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.

"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!

Reading University Whiteknights Guide

Open publication - Free publishing - More university

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!).

"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.

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.

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

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.

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/