

New Workshop - 3D Textiles!

2011-03-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

I have written a new workshop for those of you who would like to explore ways to create and develop more three dimensional embroidery. Come and learn techniques to build structure and form with fabric and stitch. This is a technique driven course which will include smocking, pleats and darts, stuffed and rolled shapes, wire and boning and ways of connecting to develop three dimensional fabric and paper forms. Get in touch to book your place. Please note – own sewing machine required for this workshop.

Times: The course runs from 10.00am – 4.00pm

Cost: £45 per person.

Dates: Saturday 4th June or Saturday 30th July 2011

Venue :Radiant Works, 1st Floor, Back Union Street, Huddersfield, HD1 6AU

Email me on wilson.fiona@rocketmail.com - to book your place.

Gone to a good home.

2011-03-14T02:21:00.000-07:00

Another one sold - thank you!

Sold!

2011-03-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

My first sale to New Zealand! Many thanks :)

Lovely Day at York Embroiderers' Guild Branch

2011-03-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

I had a great time with York Embroiderers Guild Branch on Saturday - extremely friendly and welcoming group and so lovely to see such a proactive group of stitchers! Hope to return soon. Thank you to all of you who made my visit and talk such a pleasure.

Screen Printing Workshop

2011-03-04T02:14:00.000-08:00

I have just one place left for the Screen Printing Workshop called "Print Taster" on Saturday 26th March, so get in touch if you want to attend. This workshop is ideal if you have wanted to try printing onto fabrics with screens but have always thought that it will be complicated and that you needs lots of specialist equipment. Come and learn the basics of screen printing and see how you are able to carry on printing at home. I will go through where to get supplies from, how to mix up dyes, simple techniques to get the most out of a screen to create some beautiful results. You will leave the day with a set of great samples. Great way to produce original fabrics to stitch onto or use for other making projects.

Talk at the York Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild Sat 5th March

2011-03-04T02:10:00.000-08:00

Giving my talk - From Inspiration to Realisation at the York Embroiderers' Guild tomorrow afternoon - looking forward to meeting the members and seeing what they all get up to in their stitching session in the morning!

High Tide

2011-02-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

I am branching out, or perhaps I should say sailing out, new work added to Etsy....

An Etsy Listing a Day

2011-02-18T04:48:00.000-08:00

Well not quite every day, but I am endeavouring to get my etsy shop well stocked to give you some choice. Detail from todays new piece ...

See the link to my etsy shop on the left of the page to see the whole piece. Setting myself the challenge is defintely making me more productive - what challenges are you setting yourself at the moment?

An idea for a fabric swap? Anyone interested?

2011-02-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

Mmmm, I am toying with the idea of a fabric swap and am looking for a bit of feedback to see if anyone would be interested. I am hoping that it might encourage people to create something or perhaps a mini quilt which could be entered into the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August this year. For more details see here http://www.twistedthread.com/pages/exhibitions/viewExhibition.aspx?id=31&view=review

The way it would work would be to leave a comment on my blog, and then email me with your name, address, perhaps your website or blog if you have one. I would partner you up with someone to swap with and then you could post your scraps to each other, make a small fabric panel and share how you got on. You could even enter it into the competition for the Festival of Quilts! (not compulsory). Equally you could make anything you wanted from the scraps and still share how you got on.

I still need to figure out some of the details (rules about quality of fabric, size of scraps etc), but leave a comment if you think it might be something that interests you and if I get enough interest, I will start the process going!

A piece for Ann - New Works added to my Etsy Shop

2011-02-15T02:58:00.000-08:00

I will be slowly but surely adding some of my small quilted and embroidered pieces to my Etsy Shop over the coming weeks, depends how quickly I can make some! See the link to the right of the page if you get tempted. First piece would be ideal for someone called Ann!

Luxury Stitch Day - who needs a spa!

2011-02-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well I have had a lovely day of stitching in the studio, luxury I know, but everything now ready for the Clocktower Exhibition in Sheffield! Few piccies for you...

A love affair with scrim

2011-02-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

So maybe some of you are wondering why I am selling hand dyed scrim on etsy - well its because I love using it in my work and want you to be able to use it too. The main way I use it is with my embellisher (which is a felting machine for those of you have never come across one - highly addictive once you have had a go, so be warned - but well worth the investment).

I tend to use it with dyed wool blanket or dyed wool felt - because of the lovely colours you get. Some illustrations to show you what I mean.

Firstly I take a piece of my hand dyed scrim and a piece of blanket or felt

and place one on top of the other and embellish away.

At this stage it doesn't look that exciting, but when you turn it over after you have embellished it, you get all these lovely little tufts, that almost look like loose stitches.

