Imaginary Invertebrates Galore!


Originally uploaded by MadeleineS.

RM Art gallery, at 51 St Stephen's Street, Edinburgh, is about to exhibit eleven of my twelve Imaginary Invertebrates. They'll be on display from Thursday 4 June. The twelfth one is purple so didn't look right in the set. It's on show on its own in the Coburg House Gallery and will get some pink and purple friends to join it in time for the Open Studios weekend on 7,8 & 9 August.

Calling these things invertebrates gives a pretty wide range to work in but they're really inspired by marine invertebrates like corals, sponges, starfish, sea urchins and nudibranchs among other things. No crabs or shellfish yet, never mind any land-based invertbrates. No two will ever be quite the same. I mix and match the yarns and improvise the shapes as I knit. The felting process is a mixture of machine and hand felting that also introduces scope for variation, deliberate or otherwise!

One of the pieces in this set incorporates some shibori techniques that have given me some very good texture effects. I will certainly be returning to that for the second set of these exuberant critters.

However I'm currently cleansing my palette by finishing off my festival photography show (all will be revealed eventually) and by making a set of classic, plain pots and bowls in undyed British fleeces and yarns - Black Welsh, Blue Faced Leicester, North Ronaldsay and Jacob sheep, possibly some Wensleydale too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Needled whirls and waves in sea of kid mohair and silk

Image
Spring scarves 2 Originally uploaded by MadeleineS . This is the needle felted detail on the end of a medium length scarf - or what I hear the Americans call a comforter. I've found a couple of companies making exquisite light weight yarn in kid mohair and silk. The softness of the fibre belies its strength and the colours range from bold to delicate. This is my current working palette The main part of the scarf is knitted as a tube of stocking stitch in one colourway . The ends of the tube are flattened and sealed by needlefelting complementary colours of roving from both sides. The open structure of the knitting lets the felt show through from both sides and the different textures add depth to the final work. As with the tentacled pots below, I'll be taking some of these to exhibit at the Arts Market on Saturday. Its at Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh from 11am to 7pm on 7 March. Not sure where else they might end up.
meandering continues here >>

High Jinks and Hidden Gems

Image
 Performance knitting was added to my CV at the end of last month! I answered a call to join the International Knitting Circle associated with the experimental rock band ' faUSt '. I've enjoyed their music for about 40 years and they were playing just round the corner from my house so of course it seemed like the obvious thing to do. When I arrived at the gig it turned out that Edinburgh had mustered a circle of one knitter - me! Just as well since the stage was very full of gear.  I sat at the front of the stage for the full set, knitting a hat and being a focus of calm for the audience if the rest of the show was overwhelming!  Here's a photo from the gig, taken by Mike Calder. As you can see, faUSt don't just use conventional musical instruments!  It was huge fun and I'd be up for doing it again if the opportunity arises.  Hidden Gems is the jewellery exhibition at Coburg House this month.  I'm taking part with a new collection of felt
meandering continues here >>

How to get your hands on Knot Unknot stuff this Christmas season!

Image
Kaleidoscope photos of snowflake knitting as Christmas cards Christmas shopping season is upon us again but I'm taking the Christmas selling easy. This year has been particularly busy with family events, Botanica Mathematica exhibits and a conference talk so I haven't lined up any art or craft fair stalls. If you want my work you'll have to come to Coburg House , 15 Coburg Street, Leith, Edinburgh on a weekend in December. Open Studios is 2 and 3 December 11am-5pm with and opening night on 1 December 6pm-9pm. I'll have the full range of my work on show in the studio and if there's space I'll demonstrate the hacked knitting machine. Almost all of the artists at Coburg House will open theirs doors to the public. There'll be an exhibition and the shop on the ground floor as well as a couple of pop-up cafes.  Set aside a good few hours to see all four floors of studios. Hidden Gems is jewellery exhibition in the Coburg House Gallery for the remaining
meandering continues here >>