I've been playing with Thelma again - she is such a brilliant girl!

I put THE BOOK (that is how it now feels) aside this week for a while, to do some more work on my four pieces for the scarily imminent SiX exhibition at Minerva gallery in Wales. If you would like to see the progress so far, then I have just posted about them on the SiX blog http://sixandfriends.blogspot.co.uk/, so do scoot over and have a look. I'm not going to post them on here, in case you are going to the exhibition and prefer not know what they look like. BUT - I couldn't resist just seeing how they would look as thermofax screens (this is a hobby now - I have tried most of the book pages as thermofax too - a bit of light relief I call it). Well these came out really well I think, probably largely because of the high contrast in the pieces. They also seem to be to look even more oriental like this?

 

 

Something is definitely going to be done with these images - I simply cannot resist. Maybe not this week - but watch this space. Boy I love Thelma. Other than book, not much else going on, but here are a few pictures from the garden, caught in between showers ...

 

Harlow Carr hybrid primulas - have to love them with that name!

 

lovely alliums, geranium and potentilla

 

wonderful peachy oriental poppies

 

and a big fat peony - first one out here this year

 

Some/all of these are very likely to make there way into quilts too - how could I not?

 

Lastly - this poor pot lost it's rim this year as a result of the rubbish winter.  I lifted him up to clear the bulbs and his head came off. I thought I would throw it away, but looking at it today, I actually rather like him like that, so I may plant him up with something suitably creeping and sort of wild/rough. Hmmm - any ideas?

Hilary x

Help!! where is June going??

June seems to be going at a million miles an hour right now. I am thoroughly enjoying it .. but I could do with time going on to double time for a while. Still - I bet we have all enjoyed some long awaited sunshine and I did manage to get a couple of days out in the garden, painting and dyeing materials for both the book and also to go to Festival of Quilts in August. Inspired by my recent seaside holiday, I indulged in some shells, crabs and ladders - all of which were both much in evidence and much photographed/collected at Whitby. Here are a few of the results:

 

Crabs ...

 

 

Shells ..

 

Ladders (I love this one especially)

 

adding some dye

 

I also dyed the drop cloth

 

line of crabs

 

selection of materials ... I really tried had to keep to soft colours - I wanted sort of ice-cream pastels for these cloths .. a bit of black crept in, but all in all, fairly proud of myself for resisting some BRIGHT infusions

 

As mentioned - drop cloth was just beautiful after printing, so I dyed it too .. I think this will be used as a whole cloth background - possibly for the next self portrait piece.

 

printing papers to match one another

 

and some poppy features to go with last times poppy backgrounds

 

All in all a very productive time. I now have a huge pile of stuff to sort through, but I don't mind and I'm so looking forward to making some pieces with some of these as well. I'll keep you in touch with how it goes.

 

It's great to create a whole pile of coordinating materials for a theme and that is the basis of my master-class at FOQ and also of the Make it Personal workshops at the Bramble Patch in 2014. I do hope I will see some of you on these - we will have a great time. I will also be demonstrating some of these techniques at FOQ, so I hope you will come by the stand to watch and say hello.

 

But for  now - back to book writing. Hope you enjoyed the sunshine too and thank you for visiting - Hilary x

Holiday and shows

I've done it! I've had holiday!! This may not seem big shakes to you, but for me it is a true rarity. I actually can't remember the last time I had more than an odd day off, let alone a holiday. Not that I am complaining - I love my work. But my doctor has been at me for a long time about the importance of taking time out, so I'm feeling  virtuous having done what I am told for once. Now don't go getting too excited, I haven't been off on foreign and exotic travels - one step at a time and who would look after the dog?? No, we packed up the car and the dog and headed off for my favourite county, Yorkshire, and my favourite place, the coast, specifically Whitby. If you have been you will know that Whitby, Filey, Robin Hoods Bay and Humnanby are some of the best coastal villages in the country. The weather was mixed, but we got out everyday to enjoy the utterly spectacular scenery, eat wonderful seafood and indulge in plenty of beach combing. Of course I took hundreds of photos - I won't show them all (you are safe), but here are a few:

