Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011

Have you been to any of the annual exhibitions that come under the umbrella of 'Jerwood, Visual Arts'?
Sue has recently visited the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011 exhibition at the newly opened, Coventry Lanchester Gallery and would like to share her thoughts.

'This wonderful space is showing the contemporary drawings of 60 artists, selected from over 3,500 entries.  The Jerwood Drawing Prize is the UK's largest and longest running open prize for drawing and never fails to promote the ongoing, creative interpretation of the word 'drawing'.

The work varies in scale and content and as always does not disappoint in terms of quality, imaginative interpretation and media used.  Every kind of method is in evidence from painstaking Photorealism, gestural mark making to drawing by machine.   Styles also vary from classical portraiture, geometric abstraction, detailed diagrams and even include writing.  The creative use of media is also inspiring, ranging from hand made books, collage, prints, film and embroidery.

Such a wealth of both minimal and complex drawings really did excite me.  Exquisite pencil drawn tree studies, complex cut-out grid patterns, optical illusion drawing of staples in paper, gestural abstract prints to a beautiful piece called 'Withdrawn' where the threads have been removed from a found garment and only holes remain - leaving a hint of what was.

The exhibition finished in Coventry at the end of March but the next venue is the Burton Museum and Art Gallery, Bideford, Devon.'
Visit the website http://www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/ for more information including an online catalogue.

Sally Payne's Workshop

 

 

Elizabeth



Jen



Shirley

Bridget

Sally Payne gave us a fantastic workshop; she is a brilliant tutor, full of energy and enthusiam and we all wished the day could have been longer! Working with the theme of water, Sally encouraged us to look diiferently at our source material; it is all too easy to slip into the usual mode and choose the 'safe' option.  Taking a personal approach to water we manipulated our images by scratching, piercing, redrawing, blocking out and selecting.  The above photos give some idea of the processes and show further development by drawing and altering the scale.  We all came away with a variety of exciting work, the challenge now is to develop them into exhibition pieces!!   Jen

Visit to Farfield Mill

As a group we have been very busy recently; my excuse for neglecting the blog!  We had a fabulous workshop with Sally Payne which I will write about next time when I can include some images.  Last week we visited Farfield Mill, Sedbergh in preparation for our next exhibition later in the year.  The Howgill Gallery is a very interesting space with lots of potential for creative display.  It was a delight to see the current exhibition by the The International Feltmakers Association; their work lends itself to the space and really surprised us as to how many pieces it can accommodate! There is a lot to see at Farfield Mill and well worth a visit; check the website for opening times. http://www.farfieldmill.co.uk/

Lost in Lace Exhibition

After the Dream by Chihara Shiota

The exhibition 'Lost in Lace' in Birmingham is absolutely fabulous! Not every exhibition can deliver the 'wow' factor as was the case when I went to see the 62 Group's latest exhibition 'Interventions' at Platt Hall.

Finding new concepts, materials and methods of working is increasingly challenging in the textile world but Lesley Millar has succeeded in seeking out world wide artists who can deliver just this yet still have their work rooted in 'lace'.  Exhibition ends 19th February 2012. 

Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to all those who read our blog.  We write the blog so that we can share what we do as a group and keep you up to date with our exhibitions and those we have visited.  This reminds me, the 'Lost in Lace' exhibition at Gas Hall, Birmingham ends in February and after its' fabulous reviews I must get over to see it.

We now have a lovely new website http://www.cheshiretextiles.org.uk/ showing our latest work, including that of our two new members, Sue and Shirley. We do welcome feedback on both the blog and website.
If you are having difficulties getting onto the blog, I would like to suggest that you either put it into your favourites or enter the full address into your browser http://www.cheshiretextiles.blogspot.com/ ; a Google search will not find it!

Snow is not the weather we are experiencing at the moment but I liked the image!!

Christmas Cards

Christmas cards!!  As always the exchange of cards is an absolute delight; we love the anticipation, the excitement and element of surprise.  Every year is different, every card is different but that is the beauty of being part of a creative group!  Happy Christmas!!

Looking Back Over 2011

2011 has been an eventful year for Cheshire Textiles.  We have had two very successful exhibitions, one at Jobling Gowler in Macclesfield and the second at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.  Not only have we made sales but we have received some very positive and encouraging comments and in both cases have been invited back!

On a different note we were sorry to hear Jenny Legge wanted to move on from the Group and pursue other interests.  After 23 years of being an active member it was a difficult decision for her to make but we will keep in touch and she is included in our Christmas celebrations!  Maureen and Jenny, almost original members have very much helped shape the Group, they will be missed!

We welcome two new members, Sue Dunbar and Shirley Coleman; they  have been with us a little while and are making an excellent contribution to the Group. We are looking forward to our Christmas party and 2012!!