Two Small Works

I don't very often make small sample pieces, unless they are for my sketchbooks, but had requests and consequent sales for two recently, so I decided to make two more to go with the Cirencester exhibition work.
These are made with Victorian lace and lawn with additions of antique mother of pearl artefacts....a song bird, and a sweetheart brooch on the other of two little birds with a nest and are mounted on hand written pages from an early 1900's Tailors Ledger.
I only make one of a kinds, so each small work is different and completely hand stitched with a lovely ivory vintage thread which has now almost been used up, sadly, so I will be looking out for some more soon.

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Getting busy again....at last

Busy again after my holiday. It was a time of clearing my mind and refocusing on my vision for the future...a time of adjusting prioroties and looking at what is really important to me.
At the moment I am working on a collection of completely handmade cards and small textile works to compliment the "Hope Chest", and large framed works which were exhibited in the EAST show in Braintree: Making a Point.
This exhibition is opening in May at Cirencester, and I had requests from some folk to provide cards, which I didn't have time to do before...so I am being really dilligent and have made some, and also two more small framed pieces after the one being sold and generating a commission.
I have also decided to open an etsy shop shortly, as I am developing ideas for a very special textile collection at the moment....something I have intended to do for quite a while, but couldn't quite birth untill now.

A small selection of the cards, all made from Victorian lace motifs and fabrics mounted on original hand written pages from an old tailors ledger circa. 1905-1918. All are stitched by hand and have faux pearls and beads for details.

Florence's Box...Nine Lives Exhibition

Florence made beautiful things, talked to angels and had a black cat who told her stories....they both mysteriously disappeared one day.....it is all in the story written for the box and will be made into book form shortly and published.

Inside the lid of Florence's box are pages from a 19th century book on Etiquette. I've embroidered "words of wisdom" such as she would have been taught when making samplers on the sides of the box, and Mehitabelle, her talking cat sits inside the box.

The other images are details of some of the artefacts "she made".

Nine Artefacts for the Nine Lives Exhibition

The box is covered with 19th century silk damask and lined with antique silk velvet. The idea for this group exhibition was that nine female artists would work on a project for nine months, creating nine artefacts for a box. By keeping tight restraints on the box and contents this should produce a diverse and cohesive body of work. The brief: Imagine you find a small box in the attic, on opening it you discover nine artefacts. Where did they come from - how old are they - who did they belong to - what is their story? The restraints: These are the artefacts we elected to use:

1) doll or similar toy

2) bundle of letters/cards/photos etc.

3) a heart - in any guise

4) needle case OR pin cushion

5) personal item of clothing or bag

6) all that remains of a set of something

7) a lucky charm/ amulet / icon

8) a rattle or toy that makes a noise

9) a memento of a significant event

One of these things should be a piece of jewellery

Here, as promised earlier are the images of the nine artefacts which I made. I also wrote a complete short story about the the box and contents which I hope to publish as a small illustrated book later this year, and it has really inspired me to get back to writing to accompany my artwork, and to make some more artefacts.