Wonderwool Wales

I can't believe the contrast between last year's Wonderwool and this year's - last year we were in a heat wave, and I went in linen trousers, a summer top and sandals - this year it was 5 degrees on the way there, with icy winds inside and out, and the ever-present threat of rain - and that was on the Saturday, before the weather really got going on Sunday!

Weather notwithstanding, it was a fabulous show - I thought it was yet again busier than in previous years (although that might have been partly because people had seen Sunday's forecast and all decided to go on Saturday!) with a really good atmosphere and lots and lots and lots of really high-quality exhibitors.  I took a friend who was a Wonderwool-virgin, and warned her that she'd have sensory overload - she described it as 'jaw-dropping, breath-taking', which is about right!  The colours and textures have to be seen to be believed.  It was great to catch up with a number of producers and makers whom I have been in contact with via Twitter but never actually met, and I managed to get everything on my shopping list apart from hand-carders (the queue at Wingham Wool Work's stand was just too long - they really need to think about bringing more staff to Wonderwool to take people's money!) and not to get tempted by too many goodies that were not on my list.

The only issue was food - unlike previous years, the catering vans were squashed up against the back of the building, so that it was very hard to queue without obstructing the other vans.  Also, there simply were not enough caterers for the number of people there - we joined the shortest queue at 12.30, and it took us 40 minutes (in the Arctic wind) to get served.  That's 40 minutes less browsing/shopping time!  I heard later that some of the caterers ran out of food.  Also, we then had to eat standing up as there were simply not enough chairs in the seating area.  Queues for coffee inside the hall snaked right across the building, so we didn't bother with hot drinks even though we were in dire need of them to thaw us out.  We (and others who had been at the show) ended up having tea at Erwood Station craft centre afterwards.  If numbers attending Wonderwool Wales continue to increase at the present rates, the organisers really will need to think about catering arrangements, and/or suggest that people bring their own packed lunches and flasks, and maybe even folding chairs!

However, despite the trials of the cold and the catering, as regards exhibitors it was the best show yet.  There seemed again to be fewer stands selling finished products, and more selling high-quality materials.  My impressions was that there were fewer batts for spinners, but more yarn, needles and patterns for knitters.  I couldn't find any mention of the Wool Board being there, which is odd as you'd have thought they would want to connect with all this vast number of wool-users, and I couldn't find the Campaign for Wool either, which is even more extraordinary as they explicitly have an understanding of the role of artisan wool users.

Real live sheep are always a bonus at events like this, and it was good to see the Shetlands, Manx Loughtans etc - I think they were the only ones who were well enough wrapped up against the cold!

So, having had lots of wool-related activity over the past few days (including a two-day course with Liz Clay on Thursday and Friday which I will try to blog about soon) it's now back to the day job, and catching up on my inbox...meanwhile dreaming about knitting a gorgeous lace shawl like some of the ones on show at Wonderwool!

Art or Craft? - lengthy musings

I have recently been working on my submission for an award for emerging artists and crafts people.  This turned out to be much more traumatic that the ‘write up to 500 words and send up to 3 images’ brief would have led me to expect.  The problem was about categorising myself and my work – art or craft?  This is hardly a new dilemma - has been much discussion of it, especially with the recent revival in interest in 'craftsmanship'.  It was clear from the blurb that they were expecting painters or photographers in the art category, and textiles people in craft.  However, the craft category’s entry brief was about giving instructions for making the things you make.  The artist brief was to describe your work and inspiration.  This set me thinking.

I describe myself on my website and business cards as ‘textile artist and maker’.  My real interest is in textile art.  However, because the medium I mostly use (felt) also lends itself to making things like corsages, lavender hearts and other homewares and accessories, I do make some of these as well because they sell.  And because of the media I use, my art does involve making – I make the felt, often having first worked through a whole lot of processes from fleece to felt.  This is even more true of weaving, where I may have processed the wool and spun it before weaving with it.  And for me, as an artist, the process is part of the art – the meaning is, to some extent, in the making.  I am excited about the medium, about the provenance of the materials (especially if it’s rare breed wool – I may even have met the sheep!), and the processes involved, many of which have been part of human history for millennia. 

Good craftsmanship (I’m happier with 'craftspersonship', especially as many of the skills I am using have traditionally been practiced by women, but it doesn’t seem to have reached the lexicon yet) is key to the integrity of what I do, and indeed I think it is key to our economic sustainability as a country and as a planet.  I’m not in any way denigrating that sense of the word ‘craft’ – in fact I am celebrating it.  I am just uncomfortable when one of my pieces (say, a tonal abstract exploring the colours and textures of wool from several breeds of sheep) is described as ‘craft’.  I have no issues with describing my beautiful felt lavender hearts as craft – I am using craft skills, and craftsmanship honed over the years, to produce and attractive and functional object.

