Here's to 2016

New Year is for me always a time to take stock of the year just past.  Every time I visit an exhibition now I make a record of it in a scrapbook - I have been doing it since 2012 and it is surprising how just a little bit of information takes you back in time, remembering things that were on display. Something nice to look through on a cold, dark, rainy winter's evening.

However New Year is also a time for looking forward and planning exhibitions coming up over the year ahead, though I doubt I'll get to them all.  This is a list of textile related exhibitions either currently in progress (and some of which I have seen, but recommend) or coming up in the next 12 months.

Firstly some shows already started, some just about to finish:

Until 4th January 2016 - Fashion Rules at Kensington Palace, London - looking at the glamorous dresses of the Queen, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana; it then reopens on 11 February 2016 as Fashion Rules, Restyled.

Until 9 January 2016 - Losing the Compass at White Cube, Mason's Yard in Bermondsey - includes work by Amish quilters, William Morris but also many fine art, contemporary artists working in textiles.

Until 10 January 2016 - Fabric of India at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  Definitely a "must see" exhibition which I hoped to revisit; but now think time is against me.

Until 13 January 2016 - Olga de Amariai: Alchemist  at the Rook & Raven Gallery on London's Soho area.  Another exhibition I have only just learnt of, with work by an artist described in Embroidery magazine (Jan/Feb 2016) as "the Louise Bourgeois of Columbia" (review by Liz Hoggard".

Until 31 January 2016 - Shoes: Pleasure and Pain also at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  An interesting exhibition but very crowded - in the lower galleries.  Wish I had had time to leave my coat in the cloakroom.

Until 28 February 2016 - Liberty in Fashion at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London.  Still on my "to do" list.

Until 1 March 2016 - The White Show at the Flow Gallery, London includes stitched work by Richard McVetis.  Another "to do" list show.

Until 1 May 2016 - A Stitch in Time: Home Sewing Before 1900, also at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  I have only just learnt about this display which apparently has been available since May 2015.  It is in Gallery 116.

Until 15 May 2016 - Life and Sole: Footwear from the Islamic World - another display I have only just discovered and apparently includes some embroidered shoes.  In Room 34 of the British Museum.

Opening in 2016:

5 January to 19 March 2016 - Centenary Stitches will be exhibiting at the National Archives, Kew. Knitted clothing items made for a film Tell Them About Us, that told the story of two brothers during WWI also gave an insight into the sort of items made on the Home Front to make life in the trenches a little more bearable.

11 February to 22 May 2016 - Vogue 100: A Century of Style, National Portrait Gallery, London.  An exhibition to celebrate 100 years of British Vogue with a display of photographs documenting the story of one of the most influential fashion magazines.

20 February to 29 May 2016 - Social Fabric: African Textiles at the William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow.  Printed fabrics from east and south Africa show how textiles can express the concerns of the people who wear them.

11 March to 17 April 2016 - Art Textiles: Marian Clayden at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London.  Born in 1937, Marian was a skilled dyer and painter of textiles for the fashion industry.  She died in 2015 and this retrospective will showcase work from her incredible career.

16 April 2016 to 5 February 2017 - Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  A look at the history of undergarments.

15 June to 10 July 2016 - E.A.S.T. will be exhibiting Between the Lines at Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington. Also talk and workshops - more details in due course.

13 October 2016 to 5 February 2017 - The Vulgar at the Barbican, London.  Looking at notions of vulgarity by looking at fashions of the Renaissance, 18th century and current times.

21 November 2016 to 28 March 2017 - Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  A golden age for English embroidery, this exhibition looks at not only the craftsmanship but at the wider world at the time they were created.

I will try and keep a separate page on this blog now of exhibitions with a textile theme.  Hopefully I can update this as and when I learn of new ones.

I'd love to hear from anyone else on exhibitions I should add.

Magical Tapestries for Christmas

It seems only appropriate to start this week's blog with a scene of the nativity.  It was taken on my recent trip to Rome, to the Vatican.  This was just one of a large number of tapestries in the appropriately named Tapestry Gallery on the way to the Sistine Chapel.

At one time tapestry was the most expensive form of art you could buy - much more prestigious than painting.  Obviously the church wanted to show their power and status so they had several.

Sadly the ones I really wanted to show did not come out at all well in my photographs, but they were pointed out because of what appeared to be quite magical effects.

