Fashion fixers day

Great fun at Fashion fixers at South Hill Park. Some really creative work by the students - using heat transfer printing (top) with the other Jane to transform a lacy underslip, and building up an exciting mix of colours and textures (above).

My skirt  - made from a man's knitted cotton pullover, with box pleat and frilled edge. Very pleased with how this turned out, with the raspberry pink polkadot underskirt.

A quick and easy denim bag to go with it.

The full outfit, with a recycled t-shirt scarf. Needs a bit more work to make the scarf more exciting - some printing would be great because the edge didn't go as wavy because the t-shirt wasn't quite stretchy enough. And some customising of the Betty Boop t-shirt. But the glitter print of Betty's dress is a perfect match for the raspberry scarf and polka dot voile of the skirt - so I love it.
And now its over to the Fashion Fixers for more work before the show on 16th April and the pop-up shop coming soon in Bracknell.

All that remains exhibition

The opening night at the 'All that remains' exhibition. Thank you to Gemma for the pics, because I forgot to take my camera.

I went back with my camera to take pictures of my new piece 'Stalks' because I haven't got anywhere handy to hang them at home. But it wasn't very easy to photograph in the window. Difficult light, or difficult positioning of window frames, doors and bollards out in the street!

I like the silhouette view of the knobbly texture, but a view where you could see the structure of the whole wasn't easy. Here is a detail.

Fashion fixers

Looking forward to supporting the Fashion Fixers event which is happening next weekend (26/27th March) for young people with the Missed Out youth forum at South Hill Park in Bracknell. The weekend is billed as 'The Apprentice meets Scrapheap Challenge' while upcycling fashion to raise money for the 125 Project from the Kerith Centre, a charity set up to build a dormitory for young girls in Zambia to keep them safe while they finish their education away from home.

ReOrsa Project No 5 - Wokingham

"ReOrsa, an artist-led initiative, are pleased to announce that they will be exhibiting a selected group show at the More Arts space in Wokingham town centre. The exhibition curated by Tonia Maddison, a Bracknell based artist, is a selection of work of artists from across the Thames Valley who have responded to the theme ‘All that Remains’. Tonia explains, "All that remains suggests a residue, something left over or abandoned, the remnants of time passing, of erosion, decay; it also suggests the changing form of things, transformation of something that seemed transient or even something that once seemed permanent, immutable"

 10 - 26 March 2011,
Wednesday to Saturday, 11am - 4pm

More Arts, Wokingham

43c Peach Street

 

In my new work old clothes and remnant materials have been transformed into new structures, seemingly solid and tangible. Yet they are also hollow, set to unravel and wither away. What were these materials in their past lives before they became waste? Have they become more or less than they were? Pictures to follow when the exhibition opens on Thursday...

At Play 3 - South Hill Park

I have been selected for At Play 3 in the Bracknell Gallery at South Hill Park, Bracknell, Berkshire. My proposal is a complete change for me in that it is's going to be an installation piece. It explores the obsessive side of a child putting together a scrapbook of old photographs dating from WWII.

Previous At Play exhibitions in 2009 and 2010 have been successful and popular shows at South Hill Park, and I'm looking forward to being part of the 2011 event from 17th April to 19th June.

Images of the previous shows can be seen on Cally Trench's website - the curator of the exhibitions, along with Outi Remes of the Bracknell Gallery itself.

In the meantime, best get busy ... I've got lots to do to develop my piece ready for show!

MoreArts - Wokingham

The MoreArts venue at 43c Peach Street in the centre of Wokingham is hosting the next ReOrsa exhibition, entitled 'All that remains'. It opens 10th March and will run until the 26th.

I am exhibiting, and am working on 'stalk-like' structures that will hang in the window of the venue. I have been busy experimenting with my ideas. Inspirations include the experimental piece of giant French knitting I made a couple of months ago, and stalks of cow parsley. I like the way cow parsley is so green and pliable when its new, and then stiff and hollow when it withers. Or is it just that I used to love to wrench them from the hedgerow and fight with them. I probably still would, but it doesn't seem to grow much around here.

Structure workshop - Baylis Court School

I'm getting ready to be 'Artist in Residence' for a day at Baylis Court School in Slough. I am excited to be working with two groups of GCSE level Art and Textile students, looking at lots of techniques and ideas for their project theme 'Structures'. We are going to work with the embellisher machines, Bondaweb fusing, weaving and stitching, and look at all the ways in which these techniques can be combined using fibre and fabric scraps.
I've been working on a few new samples.

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.

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.

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