Royal Welsh Show

Somewhat belatedly, a few pictures from the Royal Welsh Show.  We went on Monday, and it was fantastic as ever - this is such a well organised event, never any problems with parking, shuttle busses or logistics, the loos were sparkling even late in the day, plenty of delicious and reasonably priced food and drink, and 60-odd thousand people a day having a wonderful time.

Obviously, much of my time was spent with the sheep.  A highlight of the Royal Welsh for me is the Welsh Sheeptacular, where an assortment of amazingly tolerant and well-behaved rams representing a range of Welsh and other breeds take their places on a kind of ziggurat-shaped stage in a large marquee.  The show is aimed mostly at children, but it's very well done and educational for adults too.  Fly the sheepdog presides over proceedings from his kennel stage left, and there's a shearing demonstration, but mostly it's a rare chance to see so many breeds in the same place at the same time.  The Jacob, with his impressive headgear, usually gets the biggest 'oooooh!' when he comes on stage!

My friend Jane Bissett http://thekennixtonflock.webs.com/ had entered some of her Poll Dorset fleeces into the fleece competition, and when I went in straight after the judging had finished, I was delighted to find that she had won third prize in the fine category!  Having texted her to tell her the good news, I then spent a couple of hours in the sheep pens, talking to various owners and, naturally, the sheep, and taking some photographs - I am keen to have a library of photographs of as many breeds, and especially rare and British breeds, as possible, and agricultural shows are great opportunities.

One noticeable effect of the awful summer weather was the fact that sheep had evidently been sheared much later - even the teddy bear Ryelands were still looking a bit recently shorn, and not as fluffy compared to previous years.  This was visible right across the breeds, and the contrast with this year's lambs was even more than usual - they were the only ones with wool!

Wiltshire Horn - magnificent

Ryeland rear!

Suffolk tup - his name is George and he belongs to Rebecca Meredith

Welsh Sheeptacular

Of gardens, cats and BIG POTS!

The weather today is glorious - sunny, but with a fresh breeze which gives welcome relief to the stifling heat of the past few days (two nights ago my bedroom was 28 degrees - unbearable, I gave up and went down to sleep on the sofa in the living room where it was 'only' 24!).  This means that we have finally started getting to grips with some of the garden tidying which has needed doing for months, but which we couldn't get on with during the prolonged monsoon which has been most of this summer!  The massive laurel hedge which has been steadily taking over the patio is now more or less under control, and the brambles have been cleared from the more accessible areas.  That's more than enough for one day - time for afternoon tea and putting our feet up, feeling virtuous!

Our activities provided great entertainment for a neighbouring cat which has taken up residence in our garden when he gets bored at home - our cat Sophie is a house-cat (her idea) and so the garden is fair game as neutral territory for the neighbours.  This fella is quite young, white with some tabby patches, very handsome in a lean and lithe kind of a way - also extremely playful, and very talkative!  He presents something of a trip hazard, as he wants to play when you are negotiating the lawn, arms full of laundry...this afternoon, with TWO humans to play with, and trailing leaves, and big garden rubbish bags to jump in and out of, he was in heaven!  I think he may be less impressed next time, when I start hosing down the patio furniture...

Now that the utility room has cooled down enough to work in, I am contemplating my next piece of work.  I have made felt pots for ages, and they are lovely tactile things (I sold some at the fair at Craft Renaissance the other week), but I am now thinking of trying some REALLY BIG POTS, possibly holding arrangements of felt quills or grasses. I am still at the head-scratching, technical stage, but at some point in the next few days I'll finally step out and make a prototype.  If it's any good, I'll upload a photograph (and if it isn't, wool makes great compost!).

Charting historic cross stitch sampler motifs

I am going squiggle-eyed - following my visit to St Fagan's, I have started the marathon job of charting some of the motifs from photographs I took of selected samplers from their collection.  I am using squared paper to produce a resource of motifs, borders and alphabets to use in my work.  So far I have done three alphabets and about a dozen motifs and borders, but it's the most eye-bending work!  I have high resolution photographs, which I then zoom into as much as I can on screen, and using the cursor to help me not lose my place, I transcribe the patterns to the squared paper stitch by stitch (with pencil, and a lot of rubbing out!).  It's the kind of job that can only be done in short bursts, so I think it's going to keep me occupied for most of the summer as I probably have several more alphabets and maybe up to a hundred motifs and borders to do!  I have spoken to Elen Phillips, the curator, and agreed that I am going to be giving St Fagan's a copy of the completed pattern charts - they are all cross referenced with the samplers' accession numbers, so might make a useful resource.  I wonder if it would be viable to create a book of Sampler Patterns from the St Fagan's Collection to sell in the shop?