One of them showed an image of Jesus coming out of what appeared to be a doorway; what appeared to be an image of him on Easter Sunday.  What was amazing about this tapestry was that if you looked at it as you went past the eyes are followed you.  This is something often seen in paintings but technically very difficult with tapestry.

Next to this tapestry is another one of Jesus sitting at a table with two disciples.  The table appears to almost come into the room.  Once again if you watch the table as you go past the position of the table appears to alter in front of your eyes.  

I would love to know if any other tapestries exist with such magical properties?

In the meantime - wishing all a very Merry Christmas.  

Textiles at the Tate

An evening event in London meant I either went up to town just for a couple of hours in the evening or I used my train fare wisely and looked for something to visit on the way.  I decided to catch one of the free daily tours at Tate Modern - in particular I was interested to see if there were any textile art works to be found. 

The tour I joined was to look at the Energy and Process Gallery on the fourth floor.

One of the works we looked at was by an artist Georgio Griffo (b.1936) and called Segni Orizzontali (1975). The title translates as "horizontal signs".  I picked this work out because its textile qualities are so obvious.  The canvas is not fixed on a stretcher and the folds in the fabric not only make the qualities of the medium very obvious but are very much a feature of the work - a line not in paint but in memory.  

The canvas looks quite coarse - I did not look closely enough to see if it was in its natural state or artificially coloured.  The painted dashes of colour are very evenly and regularly painted - a line of blue, green, a pinky mauve and then a deeper pinky mauve.  Then a line of blue starts again but runs out half way.

What our guide told us was that here the artist expects the audience to "finish" the work - first by mentally "painting" the rest of the blue dashes.  We might then imagine the next line - and most likely follow the pattern in the same recurring colours.

What this piece seems to reference is our human instinct for order.  The textile artists amongst us might also wish the creases were ironed out.  I expect some of us might also wish to see it framed and ordered.  

During the guided tour, which took about 45 minutes (they run daily at 11am, 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm), we looked at about eight art works and I am not certain if the same tour by a different guide would include other works.  Certainly these tours make you look much more closely at works that you might otherwise have walked past.  

When I came out to go to my next destination I walked back through the Christmas Market situated in front of the gallery (it is there until 23 December) and across the bridge towards St Paul's.  The twinkling lights made for a very festive atmosphere and put me in just right mood to go on to a Christmas party where I could catch up with friends, old and new.

Stunning textiles in pastel and enamel

In London, with time on my hands, I decided to visit the Royal Academy's exhibition of the 18th century artist, Jean-Etienne Liotard.  Until technological developments to overcome the difficulty of displaying his favoured medium of pastel were overcome, his work has been difficult to exhibit. It is this medium that gives his pictures a particular luminosity, yet equally it has made him less well known that he should be.  

Born in Geneva in 1702, Liotard spent much of his early life travelling across Europe painting for people on their Grand Tours.  John Montagu (4th Earl of Sandwich) and William Ponsonby (Viscount Duncannon) commissioned him to travel and draw souvenirs of their journey to the Levant, in particular the local costumes.  Not only did this display his talent for attention to detail and love of painting textiles it also gave him contacts that later in life helped obtain even more prestigious clients.

Liotard spent four years in the Levant and when he returned to Europe he dressed in an Oriental style. This made him stand out and attract customers, but they were also impressed by his artistic skill. His other eccentricity was that until his marriage he sported a very long beard.  This was removed at his new wife's request.  On her death (in 1782) the beard returned.  He was still painting in old age and, like Rembrandt, he recorded his own changing features in several self-portraits.  Liotard died in 1789.  

Although an exhibition of mainly portraits, this exhibition that could be viewed for the costumes alone.  Many of his western clients would wear for costumes purchased abroad, to give themselves an air of exoticism.  He had a particular love of a beautiful blue in which many of his sitters were dressed.

I think what I particularly enjoyed with this exhibition was looking at the difference in images looked from a distance and then close up.  In one painting of Katherine Furnese, Countess of Guilford (1754), a diamond at her throat looked so realistic seen from afar. Close up it seemed to be a brown oval with black and white marks - it was almost magical.  

Not only was Liotard skilled with pastel but also talented as a miniaturist working in enamels but both were difficult media.  On the audio guide there was a section that told how until recently it was difficult to transport pastels for exhibition and it is only with new developments in understanding the physical properties of this technique and advances in art transformation that made this exhibition possible.

