HAPPY JUBILEE QUEENIE!

This is my first post of the Jubilee celebrations, to salute the queen and her many years of colourful rule.   I will be taking part in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant by attending a special event for UK artisans and makers  using wool, on Blackfriars bridge to wave HRM by on her boat whilst waving waving madly with the British Wool board. I will take photos throughout the day and post back here on Monday. I also have a perfect vintage boat print dress that I will try to capture. May the festivities commence (on Friday lunchtime? I'm too excited.) Here's a stunning Queenie colour chart made by Vogue showing our monarch's punchy love of shades.  

Lengthy Samples...

One of my favourite moments when weaving is always cutting off a length of samples from the loom to see what  has been successful (and what has not). I'm currently sampling for a beautiful new piece, and cut this acidic multicoloured treat off the loom to discover a harmonious clash of exciting shades and dark khaki blocks. 

MADE IN THE UK

Exciting new pictures in my inbox this morning from the beautiful mill in Scotland that batch produces my LOVE blankets. This batch is a new limited edition LOVE blanket for 2012, with the tangy mossy green taking centre stage and a new ultra-violet in the warp. So nice to see my larger pieces of work being woven in this traditional British mill!

THE COTTAGE PROJECT - NEW CROSS

We've just launched the new website for our dream cafe! The Cottage Project - New Cross! The Cottage Project will be a creative cafe space, full of tasty food, good coffee, making, baking, art, talks, projects and exhibitions. It is the brain child of designer Osian Batyka-Williams who loves constructing things for people and weaver Holly Berry who loves to plant, bake and make. The Cottage project will welcome local artists, families, students, revolutionaries and the old and wise. It will be a space for day dreaming, creating, eating, drinking, resting, meeting, listening, looking and laughing.

Watch our making process video here:

Visit the website here: http://www.thecottagelondon.com/

An Obsessive Process by Emma Stanfield

Announcing the launch of one of my Foundation students new short animation about Obsessive processes in fashion. A comment on the care people take when dressing or when looking after their clothes, a reaction against throw away fashion and a beautiful thing to behold, have a watch and come to the show to see more!

100% BRITISH

A new warp is waiting to get wound onto my sample loom this morning, in three shades of 100% British wool in Jacob and Black Welsh Mountain yarns. Soon to be ready for sampling for a new collection of hand made home-wears. Strong, springy and surprisingly soft, I'm really looking forward to working with this new material and exploring its properties in the loom. 

Designs for my kitchen

I went to the Mondrian-Nicholson exhibition at the Courtauld gallery at Somerset house a couple of weeks ago and immediately decided that I needed to use some of the colour, shape, balance and pattern in my home. We're at the tail end of major renovations of a tall house in New Cross, and these are our new Mondrian-Nicholson inspired tiling ideas for the kitchen alcove:

Two Loom Fun Factory!

The delightful and super handy Osian Batyka-Williams (click here for his website) has just converted my busy studio into a two loom fun factory by constructing this new desk extension for me with shelving for all of my yarns and plans! Thank you!

Construction Experiments

This weekend I have been on a technical weaving workshop with Margo Selby in her Bloomsbury studio,  developing some techniques to push my weaving further structurally, whilst keeping my sense of fun, colour and pattern. I created some truly scrumptious samples which I will be developing into ideas for future products. Just about the best thing I could do on a bank holiday weekend I think. I've been working on deflected double cloths, point and block threading and working with many new yarns that are a move away from the lambswool, cashmere and merino yarns I'm used to. Really enjoyed having time to experiment and explore different constructions. I will always love my block-y double cloth but it's great to work with other constructions to make new textures shapes, repeats and combinations. Looking forward to continuing to develop these next week with a new warp in some very special 100% British wool I am lucky enough to have!

BEAUTY IN THE MAKING

On a last minute recommendation I ran up to Holbourn yesterday for the penultimate day of this one week show 'Beauty in the Making'- which as it happened turned out to be one of the best exhibitions I've seen. The space, curating, enthusiastic and passionate staff got my visit off to a happy start but the displays, demo's, interaction and participation just blew me away. This exhibition by British papersmiths GF Smith takes you from raw materials, process, treatment, design and colour. I saw paper making, had a go at printing, made three envelopes, saw the original drawings for Gill Sans and talked to many people who are super skilled and passionate about what they do. The signage for the exhibition was presented as A1 piles of coloured paper with the top sheet laser cut and folded over to show you where to go or what you're looking at; simply genius. I came away with samples, colours, swatches and booklets as well as my own efforts at printing and making, all tucked away in a colourful printed bag. If this exhibition was meant to inform, inspire and enthuse, it has achieved its goals. A beautiful treat on a wet Thursday afternoon. And now I'm in the studio and wanting to make everything out of paper!

 Paper makers- http://gfsmith.com/

Natures Rainbow

More photo's from my recent highland jaunt, acid bright lichens clinging onto the rocks by the sea. Hunting for  colour and pattern has never been so much fun!

Spinning a Yarn

When fibres have been washed, dyed, carded and aligned, they are then spun to create a strong thread ready for weaving. The mechanics for this could inspire a weave draught with repetition, order, structure and pattern. Here you can see orange and black yarn being spun onto cones.

Mill Visit

Photo's from recent trip to Johnstons Mill in Elgin, Scotland where I had a meeting about exciting new batches of woven products I am working on this year. The photo's show the fibres coming into the mill, and being processed for making into yarns. The yarns are then hand threaded into the heddles for each warp and attached to the looms. Very industrial, very high tech, very inspiring. 

Highland Excursion

Recent colour and pattern hunting on a research trip to Scotland. I went to visit the mill  where I have some of my blankets and shawls woven (pictures to follow) and managed to squeeze in a few research and relaxation days. These fish boxes in Ullapool are just asking to be woven!

Getting Organised

New studio, new financial year, new mindset. Time to get organised in the most creative way possible. Out come the highlighters for a meeting with Dominic Stuart Hobson; recommended master in fashion industry finance and planning. After a few hours with this wizard, my accounts and structure are in order to take on another year and more! So important for artisans, makers and fashion brands with a heart to be able to move forward creatively and professionally, and I am now set to go, after being lucky enough to benefit from Dominic's industry experience and expert know how. I must say, he appeared very dapper too!