Redhanded: Kings Cross

red handed low resRedhanded is a new temporary art space in King’s Cross, curated by artists Sally Hampson and Esther Caplin in partnership with SVA. They profile work and projects that have been supported by SVA in Stroud and is building connections with artists, artist led projects and communities based in London.

Redhanded runs from February to April 2014,  74-76 Cromer Street, London.
WC1H 8DR and will have a continuous programme of exhibitions, workshops, events with performance, poetry and discussions.

SVA, an artist-led initiative, has established a reputation for injecting energy into run down, redundant and empty properties in Stroud, Gloucestershire.This highly successful approach to local engagement and town centre vitalisation is now being brought to this central, well-established and culturally diverse area of London.

Redhanded is open Tuesday to Thursday 12.00 – 6.00 but, as a working studio, artists are there during other days. You are invited to come in and see us by arrangement. There will be regular updates of the programme, and workshops in weaving, printing and book-making. Email or visit us to join the network

Contact:  sallyhampson@googlemail.com or esther.caplin@hotmail.co.uk Continue reading →

Exhibition: Stacey Harvey – Brown & Agnes Hauptli

2014-01-09 15.32.37UK weaver, Stacey Harvey-Brown and Agnes Hauptli, from New Zealand are exhibiting their responses to geological forms and natural landscapes in ‘Nature in The Making’.  The exhibition of stalactites, canyons and caverns, showcasing some highly unusual three-dimensional weaving and  visual images, will be at the Earth House, Peria New Zealand from 8th to 18th March 2014, before moving on to Arts in Oxford, just north of Christchurch, from 12th April to 7th May.

After its New Zealand leg, ‘Nature in the Making’ will go to the USA, to the B2 Fine Art Gallery in Tacoma, Washington before going on to other venues in the USA and Europe.

Since 2010, the two weavers have met in the US every two years to visit some of the geological features surrounding their biennial weaving conference locations. This exhibition was inspired by trips to the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyons in Arizona, and the cave systems under the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Mountain ranges in Virginia. Agnes Hauptli uses a computer-assisted jacquard loom to create large visually engaging colour panels  and Stacey Harvey-Brown uses a shaft loom to create highly textured three-dimensional Growth Forms installations and large off-the-wall Strata Wall pieces. Continue reading →

Launch: Textile Technologies Project

ttp2logoThis launch will inform companies on how the project will enable them to access the key industry emerging technologies housed within the centre in Carmarthen. The event on 25th February 2014 will be of interest to any business wishing to work on Research and Development, new product development, knowledge transfer, and collaborative projects.

• Printed, knitted and woven textile design-CAD development
• Development of woven Jacquard fabrics-jacquard loom
• Gerber Technology for pattern digitising, manipulation, grading and marker making
• Virtual sampling-CAD printed and woven designs
• Scotweave CAD design development
• Product development and prototyping
• Research and testing of fabrics for potential laser or ultrasonic joining
• Laser cutting, laser etching, and hydro cutting
Digital fabric printing
Continue reading →

Exhibition: Patterns of Magnificance

POM-P-1Patterns of Magnificence is a unique exhibition of local Greek dress at The Hellenic Centre, showing an inspiring and varied approach to fabric selection and origin of materials, woven and embroidery techniques and colour.

The way textiles are combined in the dresses is inspirational for fashion and textile designers. The dresses are shown freely and not behind glass giving a rare opportunity to be able to see the fabrics from close proximity and understand the making processes involved.

The embroidery is often embellished on hand woven ground and covering the sleeves and hem of the garment leaving the main body of the chemises plain. The woven textiles range from shawls woven using different thicknesses of hand spun silk to fine jacquards and wovens using supplementary weft techniques providing a geometric patterns.

The multiform traditions of Greek women’s dress are among the richest and most splendid in the world. This exhibition brings together over forty superb originals from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century, many of which will be on display in London for the first time. They include the monumental dress from the tiny island of Psara, of which very few examples survive and which is very rarely exhibited, the richly embroidered costume from Astypalaia in the Dodecanese, the astonishing assembly of fabrics, colours and jewellery from Stefanoviki in Thessaly and the sumptuously brocaded dress from Janina in Epirus.

Continue reading →

Loom: seminar

Loom seminarLRLOOM
This seminar brings together a panel of contemporary weavers to discuss their woven production methods and how it affects their practices.  From hand weaving to mill weaving, the loom is still the integral design tool for the modern weaver despite advances in digital technology. The day will explore how technology is balanced with tradition. Delegates will be able to join in conversation with the speakers, debating why it is still important to be hands on, and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of hand woven production.

Each speaker will illustrate their presentation.