Liotard drew and painted royalty across Europe including the young Marie-Antoinette, and the British Royal family.  He also painted more ordinary bankers, physicians, actors and singers.  He had no desire to idealise his sitters and the faces are informal and real.  There were so many beautiful images it would be hard to pick just one favourite.

It would also be impossible to finish this review without mentioning his trompe l'oeil, in particular his painting on silk of two plaques and sketches on what appears to be a wooden mount.

This exhibition continues until 31 January 2016, but be warned because the Ai Weiwei exhibition is in its final days (finishes 13 December) there is currently some queueing at the door.  This is partly for bag searches and then ticket purchase.  It was only about 15 minutes when I arrived around lunch time on Wednesday, but by the afternoon the queues were considerably longer.  

Finding Faults of Love

Today I visited the Foundling Museum and while I was there I had a further look at The Fallen Woman exhibition.  I first saw this fascinating exhibition in September and now it is in its last few weeks.  The exhibition looks at the lives of real women of the Victorian era who turned to the Foundling Hospital in their hour of need.  Real petitions are displayed alongside paintings, prints and stereoscopic photographs to look at how women of the time were portrayed in art.  Additionally there is a sound installation. 

The stories from the petitions show girls who were naive, gullible or in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Whatever the story it seems it was always the women who were at fault and for some the hospital allowed them their only hope of a second chance in life.  

The art works show how in Victorian England there was often only three types of women - the totally virtuous, the tempted woman (was she weak or strong?) and the fallen woman.  In art the only way the fallen woman could redeem herself was in death.  The dress you wore was frequently an indicator of which of these types of woman you were thought to be.  

Alongside this thought provoking exhibition was another smaller display - Unpinned. This included work by First Year BA Jewellery Design students from Central Saint Martins, who had used the museum and its archives as a as their inspiration.  I particularly liked the image at the top of this page.  Made from cotton and pins it was a really fascinating technique.  There were other textile pieces on display, some of which are shown below.  

The Fallen Woman continues until 3 January 2016

Unpinned is on display until 31 January 2016

The museum is normally open every day except Monday but is closed between Christmas Day and New Year.

Fashionable figures

Until last week I had never really visited Rome - only ever passed through.  By chance when I did visit, the Palazzo Borghese it just happened to have a temporary exhibition on with a textile theme. Couture/Sculpture was a display of 65 stunning gowns and outfits set between the statues and the paintings.  Text was sparse so you could only look and admire.  The whole exhibition was the work of Tunisian born couturier and shoe designer, Azzedine Alaia.  

I am not certain any of the items could have been worn - the effect appeared to be emphasise the sculptural and the dresses had the tiniest of waists.  With all the other paintings and sculpture, it was difficult to know what to look at first - the art (especially Bernini), the architecture, the dresses.  It seemed that I failed to pay attention to everything as I missed the stairs up to the first floor - just too many distractions.

The  photographs I took show just some of the items on display, and a little of the permanent collection too.  The painting behind this gown is a Caravaggio - "St Jerome Writing".  Caravaggio is of course known for his use of light, and equally the dresses were enhanced by the way they were lit emphasising the curves and texture of the fabrics.

These next two reminded me of the recent Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A.  One making use of what appears to be a whole alligator and the other with what appears to be suede and horse hair.

In the image above, I tried to capture the shadow, which added an extra dimension to the display.

These next two seemed particularly sculptural and elegant.

And lastly one of my favourites, with its intricate beadwork - which sadly I could not pick out, with only my camera phone at hand.

Sadly the exhibition has now closed - it finished the day after we visited.  

While in Rome I threw a coin in the newly renovated Trevi Fountain, and if the legend is correct I will get back to for another visit some time.  Next time I will pay more attention and ensure I visit the upstairs of any galleries I visit.

Indian fabric - craftsmanship and splendour

The Fabric of India was an exhibition I visited on the same day as I visited Shoes: Pleasure and Pain (see last week's blog) at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Of the two I have to say I enjoyed this one the most - although both were worth a visit.

The Fabric of India looked at Indian textiles from a wide range of viewpoints - craftsmanship, historical, contemporary, status, political and social issues.  It was also the exhibition where I learnt that for the ancient Greeks and Babylonians, the word 'cotton' was synonymous with India.

The entrance includes a huge seventeenth century "summer carpet" flanked with two mannequins dressed in very contemporary versions of Indian fashion.  It was a good introduction to an exhibition that looked at such a historically diverse subject.