The steps down to town from our cottage

A little nook off to one side of the steps ... these nooks and ginnels are everywhere and always beautifully presented

Boats - I took a lot of these - our cottage overlooked the harbour and I find the boats very inspiring

Wonderful entrance on St Marys Church up by the Abbey - I'm fond of steps too

Luckily we came down these ones - 199 from the Abbey. Those are my boys ahead of me - they got fed up of waiting whilst I just had to take another photo

Gerty and George Gull - these two live on the balcony wall outside our cottage, where this is taken - a prime site and well defended. I got very fond of them and they will definitely be appearing again in some work

  

More gulls on the beach ....

And this boy has just surrounded himself with some good classic seaside imagery - thank you! - that's the composition done

THE house to live in at Robin Hood Bay!

Mind you - I wouldn't mind this one either - what a door

Temptation - a shop for sale .... sadly it was just the downstairs shop and not the upstairs cottage, so not practical when you live in Lincoln. Still - if it had been both, it would have been SO out of my reach .. so no regrets

With views like these it is impossible not to be inspired and I have decided that I will start a proper series of work based on the coast. I already have several pieces, so really it is not new, but the consolidating into a cohesive series is. I have recently agreed with Grosvenor shows to put together another gallery of quilts to tour with them in 2015 and have been pondering themes. I think this would be a good one for coast and the theme is big enough to keep me going for a couple of years (lifetimes actually).  I am aiming for. About 25 prices of new work, so watch this space. 

Talking of gallerys, I will also have a gallery at the British Quilt and Stitch Village next year, which will be called 'Beauty Matters', which I am starting to plan work for. In addition, I have a solo gallery at ICHF Fashion and Embroidery show at the NEC in Spring 2014 which will be called 'The Shape of Nature'. You will have realised I love the natural world and am very drawn to the colours and shapes of plants, animals, birds etc. This gallery will be a shameless celebration of that, and I hope to produce a small, but very lovely catalogue to go with it. SiX & Friends have a gallery at FOQ next year and then in  September 2014, my friend and co-artist Stephanie Redfern and I are going together to Vivelle in France, to exhibit and demonstrate at Jane Rollasons wonderful quilt show over there. So I’ll need some more work for that too.  

You see? No wonder I don't go on holiday often! That is a formidable number of quilts to make in the next couple of years, but what could be nicer. My tutor, Marie Roper always used to say that she loved a deadline and a tight work plan, and I've clearly taken that to heart. I so wish she was still around, a gentle and much missed presence in my life.

 

I have allocated most of June to getting my book sorted out. I am still hoping to publish in time for FOQ, but I have a lot to do. End of June is also the deadline for the new work for six and friends, so I need to get on with that. The exhibition opens on 8 July and we have a meet the artists day on 21 July. I will be giving a demonstration of making a mixed fabric collage on the day, so I hope you can come along and join in - I believe most of the group are attending and it should be a good afternoon.

I'll finish with a couple of shots of some papers I have been printing for one of the book chapters. Hope you like them! 

 

Oh alright .. four then! Talk soon - Hilary x

SiX and Friends: A welcome return to the East

Here is a link to the post about starting new work for Six & Friends

SiX and Friends: A welcome return to the East: Heavens! - it has been absolutely yonks since I posted on here - and for good reason ... it has been that long too since I finished my las...

screens, stencils and a self portait (all whilst dyeing hair)

Life seems to be very busy these days, so in the spirit of multi-tasking I am blogging at the same time as highlighting my hair. This seems a cunning idea to me, as there is a clock right in front of me on the computer screen – so what can go wrong? If I am next seen with white hair, we know that something did go wrong. But I am confident.. I am no fool (???) - I may just have to dash off suddenly.

