Sheila Hicks at The Hepworth, Wakefield

Sheila Hicks - Grandes Boules

 

Whether you like the small or the monumental, colour or neutrals, Sheila Hicks has it covered.  Her exhibition - "Off Grid" - at The Hepworth, Wakefield is extraordinary in its range.  

On the way up to Off Grid you are greated by some wall mounted Grandes Boules on the stairs...

Sheila Hicks - Wall-mounted Grandes Boules

and her Kotani fan...

Éventail Kotani (Linen) - Sheila Hicks

Éventail Kotani (detail) - Sheila Hicks

Hicks was born in Hastings, Nebraska in 1934 and studied painting at Yale under Josef Albers where he instilled the Bauhaus cross-disciplinary approach integrating art, design, craft and architecture.  This was very influential for Hicks.  She learned colour theory and composition from Albers, a love of the built environment from architect, Louis Kahn, and Latin American textile traditions from art historian George Kubler.

In 1960 Hicks moved to Mexico and learned Kilim weaving.  These are flatweave pile free rugs where the horizontal weft threads are more densely packed than the vertical warp threads. This one shows slitweaves which typically exist where there are colour changes but can be anywhere where the weft threads return at a particular vertical warp rather than carrying across the whole width.

Sheila Hicks - Amarillo

Beginning in the 1950s on trips to Latin America Hicks made many minimes - small sample weavings acting almost like a sketch book of ideas and inspiration.  She continued this practice on her travels throughout her career. Hicks felt these helped her to build connections between art, design  architecture, decorative arts and craft.  I loved these.  They are like mini masterpieces.  This series spans the mid 1970s to 2011...

Sheila Hicks - Minimes (weavings)

Here is a photo of Hicks weaving on a portable loom - the warp threads are attached to a bar which is held round the weaver's waist.  The other ends are attached to a fixed object e.g. a tree.

Sheila Hicks - Weaving

This oil on canvas abstract landscape of Mexico illustrates her approach to colour and composition...

Sheila Hicks - Taxco-Iguala

In the late 1960s Hicks started making these Lianes named after lianas (flexible climbing stems, rooted in the ground but long and dangling, typical of tropical rainforests).  Lengths of undyed linen are wrapped at intervals with colourful threads to form cascading hangings...
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Sheila Hickes - Lianes Nantaises

In the 1960s the Commonwealth Trust invited her to Kerala, India to design handwoven textiles for commercial and domestic use.  Here she got inspiration for her Palghat hangings with their threads spilling from the centre...

Sheila Hicks - Palghat Tapestry

Sheila Hicks - Palghat Tapestry (detail)

The torn strips in her work "Wow Bush/Turmoil in Full Bloom" were originally 3000 white nurses blouses which in 1977 were fashioned into a piece for the Lausanne Tapestry Biennale and later reformed into a sculpture at a community centre in Montreuil, Paris.  The emotional reaction of her audience, due to their hospital experiences evoked by the nurses blouses made her want to produce more work in this vein.  Later still the blouses were shredded into ribbons, dyed in Hick's washing machine, then grouped into bundles that can be rearranged every time they are displayed...

Sheila Hicks - Wow Bush/Turmoil in Full Bloom 

Sheila Hicks - Wow Bush/Turmoil in Full Bloom (detail)

Drawing parallels between writing and weaving Hicks sees creating interlocking threads to form a woven image being akin to joining letters to form words and sentences.  This "wild calligraphy" forms symbols in space (with the added benefit of reflections on the wall behind)...

Sheila Hicks - Caligraphy Sauvages

Sheila Hicks - Caligraphy Sauvages (detail)

Much of Hicks' work involves experimentation with scale and materials...

Sheila Hicks - Cordes Sauvage/Hidden Blue

Sheila Hicks - Cordes Sauvage/Hidden Blue (detail)

Darned linen socks, worn inside wooden clogs, given to Hicks by Carmelite nuns when they learned of her interest in thread writing (now an excellent example of visible mending)...

