Weaving Futures: Week 1 – Wallace Sewell

22 November 2016 |
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wallace-sewell-overground-moq-swatchWeaving Futures is an exhibition at London Transport Museum highlighting the importance of woven textile design to the London Transport system. The exhibition explores the process and making of digital woven textiles, as part of the Museums’, Designology season.

Each week, visitors will be able to see invited designers/artists in residence in the Designology studio, who will be working on a project brief and interacting with a weaver. The weavers will be interpreting the residents work live into digital woven textile prototypes and final works on a state-of-the-art TC2 digital jacquard loom. 

The first residents in the ‘Weaving Futures’ Studio are Wallace Sewell

Residency dates: 21st – 26th Nov 2016
Activity days: 22nd & 26th Nov 2016

The Designology, Weaving Futures Studio is open at all the times the museum is open. Vistors very welcome

Weaving Future exhibition dates: 22 November 2016 to 18 February 2017

About Wallace Sewell
UK based British design studio, Wallace Sewell, was established by Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell after graduating from The Royal College of Art in 1990. Their diverse portfolio includes scarves for the Tate museums as well as moquette fabric designs for Transport for London’s underground seating.

When exhibiting for the first time in 1992, their pieces created much enthusiasm and interest, particularly from Barney’s, New York who placed an order for scarves. This proved instrumental in kick starting the Wallace Sewell brand. Barneys are still buying today and Wallace Sewell now supply over 200 stockists in 20 countries.

They have worked with various boutique hotels, designing and producing bespoke bedspreads and more recently have been invited to be guest designers for an international retail brand. Working from their studio in London and their Dorset outpost, this progressive design duo pioneers excellence and originality within their woven products.

Combining innovation with practical solutions, Wallace Sewell is known for their use of colour, structure and yarn in surprising geometric formats. Inspired by paintings, they create individual contemporary fabrics with strikingly bold, asymmetric blocks and stripes of varying scales, which bring together a plethora of elements within one piece.
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Job: Moquette Project Curator

22 November 2016 |
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wallace-sewell-tram-loomAn opportunity has arisen for a Project Curator to work for London Transport Museum. The Project Curator is required to develop and deliver clearly defined projects within the curatorial department. Application closing date 22.11.2016

London Transport Museum (LTM) is seeking to appoint a Project Curator to develop and deliver a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) funded project to timetable and on budget – Celebrating Britain’s Transport Textile will uncover and share the holistic story of the commissioning, design, manufacture and use of moquette. Selected by the public as a design icon of London and used on buses and trains across the UK moquette is a durable, versatile fabric with a rich design history. The project aims to uncover, understand and share the story of every moquette made for London’s public transport.

To see further click here

Project Organisation – London Transport Museum
Job – Museum & Heritage
Position Type – Full Time

Job Title: Project Curator
Salary: £28,340 – £30,500
Duration: 12 months, full time
Location: Covent Garden and the Museum Depot at Acton Town.

Closing date: Tuesday 22nd November 2016 at 2359 hours

Image: Wallace Sewell Text London Transport Musuem

Chromaticity: Ptolemy Mann

17 November 2016 |
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stanhope-commission-chromaticity-detail-hand-dyed-and-woven-textile-artworks‘Chromaticity’
A New Art Commission for Stanhope

Ptolemy Mann has made  a series of large hand dyed and woven artworks for Stanhope.

The  series of eight 2.5m high artworks illustrate her love of Chromatic Minimalism  to its greatest extent.

Chromaticity means ‘an objective specification of the quality of a colour and consists of two independent parameters, often specified as hue and saturation.’ As seen in the colours found at the nearby Stanhope developmen,t Central Saint Giles by Renzo Piano, the artworks reveal extreme colour saturation unique to hand dyeing and weaving and tell an abstract, intuitive, visual story. This series is also a play on words…a colourful city is a glorious city and London has become a place for colourful buildings to grow in unexpected and unexplored places.

The warp and weft of the cloth becomes a macro city, with warp and weft reflecting the vertical and horizontal line of built architecture. This relationship is demonstarted by the following definition of the word architecture:

straight-crop“Architecture: from the Latin, teks – to weave (as a net); also to fabricate, a root shared with text, textile, context, subtle and technology. More especially to build a dwelling with tools…”

Ptolemy  love is creating artworks and she finds, after over 20 years of weaving, that it surprises and delights her deeply. The process and method of weaving becomes increasingly more symbolic of all creative endeavors she undertakes.

dsc_5065To celebrate this fact Stanhope commissioned the photographer Darek Fortas to photograph the dyeing and weaving process during the making of this work. Mysterious and complex these images reveal part of that process. She extends great thanks to the art consultants Dickson Russell for initiating and managing the commission and to the team at Stanhope for being such exceptional clients.

If anyone is interested in buying or commissioning artworks  email: info@ptolemymann.com for a current list of available artworks.

