MARIE GODFREY ONLINE DIARY

Tag: weaving

  • Casually Placed Metal

    Yes Casually Placed Metal would make a great band name …. But I am trying to describe this area of inspiration and am having some difficulty explaining my thoughts. As a trained metalsmith I obviously have some infinity with all types of metal. I am particularly fond of pieces of metal that have been casually stored, for example on a building site, surplus metal laid down waiting to be used or put to one side and forgotten about. I love seeing the random patterns that these pieces of metal create ( seeing a lorry stacked with lengths of metal is extremely exciting!). I think that I am interested in the exciting geometric patterns that are randomly generated by someone who has no idea what art form they have accidentally created.

    For example this stack of rusted metal that I spotted this evening in Rock Cornwall. I wonder what this metal is actually used for? I wonder who put it there? Dumped with other random building objects by the sea. The pattern that the pieces of metal jumped right out at me – isn’t it interesting. The colour too is deep and warm. I can see the textile possibilities that might be created from the this beautiful discarded metal.

    THE TEXTILE ARTIST – ANNEKE KLEIN

    Whilst researching metal as an inspiration for textile art I came across ANNEKE KLEIN. It was very interesting to me to see that my journey to textiles and weaving directly mirrored that of Klein. I wonder how many other metalsmiths have this reaction to working with metal? I honestly thought it was only me !!!!

    KLEIN says that she works in miniature due to her training as a goldsmith.

    I absolutely love the grid structure of Klein’s work and the neutral colour scheme is extremely calming. Her work has a fragile aesthetic, weaving in loose white cotton with over weaves or embroidery in black and neutrals placed in a grid pattern. Thoughtful, structured work, carefully planned but whose regimentation is softened by the different embellishment that she has sewn into the grids.

    image from artsy.net

    The above work is called FAMILY 2022

    Hemp, cotton, linen, acrylic paint

    Anneke Klein describes her own work on the website http://www.oogappelhandweverijj.nl

    My passion 

    Self expression through weaving came about after wrestling with cold hard materials during my education as a goldsmith. Because my heart chose the warmth, softness and comfort of yarns, I retrained quickly in weaving techniques.

    Using basic weaving techniques I create a variety of shapes, textures and structures. It is an ever growing process, an investigation, a translation, as if looking through a symbolic lens at the everyday and the things that touch me emotionally. With a fascination for rhythm and repetitions.

    Working with a variety of materials and colours and with a love for simplicity, shape and activity, I develop both unique wearables and spatial creations often with a combination between form and function.

    With my wearables I try to bring a sensual experience by an interaction between person and material and to achieve an almost tangibility to the space in between.

    My objects are an interplay between the woven structure and the unforeseen additions and/or manipulation of the material which then shows an emotional content and causes a reaction. Often fueled by a social impact with its authority and fragility.

  • MOTIVATION

    Well that was quick. Only yesterday in my first post I explained how much I had loved loom weaving but that circumstances had made me pack my loom away and now I had forgotten how to weave. As I reflected on this post I realised that I desperately wanted to get my loom out and learn to weave again. It’s only fair to say that I had been thinking this for a long time now but didn’t have the motivation or wherewithal to actually find a way of doing it. Anyway last night I started searching weaving teachers near to me. There is an adult education class virtually around the corner but this little fellow is stopping me from enrolling on that.

    I think Burlington Bertie might crop up in this online diary so it’s best to introduce him early on. Bertie is two and a half now but has never been left on his own. Therefore my husband and I take it in turns to go out and do our hobbies. My husband is a skilled “veteran” tennis and padel players so tends to go out without Bertie more than I do!! Anyway I have to look after Bertie on the morning that the weaving course is running. BUT I found a brilliant young teacher who runs classes about an hour away from me and I’ve enrolled on a two day setting up the loom course. This takes place on very soon and I’ve booked a place. Just fantastic.

    Www.dobbyandrose.co.uk actually run one to one sessions too so if I have a problem or need advice I can book one of these and get some help. Needless to say I’m extremely excited.

    I’ve also been looking at Weaving books. (I sold ALL my craft books that I had collected over the years. There were a lot and I mean a lot of brilliant books in my collection). I just lost all motivation to make anything and wanted everything gone from my house that reminded me that I wasn’t doing crafts.

    Just a quick thought on WHY I completely lost a desire to do crafts.

    Yesterday I explained how my relationship with making in metal changed and also how much joy I got from making useful things when I was weaving. When my parents came down from Lancashire to live with us all the clutter associated with crafts just overwhelmed me. As I too was getting older I just felt the need to simplify my life – to make it less complicated. Since throwing out all of my incredible craft resources I have realised that without that mess, without that clutter I don’t have much joy in life. I need to be making useful things.

    I have decided that I definitely need to buy “Weaving Contemporary Makers on the Loom” by Katie Treggiden which according to its leaf jacket “Explores the modern revival of weaving through profiles of twenty contemporary artists, examining themes of emancipation, migration and technology in textile craftsmanship.’

    Weavers in the book include:-

    Daniel Harris founder of the London Cloth Company. (Self taught weaver, rescues looms from old mills in UK, uses only wool from British sheep. He emphasises sustainability and traceability with all the textile production (spinning, weaving, finishing) all taking place in the UK.

    Alexandra Kehayoglou a weaver from Argentina who practices according to Damn Magazine Damnmagazine.net a way of weaving she calls “silent activism”.

    “Activism at its route can be described as a collective effort that is carried out to make shifts in social, political and economic reform. It is executed with purposeful energy and can take many forms, from the gathering of crowds on the streets to people communally petitioning through letter writing.

    Historically activists have also used art, typography and fashion to propagate their messages in the hope of gaining support. Now contemporary activist groups make use of social media, and other technologies, in order to expand civic engagement and gain a larger global audience.

    These new methods of activism have seen messages spread more rapidly across the world and have led to an escalation of events such as the “storming of the Capitol” in Washington DC, Black Lives Matter protests in cities worldwide, and rioting in response to citywide curfews imposed by governments in attempts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The acceleration of technology-based activism has seen both positive and negative changes occur in politics and individual awareness for the needs of local communities. It is also true that such forms of activism have become more visible, more forceful, and in some cases more susceptible to fake news and algorithmic manipulations”.