What's on in March

Richard McVitis is a London based artist. McVitis uses a range of media including drawing, installation, and textiles to explore our perception of space and time. In this talk Richard will talk discuss how his minimalist work is an endless exploration, not just of form but of the reclamation and potential of process and repetition within stitch.

© Richard McVitis

"Units of Time"
7.15 pm on 13 March 2019
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in June

During twice yearly visits to the Himalayas, Alain Rouveure collects works from craftsmen he admires, and sells them worldwide at exhibitions, his "Tibetan Rugs in Exile" lectures and from his Galleries in the Cotswolds. Most items on sale, especially his Tibetan rugs, are commissioned by him.

Alain believes that business does not have to be driven by profits at all costs. New or old, each item in his Galleries is unique and has been selected for its quality, its obvious visual appeal and the ethical nature of its production and provenance ... no child labour ... no harmful chemicals ... minimal impact on a fragile environment ... no looting of temples in search of antiques.

© Alain Rouveure

"Tibetan Rugs in Exile"
7.15 pm on 14 June 2017
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in May

Natalia Manley is a textile artist specialising in quilted and embroidered textile hangings for walls. She uses many techniques in her work including fabric collage, applique, patchwork, quilting, hand and machine embroidery as well as painting on fabric and canvas. She has won many awards for her work, most recently at the 2011 "Pour l'amour du fil" international exhibition in Nantes, France for her piece "Arrive without Traveling". She held her first solo exhibition in 1989 at the Henley Exhibition centre, UK, and has since exhibited her work regularly throughout the UK, USA, Europe and Middle East.

© Natalia Manley

"Glorious Colour"
7.15 pm on 10 May 2017
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in April

Lisa Leigh's works are created using mainly recycled materials that push her creativity & uphold her ethos of non wastage of re-usable goods.

© Lisa Leigh

"Eco Alkhemy – Raised embroideries created from recycled materials"
7.15 pm on 12 April 2017
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in March

Inspired by her love of nature and fairytales, Isabel Howe's current work consists of sewn, laser cut wooden scenes using surrealism as a theme. Isabel experiments with scale to create mysterious and intriguing pieces of work which play with your imagination. She finds that a narrative informs her work and enjoys making pieces which brings the viewer into a story world.

© Isabel Howe

"My Floral Travels"
7.15 pm on 8 March 2017
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in February

"Taxtiles" is a merge of two words "Textile & Taxidermy" Breaking the boundaries to create edgy unique pieces of artwork/gifts for the home and business. Some items are what is called “textile taxidermy” in which techniques used in taxidermy are translated into fabric, yarn and thread. Becky Dick then uses her own style and process called weave binding™ to create these wonderful creatures. No animals were harmed in the writing of this blog.

© Becky Dick

"Taxtiles"
7.15 pm on 8 February 2017
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in January

Jessa Fairbrother practice is largely concerned with gesture, making explicit the moment when the donor of the gesture and the gaze of the viewer collide. Jessa says, "I am fascinated by how we perform ourselves continuously, role-playing our identities responding to the ongoing performance of others. In doing so I search for communal meanings defined and given shape through the presence of a figure - this is mostly my own - and make long-term work about how this writes itself upon the body. The purpose of thread, mark-making and stitch are central, physically piercing and extending the image-object beyond a single time and space."

© Jessa Fairbrother

"Stitching myself into the image: embroidering the photograph"
7.15 pm on 11 January 2017
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in November

Sally Richardson’s work aims to both celebrate and critique vintage textile pieces. It explores both their social and gendered nature using three key themes. The first theme is repetition. Using a range of knitting, crochet, lace, and tatting to inform her drawing, she hopes to give a sense of the methodical and monotonous nature of both the textile pieces and her drawing. Second, using doilies as an example, Sally aims to show how these were used as a symbol of respectability and femininity but have since become redundant, now more likely to be viewed as out of date and a sign of old age. Third, by creating drawings on pages of instructional textile magazines Sally tries to highlight the way in which the instructions actively prevent creativity by providing a set of compulsory steps which undermine any artistic intervention.