Top photograph by: Justin Piperger

Tapestry workshops: Caron Penney

17 November 2016 |
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img_4089Tapestry Workshops, Mill Studio, Near Arundel, West Sussex.

Dates: 31st Jan – 14th March,  every Tuesday

Caron Penney will lead a series of  one day Tapestry Workshops investigating, colour theory, overlays, blending and hatching, all skills required to make contemporary tapestry.

Working on pre-warped frames, the workshops will also investigate basic warp and weft structures
and settings. By the end of each class students will have completed a small woven tapestry. It is
preferred that students have a beginners knowledge of weaving or tapestry weaving.

The workshops begin on the 31 January and run until 14 March. There are additional Tapestry
Critique half days if at the end of the 6 weeks students would like to discuss their work with a view
to further development, these are on the 28 March and 4 April. These take place in a friendly,
encouraging environment.

About the Tutor:
Caron Penney is a Master Tapestry Weaver who has worked with artists as varied as Tracey Emin,
Gillian Ayres, and Martin Creed. She studied at Middlesex University to achieve her BA (Hons)
Degree in Constructed Textiles in 1993 and studied for her PGCE in 2001 at Portsmouth
University.
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Job: Gainsborough Fine Weavers & Dye House: Post filled, no more applications being accepted. sept 2017

11 November 2016 |
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gs_000157Gainsborough are looking for a technically minded, creative weaver who is eager to learn. As an historical weaving mill they need someone who has a genuine interest in the history of their company and in the extensive archive they have at Gainsborough.

The candidate should be intuitive and professional with an understanding of Jacquard weaving.

The Company
Founded in 1903, Gainsborough Fine Weavers & Dye House embodies over a century of British craftsmanship. The entire production process – from design, to hand-dyeing yarns, to weaving the finished fabrics – takes place on the site they have occupied since 1924. They received the Royal Warrant from HM The Queen in 1981.

Alongside their own collections, Gainsborough has long been the textile house for any interior designer seeking  bespoke fabrics, from contemporary, geometric styles to  damasks and pearl-embroidered silks, and their willingness to support creative craftspeople in their endeavours remains a cornerstone of their offering.

The role
Gainsborough are looking to train up a new designer as part of their small design team. The designer will be working on client-led projects recreating historical fabrics or one-off bespoke designs. They will also have the opportunity to work on internal collections, both alongside colleagues and, often, external designers.

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Exhibition: ‘Weaving Futures’ | London Transport Museum

31 October 2016 |
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wallace-sewell-tram-moq-swatchDates: 22 November 2016 to 18 February 2017

‘Weaving Futures’ is an exhibition at London Transport Museum highlighting the importance of woven textile design to the London Transport system. The exhibition explores the process and making of digital woven textiles, as part of the Museums’, Designology season.

Each week, visitors will be able to see invited designers/artists in residence in the Designology studio, who will be working on a project brief and interacting with a weaver. The weavers will be interpreting  the residents  work live  into digital woven textile prototypes and final works on a state-of-the-art TC2 digital jacquard loom.

51977-049‘Weaving Futures’ is  curated by design & research industry experts, Philippa Brock and Samuel Plant Dempsey

The Weaving Futures season will start with Wallace Sewell, who will be in residence in the studio from Nov 22nd – 26th 2016

Other residents participating in the season  include: Assemble, Beatwoven, Philippa Brock, Camira, Central Saint Martins, BA Textile students, Samuel Dempsey, Linda Florence, Gainsborough Weaving Company, Eleanor Pritchard, Rare Thread : aka Kirsty McDougall & Laura Miles, Josephine Ortega, Ismini Samanidou, Studio Houndstooth: Jo Pierce, Takram & Priti Veja

Resident artists and designers have been invited to respond to a project brief; exploring the role of textiles in modern transport now and in the future. They will focus on ‘untapped’ sources of data generated by, or helpful to, the transport system. Their responses will then be interpreted into woven textiles, live for museum visitors.

The weavers for the season are Rosie Green & Hanna Vinlöf Nylen

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Jacquard Ribbon Loom Restoration: Emma Wood | Part 2

28 October 2016 |
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image-1Jacquard Restoration in Berlin: Emma Wood Update

Work has been continuing steadily with the restoration of a 1920s ribbon Jacquard at the Deutsches Techniksmuseum in Berlin by Emma Wood & Birgit Zehlike.

Following the initial assessment and cleaning of the loom, the latest task has been to mend or replace the eight warps that are currently threaded on. The first five of these warps are connected to the first Jacquard mechanism, and the last three are connected to the second Jacquard mechanism.

Unfortunately there is no available threading plan, so the only keys to figuring out the threading of each of the eight warps were the old examples of woven ribbon and the original punchcards. This meant Emma had to look at the damaged threading that currently existed on the loom, compare this to the ribbon samples, and then reconstruct what the warp order and threading should be ( image above).

