Tadek Beutlich: On and Off the Loom
Another week, another weaving exhibition. But Tadek Beutlich (1922-2011) was more than a weaver – he was also an artist, printmaker, and teacher. And his innovative weaving both on and off the loom revelled in the use of unconventional materials and techniques. A couple of years ago there was a great exhibition of his work […]
Lenore Tawney & Toshiko Takaezu: A Remarkable Friendship
First of all, many apologies. I only got to this exhibition at Alison Jacques yesterday, and it closes on Saturday. So not much time if you want to visit! But if you happen to be in the area in the next couple of days it’s worth going to see. Lenore Tawney and Toshiko Takaezu were […]
Haegue Yang: Leap Year
The title of Korean artist Haegue Yang’s exhibition at the Hayward Gallery is certainly apt, as she leaps between different subjects and materials, from folk art to household objects, from paper collage to clusters of bells. I went for the basketry but stayed for much more. These were my three favourite themes. Basketry There were […]
Kitchen extension basketry
I’ve been a bit preoccupied recently because we are building a kitchen extension. Not building it ourselves, of course, but having teams of workmen knocking down walls, inserting steel beams, and building new walls. That’s as far as they’ve got in four weeks, which is pretty good going – partly because it hasn’t rained and […]
Weaving by the Sea and Salt Basketry Fair 2024
After teaching at a couple of back-to-back residential weekend workshops, it was a relief to get away to become a student again, without teaching responsibilities. Even better, the workshop was part of Weaving by the Sea, a very popular series of workshops in Catalonia, just south of Barcelona. This was the third time I had […]
Cable twining, or crossed warps
My autumn knitting project is going well. So well, in fact, that I might actually finish this sweater in time to wear it this winter. 🙂 The pattern is called Rilaé (available here if you are interested) and has a central block of cable stitch on the front and back. For non-knitters, the cable pattern […]
Come As You Really Are
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”, according to George Bernard Shaw. But how many selves do we create? How is the self that office colleagues see related to the one out dancing tango on a Saturday night? In the Artangel exhibition Come As You Really Are, housed in a former department […]
Unfinished objects
Unfinished objects are a way of life for all makers (or maybe it’s just the makers I know). As far as I’m concerned, there are various reasons for this. Usually it’s feeling dissatisfied about how something is turning out and not having the time or headspace to work out why or how to improve it. […]
Product development for Lalo The Shop
While I enjoy creating and making my own work, I also really like collaborating with others to produce something new. So when Honey Simmonds of Lalo The Shop contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in helping out with developing a new bag I was very happy to talk to her. Lalo The Bag […]
Playing with passementerie
Passementerie is the art of making braids, fringes, tassels and edgings for cloth or furnishings: think of those heavily fringed lampshades and swanky tasselled tie-backs around curtains in stately homes. On Heritage Craft’s Red List it’s an endangered craft, which means there are serious concerns about its ongoing viability. It’s not really my style interiors-wise, […]
