24 December 2010

Upcycling workshops at Leighton Park School

A rather nerve-wracking and snowy journey started my day at Leighton Park School in Reading. But as soon as I had arrived, unpacked my stuff and thawed out over a cup of tea with the textiles teacher, Jo, I had a fantastic day from start to finish.
The school collected a huge variety of old clothes, old bags, belts and bits and bobs. And then the students arrived and were excited to get started. We looked at samples and ideas and then launched straight in. We made a lacy cloche hat from old tops, bags from old dresses and skirts, a mini-puffball skirt from a fitted sheet and chopped and restyled blouses and dresses into funky new creations.

The day was divided into two groups, with the older students and sixth-form in the morning, and the younger ones down to year 7 in the afternoon.
A nautical fitted-sheet being transformed into a puff-ball mini.
Works in progress - Chopping and changing a dress (above) and a funky bag (below)
Everyone enjoyed themselves, were keen to do more upcycling, and to add more finishing touches to their pieces when they got home. The only down-note was that the snowy weather meant that the Fair Trade fashion show planned for the parents and the students in the evening had to be cancelled. However, it will be rescheduled for January, and the extra time will mean even more unique, fabulous 'upcycled' creations for the students to model.

20 December 2010

Breakthrough sold out!

I'm very pleased to say that the Breakthrough book - the catalogue of this year's exhibition by Contemporary Quilt that I designed, has sold out of its first edition. It featured full page images of each of the 42 quilts in the exhibition, including my own quilt.
Further copies are available via print-on-demand through Lulu.

01 November 2010

University of Reading contracted supplier

The graphic design part of my company Leigh & Glennie Ltd has been appointed as a contracted supplier for the University of Reading. This is the third time that I have been awarded this status since the supplier list was introduced in 2006. I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with clients across the campus and with the Branding Team in the Design & Print Studio.

Annual report Museum of English Rural Life based at the University of Reading, published October 2010

23 October 2010

Whatever floats your boat ... awarded the Inspire Mark

On behalf of Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles and Quilt Group and Slough Museum, I applied for the Inspire Mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire Programme, for the 'Whatever floats your boat ... Contemporary Textiles in Slough' project.

I am now very pleased and excited to say that the project has been granted this prestigious status. Read more about it on the group blog. And at the London 2012 website for the Inspire Programme element of the Cultural Olympiad.

06 October 2010

"Whatever floats your boat ..."

An exhibition I am co-curating at Slough Museum, summer 2011 - about whatever there is in Slough or its Museum that 'floats your boat', and gives you a source for inspiration. This project is getting exciting ... members of Thames Valley Contemporary Quilt are signing up and beginning to get their inspirations. There is lots more about it on the group blog. I am not yet sure where my ideas are going. I still can't get the bra I saw on display in the Museum out of my mind. I think I may head in this direction!

22 August 2010

Reading University Whiteknights Guide


I am posting selected publications from my portfolio in a way in which they can be explored more fully. This first document is the latest 2010 edition of the Whiteknights Guide for the University of Reading which I designed recently. I now have to work out the best place for them to go - in a blog page (which is easy), or on my website (where I have to wrestle with HTML!).

24 June 2010

"Unearth" - the Staffordshire Hoard

Inspired by the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard and the thought of uncovering such a find, I created this felt piece Unearth. It will be shown Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June at Reading Arts Week at the New Directions Centre, together with pieces by my EquilARTeral friends Sandy and Merete who also responded to the Staffordshire hoard - Sandy working with machine and hand embroidery, and Merete working with pieced patchwork.

17 June 2010

Breakthrough book published

Breakthrough - the exhibition, will be appearing in its entirety at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham in August. 

My quilt will be part of this exhibition, but even more exciting for me will be the exhibition catalogue which is NOW ON SALE!! This is the first time Contemporary Quilt have produced a full-scale, full colour 90 page catalogue. I designed the layout and the cover, and I'm proud (and totally biassed!) to say a detail of my quilt appears on the cover. It was a team effort with other CQ members providing photographic, typesetting, technical and proofreading support.

The book will be for sale at the Festival of Quilts for £10, or it can be made available by post.

30 May 2010

Removal

My installation 'Removal' is in the ReOrsa studio window in Bracknell (114 Broadway, upstairs at the top of the spiral ramp) for another month until the end of June. More details on the listings page at ArtRabbit

25 May 2010

So much to update, so little time

I'm very pleased to announce that I am now officially working as an intern with the Visual Arts team at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, working with the Head of Exhibitions. I'm looking forward to learning lots about behind the scenes in a contemporary art gallery from the Curator's point of view.
http://www.southhillpark.org.uk/

Salvage - workshop-tastic



Great fun had by all... The Discard/salvage workshop went really well. A great group with a mix of ages and experience produced some interesting experiments and intriguing results. We waded through my HUGE heap of salvaged clothes and fabrics, did some painting, some needle-felting/embellishing and some stitching.



Discard/salvage at RISC, London Street, Reading

Its there. Its up. I'm excited. Until 4th June.





28 April 2010

Getting ready for RISC

Plans for the exhibition are coming together... I visited the space on Tuesday and am excited about how my pieces will look. The picture doesn't really do the Cafe justice but I have got ideas on how I will hang things. Work will be going up on Monday 10th May, and will be there until early June. http://www.risc.org.uk/

21 April 2010

Discard:salvage at RISC - Reading

Tuesday 11 May until Friday 4th June: I am exhibiting some pieces at the Global Cafe at the Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC)
Sunday 16 May - I am running a workshop - exploring the ideas of recycling and upcycling textiles to create art. From 10am to 3pm, cost £5.
More information here or contact Shenoor at RISC  on 0118 958 6692

02 February 2010

Hanging in Slough

I went to Slough today to hang the Equilarteral work as part of the Ideas Bank 2010 exhibition at Slough Museum. The work is a group series with the theme 'Zoom'. We wanted to experiment and play with creating work at different scales - large, medium and small - playing with the idea of 'zooming-in' or 'zooming-out'. My series is on the left, Sandy is centre and Merete is on the right.

If you would like to view our work and that of several other local artists, the exhibit opens on 3 Feb. 2010. The Museum is open from 11am - 4pm Wed - Sat. Click here for a map to find out how to get there.

28 January 2010

EquilARTeral blog

To celebrate our first group exhibition happening next month at Slough Museum, EquilARTeral are establishing a group blog at equilarteral.blogspot.com

26 January 2010

Exhibition – Slough Museum

EquilARTeral group have been invited to exhibit at Ideas Bank, a visual arts exhibition organised by Slough Museum. The group have been hoping to show together at some point, and we have suddenly been given the opportunity. Sandy Snowden, Merete Hawkins and I are planning to hang our 'Zoom' series of pieces on Tuesday. The exhibition opens on Wednesday and will be up for the whole of February.