A Workshop with Angie Hughes

The textile group I belong to (Nest of Makers) organised a weekend workshop with Angie Hughes, textile artist & tutor, and I was lucky enough to go along.  Here are some of Angie's samples ...

Here are some of the materials we used ...

We all started off on day 1 with white cotton velvet on firm iron on vilene.  And with the use of dye-na-flow inks, black ink, thick bleach, acrylics, stencils, printing blocks, sheers, foils and machine embroidery we made our journey to the end of day 2.

And here are our results at the end of day 1 and day 2 ...

Alice ...

Bryony ...

Fiona ...

Gill ...

Heather ...

Janine ...

Jo ...

Nadine ...

Me ...

Stefanie ...

Although not yet finished, each one turned out wonderful and different - a great weekend. Thanks, Angie and thanks to Heather & Nadine for organising it!

Man Meets the Sea in Esbjerg, Denmark

 

A popular landmark in Esbjerg is Mennesket ved Havet (Man Meets the Sea).  Created by Svend Wigg Hansen to celebrate Esbjerg's centennial and unveiled in 1995, these four striking white figures tower 9 metres high.  Fortunately I had a blue sky day (at least partially) to see them.  They are simple figures symbolising the meeting of an innocent mankind with nature.  Reminiscent of the Easter Island figures and white marble Cycladic sculptures they make a good place for kids to let off steam.

Mennesket ved Havet - Man Meets the Sea

You can sit on their feet or the plinth, hide behind their legs and then because they are right by the beach do a little beachcombing.  There is a small car park and it's just opposite the Fisheries and Maritime Museum (Fiskeri-og Sofartsmuseet).  Well worth a visit!

Yarnstormed Giant Poppy in York for Remembrance Day

Giant Poppy - Lest we forget

You may have seen my post about extreme knitting and my giant poppy - well of course now is the right to time to put the giant poppy on display.  It is Remembrance Sunday today - a special day to remember the contribution of all those service men and women in the First and Second World Wars and later conflicts.

Giant Poppy in York

Poppies -  a symbol of remembrance and hope - were first sold in 1921 when the British Legion formed.  Poppies were the only thing that grew in the fields of northern France & Belgium after the devastating conflict of the First World War.  They inspired John MacCrae, a Canadian Serviceman to write the poem "In Flanders Fields" which in turn inspired the choice of a poppy as the symbol of remembrance. You can read about the story of the poppy here.  Funds raised from the poppy appeal are used to support the past and present Armed Forces community and their families.

Giant Poppy

If you would like to donate to the Poppy Appeal you can do so here.

This giant poppy will be in place in York until Armistice Day - 11 November.  Armistice Day - 11 November 1918 was the "stilling of arms" that marked the end of the First World War.

ARoS in Aarhus, Denmark

Ron Mueck's "Boy"

ARoS is Aarhus's Art Museum and for me, the most interesting one I visited in Denmark.  It's main draw artwork must be Ron Mueck’s "Boy" which at 4.5 m high looks creepily real with hair and eyelashes and eyebrows - not just painted on representations.  You may have seen it at the Millenium Dome, London in 2000 where it was first shown but ARoS is now Boy's home.

Boy from below

Boy's Foot

Boy from behind

I did wonder how they had got the shorts on this cast fibreglass figure but if you look closely the centre back seam conceals a zip - very cunning!  You don't have to like "Boy" to be impressed by him.

Olafur Eliasson's "Your Rainbow Panorama"

Another draw to ARoS is Olafur Eliasson's  "Your Rainbow Panorama" (2011) which tops the roof on slim white columns.  This is a 3m wide, 150m long circular walkway in all the colours of the rainbow.  This work is supposed to blur the boundaries between what is art and what is the museum.  It's very colourful and surprising how the colours change as you look forward and backwards as you walk round.  (If the name sounds familiar you may have seen Olafur Eliasson's "The Weather Project" in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, London in 2003/4 or his response to Turner's work in Tate Britain, London "Turner colour experiments" which is on now until 25 January 2015.)

Colourful view from "Your Rainbow Panorama"

Another work by Eliasson is "Your Atmospheric Colour Atlas" (2009)

Health & Safety Notice

No - you can't see very far!