© Sally Richardson

"The Art of the Doily"
7.15 pm on 9 November 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in September

Aimee Payton gives an introduction to the Textile Collections, highlighting unique and interesting objects and embroidered items.

© The Ashmolean Museum

"Textile Collections at the Ashmolean"
7.15 pm on 14 September 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in May

Caroline Bell will be talking about her journey to becoming an Embroiderers’ Guild Scholar, what happened during the year, how she spent the grant, and what happened next.

© Caroline Bell

"My year as Embroiderers’ Guild Scholar"
7.15 pm on 11 May 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in April

Harriet Stiles will be discussing her journey as a self-employed jewellery designer to date - the influence of nature, flora and fauna, and rural Herefordshire, with an underlying desire to contemporise traditional needlework, by designing and making flamboyant adornments.

© Harriet Stiles

"Embroidered Adornments"
7.15 pm on 13 April 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in March

Artist Celia Pym gives a talk about her work with focus on darning and mending projects, including the biggest mend she has done – Norwegian Sweater, project with Richard Wingate at KCL dissecting room, Mending and Anatomy, practicing darning and the effort to ‘get your darning and tension right, perfect’: new work Practice Socks. The talk will be about why Celia is attracted to repaired things, the intimacy of being shown the holes in other people’s clothes, and why making holes visible in repair is exciting.

© Celia Pym

"Looking after things, experiences with mending and darning"
7.15 pm on 9 March 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in February

Ed Hall will deliver a talk on the history of banners during our industrial heritage, suffragette banners, Ed’s work 1984-2015, his collaboration with artist Jeremy Deller, and why banners have their place in the contemporary arts.

© Ed Hall

"Banners"
7.15 pm on 10 February 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in January

Maria Boyle is an applied artist who works mainly with the ‘soft materials’ of cloth, wool and thread, Maria will talk about her journey with colour and textures when developing her Lichen collection of layered one-off tactile and organic pieces.

© Maria Boyle

"Lichen: Exploring colour, texture and mark"
7.15 pm on 13 January 2016
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in November

Following a talk on Japanese Embroidery in 2014, branch member, Carol-Anne Conway enrolled on a 5 day course with the speaker. Since then she has immersed herself in pursuit of learning the art of traditional Japanese embroidery and beadwork.

© Carol-Anne Conway

"Learning Japanese"
7.15 pm on 11 November 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £6.00

What's on in October

Annual General Meeting followed by a short talk by Doke Ostle, a Dutch artist who lives in Oxford. She will show us her haunting pictures made from petals.

© Doke Ostle

"Creative Adventures"
7.15 pm on 14 October 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

What's on in September

Bethany Walker is an exciting emerging Mixed Media Artist best known for her ‘signature’ combination of materials – cement and textiles. This dynamic contrast of materials create beautiful and captivating pieces which possess immense tactile qualities. Bethany has developed her individual hand techniques, meaning each piece is individual and creates intrigue with its integral shape, colour and relief.

© Bethany Walker

"Breaking the Mould"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 9 September 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

What's on in June

Karen Grenfell a professional artist who combines her love of hand embroidery with painting producing mixed media works including a range of Cockney Sparrows and Budgie Stufferies, and a unique pet portrait service which can be found around the globe from Alaska to Australia! She is the artist behind MimiLove Forever and her works have appeared in various shows and galleries.

© Karen Grenfell

"A Needle, a Paintbrush and Too Much Time on My Hands"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 10 June 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

What's on in May

This month's guest speaker, Rosie James, is a textile artist who, in her own words, "creates all kinds of things using my sewing machine". Rosie will be giving a lecture exploring the work of contemporary textile artists who use the sewing machine as a drawing tool. We will be looking at various artists and considering their inspirations and techniques, concepts and ideas.

© Rosie James

"Stitch Draw"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 13 May 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

What's on in March

This month our guest speaker is Claire Blackburn.

"An Insight into my work with an emphasis on the anthropological nature of my pieces; recording stories in stitch, the things that inspire me and the variety of techniques I employ within my practice."

© Claire Blackburn

"A Homage to the Ordinary"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 12 March 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00