Cordage & Structures with Alice Fox at West Dean College, Bloomsbury Campus, London

 

Alice Fox's Cordage Structures

I recently went on a short course at West Dean College's Bloomsbury Campus in London which is quite near Kings Cross Station (handy for me).  The workshop was led by textile artist, Alice Fox and we were taught to make cordage from repurposed materials.  Once we had made some cordage, we were also taught how to make some simple structures.  It was great fun although very time consuming.

Here is some of the cordage I made from recycled fabric, a plastic bag and some newspaper....

Cordage from fabric, newspaper and a plastic bag

I also made some cordage from tissue paper which is easier to make than cordage from newspaper...

Tissue paper cordage

These are my newspaper pots...

Coiled and stitched newspaper pot

Looped newspaper pot

And these are my woven structures...

Flat woven fabric cordage

Woven pocket from fabric cordage

We also had a go at some random weaving which I did with some detritus from the beach...

Random weaving with synthetic rope from  the beach

I'm looking forward to making more!

Alice Fox's Findings at The Ropewalk

Alice Fox - Altered Paper

If you can get to The Ropewalk in Barton upon Humber before the end of the weekend (3 September 2017) you can see Alice Fox's Findings exhibition.  I am drawn to Alice's work.  I love the curiousness of it, the imprints, the combination of the found and the added, the stitching, the staining, the texture.  Enough!  Here's a taster...

Alice Fox - Altered Paper

"Findings" references both the action of finding something and the information obtained as the result of an investigation.  Alice collects things on her journeys and through her interactions with those things discovers more about them.  Through gathering, weaving, stitch, and staining her offerings take shape.
 

Alice Fox- Burnt Wood & Thread

Alice Fox - Wood & Thread

 

Alice Fox - Thread & Mud

Alice Fox - Stitched Limpets

Alice Fox - Seed & Needle Weaving

Alice Fox - Rust & Tannins

Alice Fox - Plant & Plastic

Do go and visit if you can.  Alice's work is always interesting. And at the Ropewalk, there are also three other galleries, the Ropewalk Museum which tells you all about rope making on the site, car parking and a cafe and it's close to the Humber Bridge.  If you want to spend some time outdoors the Waters' Edge Visitors Centre and Country Park and the Humber Bridge Country Park are close by too.  Go visit!

Making My Own Walnut Ink

Walnut husks after boiling

Earlier in the autumn I was lucky enough to be given a bag of walnut husks.  Although keen to explore the possibilities, I'm ashamed to say they sat in the kitchen in a plastic bag getting a bit mouldy and smelly for quite a number of weeks until I finally took action.  The aim was to make some walnut ink. I put them in an aluminium jam pan (one I only use for dyeing and such like - my actual jam making has been spectacularly unsuccessful - see below!)

Plum concrete - my first and only attempt at jam!

I was following a method in Alice Fox's book "Natural Processes in Textile Art".  The walnut husks were covered with water and boiled with the lid on the pan for a couple of hours.  I then strained the contents through some muslin.  This turned out to be quite a messy process (probably more so than it needed to be - involving several pans, lots of spills and walnut detritus everywhere!)
 

Walnut husk detritus after being strained through muslin

After straining, the remaining walnut liquid was boiled for two and a half hours to reduce it down.  I tested the colour and consistency at regular intervals.  After two and a half hours I let the liquid cool, then strained it through a sieve and bottled it.

Walnut ink tested for colour and consistency at regular intervals

Whilst boiling the liquid I also added some fabric to the pan.  In fact after washing out the muslin used for straining, I tore it in half and put half back in the pan with the walnut liquid.  Half way through the next stage of boiling I added some more fabric - which I think was polycotton.  Here are the results from the fabric dyeing after washing out.

Original muslin colour, colour after straining only, colour after boiling for 2 and a half hours

Polycotton fabric showing darker areas

The polycotton fabric turned out a similar shade to the muslin that had been used for straining but it did have patches that were darker.   I suspect this was a result of some deposit on the fabric causing the dye to be taken up much more in those places.  Also, I expect the fabric would have gone a darker shade if it had been 100% cotton.

Although the total time taken was as I have said, I kept having to stop and restart as daily life got in the way and it was a couple of days before I finally got to the end of the process and managed to bottle my ink:

Walnut ink - bottled and ready to use

I think I could have stopped sooner.  The ink I bottled was too thick to write with and needs diluting for use with pens.  Having established this - I added some water and began having a go with my new ink.

Now I just need to practise my writing skills!
 

Alice Fox - Tide Marks @ SDC Gallery, London - 22-27 September 2014

Tide Line - Tapestry weave incorporating sea soaked beachcombed metal objects

Yesterday I had the good fortune to see Alice Fox's exhibition at the Society of Designer Craftsmen Gallery in London.  I have blogged about Alice's work before here. 

This exhibition shows a continuation of Alice's work with coastal landscape and found items, charting walks or moments along the shore.  The media Alice uses include fabric, paper, stitch, embossing, printing together with tea & rust dyeing.  Here is a flavour of the exhibition ...

Beach Ghosts - combining paper, tea, embossing & printing

Cloths - using fabric, stitch, tea & rust dyed using beachcombed metal & wire

Alice also has a number of fantastic artist's books on display using paper, tea & rust print, embossing and hand stitch ...

Tide Marks Book #7

Tide Marks Book

Tide Marks Book #25

The books vary in size and I think the books are my personal favourites.

The exhibition also includes poetry by Nigel Morgan which perfectly complements the pieces.

There is also a book - Tide Marks - to accompany the exhibition which includes Nigel Morgan's poetry.  You can buy it here.

On until 27 September 2014 - there's still time to take a look! 

Also - just over the road there's another good place to visit Material Books Art. Check it out!

Alice Fox - Textile Artist, Printmaker & Geographer

I recently went to a talk by Alice Fox at the City of York Embroiderers' Guild.  Alice is an artist working primarily in textiles and print but initially trained in Geography.  Her work is about connecting with the landscape.  It was a really interesting session.

Alice Fox sketchbook extracts

Alice Fox sketchbook extracts

Alice was the Artist in Residence at Spurn Point in 2012 (see "Textures of Spurn") and much of her work involves mark making on both fabric and paper with found objects, especially exploring rust marks.  She also uses collagraph printing techniques and embossing, enhanced with the use of stitch. 

Alice Fox books showing mark making with found objects

Alice Fox book showing embossing with found items

Her work covers large exhibition pieces, smaller artists books, prints and hangings with & without the use of stitch.

Finished hanging (detail)- Alice Fox

Since the Spurn Residency, Alice has been developing her work on other projects such as "Gifts from the Pavement" involving textures, marks and shapes from the streets of Saltaire and with "Tide Marks" developing further her coastal based work.

You can find out more information about Alice and her work here:

http://www.alicefox.co.uk/

and you can vote for her for the Craft & Design Selected Makers Awards 2014 (until 31 March 2014) here:

http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/alicefox/ 

For more information about the City of York Embroiderers' Guild look here - they're a very friendly bunch with lots of interesting talks and workshops:

http://yorkembroidery.blogspot.co.uk/