Sheila Hicks - Footprints

21st century experiments and repurposing of materials... 

Sheila Hicks - Joie de Vivre

Sheila Hicks - Ninety Colours

Sheila Hicks - More Wandering

"Nowhere to go" is the largest exhibit - made up of netted bundles of coloured acrylic fibre, piled up in a monumental fashion in a corner of the gallery...

Sheila Hicks - Nowhere to go

Sheila Hicks - Nowhere to go (detail)

A number of very large, colourful, wrapped linen panels are also on show...

Sheila Hicks - Wrapped Linen

Apart from the Minimes, I think the Grandes Boules were my favourite pieces.  These items, also referred to as "soft stones" or "meteors", form large, colourful, pebble shaped sculptures of a many-layered core that has been thread-wrapped.  They looked the perfect shape and size to sit on but that wasn't an option, unfortunately.  Again, this exhibit has the capacity to be changed every time it is shown.  I would have loved some of these of have been available in the garden to sit on.  There were some family drop in workshops where you could make your own version in miniature which looked like fun! (And there are a number of adult textile workshops coming up in June and July which look interesting - especially Felt, Bind & Stitch with Helen Riddle on Sat 30 July & Sun 31 July 2022.)

Sheila Hicks - Grandes Boules

This forms a brief skip through the exhibition showing some of the pieces that caught my attention.  "Off Grid" is on until 25 September 2022 - well worth a visit!

Just for info - The Hepworth has a lovely cafe & shop and there is a pay and display carpark nearby.

Random Weave Baskets With Ruth Waller at the Harley Gallery

Ruth Waller's Random Weave Baskets

Before the recent lockdown, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop at the Harley Gallery in Welbeck and yes, it was in person and not on Zoom.  It was being taken by talented artist, Ruth Waller who was sporting a rather fab reversible skirt she'd made (sorry no pics!). We were making random weave baskets.  These were something I'd only recently come across and was looking to find out how to make when this course popped up on my radar.  Luckily I got one of the last places available.

Socially Distanced Workstations

Everything was very socially distanced and everyone was wearing masks - there was plenty of hand sanitiser and it all felt very safe.  All equipment needed was provided.

Equipment Provided

Ruth explained how to make the baskets and we all got started by making the form around which our basket would be woven...

Next it was time to weave the cane.  Here I go...

And here's my finished item...

My Finished Basket

 

When I got home, I added some decorative stitching round the hole...

Decorative stitching added

I need to try making a few more to improve my technique but I really enjoyed the afternoon and it was great to get out and chat to people at a real live workshop (at a distance and wearing masks because we want everyone to be safe).  Ruth was very helpful and full of tips to help us improve.

Edwina Bridgeman Artwork

The education room where the workshop was held had this great mixed media artwork on the wall by Edwina Bridgeman which I really liked.

It was a fab afternoon - thanks Ruth!

Can-Do Crafts - Stitched Panel

 

The City of York Embroiderers' Guild is making a wallhanging for the Folk Hall in New Earswick, York to represent the groups that meet there.  I have been making the panel for the Can-Do Crafts group.  My brief included the size of the panel, that it should be landscape in orientation and that it must include the group's name.  Apart from that, I had free rein.  I spoke to textile artist, Deborah New, who took the group in 2019/2020 to find out what the group had been making.  It sounded like a great group to be part of - they'd tackled weaving, patchwork, felting, simple embroidery and stitching and other textile based crafts.  Deborah also promoted the use of recycling and upcycling in her teaching to make best use of resources.  (If you like the sound of Deborah's style, she is teaching a Hand Stitched Fabric Robins workshop on Zoom with York Learning on 28 November 2020.  You can find out more here.)

Blue/black denim base fabric

In keeping with Deborah's recycling ideas I used some blue/black denim from an old pair of jeans as the base fabric and hoped to use scraps and leftover fabrics, threads and yarns for everything else. 

