Bindweed (again!) and cordyline inflorescence

We recently had the fence between our front garden and that of our neighbour replaced, as it was in a sorry state. Sadly, many of the climbers and plants close to the fence did not survive the operation, but it also turned out that our neighbour’s garden was home to an incredible amount of bindweed, […]

Paper vessel workshop with Lucy Baxandall

Last weekend I was back at Morley College, but this time as a student rather than as a tutor. I was doing a two-day workshop on making paper vessels (3D papermaking) with Lucy Baxandall, a paper and book artist based in Northumberland. The first day we focused on cotton, using pulp and making sheets to […]

Fantastical Botanical at Morley Gallery

Exciting news: my bindweed spiral Unbound, which I made for last year’s Prism Textiles exhibition, is to get another outing. I’m very honoured to be asked, as an alumnus of Morley College, to include this piece, along with a couple of baskets, in the forthcoming Fantastical Botanical exhibition at Morley Gallery, 21 April – 4 […]

Exhibition in pictures (and video)

The Prism Textiles exhibition “In Search of Possibilities” is now over, and very successful it was too, with lots of really positive feedback about the work and the venue. If you didn’t manage to visit, here are a few pictures to give you a flavour – plus an interesting video of my bindweed piece by […]

Rebound: hanging the bindweed

I managed to finish weaving the last of the 50 bindweed pods a couple of weeks ago. Then I had to start thinking about how to suspend them. My original idea was to use a metal grid, which would be robust enough not to bend. But my friend Magdalen suggested that it would be better […]

In Search of Possibilities, 21-31 October 2021

It’s just under two weeks until the Prism Textiles exhibition “In Search of Possibilities” opens at the Art Pavilion in Mile End, London. Our last physical exhibition was in Birmingham in October 2019 – of course, last year’s exhibition was cancelled (though we did manage an alternative version online). So it’s exciting to be back […]

Weaving with bindweed

“A weed is just a plant in the wrong place.” I don’t know where that quote comes from, but I think it depends on the eye of the beholder. Take bindweed. My Ever Supportive Partner (ESP) would say yes, please take it all – and burn it! But I, with a basketmaker’s eye ever on […]