During her recent visit to Grimsby for the 7 Strands Textile Symposium I had a conversation with Tilleke Schwarz about a photograph I had seen of her studio with all her threads neatly arranged in colours in separate boxes. I asked her how she had the patience to wind them all onto bobbins and she replied that she does them whilst watching the television and even though I am rather impatient when doing that sort of boring job I did think I should maybe do the same.
When I told her that my threads were jumbled up in polythene bags she seemed horrified so I resolved to get on and get organised. It did seem to be a huge task when I looked at the number of threads I seem to have accumulated but I have managed to motivate myself to do it and even though I have not yet finished the task yet I am very pleased with the result.
Here are 3 of the 8 boxes I have done so far .I’ll probably need to rearrange them when I have done them all but I am getting there!
I bought my boxes from Barnyarns of Ripon and I they were very inexpensive but they do the job perfectly. I would highly recommend doing this as I can now find the exact colour I want to use.I don’t use the thread numbers to organise them but just do them in colours by eye which is how I use them.
Barnyarns website
Tuesday, 12 July 2011 saw the first 7 Strands Textile Symposium take place in the historic surroundings of Grimsby Minster. This was the first event of this kind I have organised and participants traveled from as far and wide as Hastings, Heckmondwike, Hull, York and Lincoln to take part in the one day event.
During the morning International textile artist Tilleke Schwarz delivered a workshop entitled ‘Telling your own story’ . Everybody made a collage about their interests, likes, dislikes and life in general and then Tilleke invited them all to tell the others about their work. It was a great ice-breaker and some interesting tales were revealed.
Then, after a break for coffee and delicious home baked cakes and scones courtesy of the Minster coffee shop which I can thoroughly recommend , it was time to practice Tilleke’s favourite stitch which is couching.
Couching is often overlooked in favour of more complicated techniques so it was fascinating to be reminded of the versatility of such a simple stitch. I have used the technique myself with difficult threads such as recycled stranded rope as well as finer threads to create varied results. Tilleke uses it for drawing and also for text .The couching threads may be either the same color as the laid threads or a contrasting color. When couching threads contrast with laid threads, patterns may also be worked in the couching stitches.
The feedback I received indicated that the workshop was thoroughly enjoyed. For me it was great to see simple activities like collage and hand stitched couching with fresh eyes. A real inspiration and I will definitely be using those techniques myself in the future.
The afternoon started with a talk by Lucy Brown , a conceptual artist from Brighton. Lucy practice is a complete contrast to Tilleke’s so the different styles gave some insight into the breadth of contemporary textiles in the 21st century. Lucy uses vintage and second hand, mainly women’s, clothing as the raw materials for her work and it was fascinating for me to hear about how she collects and stores these items in her studio as well as seeing the finished pieces of work. Her talk ‘Other People’s Clothes’ discussed the works presented in Seven Strands exhibition in context with her wider practice. The materials and the process alongside narratives around femaleness, re-invention and body absence and presence were also covered .http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=5805
The final part of the afternoon session was an illustrated lecture by Tilleke Schwarz ‘Making Sense out of the Non Sense’ . http://www.tillekeschwarz.com/ The lecture covered not only her own work but that of others that she finds inspiring . I was particularly interested to find out that she enjoys the work of Michael Raedecker , an artist I greatly admire myself .http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/michael_raedecker_about.htm
All in all I think the event was enjoyed by all who attended.
Just back from the opening at Museum Rijswijk which was great. The Museum is housed in an old mansion that dates from 1790 with a brand new extension. Imagine my amazement when I found my work amongst some impressive paintings and separate from the other textiles. They looked fantastic and it gave the pieces great status.
Check out the pictures of Bathing Belles amongst the Old Masters in Museum Rijswijk
The exhibition was very varied and well presented. It was a joy to see all the variety of textiles in such a lovely setting . See more at : http://www.museumryswyk.nl/rtb2011/uk/index.html
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| Helen Banzhaf |
I am very excited that the 7 Strands exhibition is to be hosted by Gate Gallery in my hometown of Grimsby. See the Gate Gallery website for further details .This will be a rare opportunity indeed for Lincolnshire folk to see such a diverse high quality Textile Exhibition . www.gategallery.co.uk
7 Strands brings together the work of Helen Banzhaf, Lucy Brown, Dorothy Ann Daly, Ann Goddard, Christine Gornowicz, Tilleke Schwarz, and Sue Stone, all members of the Internationally renowned 62 Group of Textiles Artists working in various disciplines including Stitch, Weave and Conceptual Textiles which challenge the boundaries between Fine Art and Making.
The images below are a taster of what you will see in the exhibition. 2 June to 23 July 2011.
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| David as Dali (left) and From Grimsby to Gracia (right) by Sue Stone |
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| Tilleke Schwarz |
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| Dorothy Ann Daly |
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| Christine Gornowicz |
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| Lucy Brown |
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| Ann Goddard |
To see details of the tour please visit: www.oneearthtextiles.co.uk.
My piece ‘A Mug for Maida ‘ can be seen next at Verona Tessile, 8 to 13 March 2011,
Galleria d’Arte Moderna Palazzo Forti – Volto Due Mori, 4 , Verona, Italy
I had just finished reading ‘ A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini when I came across the Afghanistan Inspiration project on the ‘Embroidery’ magazine website. The life of the women in Afghanistan is so difficult and so very different to my own. I knew right away I wanted to be involved in this project. The square I chose for my inspiration was stitched by Maida. I chose this square mainly because the colours and shapes are ones I would use in my own work. I have tried to echo the design of Maida’s square using the same colours and zigzag design to compliment the original shapes. I wanted to make Maida’s original piece ‘the star of the show’ by placing it as the decoration on my own vessel , a coffee mug. The resulting collaboration is a small hanging made with a mixture of hand and machine embroidery combined with applique.
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I am privileged to be a member of the 62 Group of textile artists which includes many textile artists with established international reputations. The members’ individual work explores diverse current social, domestic and personal issues.
The next 62 Group exhibition ‘At a Tangent’ runs from 22 January 2011 to 10 April 2011 at Gallery Oldham .
This exhibition demonstrates the group’s energy and vitality, and their continuing determination to produce innovative, exciting work.
Sue Stone’s ‘From Grimsby to Gracia’ – a Weekend in Barcelona , detail shown left, was inspired by a recent visit to Barcelona, this self portrait references a cardboard cutout of Dali seen outside the Dali Museum , the Gaudi mosaics and tiles in Parc Guell , a colourful tiled floor from a neighbourhood bar and a fish from the artist’s hometown of Grimsby.
For more information go to www.womanwithafish.com
womanwithafish 