This was fun to walk round if a bit disorientating and disturbing.

Although there were plenty of other interesting works in the Gallery the only other exhibition I would like to mention is that of Jesper Just - "Appearing/Intercourses".  This was a series of short films with no dialogue and no explanation.  The actions are ambiguous and the locations carefully chosen leaving the viewer wondering what the story actually is out of many possible stories.  Excellent material for creative writing groups to ponder - I'd certainly like to read their stories.  I wonder whether their interpretations would be anything like mine?  I thought this was a really interesting and thought provoking exhibition. 

If you get the chance to go to Aarhus then ARoS is a definite must see.

Yarnbombing in Malmo, Sweden

 
Found these yarnbombed musicians in Malmo, Sweden this summer...

and slightly further afield these cute creatures scrambling up a lampost ...

Don't know if they'd been made especially for the Malmo Festival or if Malmo is always a bit knitty.  Anyway it brightened up my day!

Anselm Kiefer at the Royal Academy - 27 September to 14 December 2014

If you're in London why not go & see the Anselm Kiefer exhibition at the Royal Academy.  See sculptures and paintings on an epic scale.  Using lead, different types of paints, clay, ash, diamonds and plant material, Kiefer manages to produce some immense thought provoking works referencing memory and the human condition among other topics.  Some of his works have taken over a decade to complete.  

If you can't make the exhibition drop by the Annenberg Courtyard and take a look at the vitrines - Velimir Khlebnikov: Fates of Nations: The New Theory of War (see above & below)

 

Kiefer references Khlebnikov (Russian avant garde writer) who concluded that great sea battles took place every 317 years (or multiples of that).  Bit weird but worth a look!

A Giant Poppy - More Extreme Knitting

Giant Poppy - detail

It's that time of year when we begin to think about poppies, symbols of remembrance and hope, especially as this year is the 100th anniversary of Britain entering into World War 1.  

I have been knitting a giant poppy on my extreme needles (1.9m long and 50mm in diameter).  As always with the extreme needles I find out something new every time I use them!  I used Lynn's Easy Ribbed Knit Pattern for the petals which I found on the web.  (This pattern is one suggested as part of Australia's 5000 Poppies project - a community tribute of respect and remembrance commemorating the Anzac Gallipoli landing.  Follow the link if you want to join in with that project)

Improvised end stopper

Back to the mechanics of it all - first challenge with such whopping needles, is finding some suitable yarn.  I used an old double duvet cover and pillowcases which I dyed red in the washing machine and then cut up into 6.5cm wide strips (2.5 inches) which I knotted together to form a ball of yarn.  Next,  I cast on my stitches - 60 in this case.  I haven't had so many stitches on my extreme needles before - and they stretched across the whole needle - and promptly fell off the other end!  So I improvised some end stoppers by wrapping some of my big yarn left over from other projects (e.g. the big jerseys in the Knit a Bike Installation in Rowntree Park earlier this year) on the bottom of both needles.  That worked a treat!

Yarn just about to run out!

It was rather tricky to guess whether I would have enough yarn from my duvet cover and pillowcases to finish my poppy.  And yes  - you guessed it - I ran out.  Fortunately I had a sheet waiting in the wings which I dyed and cut up to finish the job.  All in all my giant poppy used up about 175 metres of yarn. Next, I sewed up the poppy with my extra large sewing needle which is almost 20 cm (8 inches) long ...

So here we are - poppy petals complete.  They are about 90cm in diameter (3 feet) ...

Giant poppy petals complete!

Now it was time to create the centre.  I decided on finger knittng for this with some black super chunky, 2 lots of eyelash yarn and some double knitting yarn.  2.7 metres later with all the super chunky used up (200g) and about half the eyelash yarn (50g - 2 x 25g) and a fair bit of DK yarn, it was ready.  Once coiled up and stitched together, the slightly fluffy centre was approx. 30cm (12 inches) in diameter.

2.7 metres of finger knitting

Finger knitting coiled up to make the poppy centre

Now it was just a case of stitching the centre in place on the poppy. Et voilà ...

Giant knitted poppy in the garden

I'm hoping to use my poppy in a project next year - watch this space .....