I'm a Hooker

Today I went on a beginners crochet course at Darn it & Stitch, Oxford. I once tried to learn crochet from a book and from watching youtube videos, but failed miserably. I don't like learning how to do things from reading instructions, I need to have somebody there talking me through things and to be at hand when things go wrong.
So I spent today above the shop making granny squares (in Celtic colours) and having a lovely spread of M&S sandwiches, strawberries and cake! I am starting to think I live the high life...









So now I want to try and make lots of these Granny Squares and to try and make a blanket. It's a good way of using up lots of odd balls of wool!

Some interesting crochet designs/ideas/inspiration!


http://www.dezeen.com/2006/12/10/marcel-wanders-launches-crochet-chair/

The Pram

Jan's pram is truly delightful. The size, the shape, the colour, the wheels, the handle, the hood, the rust, the cobwebs ....everything.
I have only ever seen one photo of myself as a baby and that was of me sat in a Silvercross pram, (obviously it was a lot bigger than Jan's). I will try and get the photo off my Mum and put it up on here. My Mum always tell us the story of when I was a baby and she put me in nice clean clothes in my pram in the garden, only to come out later and find that Sean (my brother) had shoveled soil onto me! I was buried alive beneath the dirty filthy earth. Poor me. I don't know what happened next but I imagine he got a good hiding!

My Grandmother's Summer Garden

A while ago, (October 2010 in fact), I wrote a little about patchwork blocks. One design in particular which I was drawn to is titled Grandmother's Garden. It consists of repeated hexagons surrounding each other to create a kind of flower design, this then tessellates with other repeated blocks of the same design.
It's funny as when I was at secondary school, I'm sure we did a sample of patchwork for a cushion cover in this method. I probably hated it at the time, but now, well I do quite like it!

Next...

So, recently I was lucky enough to find a beautiful vintage Silvercross doll's pram on Freecycle! I knew it would be perfect for something, although at the time, not quite knowing what was in store for it. So off I went to collect it from 'Jan' in Bicester.
Jan was wonderful and she was determined that the pram should go to a good home. She was very excited to discover what I was going to be doing with it. After staying chatting with Jan for over an hour and almost coming home with a Flymo lawnmower too, I drove home with the beauty squashed into the back of my dainty Ford Fiesta.


The pram


It was driving along the A34 that I suddenly had a brainwave and thought I could use my patchwork ideas as a part of this new 'pram piece'. From this moment on the ideas have been flowing and rattling around in my head, so much so that after what... ermmm 9 months of no blogging I have decided to empty out my cobwebbed mind and splatter it all over the internet for all and sundry to see...
So welcome back to my labyrinth of alchemy, madness and daily routines!

Emma

My Grandmother's Garden

Having recently attended a 2 day history of patchwork and quilting course, I am developing ways to integrate these techniques within my work.

The patchwork is bringing together a collaboration of previous work and ideas. Layers of fabrics, texts, paper, and stitching creating a palimpsest containing 'clues within the calico'.
I am using fragments from found letters, photographs and diaries as the templates. These will be left inside the fabric, allowing the work to be viewed from both sides.

Traditional American blocks all have distinctive names. Blocks were named after people, e.g. LeMoyne Star, which is named after the brothers who founded New Orleans. Other blocks were named after historical events, e.g. Rocky Road to Kansas, Whig Rose, Queen Charlotte’s Crown. Biblical names were also common, e.g. Golgotha, Crowned Cross, Hosanna. Equally popular were domestic names such as Sister’s Choice, Swing in the Corner, Grandmother’s Fan. It is possible to have the same block with different names, e.g. a block that was named Duck Foot in the Mud on Long Island was called Hand of friendship by the Quakers in Philadelphia and Bear’s Paw in Ohio (Gutcheon, 1973). The same block can also have different names according to the way it is pieced, e.g. the class Drunkard’s Path block becomes a number of other blocks, such as Millwheel or Illinois Rose, when the configuration of the piecing is changed. Interestingly each variation of Drunkard’s Path also has multiple names, e.g. Snake Trail, Falling Timbers, Diagonal Strips, Vine of Friendship, Chain are all the same variation (Cory, 1991).

Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining fixed in their places, move freely about, on or in the surface, but without the power of rising above or sinking below it, very much like shadows--only hard with luminous edges--and you will then have a pretty correct notion of my country and countrymen. Alas, a few years ago, I should have said "my universe:" but now my mind has been opened to higher views of things."

Flatland
by Edwin A. Abbott
1884

smell and memory

“But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.”

– Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past (Volume 1)

Rearranging Formulae - unwrapping books

There's a moral to this tale

Moral

Little girls, this seems to say,
Never stop upon your way.
Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you�re pretty, so be wise;
Wolves may lurk in every guise.
Handsome they may be, and kind,
Gay, or charming never mind!
Now, as then, �tis simple truth�
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!

I must get back to the studio

Baby hanging in a tree



The bird tries to console the wolf



The fawn invites the fox inside



Praying and dead flowers

I started this drawing a few months ago, at my studio, then my dog got ill and I didn't go back to the studio for a while.
Although the dog is better now, I still haven't been back to finish the drawing. I really must get back into the routine of going to the studio again.
The drawing is probably about 5ft long by about 1ft, so it's kind of panoramic. I started it initially as a quick collage, just to get me back into the swing of things, however I ended up getting really involved with it, and it became something which I was spending hours on each day.

It is inspired by fairy tales, especially Little Red Riding Hood, although it was never intended to be a literal translation. I was playing around with different ideas, but what was particularly interesting was that the story unravelled the more I drew. Each time I worked on a different section, more of the story would unfold within my mind. So without actually sitting down to draw, I wouldn't know how the story was to evolve.

I have always had a love of fairy tales, and am inspired by Perrault's writings, see: http://www.angelfire.com/nb/classillus/images/perrault/perra.html

Badgers

A few old badges from the car-boot sale. I can't believe there was a badge expressing a love for school meals! Did anybody actually enjoy them?

Mum's Trifle

This is Gordon's Mum's Trifle Recipe. I made it at Christmas, and it was delicious!

Gay Venture

This is Gordon's stamp book from when he was little. He was very proud of it, especially the page on Romana which he did himself!

Brilliant cerise

I particularly like the description of the Indian assistant cutting the bright material.

New car

weeping

Growing a goatee

This is a section of one of the letters I mentioned in the previous post - see 'old letters'.
I posted this one because I like the little ilustration which he has done to accompany his text about his new goatee beard!

old letters

A few years ago, I went to a house clearance sale. I went there initially to take photographs, as at the time I was working on a collection of photos of car-boot sales. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find what I was looking for, although in one of the bedrooms I discovered an old cardboard box (which to my delight and excitement) was filled with dusty old letters. 

I came to an arrangement with the house-holder that I could 'borrow' the letters for what I described as 'research'. I planned on reading the letters to see whether they would inspire any illustration work.

At the time I was commuting to London on a daily basis, and my 3hr journey (each way) would provide me with the opportunity to read through this 'real-life novel'.

I say real-life novel as that's what these letters turned into. They were the accounts of one man's life. The letters were dated from the 1940's (his teenage years), to his death in the 1970's. 

Each letter was beautifully hand-written, in brown ink and wax-sealed in envelopes which still had the original stamps affixed. They were not only beautiful as objects themselves but also for the exquisite writing contained within.

I quickly became absorbed with the documentation of this man's life, and started to create connections with the people and scenarios mentioned in the letters.

Each letter was written to his Mother, and contained everything from the mundane, family news and gossip, friends, parties, new cars, holidays, relationships, health, marriage, births and deaths. 

Eventually,  I had to return the letters to the family and unfortunately was told that I would not be able to use them as part of my project. 

Whilst writing about these letters in this blog, I cannot mention any names, due to privacy concerns. However, I do want to share with you some of the wonderful moments which I discovered about this one man and his letters to his Mother.

I have copies of some of these letters, of which I will be posting to this blog in due course. 

Thankyou.

Knitting patterns

I have a collection of old knitting patterns.
Here are a couple of them which I spray-painted over the top. It was for a series of work which I did which illustrated the effects and psychological recovery of child abuse.

Fur Week

Anyone fancy a squirrel coat?