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

Cherrilyn Tyler Workshop

There are still a few places available for this Saturday's workshop, 26 September.

Cherrilyn Tyler

 

 Working in an Experimental Way to Make Silk Papers

To experiment using a variety of silk fibres to make papers to use in stitch. At the end of the day you will have at least 5 different papers and ideas as to how to use them.

Saturday, 26 September, 2016 10.00 am - 4.00 pm

Marsh Baldon Village Hall

Marsh Baldon

Oxford

OX44 9LL

Members £27

Non-members £32

9 September 2015, Bethany Walker - "Breaking the Mould"

Last night was the first branch meeting for the 2015/16 programme and what a great start to the new year. The meeting was really well attended. Some of our branch have been members for many years so there was a lot of meeting and greeting long-time friends but there were also many visitors and new members so there was a buzz of excitement of meeting new friends.

There was also a lot of business to get through at the beginning of the meeting – Oxford Branch has a lot to look forward to over the next few months – but Karen got through it all in reasonable time so we could sit back and enjoy our speaker for the evening.

Bethany Walker is an exciting emerging Mixed Media Artist best known for her ‘signature’ combination of materials – cement and textiles - unique and surprising mix so Bethany began by telling us how it came about.

© Bethany Walker

Bethany told us about how she had enjoyed ‘making’ from an early age and that, although she enjoyed art at school, she was not confident about drawing and painting. We heard how working as an intern for mixed media artist Laura McCafferty convinced her to take the advice of her art teacher to take an art foundation course before going to University.

Early work based on road markings
© Bethany Walker

In the third year Bethany at De Montfort University, found inspiration for her degree show in the urban environment of her walking route to and from campus. On her website, Bethany describes it thus :

“A derelict building with its windows smashed and exposed brickwork covered with graffiti; a weathered billboard, its latest poster peeling revealing the one below; rusty railings which look as though tiny volcanoes have erupted all over it tarnishing it with burn marks.”

© Bethany Walker

© Bethany Walker

For her degree show Bethany focused on the streets and pavements - the contrast of colour between the dull tarmac and the bright flashes of road markings. While essentially happy with her first piece of work – screen printing and mark-making on canvas - Bethany felt that it was lacking something. A fellow student suggested, “Why don’t you dip it in cement?”. The throw away comment was intended as a joke but Bethany recognised that this radical contrast of texture was exactly what she was aiming for. She did exactly that and was pleased with the outcome. After that Bethany devised her own methods for combining textiles with the cement mix resulting in captivating and intriguing pieces.

Following her degree show Bethany was invited to take part in the New Designers Exhibition, where she made her first sale, then spent a year as artist in residence at De Montfort University.

Interlace
© Ruth Singer & Bethany Walker

Interlace
© Ruth Singer & Bethany Walker

Last year Bethany was invited by textile artist, Ruth Singer, to work in collaboration with her, resulting in Interlace – a colourful and surprising installations formed of concrete bowls set with delicate textiles. Since their first exhibition at Bilston Craft Gallery, Ruth and Bethany continue to work and exhibit together.

New samples exploring rust
© Bethany Walker

Meanwhile Bethany continues to work on her own collections and has begun exploring and developing ideas based upon rust.

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

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.

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

What's on in February

This month our guest speaker is Cherrilyn Tyler.

Cherrilyn has been a practising textile artist and teacher for over 20 years. Her work has an ethereal quality using a very delicate colour palette and fine fabrics strongly based on quality of stitch and design.

© Cherrilyn Tyler

"It's Pants"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 1 February 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

What's on in January

Our first guest speaker of 2015 is our very own Wendy Hughes! Wendy's profile begins by saying

"In a globalised world in which hi-tech is more and more playing a major role in peoples lives, Wendy Hughes’ work goes against the trend. Her preoccupation is with work which has an effortless randomness and irregularity only possible when produced by hand."

and concludes with

"Wendy Hughes’ work is intuitive and materially led. She pares down her ideas to minimum. There is no unnecessary decoration. The fabrics she uses add softness and vulnerability to forms the otherwise would be severe in their minimalism.

The work stands by itself, a statement in simplicity."

© Wendy Hughes

"My Journey with Fabric and Thread"
7.15 pm on Wednesday 14 January 2015
at Iffley Village Church Hall, Iffley, OX4 4EG.

Visitors welcome £5.00

12 November 2014, Yulia Badian - "Woodland Boudoir"

Yulia is a member of Silkfelt - a collective of fibre artists interested in working with fairy tales, myth and folklore. Their website entices you to "play with fibres, fabrics, dyes; add soap and water, heat and time; stroke, rub, vibrate, roll, throw, tie, press, clamp, stitch, fold or cut. And let us use our creativity freely and find out what IS possible". Yulia herself is a self-confessed "ditzy" mother of two girls and a felt fanatic, and if her talk is anything to go by, if you do a workshop with her, you will have a day full of surprises and giggles.