In the next section, which was large and spacious, the exhibition concentrated on the craftsmanship behind textile production - growing, weaving, dyeing, printing, embroidery.  I liked the fact that they showed family businesses still producing cloth or textile products - highlighting the craftsmen (and women) as well as the techniques and products themselves.  

There were sections that showed courtly splendour, textiles with sacred attributes, global trade, and contemporary designs.  It was also good to see that they included a section about how Britain exploited the trade, to the point that the Indian textile tradition was severely damaged - a side of textile history that in the past might have been ignored.  

There were some very beautiful pieces and fascinating items on display.  A favourite of mine was the embroidered map shawl, dating from the 19th century.  Even the exhibition graphics, which included stitched words, were worth admiring.

After a visit to the shoe exhibition in the morning this was a big exhibition to take on.  If I get the chance I would love to go back.  Next time I would take my notebook.  

Again no photographs so the images for the blog are from the V&A's permanent collection of South Asian textiles.  The exhibition continues until 10 January 2016.

Shoes - a pleasurable experience but not without some pain

Any textile artist would probably tell you that the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London is one of their favourite museums in the capital because of its permanent collection which includes a vast number of textile pieces, but also because of its focus on textiles for many of its temporary exhibitions.  Perhaps Shoes: Pleasure and Pain is not really a textile exhibition per se, but it certainly included a lot of textile items.

The categories of display in the lower galleries included transformation, status and seduction.  One display focused on shoes supposed to have magical properties to transform the wearer - like a crystal slipper for Cinderella.  The "status" section shoes that were intended to display wealth or the ability to have so little need for walking you could wear shoes that were completely impractical. The "seductive" shoes included sexy heels and fetish wear.  This was certainly a very broad display and anyone interested in shoes from a social, historical or design perspective would find plenty of interest.

Unfortunately this downstairs section of the exhibition was the most crowded area and with people trying to peer at the displays it made the viewing experience not as pleasurable as it could have been.  This was for me the "pain" of the exhibition but certainly not as painful as I imagine some of the shoes might have been. 

In the more airy upper gallery the focus was on the creation of shoes - showing how a shoe is designed and developed. There was also a collection about shoe collectors.  It was interesting to see the range of shoes that people collected and also how some displayed them like art objects and others kept them safely in boxes.  Some collectors wore shoes their collections while others just kept them as objects of beauty.

There were some audio visual displays including filmed interviews with shoe designers talking about inspiration and working practices which wss worth watching. Other imagery around the walls showed shoes being made - step by step.

This was an interesting exhibition and one I would have liked more with a little more space.  There was a warning at the entrance to leave coats in the cloakroom and it would have been wise words to heed.  

Unfortunately no photography allowed in the temporary exhibition, so the shoe image at the top of this blog is from the permanent collection - of which there are several in the costume display.

This exhibition at the V&A continues until 31 January 2016.  If you combine it with the Fabric of India exhibition you may want to save longer for this much bigger exhibition, of which I will say more in my next blog.

Amazing materials - combined and destroyed

Although my link between art and textiles is rather tenuous this week, I felt after seeing the amazing Ai Weiwei exhibition this week I could not avoid giving it a mention.  In fact the strongest link was the chair that was set beneath the trees in the Royal Academy courtyard.  This chair was not of course made of a textile, not even leather - it was carved from marble.  A marble chair is not good - especially on a winter's day.  It is rather cold.  In fact in this photo I seem to have the expression of someone on a marble chair, while my friend Melinda looks much more comfortable.

This was not the only chair in the exhibition as Ai Weiwei son's stroller also made  an appearance - this too was made of marble and set surrounded by a marble lawn.  The creases in the "fabric" looked so real.  It reminded us of a piece of work made by fellow E.A.S.T member, Susan Canfield for our "Making a point!"

If there was a central theme surrounding the Ai Weiwei exhibition it was "materials".  Whether he was protesting about the tragedy of the Shanghai earthquake or "celebrating" the authorities decision to destroy his artists' community building, or even to explore Chinese culture through its craftsmen and women, the materials used were the key to interpretation.  He combined antique furniture with pieces of temple, he mixed rubble with furniture, he used straightened rebars, he compressed tea into a metre cube.

He also used destruction in a creative way - famously breaking a Ming vase or grinding neolithic pots to dust.  Or did he?

One of my favourite pieces was a material of a different kind - a crystal cube, a metre cube.  As people passed by it reflected and fractured, and although I realise there must be a scientific explanation for its properties, it felt as if it was a magic trick - cutting someone in half.