It’s all very nebulous and difficult.  I know some feltmakers who describe what they make as ‘wearable art’.  This confuses me, and analysing my confusion takes me towards a possible definition for me (I wouldn’t presume to impose my definition on anyone else) of art as non-functional.  Its function is to make us step back from the everyday, to look at life in a slightly different way.  I produce beautiful craft objects which have a practical function of some sort (even if that function is simply embellishment, as with my corsages) and are aesthetically pleasing, but do not point beyond themselves as objects.  I also produce art, which instead of paint uses textiles, created using craft skills, to take the viewer beyond the immediate usefulness of the object (a framed picture, for example, has limited practical usefulness).  These works inspire reflection, evoke responses beyond the aesthetic, they challenge or intrigue or move.  Some works tell a story – a story not limited to the narrative of their production.

If I never made another corsage or felt heart, I might be worse off financially, but it would not grieve me unduly – and I could teach someone else to make them.  But if I never created another piece of art, part of me would have died.  And although I could teach someone the skills, no one else can see the world quite how I see it, or be inspired to create this particular piece of work.  I must therefore conclude that what matters to me is the art, and that my identity is fundamentally as an artist.

If you’ve followed me this far (in which case, thank you for your persistence! - I don't often venture into navel-gazing of this sort, as I am always worried I will descend into pomposity), you will not be surprised to learn that it took me nearly three weeks to get the submission written – for the artist category!

Workshops and Wonderwool - busy week!

This week is going to be a busy one - three very full days of the day job, then Thursday and Friday I shall be at Craft in the Bay in Cardiff, taking part in a workshop entitled Translating Images: Photography with Feltmaking led by Liz clay. As many of you will know, Liz Clay is a leading (world-famous, indeed) textile artist now specialising in Nuno felt, which is mostly what this workshop is about. Having dabbled quite a bit in Nuno techniques over the last year or two in my own work, I am very much looking forward to a masterclass with a real expert. Then on Saturday it's off to Wonderwool - if you are within striking distance of the Royal Welsh Showground near Builth Wells, don't miss this! See www.wonderwool.co.uk for details. As well as potentially spending a fortune on equipment and materials, it will be good to catch up with friends and contacts, and also to meet in person quite a few people I've met online in the last year. I am particularly looking forward to meeting Susan James of Llynfi Textiles, who will be on the Organic Textiles Wales stand. Check out her website at www.llynfitextiles.co.uk (just getting used to the new version of Blogger and not sure if the links will work - apologies if they don't, please cut and paste them into your browser until I get the hang of the new system! Thanks...)

Nude Ewe

Yes, really, this is the name of a company! Nude Ewe is a non-profit company selling the wool of rare breed sheep which are used in conservation grazing projects. The proceeds are returned to the owners or projects to offset costs. I'd really like to promote this site - a great concept, and so good to see wonderful rare breed wool yarns for sale at sensible prices, with provenance and a really good story! Nude Ewe does kits as well as selling the yarn, and can also put you in touch with flock owners to buy fleeces direct. Win! Check out www.nude-ewe.co.uk

Wonderwool Wales

Not long now till Wonderwool Wales - for those of you who are not familiar with it, this is a major two-day trade/consumer fair for anyone interested in fibre, preferably but not exclusively from sheep. It takes place in Builth Wells, at the Royal Welsh Showground, this year's dates being 28 and 29 April (I will be going on the Saturday). Around 150 exhibitors attend, with workshops, a 'sheepwalk' (catwalk for wool fashion), some real live sheep, and complete sensory overload from the most amazing display of yarn, wool and related equipment. I have a shopping list which I have been working on since Christmas, the trick will be sticking to it and not getting seduced by all the delicious yarn, tops and notions on offer. It's also the place to meet up with people from all over the UK who come as exhibitors and visitors - last year I met Sue Blacker and Helen Melvin, whom I had been in contact with online - it was nice to meet them in person. Wearing my Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers membership badge prominently also resulted in a few people who have hitherto been only names on the screen coming up and making themselves known.

This year I am also hoping to get some additional bobbins for my spinning wheel from Woodland Turnery, who will be at Wonderwool despite a recent disastrous fire at their workshop in South Wales. I'm sure a lot of people will be visiting their stand to show goodwill and support at this difficult time.

For more information, go to http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/ and http://www.woodland-turnery.co.uk/

Traces - the fascination of the palimpsest

I am thinking seriously about submitting an application to exhibit as part of the Trace project in Bristol. The brief is to 'create work with an idea that there is a Trace – a Trace of something that once belonged, a Trace of something that once happened, a Trace of a suggestion.'

