Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Happy New Year

The Oxford branch of the Embroiderers' Guild is a friendly and active group of embroiderers and mixed media artists of all levels of experience and a broad range of interests. We meet at 7.15pm on the second Wednesday of each month (except August) at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

For Oxford Branch the year begins in September and we have an exciting 12 months ahead of us.

Ten Fascinating Lectures

We have a varied programme of interesting speakers, including a contemporary artist whose ‘signature’ materials are cement and textiles; a student of traditional Japanese embroidery; a jewellery designer whose flamboyant adornments are the influence of nature; an applied artist who uses ‘soft materials’ in her one-off tactile and organic pieces; and an artist who aims to both celebrate and critique vintage textile pieces. Other lectures will be on the history of banners and why they have their place in the contemporary arts; the attraction of repaired things and the intimacy of being shown the holes in other people’s clothes; an introduction to the Textile Collections of at the Ashmolean Museum; and a year in the life of an Embroiderers’ Guild Scholar.

Five Fun Workshops

In the workshops we will experiment with silk papers; learn Japanese bead embroidery techniques; explore a range of different print techniques with can be used on paper and fabric; try out different techniques to create a range of different flowers; and try our hand at white work.

And Two 'Big' Events

Celebrating Capability Brown at Blenheim Palace

The entire Embroiderers’ Guild will be celebrating Capability Brown at venues up and down the country. Oxford Branch are delighted that Blenheim Palace will be hosting and exhibition of our work from Saturday, 13 February to Monday, 2 May 2016.

© Blenheim Palace

South East West Regional Day

Oxford Branch are proud to be hosting the SEW Regional Day on Saturday, 16 April, 2016 and we hope to make it the best Regional Day yet. We are very excited about our two guest speakers, Diana Springall and Michele Carragher.

Diana Springall is amongst the most well-known of all British textile artists. Her work is found in many private and public collections, including the Embroiderers' Guild. She has devoted more than half of her forty plus year career to full-time teaching and lecturing. Diana is also a former chairman of The Embroiderers' Guild and has written five books on the subject of embroidery.

Michele Carragher is a hand embroiderer who has been working in costume on film and television productions for over 15 years. She was principal costume embroiderer on the Emmy costume award-winning production of "Elizabeth 1" and her most recent work has been on the Costume award-winning television series "Game of Thrones", working on all five seasons.

There will be a selection of traders present, including Art Van Go and 21st Century Yarn.

The competition, titled "Any silk, any thread" (Act IV, scene IV, A Winter’s Tale) is a celebration of 400 years of William Shakespeare. Work may be based on the competition title "Any silk, any thread", on the play A Winter's Tale or any aspect of William Shakespeare that offers inspiration.

William Shakespeare

If you are interested in embroidery and/or mixed media art why not join us. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

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