Of course there is much more to this exhibition than the use of materials and many more pieces on display.  It was thought provoking, sometimes challenging and moving.  I came away having a great respect for the bravery of the artist, and other artists who challenge the system.  There were also items that were just amazing in their construction like the bicycle chandelier.   

This is an exhibition I would thoroughly recommend - it is on until 13 December 2015 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Picking up another thread

The lady next to me picked a loose thread from my sleeve and said "you are going to get a letter".  It is not a saying I had ever heard before so I asked where it came from.  She said it was something her mother said and that her mother was from Yorkshire so perhaps it was a Yorkshire saying.  The thread she found was not very long but apparently if it had been a long thread it would have been a long letter.

It made me wonder about other sayings and traditions there are about threads, so I turned to the internet.

According to one source a loose piece of thread on your clothing also helos those seeking the name of their future love - drop the thread on the floor and see what initial it spells.  

Another source advices tying a thread around the finger of your left hand to help to remember something.  Tying a piece of thread around your little finger is supposed to stop a nose bleed and apparently tying a thread three times around a finger before dropping it to the ground is supposed to remove warts.  

A couple of sources said that if you are sewing and your thread tangles and forms into knots, someone is talking about you, but another source said that a knotted thread indicates an argument.  On the Mediterranean if a thread knots the person whose clothes are being mended will have prosperity and wealth.  

Apparently it is also bad luck to sew clothing while someone is wearing the item unless the person wearing the clothes holds a thread in their mouth.  If however you inadvertently sew something to your own clothes, the number of stitches you make is supposed to indicate the number of lies that will be told about you.

Whilst all these sayings could just be seen as a bit of fun, what I find interesting is the fact that they have get passed down the generations.  Of course we never know where it started and by whom.

Did I receive a letter?  I am still waiting.

Autumn inspiration

It is not often I find the drive to work a thing of beauty but today, and for the last week or so, it has been almost a joy to drive along tree lined A roads - a riot of greens, yellows, reds, browns, etc. 

A couple of years ago when creating a catalogue for our textile group I asked the E.A.S.T members what their favourite season was - autumn came out on top.  That was not to say that some members did not have other favourite seasons, because each season has it's special pleasures.  It is one of the reasons that although we may moan about the weather in the UK, its constant change is actually one of its assets.

It is for this reason that I thought I would add to last week's blog with some more images of my recent experiments in leaf printing.

First we put our leaves on one half of a piece of vinegar/water soaked silk (or wool) fabric.  Tannin rich leaves work best.  Also there are some pieces of red onion skin here.  The other half of the fabric is then folded over making a sort of "leaf sandwich"

Then the fabric was wrapped really tightly around some rusted tin - I had a spoke from a wheelbarrow but most of the group used tin cans that had been left to rust a little in water.  It also had to be tied very tightly.

The wrapped fabric is then steamed or put into boiling water for an hour or two.  

Some of our fabric was also soaked in a copper water mix as an alternative mordant.

And we also tried techniques out using paper instead of fabric - it even worked for newspaper.

Anyone wanting to learn more about such techniques, might be interested in a celebration of ethical and natural textile practices being organised by "From the Earth".  In May 2016 there will be a whole host of workshops being run through Art Van Go, and an exhibition which is open for applications now (until January 2016) will be held in June 2016.

Following Threads

The title of the next E.A.S.T (East Anglian Stitched Textile) exhibition is Following a Thread.  I am planning on a body of work inspired by a set of paintings at the National Gallery, but I started out following a very different "thread".

The paintings tell the story of Patient Griselda, a poor country girl who marries a rich marquis, first published in the fourteenth century.  I had researched the paintings as part of an art history course and the more I learnt about the panels, the more there was to find out.  It was not just the narrative illustrated that intrigued but the possibility the panels were commissioned by a woman.  It was a rare thing for a woman to commission art during the Renaissance but not impossible.

However this was not the original inspiration for my E.A.S.T work which began with the story of Elizabeth Blackwell and her Curious Herbal.  My research into Elizabeth Blackwell (1707-1758) had started as a paper I presented at the Foundling Museum last year.  Blackwell engraved all the illustrations as well as all the text.  Her text referred to several sources and it was through this research I came across another botanical illustrator, incidentally yet another remarkable woman. Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) who travelled to Surinam, Africa with her daughter in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Her paintings included not only fantastic plants but insects as well.  Her illustrations were often used as embroidery designs.  Blackwell included some insects in a few of her engravings, perhaps inspired by Merian.

