Transition and Decay, the rusty interpretation

While there may not be as many photos here as in my colourful interpretation post these rusty interpretations really did make me stop and think about the craft and work that has gone into both of these pieces.

The book by Gilly Meeks held items in various stages of rusting along with stitching and shows the effect that has on the material

THE RUSTING BOOK, GILLY MEEKS

Gilly says it comines her love of the making process, stitch and found rusty objects. Recycled fabrics in the book include cotton, linen, silk and tea bag fabric and all rect in different ways to the rusting process. Gilly also says she’s very drawn to the ghostly marks which result from the process.

The larger Rust quilt by Fiona Burrows takes a different and larger approach - her piece shows the aesthetic and symbolic qualities of decay and decomposition in the style of Piet Mondrian.

RUST, FIONA BURROWS

And just look at the detailed quilting.

RUST, FIONA BURROWS

I love both of these pieces as much as I love the colourful interpretations, but to me these pieces really needed their own post to shine (or rust!).

Which of the interpretations I’ve shown is your favourite?

Transition and Decay, the colourful interpretation

Back in March in an unassuming building in Nottingham I went along to the East Midlands Contemporary Textiles exhibition titled Transition and Decay. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the leaflet was handed out at the Newark Quilt Show back in January and as we planned to be in Nottingham that week, then there was no reason not for combining a visit to the exhibition with our errands, and lunch!

And we weren’t disappointed with any of those. We started out at another new-to-us venue, the Nottingham Society of Artists Gallery in a part of the town (city?) centre we’ve not visited much yet, and we were met with a riot of colour. Even MOH was impressed and took some photos.

It’ll be no surprise to you, and it certainly wasn’t to me, that I was instantly attracted to the most colourful exhibits some of which I’m sharing in this post. My favourite item from the exhibition was this ‘Fading Hydrangeas’ as not only can you instantly see the decay, and all the colours of the hydrangeas throughout its lifecycle, but also because of the intricate work and the patience it must have required.

FADING HYDRANGEAS, HELEN JONES

Helen said that she loves colour and has been inspired by the constantly changing hues of the hydrangeas in her garden; from the bright, pure colours right the way through to the delicate petals in winter. Isn’t it gorgeous?

The next one I’m sharing is more literal - ‘Use it or lose it’ - and a type of decay that I’m sure all of us are keen to embrace, but it’s also a timey reminder to actually make that happen isn’t it?

USE IT OR LOSE IT, CATHERINE TYNDALL

VARIOUS SMALL QUILTED SQUARES BY THE EMCT GROUP

There was little information available in the show notes for the items above and below, but I understand they were completed by members of the East Midlands Contemporary Textiles group for their regular meetings, and they felt (and I agree) that they should also be displayed.

RAINBOW COLOURS AND EXQUISITE STITCHING, EMCT GROUP

This piece by Linda Forey started as ‘a possible method of looking at transparency in colours, and became a fun game of adding applique shapes’ - either way the result is stunning and playful - and also a contender for my favourite piece in the exhibition.

PLAYING WITH COLOUR, LINDA FOREY

LONG STRIPS OF INDIVIDUAL SQUARES, EMCT GROUP

I love the colourful strips of individual works pieced together, and wish I could share more about them. It was the fruit on the blue background (on the right above) that caught my eye, and the more I looked the more detail and amount of work I could see.

Truly amazing.

It was a great exhibition, which also had a ‘touching table’ where the artists had made available the pieces they’d created when starting out to create the pieces for the exhibition, that was really interesting but also highlighted that there’s always so much more that goes into creating anything quite this beautiful.

Look out for another post where I’ll share with more items from the exhibition, which look at transition and decay in a completely different way, that’s why I’m sharing it as a separate post - I didn’t want either of the approaches to get lost.

The Boy Friend: Outfit Illustrations

It’s only recently that I’ve realised I’ve got a bit of a thing for fashion illustrations, perhaps I always have, but after sharing those from the Biba Story and then buying those Vogue pattern catalogue pages which I intend to frame, well that’s confirmed it for me.

It won’t be a surprise then that I’ve some more to share, this time from the mini exhibition of The Boy Friend which was on at the Fashion and Textile Museum when we visited last summer.

These illustrations look to have more of a collage approach to them - the skimpy outfit above with treble clef motifs on the triangular-bikini like top, show this - though the headdress looks to be larger than the skirt, but maybe that’s a perspective thing, not just me showing my age!

The red outfit on the left below looks to have the text ‘The Boyfriend - Hortense - Barbara Windsor’ in the top right corner, which is intriguing. Hortense was the maid, and it’s only now that I’ve googled it, the part was played by Barbara Windsor, who would have been 34 in 1971.

The sophisticated white trouser suit top right in the photo above, was one of Twiggy’s outfits as the main character Polly Broome. They take wide legged trousers, and flares to a whole new level don’t they?!

Shirley Russell had a fondness for the 1920s, so The Boy Friend must have been the ideal project for her. Twiggy shared Shirley’s love of the era and often joined the Russells for film shows to watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pictures. She also accompanied Shirley on trips to source original costumes, learning more about the costume history of the period, and started collecting clothes from the period too. I wonder if she still has them?

These last two illustrations are the pixie outfits for Twiggy as Polly Browne and Christopher Gable as Tony (the two main characters), though I’m not sure where these featured, as I’m sure in the finale fancy dress ball they were dressed as Pierrot and Pierrette, I need to find out more clearly!

But these illustrations reminded me of my part in the chorus, for the fancy dress ball I was the jester - thankfully there are no photos I’m willing to share, but my outfit, complete with jester hat with bells on, made in what I remember as itchy brown and mustard material, which also thankfully no longer exists!

Memories that may well have remained well and truly buried had they not been reawakened by these illustrations - I’ll let them off though, it was great to see these illustrations!