Research visit to St Fagan's textiles collection - women makers lost in history

Many thanks to Elen Phillips and Sioned Williams, curators at St Fagan's (National History Museum of Wales), for a fascinating and very productive research visit today.  I am doing some preparatory work on a piece (which will probably evolve into a collection) of work based on some vintage French linen I have acquired, seeking to tell the hidden story of generations of anonymous women whose only footprint on history is the stitches - embroidery, mending - they have left behind in the textiles they worked on.  I am looking to use authentic motifs and techniques in this work, and St Fagan's is definitely the place to go to research this.

The collection is enormous - Elen had selected 6 large archive boxes of samplers, dating from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries, for me to look at, while Sioned brought along a range of domestic linen (including mattress covers, sheets, handkerchief cases and tray cloths), mostly 19th century, from all over Wales.  Some of the domestic linen even had letters enclosed in the folds of the fabric, written by the donor and giving the history of the item.  A beautiful silk jacquard hand towel (apparently unused) was part of a trousseau given to a 19th century bride in Machynlleth by her father.

I found the experience very moving - many of the samplers were made by very young girls - Mary Ann Baker aged 7 years (19th century), Mary Lewis aged 9 years (1797), Sarah Brigg aged 9 years (18th century), Ruth Davies aged 13 (1855).  Some of the samplers in the collection are unfinished, and one in particular pulled me up short: Accession number 41.86/6 Unfinished sampler 19th century.  This one has a trailing thread from the last stitch - why was it never finished?  What happened to the maker?  In a time of high juvenile mortality, did she die before she could finish her sampler?  The name of the maker is usually in the lower part of the sampler, and she stopped two-thirds of the way down, so we do not even know her name.  I think something from this sampler will have to find its way into my work.

My particular favourites were a blackwork sampler (unfinished) from c1800, and one worked in red threads on linen, also unfinished (this seems to be becoming a theme!) from some time in the 19th century - the motif of oak leaves and acorns centre right is very reminiscent of the National Trust logo!

I'm very grateful to Elen and Sioned for making my visit possible, and I shall definitely be back to do more research in this wonderful collection.  I don't think the availability of this fantastic research resource is widely enough known - I know I have only seen the tip of the iceberg, but I was overwhelmed both by the richness of the collection, and the helpfulness of the curators.

Blackwork sampler c1800

Blackwork sampler c1800 detail

Red on linen, unfinished, 19th century

Unfinished sampler 19th century - trailing thread

Eliza M D Griffies W...ms 1819

Eliza M D Griffies W...ms 1819 detail

Jane Walker 1822

St Fagan's research visit tomorrow - samplers and domestic linen - and appeal for vintage nappy pins

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow and my trip to meet Elen Phillips, curator of textiles at the National Museum of Wales, St Fagan's.  I am going to be looking at samplers, to find some authentic motifs to use in my 'vintage linen as women's domestic history' piece, and also at domestic linens (tablecloths etc) with a view to learning more about how these were decorated, again to inform my work on this piece.  I'll report in full when I get back.

Meanwhile, I am still in search of vintage nappy pins to use in this piece - I need about a dozen - if you have some squirrelled away, please get in touch via lisa 'at' fabrikant dot co dot uk (apparently I have to write it like this to avoid being spammed!) if you'd be prepared to donate any.  You know the kind of thing - large safety pin with white cap which slides over the closure to lock it.  On really vintage ones, the white caps are metal, on later ones they are plastic.  Many thanks -  I had no idea it would be so hard to find them!

Summer Art and Craft Fair tomorrow (Sat 14th July)

Quick reminder that I will be exhibiting at the Summer Art and Craft Fair at Craft Renaissance Gallery, Kemeys Commander, Usk NP15 1JU from 10.30 to 5.00 tomorrow, Sat 14 July.   I shall be selling a selection of textile art, felt flower corsages, earrings, felt pots, and felt lavender hearts - prices range from £5 to £130.  The event is under cover, so don't be put off by the inclement weather!  And the gallery itself is fab  - gorgeous converted barn, with tea room.  Looking forward to seeing you there.

Every designer's worst nightmare: the rip-off - also mass-production versus artisan quality

Following the recent furore online about Claire's Accessories' alleged rip-off of a jewellery design by Tatty Divine, the latest scandal, which has broken in the last couple of days, concerns a jumper designed by knitwear designer Kate Davies.  Uncannily similar jumpers have recently been spotted at Debenham's, and Kate is clear that she has not been approached by the company for permission to use her design.