My Blackwell research was also following on from the stories of three remarkable women that lived during WWI which I had used for our last E.A.S.T exhibition, Between the Lines.  One of these WWI women (Mrs Grieve) used her herbal knowledge during the war when commercial medicines were in short supply. I was also learning about herbs during regular visits to the walled garden at Cressing Temple Medieval Barns with a local herbal interest group so it seemed a natural course to combine all these herbal threads.

I read up on herbal dyeing both from a practical and historical point of view and it seemed as if things were coming together. I visited Chelsea Physic Garden, where Blackwell had drawn many of her illustrations and I made a visit to the RHS Lindley Library.  This was a trip organised by the Friends of Thomas Coram and included talks where I learnt more about the printing of herbals and the art of botanical prints.

Despite the fact that I had followed this thread of herbals and herbalists, I was more and more drawn in what seemed a different direction towards the story of the paintings.  Eventually I decided to change to this different source of inspiration, though I worried I had no where to use my extensive herbal research.

Then last weekend E.A.S.T member Jenny, gave us a workshop in how to use leaves to print on fabric and paper (see below).  I realised here was a way my research on the herbals could be linked with the paintings.  I need to find a way of contrasting Griselda's simple country origins with her later wealth and the leaf printing has started me on a train of thought that may provide the solution.

Coincidentally the workshop took place at Braintree Museum, where there is a gallery named after the naturalist John Ray (1627-1705).  Ray was born in nearby Black Notley, Essex. He was a philosopher and scholar.  He was also one of the sources of information Blackwell used for her Curious Herbal. It seemed like pair of threads coming together.

Another dilemma I had was about how to represent Griselda's new found riches and a visit to the aetelier's Hand and Lock, has given me some ideas in that direction.  That visit was combined with a trip to the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in London, and an exhibition called Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden (see below). Amongst the paintings and textiles (woven tapestry and embroidery - see below), I was delighted to recognise works by Maria Sibylla Merian, which I had only previously seen in reproduction.  Perhaps that counts as another linking thread?

I now feel my threads of research are coming together - linking my interests in herbs and natural dyes, remarkable women, fourteenth century paintings and hopefully even include a reference to my foundling research.

Fabric that flies

I have never been a frequent flyer, and to be honest it is for me the least favourite part of any foreign holiday, but I know it is a pretty safe way to travel in a modern, well tested and reasonably comfortable plane.

It is therefore with great admiration that I met someone last weekend who wants to fly in a plane made mainly of fabric and wood (not including the engine, obviously), in a machine I was told while relatively easy to get to into the air, is quite dangerous to land.  There is no also way of keeping out the wind and rain, apart from a thick coat and goggles.

The plane itself is a replica of one previously flown over 100 years ago - a Bleriot XI, and it was brought to the Shuttleworth Uncovered airshow this month, to sit alongside an original that is the oldest piece in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden in Bedfordshire.  

The plane is a fascinating project by a group called the Club Aero des Garrigues from the small French town of Saint Hippolyte-du-Fort.  This town was once celebrated for its three day airshows, known as "Les Batailles".

It was not the only plane made from fabric and stitch at Shuttleworth, several of which flew during the display including some replica Edwardian planes.  Perhaps the most famous fabric plane, that flew was the Hurricane, known for its role in the Battle of Britain which was also commemorated this year.

Apparently the aero club hope their replica Bleriot XI will fly next year, although the pilot told me he had to stay off the gateaux to make that possible, as he too needs to be as light as possible.

But perhaps his dependence on fabric and stitch is still not as daring (or indeed terrifying) as one of the acts that used to part of the original Batailles show.  Apparently the audience were sometimes entertained by a Madame Pelletier whose parachute (a prototype of ones used today), was too bulky to fit in the cockpit of her husband's plane, so Madame Pelletier would launch herself from the wing instead.  Certainly a world away from the highly trained professionals the Red Devils who entertained us at Shuttleworth.

"... Wonderful things"

When Howard Carter first peered into Tutankhamun's tomb and asked if he could see anything, he is said to have replied, "Yes, Wonderful things".  I was reminded of these words when I visited Alice Anderson's exhibition at the Wellcome Collection - Memory Movement Memory Objects.  

