My delight working creatively with wool and silk has continued in 2019. I have found them an immensely pleasurable combination for my working fingers and am continuing to find new types to experiment with. Over the summer months I enjoyed my first experience of working with Shetland wool felt made in the Mendip Hills by Fernhill Fibre, using as a naturalistic background to felt and machine stitch on to. The Dog Rose, Erygium, Welsh Poppy and Fuschia were my chosen subject matter for these creations with silk and rayon thread painting on Fernhill Fibre felt.
A chance find also gave me my first working experience of vintage Kimono silk. After years of working with silks such as Dupion and Charmeause silk which can incessantly fray and slip, this stable silk with beautiful naturalistic designs has been a revelation. I have particularly loved working with 'Chirimen' crepe with its fabulous texture produced by the weft thread being kept tighter in the weaving process than the warp.
I have had lots of fun hours sourcing vintage Kimono silk from around the globe and the pleasure of creating new small stitch projects. These traditional Japanese 'Kinchaku' bags with their high end fashion accessory history felt very suited and with a wool lining and silk drawstring, they are make for a luxurious and sturdy bag to hold all manner of small treasures.
Silk and wool are brilliant textiles for sleep masks too with their ability to allow skin to breath - cotton with its inherent ability to suck moisture out of skin is a serious no no for the delicate area around our eyes!
Kimono silk also makes for hard wearing covers for hand bound notebooks and really showcases the beautiful naturalistic fabric designs. There is a huge culture and history behind Kimono patterns to learn about and I might just have to take myself off to Japan to find out more!
My Mulberry Silk Vessels thread painted with Somerset Levels inspired flora have been admired throughout the summer and it has been great that others are enjoying making too. I had much pleasure continuing to naturally dye silk mawatas throughout the festival and stitch designs from the levels flora around me - teasels look amazing in the sunlight on the levels at this time of year.
My visitors often found me braiding on my new Marudai which the super helpful ladies of The Braid Society helped me this summer to source and get going on. The art of 'Kumihimo' has been around for around 1500 years and it feels grounding that I'm engaging with such an old. Getting going is surprisingly easy and I have a plan for inspiring others to have a go this autumn.
The weather was very much a mixed bag for this years festival, with super Somerset sunshine to start and finish and some torrential rain in between. I was amazed and very grateful to the many people who braved the elements to call by. I found this bedraggled late visitor outside my studio door on the wettest of days - thankfully my initial fears of the worst were unfounded and wings and flight were eventually found again.
The interesting creative chats I had with visitors were many and I was delighted to hear different takes on things that I work with and see every day. Several visitors spotted that I have my own studio sheep on my window boxes and I wonder how I had never seen them before!
A huge thank you to all the kindly visitors who came by over my 15 open days bringing their enthusiasm and vitality. My studio glowed with the most fabulous autumn light as I closed the door on my last day and I was reminded how incredibly lucky I am to have this creative space in the heart of the Somerset Levels to work in and share with others.
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