Its a quick process and makes a great background to further decorate, either with stitch or by using the embellisher to add further layers to it - which I have done here with some chiffon.

There are so many more things you can do with an embellisher, and I will be blogging about these soon. But you can build up layers, embellish stitches into fabrics, wear things away, the list is endless. So that's scrim with an embellisher, I love it! Never had a go of an embellisher? - well book on one of my workshops and you can try it out.

New Pieces of Work

2011-01-29T05:38:00.000-08:00

A couple of new pieces that will be featured in the Clocktower Gallery Exhibition that I am taking part in with my other colleagues from the Society of Designer Craftsmen who are based in and around Sheffield. Will blog with more details and dates later.

Etsy Shop back up and running

2011-01-29T04:46:00.000-08:00

So, after a bit of a hectic last few months, I am beginning to put some works back up on etsy for sale. So you will be able to find this and more over the next few weeks available to purchase. See the Etsy Shop link on the right hand side of the page.

Selected designs - concertina sketch books 10cm x 10cm - now available on Etsy.

Workshop Wonders

2011-01-24T01:25:00.000-08:00

The Mapping Marks for Stitch Workshop on Saturday was a joy to teach, so thank you to the lovely students who attended. I think there were a few pleasantly suprised people who realised drawing can be fun (yes, really, its true) and the embellisher machine was definitely a hit! Some great work was produced by everyone.

I still have a few places left on the Mapping Marks for Stitch workshop in June and a Print Taster workshop is planned for March - check out the other pages on my blog for dates and details.

Revamped!

2011-01-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

A big thank you goes to my lovely man who has spent a couple of long mornings rejigging and revamping my studio space. It looks great and I can't wait to share it with my workshop participants this weekend. I now have a lovely print table down one side of the studio, great for standing up at and lots of surface space. On the other side, he has made me a long desk for sitting at, which will comfortable sit four people with sewing machines! I can still fit in my plan chest and I have another desk by the window to sit and draw at, or more sewing, you get the idea. Bliss. I am one happy lady :)

Second Stage of Writing completed - time for some making

2011-01-14T01:51:00.000-08:00

Finished my writing for the second stage of MA and handed in yesterday. Probably not my best piece of writing, but it feels good to have got it done and now I can crack on with some actual practical work. Not at the stage for showing pictures just yet, but in a couple of weeks it will be hung for assessment, so come back and check for an update.

In the meantime - my workshop for January is now full - but check out my other upcoming dates for a chance to come to the studio and develop your technical and design skills. Looking forward to seeing those of you who are coming on the 22nd Jan.

Final thought as go into 2011

2010-12-31T11:24:00.000-08:00

"Limits are a secret blessing..."

Twyla Tharp

HAPPY NEW YEAR x

Back to it - smile please :)

2010-12-30T04:52:00.000-08:00

So having picked myself up from the gloom of yesterday (thanks for the words of wisdom from Leslie on previous post), called back into the studio for a few hours and took some more photos to document my work so far and make some notes. There are some good ideas there, I just need to make a bit more sense of them to move it on.

Binding things shut - a memory contained, or lost, inaccessable.

Small scrolls, a collection of memories.

Wrapped in gold thread, preserved, threads of conversation, connected, stored.

at the edge of memory, blurred details, vivid imagery.

Missing, extracted, empty, absent.

Grrrrrr

2010-12-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

I feel like growling - as unbelievably I have another cold! So despite making it to the studio, I found myself completely ineffective, so just wasted 3 hours stood staring at scraps of paper, bits of thread and generally being confused. There are a few key themes that I am trying to illustrate through my work, and it is a much more conceptual way of working than I am used to. I am trying to show time through the use of materials, depict memory found and memory lost, a way of containing or preserving time and memory. I want to find a way to embed these ideas through the process of making. The handmade quality of my work is important and I don't want the concept to overpower the making of it - I really dislike the sort of art that has some deep meaning, but looks badly made. I worry that although I have narrowed my research down, there are so many avenues to explore that I am still confused about what I am doing.

Continuing with ideas around the breakdown printing method - this appeals to me as the words I have written slowly become less clear, mimicking the way our memory works - but a piece of cloth somehow doesn't seem enough - and now what to I do with it?

A disastrous attempt using chemicals to create photographic prints. The photo of the process looks more interesting than the prints, mainly because I missed the essential final part of the process which was to wash the papers, so they all slowly developed to leave me with a nice collection of blank brown pages?! Perhaps if I filmed this accident, that could be a way of illustrating time (me? film something? EEK)

Slowly burning pages to extract them from an old book, makes a good image.

Wrapping and binding as a way to preserve or contain.

There are ideas here, but the experimentation all seems a little haphazard, I feel I need a process or perhaps certain techniques to help pin my work down. Questions, that's what I've got lots of!