Yulia first took us through an installation project entitled Woodland Boudoir which was shown at the Knitting & Stitching Show 2013. The idea had come about over a glass of wine (or three) shared with friends during a stay in Yorkshire. As can be the way when a group of creative women get together, they decided to work together and share their skills to create an installation project which would tell stories of their lives through fairy tales. Whilst you may think of the surface innocence of stories from Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, such tales often had undercurrents running through them where the woods stood to represent female sexuality, a place that young girls could get lost in but which was inhabited by mature women in tune with both nature and themselves (at least that’s how these ladies chose to view it !!)

© Silkfelt

Yulia finds working in a group very inspirational and she worked with 7 others to create this work which includes not only felt but woven willow (by Debbie Hall), hand painted wallpaper (Hannah Stippl and Anita Duller) and embroidery (Gilda Baron). Yulia had a good range of photos that showed how meticulously made and varied the pieces were, some being multi layered and she explained how these were done. There were technical problems along the way, but Yulia is a positive and resilient person, so found a way round them – including jetting off to Holland barely days before the show to use large-scale felting machines.

It was over another glass (or three) of wine that the next project took shape – The Mermaid Project (shown at K&S 2014). A conversation which started along the lines of "what women do to change their bodies and all for the sake of love" culminated in the idea that The Little Mermaid made the ultimate sacrifice in using cosmetic surgery to try and catch her man. "A shape-shifting figure for our own times, a tragic heroine who seeks to transform her appearance in order to get what (she thinks) she wants, and in the process destroys her own beauty and ultimately herself." There was much laughter and ribaldry at the suggested props required to turn a pretty little mermaid into a middle-aged woman…. followed by what middle-aged women do to keep up appearances (and we don’t mean elocution lessons from Hyacinth Bucket). To quote their thoughts "We all resonate with the lure of the quick fix the sweet banter of the witch. Luring us with our insecurities promising to fulfill our desire for love with her lotions and potions, shaving, lifting, filling, tucking our flesh as short cuts to a happier life."

Using felt, Yulia, Rosi and Linda addressed all these themes. I must admit to getting a bit lost at this point… I wasn’t quite sure how a piece which seemed (to me) to be seahorses and was entitled "Shotgun Wedding" came out of The Little Mermaid idea. Made from Bergschaf (wool from Austrian sheep), Teeswater curls, Silk, Horsehair, French Lace, Silicone, shells all wet felted over various armatures, it was nonetheless an interesting and clever trio of pieces. I could understand the pink legs, cross-stitched all down the back, and appreciate the full length felted and slashed Sea Witch coat, but I wasn’t sure about a twisted, gnarled and felted shape representing the witch itself. Many of the pieces are 3d and Yulia explained some of the clever techniques used to create them – such as felting around shapes which are cut out when it is dry so the 3d shape is maintained.

© Silkfelt

Now, if you embarrass easily or prefer not to know the more intimate type of other props they created, feel free to skip this paragraph. The Mermaid idea then moved into colourful phallic shapes and pale hymen-busters complete with beaded edges (cutely entitled Honeymoon Fresh) followed by a set of mounted merkins (genital wigs as used by stars of film and theatre and, apparently, a lot of oriental ladies). By now our audience had dissolved into a giggling mass of amusement, both from discovering such things existed and seeing how they were being portrayed in felt and other materials.

Obviously Yulia and her co-workers can get a lot of mileage from one idea. The phrase "impossible textiles" is one that is associated with this sort of work – the type of image that you can see in your head but wonder how on earth you will actually create it. One of her collaborators – Sue Walton – did a similar thing with Jabberwocky – "a surreal tableau inspired by the vivid imagination Lewis Carroll… where sculpted felt combines with contrasting and diverse materials". If you’ve never seen it, have a look on www.suewalton.co.uk.

© Silkfelt

There is no doubt that Yulia has an ethical approach to the materials she uses – for example, preferring wool from sheep that have lived as naturally as possible. She is a lady now comfortable in her own skin and that comes across in her work. Her presentation was natural and fun, scattered with anecdotes about how she got to where she is now, but can be thought provoking if you look beyond the initial ideas. Her Facebook page has lots more interesting stuff if you like her work and want to know what she is currently thinking about. This was a side of felt-making that I had not seen before and I had not appreciated how stunning it could look when done on such a large scale. She knows her subject, and if you’d like an evening with a capital E for entertainment, then look no further than Yulia.

20/21 Sampler - Susan Humphrey

Following the great success of The Big Stitch in 2012, the Ashmolean Museum and the Embroiderer’s Guild decided to host a second day in conjunction with the Eye of the Needle exhibition. As part of that event, SEW Region held a members’ competition to create a “Modern Sampler”.

Oxford Branch submitted a group entry. Nine members contributed ten A5 textile pages each completed using a different technique. Traditional hand embroidery techniques were used on five of the pages (the 20’s), the other five (the 21’s) used contemporary textile art techniques.

© Susan Humphrey

Traditional gold work.