So first of all – here are a few more of those screen prints I mentioned last time. These came about as I had several cut out backings from heat n bond after making applique shapes for a banner I made for Region 10. Some (OK – all) seemed too good to waste, and I decided I would try using them as stencils with my screen.

 

 

I can report back that they are not very durable – one session only as they collapse when you take them off the screen. But if you have them as a by-product of something else,  definitely worth doing - I love these cloths and am itching to get something made with them – so watch this space. I want to make some smaller pieces to take to Festival of Quilts with me, and these could be just the ticket.

I mentioned last time that I was trying to finish my piece in time to enter it into the new Art Quilt juried competition at FOQ. Well – I did it, with my usual under 2 hours to spare. I now have to wait and see if I get juried in. I shall keep the image a bit secret, at least until I hear.. but here are a couple of details

 

 

 

It is a self-portrait and is about anxiety, safety, pressure, stability even sanity and is a very different piece for me … but just right for this gallery I hope. It is the first in what I intend to be a long running series of personal works dealing with issues around living with chronic depression, which I think you all know I do. I don’t want these to be gloomy (although inevitable some will be challenging for me as well as the viewer)  as I don’t see the illness in that light. More as something that has profoundly changed how I see life and how I behave and live. I envisage both large and small pieces, sketches and notes. I am excited about doing this work, so fingers crossed for number 1!! (all fingers appreciated)

Whilst tidying (sort of) a drawer I came across several cans of spray paint, which I decided to try out. I hated most – they frankly stank and I found the finish very plasticky. But one brand I loved  – so here are a few images of them used with stencils and dye. I only had silver and gold – I shall definitely be ordering some more!

 

When I was sorting the images for posting I thought I would just try out altering one as a potential source for a thermofax screen … WOW – look at these ….

 

 

Oops – look at the time .. must go and rinse hair – back in 5 minutes ………

Job done – I knew it would be fine.  I will absolutely definitely be making screens from these and using them along with the stencils .. seriously can’t wait.

But first, and lastly for today, I have finally got to the point where I have some time to make some more work for the SiX & Friends exhibition when it moves to Minerva in the summer. I am making a series of 4, or possibly six pieces, entitled ‘Many Moons’.  I’ve run out of time now (need to dry hair before it dries itself in mad style)– but I will post on the SiX blog this weekend and tell you a bit more about them.

Thanks for reading – enjoy your weekend ... Hilary x

Fabulous show, Filming the Exhibition, AGM papers and some screen prints - not to mention fast approaching deadline

I think that title reflects that it is a while since I wrote here and there is a bit of a catch-up needed. I'll probably go in reverse order as I can remember the recent bits best.

I am a member of the group 'Stitch in the Middle' . It is a wonderful group with members ranging from quilters just starting to some real old hands and  very well known names. We make Contemporary Quilts and decided to base our first exhibition on midlands architecture, as that is where we all live. The exhibition is entitled 'Living in the Middle  and we had the opening  yesterday at Weavers Gallery In Ledbury. I put in Guardians of the City 1, which you have already seen , and also Guardians of the City 2 (I am very imaginative with names) - which was a follow on.  I loved the imagery from number one, but wanted a bigger cathedral. Here it is:

The central quilt is mounted on a board, which has been decorated too and some elements overlap. The size is about 31" x 36". Amanda and team have done a beautiful job hanging the work and it is well worth a visit (Ledbury is also gorgeous and Mrs Muffins - just opposite the gallery is another recommendation!). The artists exhibiting are: Pauline Barnes, Hilary Beattie, Janet Bevan, Lesley Brankin, Veronica Coad, Jill Exell, Linda Forey, Jill Gray, Judith Hill, Cheryl Kirby, Edwina Mackinnon, Debbie Orange, Jenny Rolfe, Kathy Unwin, Jan Webb and  Amanda Wright. I wish I could show you photos - but I forget to charge my camera before leaving home and ran out of power the day before! However ... we were visited on day one by Val Nesbitt from Justhands-on TV and she and her crew filmed with us all morning, covering all the quilts on display. I have to say it was an exciting new experience which I loved ( I would - she asked me to talk!!) and what was especially nice was that several of the artists were there to talk about their own work. Obviously there will be some serious editing  - but we are hoping for a maybe 15 minute clip and Val has promised to let us know when it goes out. I will pass that on - although the site http://www.justhands-on.tv/ is well worth a visit anyway.