With an academic background in history, principally architectural and medieval history, I have become fascinated by the idea of the palimpsest – where buildings have been altered, remodelled and re-purposed, leaving the traces of their previous selves in roof lines, arches, and the outlines of former windows. In 2010 I visited Tretower, a medieval house north of the Brecon Beacons which was developed between the 14th and 17th centuries. Evidence of the changes to the structure abound in the architecture, but I was particularly interested in the layers of painted plaster which are evident in some of the rooms. As the plaster flakes, it reveals preceding layers of colour and texture, telling the story of human habitation and domestic life through four centuries.

I took extensive photographs, determined that I would work with these images and concepts in some way in the future. Maybe this brief is my opportunity - to juxtapose the photographs with textile pieces which use layering, abrasion and distressing to interpret the idea of trace and palimpsest.

The timescale is quite tight, but even if I don't quite make it to submitting work for this exhibition, I think I want to do this work - to make art which is, at this time of personal change and re-evaluation, exploring the hidden layers of being which are both under the surface, and also fundamental to the nature of present and future.

Best-laid plans...

theMADEmarket on Saturday wasn't much good for me from the selling point of view, but I met some very interesting people and laid the foundations for what might turn into some commissions. The main issue seemed to be lack of marketing - the organisers (though very lovely people) seemed to be relying mostly on passing trade (Saturday shoppers in the centre of Gloucester, many quite elderly, who weren't generally wanting to spend much money, and often seemed rather bemused by the items on sale) rather than having targeted their advertising at the kind of visitors who would appreciate the very high standard of art and craft on sale, and be prepared to spend, for example, £80 on one of my framed felt textile art pieces. It has been a learning curve for me - in future, before I sign up for a stand at a large fair which involves a lot of travel costs for me, I will enquire about the organisers' marketing strategy. Especially in these straightened financial times, if exhibitors are going to go half way across the country for a fair, we need to know that the right kind of potential customers are likely to be there.

I had taken my Folksy shop down for a few days to avoid duplication of sales, but it's now back up, and surplus stock from Saturday will go on as soon as I have got it photographed.

However, this week (as well as tidying up my workspace which has become a bit chaotic in the run up to Saturday) I HAD planned to start scouring and preparing some of the fleeces in my garage, towards the Felting British Wool project (which seems to be going nowhere fast at the moment as I keep getting distracted by other things!). However, my plans have been thwarted by the weather - in the absence of an Aga, washed fleece really needs to dry outside on a warm day (like the ones we had recently, when I was too busy doing other things to wash wool!) and the forecast for this week is rubbish - rain, or at least showers, all week. So I'll scrap that idea and try again another time. Meanwhile, my spinning wheel is calling, the trouble is I really do need to do some tidying up of the workspace before I reward myself with some spinning time!

New website!

Drumroll - the website is live! A few minor tweaks are still required, but Fabrikant now has a web presence at www.fabrikant.co.uk

This blog and my Folksy shop can be accessed from the website, and in due course there will be a gallery of images of my work, which will be added to over time. Many thanks to Sam at Blue Daisy Virtual Innovations, who has been juggling my demands and a challenging timescale. We were aiming for a minimalist look for the website, which I think he's achieved - I think it's very handsome, and would welcome your comments and feedback.

All set for theMADEmarket on Easter Saturday

I have been putting the finishing touches to the items I am taking to theMADEmarket at Gloucester Guildhall from 10-4 tomorrow - today I picked up three pieces of felt art from the framers, and they look amazing - I'll be proud to display them on my table! I am also taking some nuno felt silk scarves, lots of lovely felt lavender hearts, felt corsages and matching earrings.

Early night tonight, in preparation for a very early start tomorrow! Hope to see you at Gloucester Guildhall - do come and say hello!

theMADEmarket - Easter Saturday

As I have mentioned before (and interminably Tweeted about!) I will be exhibiting at theMADEmarket on Easter Saturday, from 10 till 4 at the Guildhall, Gloucester. This is the first market run by theMADEproject (I was featured maker of the week on their website in December) and will include a really interesting line-up of designer-makers. I have will be taking a range of felt craft pieces (scarves, corsages, lavender hearts) and also some textile art. If you're in the Gloucester area on Easter Saturday, come and see me!

Website sooooon!

Very excited today as I'm seeing the preview of my website, which should be up and running in a couple of days, assuming no gremlins. I will post (and Tweet) with the details once we're live. Over time I shall be adding a lot of images of my work to the gallery, which will be a good way of putting my portfolio online.

Watch this space!