Snowy Seaside Sneaky break ...

2010-12-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we managed a few nights away to sunny and snowy Scarborough on the east coast, was lovely, very pretty, so just thought I would share a few of the photos with you...

View from the flat we stayed in

Wintery walk on the Cleveland Way

Stormy seas

Lovely, but freezing cold.

and the winner is.....

2010-12-21T02:50:00.000-08:00

Emma Thomsen is the lucky follower to get the prize! Picture will be finding its way to you through the snow soon - hope you like it. Sorry to my other followers who didn't win this time - but keep your eye out for future giveaways. I will be blogging over Xmas, so please come back and visit me over the Xmas holidays. Happy Christmas to everyone who follows and thank you for all your words of encouragement this year.

Become a Follower to win.....

2010-12-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, so as promised, to celebrate now having over 50 followers on my blog I am having a bit of a give away. If you want to be included you need to become a follower by Wednesday 15th December and you will automatically be entered. One follower will be picked at random (put in a hat and picked out by my better half) and I will post it out to you. The prize is pictured below. So get following and good luck.....

Little give away coming soon....

2010-12-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

As I now have over 50 followers I am doing a little give away of a piece of my work. Will post an image soon (forgotten to bring my camera to the studio)... so watch this space - image will go up tonight with details of how to take part.

Back from Knit and Stitch at Harrogate!

2010-11-30T01:29:00.000-08:00

Back from the show at Harrogate - which was a lovely event and so nice to meet lots of people. I practically have no voice left after all that chatting. Hoping everyone got home safe on the Sunday - the snow caused chaos! Will be back soon to update my blog, as I have a lot of catching up to do..........

One presentation done - on with the practical stuff

2010-11-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

I had a presentation to give for my MA on Thursday - it had been a bit of a mad dash of reading and trying to write it after the trip to Dublin, but I got through it and I have to say all the reading and research over the last month or so is beginning to help me find a way for the practical side. Because my Grandmother has become more of the focus for my research, I have found myself quite emotional at times, when reading about memory,time, absence and loss - the key themes for my work. Fortunately I have been spending more time with my Grandmother gathering stories, memories and photographs - just got to translate this into something more solid now.

I think she is enjoying retelling the stories and the excitement of being recorded via my laptop! It seems important to find a way of preserving these times but I am still trying to find ways to illustrate these themes of time and memory - how do you illustrate something that is intangible??

Back from Dublin!

2010-11-02T04:03:00.001-07:00

Had a fab time in Dublin - the people were lovely and so friendly that I would love to go back at some point and exhibit again. Thank you to everyone who came for a chat and again to my Mum for being there to help me out. Back to the studio this week to tidy up! And then busy creating some new work for the Harrogate Knit and Stitch show - hope to see some of you there.

oo - and before I forget - few places left on my print taster workshop!

2010-10-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

Before I set off to Dublin , just a reminder that I have a few places left on my print taster workshop, to be held at my studio in Huddersfield, on Saturday 13th November, it will be great opportunity to try out a variety of printing techniques and leave the day with some lovely fabric samples and some new skills. Check out the workshop pages on my blog or my wesbite for more details. Would make a very nice early Xmas gift for someone too!

Off to Dublin!

2010-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well its been a mad couple of weeks since getting back from London. Beteween teaching at Leeds and Huddersfield, reading for my MA and trying to get a bit more work ready to take Dublin, there hasn't been a lot of time for blogging - or much else!

Anyway - I am really looking forward to going to Dublin and meeting some new people! A few pics of new work......

Back from London

2010-10-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

Well I made it back from London late last night after 5 days at Alexandra Palace. It was a great show and I met some very lovely people who said some very kind things about my work. So thank you if you were one of them. If you didn't make it down to London, there is still chance to catch the Knit and Stitch Show at Dublin and Harrogate. Some great exhibitions to see and a very high standard of embroidery in general. Although I have to say I think the graduates on the Knit Awards stand were probably one of my favourite stands. So what next.... I need to make some more work to take to Dublin and I have a lot of catching up to do for my MA! Thanks to my Mum as well, who was a fabulous map reader and general all round supporter - couldn't have done it without you.

Stitch, stitch, stich - getting ready for Ally Pally

2010-09-30T02:01:00.000-07:00

Not long now before the Knit and Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace. I am currently surrounded by fabric, frames, threads and more. Hoping to see some of you there, please come and say hello - I will be on the Embroiderers' Guild Graduate Showcase Stand. Four days of great textile work to see - I only hope I get a little chance to escape my stand to have a look around too - but thankfully I have an assistant (Mother) who will stand in for me for a little while - so you can come and say hello to her too :)

Thank you

2010-09-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all the lovely people who visited the studio at Radiant Works over the last 2 weekends, for all the nice comments about the work and those who purchased things too. Hope to see you all again next year.
Back to the grindstone now...

