BTB2021 Biennale – update

i have just heard that, although the talks don’t always say that they are available online, if you select the booking option some will eventually give a “virtual attendee” option. So give it a try if you are interested in the topic.

Thanks Ulrike!

British Textile Biennial 2021

A few days of visiting British Textile Biennial 2021 exhibitions has been a real tonic. My ever patient husband, drove us up to Lancashire and chauffeured me around the venues, without a single complaint and very little incentive. I am so very lucky!

For those who are not lucky enough to get to Lancashire during the Biennale here is a little taste.

Lubaina Himid “Lost Threads” at Gawthorpe Hall

Two of the events really stood out for me: the 62 Group “Connected Cloth” exhibition and Brigid McLeer’s “Collateral” installation. Both addressed the lives of textile workers (and much more) in such powerful terms that I will be processing the impact for some time to come.

A lot of the work and themes explored reminded me of how much I have learned about the world of textile production and it’s impact in the past few years. Also it highlighted how much of our history is tied up with textile production and trading.

BTB2021 Programme There are lots of short videos to watch in the Programme link and further events planned, some online.

BTB2021 – Connected Cloth – My Photos

BTB2021 – Collateral – My Photos

BTB2021 – Lost Threads -My Photos

Silk Shading

It’s an art! Not just getting the stitches right but also the colour blending. At the recent Knitting and Stitch show I was attracted to an image from a new on-line course offered by the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) which combines this with goldwork. See:https://www.rsnonlinecourses.com/collections/next-steps-goldwork-and-silk-shading The course includes a kit. A lovely gift for Christmas ??

And if that’s not your thing, see their other courses at https://www.rsnonlinecourses.com/

I think this might have been mentioned before but, in case you missed it, the RSN has set up a stitch bank – https://royal-needlework.org.uk/rsnstitchbank/ This really is a fascinating project, the main steps of which has been to:

• Film and edit a video demonstrating the making of the stitches.
• Create step by step text, illustrations and photos of the stitch’s construction.
• Research a short history of the stitch and its use.
• Create an icon to help identify a stitch at a glance.
• Classify the stitch according to the taxonomy developed for the project.
• Select items from the RSN Collection which show this stitch in use and photograph the piece as a whole and of the stitch close up.

What more could we need?

Marion

The Stitchbook Collective

Chiltern Embroidery and Textile Group – November meeting

CETG

The November talk will take place on Monday 8th November 2021, beginning at 7.30 pm on Zoom.

Amanda Cobbett‘s talk is titled “Stitching the Forest Floor”. Inspired by nature and her surroundings in the Surrey Hills, Amanda Cobbett’s fungi, moss, lichen and bark embroideries are astonishingly realistic textile copies of the flora found in the hidden understore of the forest.

Amanda Cobbett’s delicate fungi

Based in the centre of Peaslake, Amanda walks daily through the Hurtwood and has honed an instictive ability to find fungi in the most unexpected places. She photographs them in situ and collects pieces of lichen and and moss-laden twigs to take back to the studio where she immediately gets to work with her sewing machine and a selection of threads, papers and silks. In her talk, Amanda will share with us her artistic journey, her inspiration and influences and give us a glimpse into daily life in the studio.

For more details on how to attend the talk or join the group contact Pirkko Soundy pirkko@soundy.plus.com