For Kate's account of the design of the famous o w l s jumper, see http://katedaviesdesigns.com/2012/07/08/the-o-w-l-sweater-a-design-story/

Whatever the outcome of the legal process which will no doubt result from this, the issue of the rip-off is one which should exercise every designer, maker and artist.  The legal protection under 'design rights' is sufficiently nebulous to most of us to be a serious cause for concern.  How can we - generally small operators, often sole traders, with limited financial and legal resources at our disposal - protect ourselves and our work against national or multinational companies?  How can we prove that it is our design, and also that there has been a process of transmission by which they could have seen our work?  How can we insure against the devaluation of our own, artisan-made products, in the face of cheaper mass-produced versions?

It is hard enough to explain to customers why my felt corsages cost upwards of £15 when a felt corsage can be bought on the hight street for considerably less than a fiver.  The British wool fibres used in my felt are hand dyed by people known to me in Yorkshire and Wales.  I hand make the felt - one set of corsage petals at a time - with subtle nuances of colour and texture.  I then stitch the corsage together myself, and incorporate a unique handmade bead created by an artisan glass bead maker based in South Wales - the colours of the glass and the wool are co-ordinated for each corsage.  Personally, I think £15 is ludicrously cheap for such a unique item, and doesn't remotely reflect my time in making it and the cost of the materials, but it's all the market will stand.  Meanwhile, the high street version has been cut out of machine produced felt, and assembled in a factory in China, almost certainly by workers whose pay and conditions would not be permitted in this country.  It has then been shipped half way round the world, generating a carbon footprint which I find it hard to justify for what is, after all, only an accessory.  But in this country, we still do not - with a few honourable exceptions - have a buying public who appreciate quality, uniqueness and artisan work, and are prepared to pay for it, and therefore those of us who design and make such products have an uphill struggle to persuade the public that it's worth investing in what we do.  After all, a felt corsage is just a felt corsage, right?!  If we now also have to defend our designs, and the integrity of the quality of our products, against mass-production apparently based on our ideas, then the designers and makers of whom so much is currently being asked to help tip this country back into growth and prosperity, are onto a hiding to nothing.  We can't compete on mass production in foreign factories with cheap labour - we CAN compete on quality, integrity of design, provenance of materials, artisan skills and sustainability.  But not if we keep finding cheap rip-offs on the high street, because the buying public is not generally sophisticated enough to know the difference, or care.  And as for how we change that - if I knew the answer to that, I could afford to retire!

Of beads and pearls and memories of St Ives

Today I have been mostly stitching and beading - with a little felt making thrown in for good measure.  I have been finishing off some pieces which have been sitting around for a while, awaiting the final stages in the transformation from fibres to art.  Also the silk I dyed recently with onion skins has found its home, layered with (and glowing through) some cobweb felt in dark teal.  Bronze sparkly beads in a drift were all that was needed to make a piece that feels 'just right'.  Autumnal felt (wool and silk) was stitched with toning threads of cotton in feather stitch to evoke harvest, and an experiment in undyed organic merino and silk throwsters waste, which I have been looking at for a while knowing that it wouldn't do as it was, no matter how much I loved it, suddenly sprang into life when I selected a small part of it in a 4 inch square mount window, and added some tiny Japanese beads.  I even did a little feltmaking - I was inspired by some salvaged freshwater pearls, and my notebook with sketches taken off the quayside during a visit to St Ives two years ago, to create an aquatic scene with ripples, seaweed and sand (in silk!) and the pearls drifting across the bottom.  Very satisfying to see several months of creativity finally coming together.  Off to the framers tomorrow, as I want to take these to the Summer Art and Craft Fair at Craft Renaissance Gallery, near Usk, where I shall be selling on Sat 14 July.

These pictures aren't as good as I'd like, as I have had to do them indoors with flash because of the continuous rain and gloom outdoors, but they give an idea of the work.  Each picture is 4 inches square,  mounted in 12x12 inch mounts, which are then framed in narrow, dark wood frames.  Unless I am framing a complete piece of felt or weaving (ie attaching it to the front of the mount, with the edges of the work showing) in which case the shape of the mount and frame is dictated by the shape of the work, I often choose a square format with a wide border (with these pieces, the border is as wide as the aperture in the mount) as I find it draws the eye into the work, and gives it more impact than if the frame crowds in too closely.  Having a framer with a good eye helps!

Seashore 2012

Sky 2 2012

Teal and gold abstract 2012

Harvest 2012