The exhibition is about the act of preserving objects.  The performance and meditative effect of the wrapping process is as important as the objects themselves. The background music added to this effect. The exhibition opens with an opportunity to try some wrapping, including assisting in the wrapping of a car - a full size one - in thread.

It is as you step into the second gallery, that you are bedazzled by the "wonderful things",  In a darkened room, objects stand on plinths, and at the back a staircase - everything wrapped in shimmering, copper thread.  As you walk around the room you are surrounded by objects on these black plinths - so it is only the objects you really see. Yet these were not precious things they were ordinary everyday objects - an electrical plug, a telephone, keys, tools, a Coca Cola bottle, a TV, a record player.  Some were difficult to make out at first but ultimately it was the fun of sudden recognition combined with seeing things differently. Everything was beautifully lit and that added to the drama. Even though it was going nowhere, the staircase pulled you forward with the desire to climb its glittering path. 

In a room with combined objects my first instinct was to work out what was inside - before stepping back to consider them as something new.  Another room was filled with a length of rope or pipe, hung from the ceiling - twisting and turning.  It was like being in a mystical forest - though without the trees.  Then there were collections of objects, laid out on shelves or framed - tiny things like coins, some perhaps simply chosen for their shape.  In the last section there were objects distorted with the wrapping - including a canoe, a wheelbarrow and a set of shelves.  

This is one of those exhibitions that has to be experienced - images do not do it justice.  Even if it is hard to grasp why anyone would want to wrap ordinary things it is worth seeing how the wrapping makes things more beautiful.  In a way it is a bit like looking onto a familiar landscape unexpectedly covered in snow - the familiar is seen in a different light.

The exhibition continues at the Wellcome Collection, Euston Road until 18 October 2015.  It is free to visit.

An afternoon of silk with tea

Anna Maria Garthwaite was a designer of woven silk in the eighteenth century who, unusually for a woman of that time, not only ran a successful business, but was famous for her design skills during her own lifetime.  Over eight hundred of her watercolours form part of the Victoria and Albert Museum collection and there are examples of silk fabrics made to her designs in museums around the world.  She was born in 1688, the daughter of the Rev Garthwaite and his wife, in Grantham, Lincolnshire.  She had at least one sister, Mary, who was widowed twice.   Anna Maria went to live with Mary in York in the 1720s, before they relocated to Spitalfields a few years later.  Their house, suitably adorned with a blue plaque, still survives in Princelet Street, Spitalfields, London. Occasionally the house is open to visitors.  I do not know if Mary assisted in the business, but I imagine it was likely.  Anna Maria lived until 1763, (until she was 75), and seems to have remained single.

Anna Maria's designs reflected the 18th century love of flowers and plants, partly explained by the interests of natural philosophers (scientists) of that time.  It was her skill in painting flowers in a naturalistic style that made them so appealing. Flower painting was one of the few subjects open to women artists and I know of two others famous for their botanical paintings who lived about the same time.  One was Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) - some of her botanical prints are currently on display at an exhibition on gardens at the Queen's Gallery.  The other was Elizabeth Blackwell (1707-1758) whose drawings were published as  "The Curious Herbal".  What also connects these three women is that they all lived relatively independent lives, both socially and economically and it seems a shame they are not better known.  

Anna Maria was not only artistically gifted but technically skilled.  One of her great innovations was the design of point papers, known as Garthwaite papers, that assisted in the transfer of a painted design to something that could be woven.  They also suggest she knew how to weave.

This was just one of the fascinating insights I learnt when I went to a talk at the Warner Textile Archive in Braintree, Essex last Saturday. The afternoon started with Mary Schoeser, textile historian and President of the Textile Society, who talked about the Spitalfields silk industry and its links with Warners and Braintree.  As I have silk weaving ancestors it also gave me an insight into my own family history.  After the talk we were shown treasures from the archive by archivist, Kate Wigley. Both Kate and Mary were very generous with their knowledge and we had discussions on a range of connected topics throughout the day.   The day finished with a beautiful tea laid on by the archive staff.  It was a day very well organised by the team at Braintree.

The Warner Textile Archive exhibition area is normally open Wednesdays and the first Saturday of each month, and they have a regularly changing exhibition programme.  Researchers and groups can arrange visits and talks and I would highly recommend it as a place to visit.  They also run regular workshops so it is worth signing up for the newsletter.

For more tales of Spitalfields - I also recommend another blog Spitalfields Life.