All of the eight ribbon warps use both the extra-warp and extra-weft techniques, and she was able to break each ribbon into a number of different design blocks. Once the design was broken down this way, it was much easier to calculate the correct threading plan.

image-2

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Exhibition: Nature in the Making

27 October 2016 |
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a3postersleedoornwevers

Nature in the Making is a joint exhibition taking place in Galerie de Sleedoorn, Hendrik Piersonstraat, 11b, 6671 CK, Zetten, Netherlands.

Dates: 4 – 27 November 2016

Weavers Stacey Harvey-Brown and Agnes Hauptli weave artworks based around geology and roadtrips in the US and New Zealand. Both are drawn to the same inspiration – rocks, erosion, lichen, canyons, caverns, and gorges – but they have very different means of expression.

Hauptli’s work is steeped in colour – intense hues, dramatic colourplay, visual movement and delivered through both pictorial (jacquard) and organic lines in shaft weaving.

Harvey-Brown focuses on texture – surface texture and three-dimensional through the use of structural weaving techniques and different qualities of shrinkage.

The two different styles lead to an interesting exhibition, each time bringing in new work and intriguing audiences. This is its second appearance in Europe, having been shown in Switzerland, and previously in two venues in New Zealand and two in the US.

Both artists will be present at the gallery, and Harvey-Brown will be demonstrating the weaving process throughout the exhibition.
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Conference: Textile Futures | Technology, Materials and Preservation

23 October 2016 |
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mycelium%20rubber%206-1The Textile Society Conference

Textile Futures: Technology, Materials and Preservation

Date: Saturday 5th November, Wellcome Trust, 215 Euston Road, London.

This conference will examine recent advances in textile design, materials and technology, considering emerging ideas and approaches that may change the way we design, make, use and preserve textiles in the future.

The conference begins at 11.15am and finishes at 5.15pm. Lunch and refreshments are included.

The keynote speaker is Janis Jefferies, Professor of Visual Arts and Research at Goldsmiths, University of London. Janis will be speaking on her research that examines the relationship between culture and technology, including wearable devices as ‘intelligent textiles’.

Dr Kate Lloyd from the industry organisation ‘Textile Intelligence’, will be speaking on thermochromics and advances in textile print technology, and Dr Celina Jones from the University of Manchester, will be discussing her research on textile printing and sustainability, looking at low impact techniques, reducing the use of colorants, and new ways of distressing denim.

They will also be joined by Anne French, Textile Conservator and Collections Care Manager at the Whitworth Art Gallery, speaking on the challenges of conserving increasingly complex textile materials for the future, and Professor Carole Collet from Central Saint Martins, speaking about her work with the design & living systems lab, biotextiles and the advantages of biological tools for a more sustainable textile future.

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Jacquard Ribbon Loom Restoration: Emma Wood

6 October 2016 |
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Image 1a

An exciting new project has begun at the German Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum) in Berlin, focused on the repair and restoration of their star Jacquard. The photograph of the loom (above) is prior to restoration

The project is being undertaken by Berlin-based British weaver Emma Wood, along with Birgit Zehlike & Nael Alkhteb of Oranienburg, and will run until November 2016. The restoration is taking place in the main hall of the museum, and is open for all visitors to watch.

Emma Wood will be reporting for The Weave Shed on the restoration of a jacquard loom in Berlin in a series of posts during her residency.

This particular Jacquard was built in the 1920s in Germany, and it arrived at the museum in around 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The loom is designed for weaving ribbons, and it has two Jacquard mechanisms, each one being capable of producing 9 ribbons simultaneously. Sadly the loom has fallen into a state of disrepair after roughly a decade of non-use, but this restoration project provides a rare opportunity to get up-close and personal with such a specialised loom.

First Days
The first days of the restoration involved doing an overall analysis of the loom, and getting to grips with how it works.  The Jacquard mechanisms are operated by punchcards, and the warp threads are spread across individual spools, instead of warp beams.  These spools are then weighted to set the tension.

Emma wood 2

Beginning the analysis at the top of the loom, it became clear to the team that a piece from the left Jacquard mechanism was missing, which would help rotate the punchcards evenly.  It was also obvious that a large number of the punchcards were damaged, most likely from water damage and humidity.  The damaged punchcards offer an exciting opportunity to experiment with new techniques and materials, and to use some of the latest technology to create cards that are both precise and long-lasting.

Image 3

 

The remaining bulk of the work over the first days has been focused on thoroughly cleaning the entire loom.  Given that it was last operated over 10 years, the team have found themselves faced with a fair amount of mechanical grease and dirt, all of which needs to be cleaned away.  The results are already rewarding, as they have begun to unearth stunning steel and brass metalwork, along with uncovering the original deep green of the loom’s mainframe. Continue reading →

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