Various Fonts

Starting with the group's name, I printed it out in a number of different fonts and sizes to see what would work with the panel size - something quite tall and not too wide was what I was looking for. It turned out that Bahnschrift Condensed fitted the bill! The printed out font acted as a template for the letters.  Next, using scraps of colourful patterned fabrics I ironed on bondaweb, a double sided fabric adhesive with a paper backing.  Then using the printed letters that I had already cut out, I reversed them, placed them on the bondaweb paper backing, drew round them and cut them out. 

Font Template and Cut Out Bondawebbed Letters

These were then ironed onto the base denim fabric after the paper backing had been removed.  I had zigzagged the edges of the denim panel to stop them fraying and had stitched a line round (to be removed later) beyond which I didn't want to go when adding the rest of the design so that it wouldn't get lost in the seams.  I allowed a little more than the seam allowance to be on the safe side.

Lettering Ironed in Place

I had chosen 3 of the techniques the group had learned to make small pieces to be part of the panel - weaving, patchwork and felting... 

Weaving

Patchwork

Small Felted Purse

Also, I thought it would be nice to add some text to the piece mentioning some of the techniques used.  This was done as though it was the thread coming out of a needle.  To make the needle, I ironed some bondaweb onto the back of a scrap of silver fabric and drew a needle shape, which was then cut out, ironed on and machine stitched in position.  Using tailors chalk I roughly drew a line where I wanted the stitching to be and set off.  I had a practice go on a spare bit of denim that helped me decide how to place the words.

Wording Complete

After that, I machine stitched round the letters of the group's name twice, and stitched the three sample pieces in position.  The patchwork piece was machine stitched on.  The weaving sample was hand sewn in position and the felt purse was attached with a combination of the two. As a final touch I added some simple embroidery stitches - chain stitch and cross stitch, that the group might have used in their work.  Finally I took out my stitching guidelines round the edge and the panel was complete...

Finished Panel for the Can-Do Craft Group

And now it's on its way to join the other panels.

 

Weaving a Catalan Tray

My First Catalan Tray

Recently I came across a YouTube video by Hanna Van Aelst showing how to weave a Catalan Tray.  You can watch it here.  As we had just been pruning the apple tree and had a variety of sticks as a result, I thought I'd have a go.

Prunings from the Apple Tree

First, using a long stick, make a circle or an oval by bending the stick and wrapping the thin end round the thicker part.  Be careful not to snap it.  Then add a second branch.  Start with the thick end where the thin end finished and carry on wrapping...

Making the circle/oval framework

Tuck the ends in if you can and then trim the ends off...

Neatened up by trimming the ends off

Choose 4 sticks that are longer than the circle.  Lay them in pairs on your circle dividing it into 3.  Try laying them in pairs with the thick end of one next to the thin end of the other...

Add the sticks that you are going to weave over

Begin weaving across your tray going under and over as you go.  Start in the middle and use your thicker sticks here.  Alternate the under and over as you go and start each row from opposite sides so that you begin by coming from under your circle/oval.  Poke the stick down from the front rather than bringing it up from behind.  To go under the pair of sticks, go round the top, rather than poking it down and then bringing it back up.  You are less likely to snap your stick this way.  Keep squeezing your weaving together so that it is quite dense.

Begin weaving from the middle

Keep going until you have filled in the circle...

Carry on weaving till you have filled the circle

As you get nearer each end of the circle, bend your long sticks in to meet each other outside the circle.  When you have filled in the circle, trim all the ends so they extend just beyond the circle.  Bind the ends of the two pairs of long sticks together.   I tried to do this with ivy but it kept breaking so I used some linen yarn...

Once you've done both ends, your tray is complete.  I enjoyed this so much I made a second one...

Catalan Tray #2

Here they are together...

Finished Catalan Trays

and then I tried making a small one.  I added a fuchsia flower to give you an idea of scale and some hope...

Small Catalan tray

I think this could be addictive.  It does use more sticks than you imagine so make sure you have a plentiful supply.  Thanks Hanna for your tuition!

Hanna has lots of other videos on YouTube if this has whetted your appetite.  She also runs online workshops and has some beautiful baskets in her shop.  Why not take a look?