We have finished all our work for the 'Destinations' theme and have seen it exhibited twice this year already. We will be exhibiting 'Destinations' again at the West Country Quilt & Textile Show at the end of August. And there's a possibility that we may also be at The Craft Show at the NEC in November.
So onward into our new season with a new theme.
We met together last weekend which was both bittersweet and exciting. We missed Jan and talked about her often over the weekend. However we were excited to welcome Becca to her first Traverse session. She is coming towards the end of her course at the Windsor School of Art and will be exhibiting with Traverse in 2019.
Drumroll please! Announcing our new theme:
Revealed
Revealed, with its antonyms and synonyms, gives us a wide spectrum of areas to take our work. And in its early stages, raises lots of questions including - should our work be technique-based or concept-based? Each of us will be pondering other questions once we've each found the area we wish to work with.
During our weekend session we talked about our thoughts for Revealed so far. What do we want to reveal? What will remain hidden?
Deb started straightaway with the Embellisher using wool tops to make a background with holes. There are many stages to go with this and who knows where it will take her.
Dia is currently thinking about weather currents and how the weather map reveals and hides parts of the UK. It will be exciting to see how her textile work develops.
Cath is upcycling this piece, which she started many moons ago on a workshop with Alysn Midgelow-Marsden - the first time she'd ever tried free-motion machining through so many layers and one of them was copper shim! The application of heat to the copper beforehand revealed beautiful colour changes - a wonderful surprise. The hidden layers were then unveiled after stitching by cutting back through the velvet, silk and organza to see the copper beneath. Cath is looking forward to returning to this and taking it further - seeing it from a new perspective.
Becca wants to continue with her work on 'Making the invisible visible'. She is looking at hidden illness and hidden disabilities - and deafness in particular. She is knitting audio tape to represent the jumbled word for deaf people.
I'm still considering my options especially the question of being concept-led or technique-led. I am trying hard not to do 'hidden Venice'. I am very taken with a paper-wash technique I learned recently which I feel lends itself to revealed/concealed ideas. How much is revealed of the contents of the pocket depends on how much of the paper gets washed away - an intriguing prospect.
Who knows where our ideas will take us? But it's exciting to have a new theme to work to for the next round of exhibitions.
Bernice