The day before that, I visited the new British Quilt and Stitch Village (BQ&SV) at Uttoxeter, This show, which was successfully developed by Margaret McQuillen, was taken over this year by Traplet Publications, who publish British Patchwork and Quilting and Sewing World magazines among many other things. This was their first outing to a quilt show and I have to say they did a brilliant job in my view. Margaret was a hard act to follow - but they manged to keep all that was so good and unique about this show, whilst putting  their own print on it. I love this show, as it  is one of very few shows where you get to see quilts and embroidery exhibitions, and competitions in the same place. It's a great venue and the new owners have developed a 'village' feel by using several of the buildings on the site. I thought this worked very well - it is a layout often used on the continent and obviously gives more space for displays (and shopping!!) and a nice open feel. We were lucky with the weather too -so you could move around without getting wet  My camera died on me - but I did mange to get a picture of the Visitors Choice quilt by Judi Mendelssohn

I believe this is a New York Beauty block and Judi made it almost as therapy during  a difficult time in her life.  It is really stunning and I am always in awe of the skill and patience involved in a proceeding a beautiful piece like this. An heirloom of the future no doubt.

I had my own reason to celebrate as I was fortunate enough to win the large wall hanging category with my hanging 'My Home, My Heart,  My Country' for which I received a new silver plate for the mantel piece and a wonderful Janome Sewing Machine from Sew Creative -  Brilliant!  But it got better. The hanging was also chosen as overall Champion so I got another plate (bigger too!!) and another gorgeous sewing machine - this one a real beauty from Pfaff - I gather it had only just been launched before the show  How good is that??The presentations were made in the Winners Enclosure at the racecourse - an inspired choice - and I managed the long walk up and down without tripping (or cantering). I declined a lap of honour but did get my picture taken with my quilt

Thanks Jenny  - a very very proud girl and I am so pleased that it was this particular quilt ...as it does mean a lot to me. 

I have now agreed with BQ&SV to show a solo gallery of work at next years show. This will be called 'Beauty Matters' No - I am not branching out into  cosmetics .. just saying that in this sometimes sad and ugly world of ours, noticing and sharing beauty does matter. I am very much looking forward to working towards this gallery and hope that lots of you will come and see it next Spring.

This is becoming a very long blog - but I do just want to share these images of some of the materials made from recycled papers at my demo at the AGM

Very yummy and are all pieces that could (and will!) be used for collage and applique  Very easy and simple to make too. We will be looking at these (and lots of other techniques  at my academy workshop at the Festival of Quilts  and using them to create designs and ideas for future work. I am also running a bi-monthly two day workshop at the Bramble Patch In Weedon in 2014, where we will be able to look at many surface design techniques in detail, working with them to make very personal design and work. All these course are fine for beginners and will be great fun ... and both are now online for booking (www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk and www.thebramblepatch.co.uk) Details of sessions are also on my website - www.hilarybeattie.co.uk - I'll keep posting more images too.

I think I've run out of time and probably your endurance for today - so I'll save the screen prints for next time! I need to get my nose to the grindstone and get my piece for the new art quilt competition at FOQ finished ... got to be done by Friday  I'll tell you more about that next time too. I'll just post one image of the screen printing .. just to whet your appetites (hopefully)

As always - thanks for visiting and talk soon - Hilary x