folklore

The popularity of folk influences coming through in so many creative areas - graphic design, music, fashion - is really exciting. There's something inviting about native prints and patterns reinvented in contemporary craft design and illustration especially.

I recently found illustrator Sandra Dieckmann, who brings her love of animals through into her illustrative work. I love her use of pattern to bring form and her fresh uplifting colour palette.

"The best folktales have a dark edge. Conversely, the best folk art pops with colour - perhaps as a visual way of whistling in the dark, perhaps a celebration of the richness of northern Europe's storytelling tradition. "

- Digital Artist Magazine

Sandra Dieckmann has a fabulous etsy shop - check it out - www.etsy.com/shop/SandraDieckmann

Sera Waters

Australian artist, teacher and writer Sera Waters draws inspiration from the uglier, shocking side of life. After her studies, she received a grant which enabled her to attend the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, where she furthered her embroidery skills. 

 

 Butchering : Meat Series 2009 

thread, felt, sequins, beads, cotton on linen (260 x 220 mm each)

 Much of her current work uses traditional embroidery techniques.  Black-work with its meticulous repetitive patterns gives light and shade to her chosen subject in the Butchering series. 

Just got me a signed copy of Tilleke Shwarz new book 'New Potatoes'. Inspiring.

aztec cross stitch

I fell for this All Saints top grabbing it up when it went into the sale (with the excuse that when I wasn't wearing it, it will forever hang on my wall and it does).
This Buffalo card from the London Graphics centre together with all the Aztec patterns in current fashion trends got me doodling.
Work in progress.

cross stitch sugar skull

I went for a meal round a good friend of mine recently, sitting in her loo I was met by dozen kitsch fantastic plastic Virgin Mary's, a dozen shades of tacky.

I've just started painstakingly copying out a cross stitched stag head from a vintage shirt I bought at Wolf & Gypsy in the Brighton a few years back. But the 3 shades of brown got me pinning for something a little more colourful.

This will be a challenge...

Mexican Sugar Skull cross stitch pattern from PaperSilor on etsy

Searching

This morning I was talking to one of my best friends about moving out to the sticks for a while, because I'm such a cardigan when it comes to the fast paced fun loving lifestyle a typical 23 yr old is supposed to pine for. I think I would miss the pace of London though, we're blessed with such variety here, culturally and in terms of green spaces. But, it could be fun though...
Reading through Zoe Murphy's blog I found Nick Hand (a Bristolian graphic designer & photographer) and his SlowCoast project, touring with his bike along the UK coastline, meeting artisans and makers along the way.
Check it out some of the conversations he has collected www.slowcost.co.uk/soundslides

I want..

March/April 2012 Embroidery Magazine

Luminous threads and mark making

There is something that excites me about fluorescent colours, none more so when its an accent in something fragile like textiles, as oppose to the luminous nature of a retro plastic visor or this new trend for eye popping neon satchels. Which, don't get me wrong now I L.O.V.E!

When it comes to 2D work, I prefer restraint in the use colour. Take Claire Heathcote's large scale embroidered portraits. Worked by hand with a combination of applique, screen printing and machine embroidery technics, alongside a selective colour palette, Heatcote's use of pattern and dynamic composition culminate in a bold, confident style. The stylised details of the sitters' clothing and hair is something I'm specifically drawn to. As individual components they can be seen as quite abstract, but viewed as a whole, the texture gives depth and a tactile quality, which provides something more tangible for the viewer to relate to.

Hannah, 2005-06, hand stitched and machine embroidered, applqiue and screen print (130 x 110 cm)

'I think it has a calm, thoughtful quality with a feeling that my subjects are caught mid-motion and I think the use of thread tends to lend the work this transitory effect that perhaps a line drawing or painting might not possess to the same extent.'

Portrait of the Artist by Sue Pricahrd - Embroidery May/June 2007 (pg. 23)

David, 2005, hand stitched on felt (90 x 76 cm)

I find the contrast between blocks of colour, repeatative kinetic pattern and bare fabric so satisfying.

Another contemporary practitioner whose work shows great exploration whilst staying true to their own visual discernment is that of Helen Carnac a maker, curator and academic who works in metal, with a preoccupation for pattern, and mark making, together with process lead experimentation.


Carnac has a strong appreciation for material qualities, this is clear by her working process. Carnac also draws influence from her imediate urban and natural environment.

Some of my favourite pieces show thread being Incorporated into enameled metal together with these examples of her paper Marquette's with stitched details, and cut outs.

Cluster 3 brooch

Trade Secrets Episode 2: Helen Carnac on approaches to practice from Artquest London on Vimeo.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

With a savvy eye on current trends surrounding a now booming niche market, Poppy Smith has her finger on the pulse when it comes to "cool stuff for kids". With a youngen of her own this lady sorts out the unusual and the hand crafted through a world of possibilities.

Kimberley Golding of Mini Magpie featured on thesmallfolk.tumblr

Check out her new site www.thesmallfolk.com or the Small Folk tumblr for more

On the weekend

I popped into the Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery whilst wandering from Regents Park, to South Bank killing time a few weekends ago. Enjoyed a root around in their shop's collection downstairs. It's funny how you get drawn to your favourite artists, with some maker's aesthetics being so distinct.

I really like how much Lina Peterson seems to take so much joy in her use of colour and material, and although I'm usually more drawn to her work involving stitch and textiles, there were some newer rather understated plastic broaches in the cabinet I would of like to have been able to look at up close.

On the Kent coast

This weekend I visited a few places along Kent's east coast, and came across a beautiful shop in Margate's Old Town called Blackbird, owned by textiles artist Maxine Sutton.

Margory 2008, Flower/back 2008, Cowtree/Tufty 2008 screen printed, embellished and embroidered tea-cosy

If you ever get a chance to visit go next door to The Greedy Cow deli, (which serves amazing homemade burgers), and like the Blackbird boutique it also celebrates the old and the new with it's eclectic interior and contemporary artists work on the walls.

I couldn't afford any of Maxine Sutton's framed pieces but was able to buy a screen printed cushion I'll take a snap of soon to share.

Sad Bird 2009, Hungry Bear (detail) 2009 screenprinted, needlepunched and emroidered textile

Riffling through Sutton's achieve images I am reminded of an old course mate at Brighton who's work is inspired by folk style imagery, and bold yet selective use of pattern. www.silviakceramics.co.uk

Desirables

My creative itch was awoken recently by an article on London based stylist/ shop owner Emily Chalmers, in the Australian magazine Frankie. Showcasing her home, a converted industrial space, and her store Caravan where her eclectic, vintage inspired sensibilities have found a place to flourish.

Which leads me on to introduce some more creatives/ crafts practitioners whose work I admire.

Claire Coles I fell for the patchy lustre work and textured surface design when I first saw these vases at a Cockpit Arts Christmas open studios a years back, but settled for a brooch from her odds box

I discovered the work of MMU grad Eve Bennett at the 2008 Islington New Designers. I enjoyed the humour in her narrative style, and the way she chose to exploit faded colours eluding to the poignance of remembrance and the delicate passing of time. The way her loose sketches shine through in her hand-building and mark making especially appealed to me, as I too enjoy disturbing a drawn line by wetting felt tips or ink pens, giving the image a lightness of touch.