Open for Viewing

2010-09-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

Its your last chance to come and see the studio this weekend as part of the HOST event - http://www.hoststudios.co.uk/
You can find directions to Radiant Works here http://www.radiantworks.co.uk/rw4.htm
Not just my work here - so come and join us, we have fizz and wine too!

Well it was tidy...

2010-09-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

The studio was looking all pristine and then I have a good creative day (which has been a long time coming) and made some pieces of work that I am reasonably pleased with (is everyone as bad as me when crticizing their own work?) and look what I did to my nice tidy studio!

I have had one of those funny weeks (read as months), where I start to panic about all the things I am trying to do and got myself into a bit of a rut. Fortunately I have lovely people around me with positive thoughts and ideas and so thanks to them, today has been good, messy but good. Time for tea and biscuits....

Nearly ready!

2010-09-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

Its been very busy in the studio this week, with a frenzy of making and tidying up. Nearly there, just a bit more tidying to do with some help from all the artists who will be exhibiting this weekend and next. Hope to see some of you at the Preview Night at Huddersfield University tomorrow night (6pm - 8pm) and obviously at the Studio - Radiant Works on Saturday and Sunday (11am - 5pm). Its a really good chance to see some great work and also an opportunity to see some of us in action. I will be busy making work to take to the Knit and Stitch Shows, so there will be some printing, some machine embroidery and the embellisher may even make an appearance (only if its good). So if you don't know what an embellisher is - now is your chance to find out. For more info check out the HOST site at http://www.hoststudios.co.uk/

Printing in the Studio

2010-09-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

Full day at the studio today - which is a treat - so starting with printing some backgrounds for stitching and cutting up to stitch.

Using my squeegee on the piece above to use up excess binder - waste not want not. And below are some results from the break down printing technique (see the committed cloth link to the right for more info on this)

Lots to do, getting ready for HOST and the Knit and Stitch Shows, just waiting for some new screens to arrive from Thermofax and then the stitching begins!

Back from Sheffield

2010-09-06T01:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a very lovely time at Art in the Gardens in Sheffield. Great event, added to that an award for our stand! Very exciting, so I think we will all be going again next year, maybe with a few more of our colleagues from the Society of Designer Craftsmen. Thank you to anyone who bought some of my work, everyone was very friendly and interested in our stand.

Back in the studio today, getting ready for HOST next - don't forget to come and see me during the open studio weekend (last 2 weekends in Sept). No rest for wicked me!

New Workshop Dates now added

2010-09-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Just added some new workshop dates, see the pages on the blog or visit my website on www.wix.com/fionawilson/fionawilson for more info.

Textilearts.net

2010-09-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

textilearts.net is a great website and they have very kindly put some blurb on there about me this month - check out the link
www.textilearts.net/news/2010/09/02/fiona-wilson-embroiderers-guild-scholar/

The power of twitter!

2010-09-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Despite trying to avoid tweeting and facebooking and all those other things - beginning to realise just how useful they are for spreading information about and networking - so thanks to a few nudges from the others at Radiant Works (studio where I am based
www.radiantworks.co.uk ) I am now on Twitter too! And I even have some followers, so thanks to anyone who retweeted me! (eek even learning the lingo) So if I can do it - anyone can!

I'm in this months Embroidery Magazine!

2010-09-02T01:33:00.001-07:00

Very excited to be in the Embroidery Magazine this month as one of the Guild Scholars. Emma Ludgren is the other scholar whose work looks amazing so will be great to meet her at the knit and stitch shows. Great issue of the magazine this month so make sure you get your copy.

Art in the Gardens - Sheffield - This Weekend

2010-09-01T05:28:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that I will be at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens this weekend for Art in the Gardens, along with my other colleagues from the Society of Designer Craftsmen. Please come and see us if you can. The preview night is Friday 3rd Sept 6.30pm - 10pm and then its also on all day Saturday 4th Sept and Sunday 5th Sept. I will be doing a bit of demonstrating on the Sunday and other artists will also be showing some techniques during the event. See you there.

New work ready for Artsmix Market

2010-08-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Its been a hive of activity in the studio over the last few days, I have a lot of events coming in September, October and November, so trying to keep up to speed with it all. Sharon asked earlier what I was going to do with the scrim I dyed last week, so here it is now made into scrim and wool scarves ...

I have also developed some new concertina books with my print designs on them...

You can see them for real at the the art market at Castle Howard on Bank Holiday Monday, or at HOST in September.