The day will be chaired by Helen Foot, textile designer, lecturer and a contemporary hand-weaver.
When: Saturday May 3 10.30 – 4.30 pm
Where: Gallery 2, Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stroud GL5 4AF

Speakers:
Kirsty McDougall of Dashing Tweeds. The company produces innovative suiting and bespoke fabrics that are sold to clients worldwide. The development of ‘lumatwill’, a reflective tweed suiting has led to a small collection of menswear accessories being designed and stocked in Dover Street Market in London and Comme Des Garcons Isetan in Tokyo. The company endeavours to work in collaboration with British mills and all production is done within the UK.

Franki Brewer is the technical weaver at Dash and Miller with a keen eye for geometry and surface pattern. Her graduate work was chosen by WGSN for their “Generation Now” report from New Designers that year. Since then, Franki has worked with a number of London-based hand-woven textile design studios, with tasks including consultancy for some of the most highly regarded RTW women swear mills in Europe. She has also designed for one of the UK’s most well-renowned bespoke interior design companies.

​ Continue reading →

The Gieves & Hawkes Lecture: The Textile Institute

Textile Institute 27 feb simon baker

Tapestry weaving workshops: Caron Penney

Caron Penney 1 - STOP detail 2A Basic Introduction to Tapestry Weaving
Fashion and Textiles Museum,
83 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3XF
Tel: 020 7407 8664
Tutor: Caron Penney
Dates: 27th March  -  28 March 2014

In this two day workshop students will learn the basic weave techniques used to create a tapestry, these include plain weave, soft diagonals, hatching, blending and shaping.

The course will start with a demonstration of the warping-up process and participants will get experience of this process before starting to weave. By the end of the workshop participants will take home a completed tapestry.

There will be some one to one tuition during the two day workshop which is suitable for beginners – intermediate levels. Time: 11.00am – 4pm each day, this workshop requires a minimum of five students to run.

The workshop costs £160. To discuss the course content please contact the tutor at caron.penney@btinterent.com to book a place telephone 020 7407 8664 or contact the Fashion and Textile Museum through their website. Continue reading →

SIT Designing Craft Crafting Design: Symposium

select logo 2014 FINAL50mmSIT Designing Craft Crafting Design symposium brings together some of the most illustrious names in the fields of contemporary craft and design in a day of discussion and debate examining what the terms ‘craft’ and ‘design’ mean to us in the 21st Century. The symposium aims to be a day of debate and enquiry.

Programme:
Is the division between between Craft and Design relevant today? 10- 11.30 am
The panel
Mary Greensted, Chair of the Gloucester Guild of Craftsmen, Grant Gibson, Editor of Crafts and designers Nick Munro and Simon Pengelly – will discuss this  issue in a thought provoking debate chaired by design writer and SIT blogger Charlotte Abrahams

Wallace Sewell UpholsteryDoes craft have to be man made? 12.00 – 12.45 pm
The panel
Ceramicist Michael Eden, Harriet Wallace-Jones, one half of innovative industrial textile studio Wallace Sewell and maker Susan Early and textile printer Stephen Lewis put their cases in front of chair John Brewer, chair of the Cheltenham Design Festival and Course Leader, BA Graphic Design at the University of Gloucester

Maker Talks 2.00 – 4.00pm
Wallpaper artist Tracy Kendall, textile designer Fay McCaul and design-maker Sebastian Cox shed light on their inspirations and working methods in a series of individual talks.

When: Saturday, May 17th 2014
Time: 9:30 am – 5.00pm
Where: Stroud College, Stratford Rd, Stroud GL5 4AH
Price: Tickets cost £85 Concessions (students/unemployed) £35 inclusive of coffee/tea and organic lunch.
Continue reading →

The Open West 2014 : Call for entries

O_gold_001The Open West is an annual open competition and exhibition inviting work from national and international artists practising contemporary and conceptual art. Work submitted can include Textile, painting, installation, film and sound, photography, ceramics, print, drawing, performance, sculpture, glass, metal and plastics.

Following the success of the 2013 programme, the open west 2014 will be held in the main galleries of The Wilson, the newly opened contemporary museum and art gallery in Cheltenham.

Up to 40 artists will be included in the exhibition, each with the possibility of showing more than one work. the open west 2014 will offer an opportunity for artists to participate in an education programme; residencies; workshops and a day of artists in conversation. A catalogue is published each year.

Three award winners will each be offered £500
2014 selection panel – curators Lyn Cluer Coleman and Sarah Goodwin, together with Anita Taylor and Virgile Ittah

The Wilson | Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
Deadline: 10th Feb 2014
Exhibition: 3rd May – 1st June 2014
Artists whose work is selected for exhibition will be notified by Wednesday 19 February 2013

To apply Application Form:
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Happy New Year from The Weave Shed

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