Students' sketchbook exhibition

It is so long since I wrote my blog, I have lots of older events to share with you. 

So let's start with the exhibition of the C&G sketchbook course, which took place in June. All of the group had worked really hard over the year and it was lovely to give them the opportunity to share what they had accomplished with a wider public.

The variety of work was fab - we had tried so many different techniques over the course and each student had interpreted them in their own way adding more interest and also inspiring the others in how the ideas could be used.  

I had set 3 fairly open topics for the students and was amazed at how ingenious their interpretations were - way beyond my limited ideas.

The books themselves are the outcome of the course. Some people struggle with why you would want to take a course like this when you could actually be making ‘real’ finished work. However, in addition to these lovely books and pages, the students are hopefully full of ideas for ‘real’ work which will be more interesting and richer for having gone through all of these processes. 

Students' Patchwork & Quilting Exhibition

Sue Selwyn - final quilt

Here's some close up shots of my C&G students work from their exhibition at the weekend. It was a gorgeous sunny day, which made photographing some of the work hard, so I can't show you everything I'd like!  But these images will hopefully give you a taste of some of their fantastic work.  Also, these quilts do hang straight - it is my poor photography, not poor making skills.

Mahri Prince - samples

It is difficult to know how to describe their work - say 'patchwork' and people expect bed quilts made from traditional patchwork blocks; say 'creative textiles' and people expect nice homemade curtains; say 'art' and they expect paintings.  As the course is officially the City & Guilds Certificate or Diploma in Patchwork & Quilting, that was the name we used.  This resulted in many, generally pleasantly, surprised viewers.

Mahri Prince - detail of final quilt

Ellen Griffith - corset

Isobel Beveridge

Susan Briscoe - mixed media samples

Susan Briscoe - detail of final quilt

Moira Gaw - sketchbook 

Moira Gaw - final quilt

Chrystine Livingston - final quilt

Chrystine Livingston - sketchbook cover

Pamela Docherty - final quilt

Pamela Docherty - sketchbook

Sue Selwyn - ice dyed fabric

Catherine Palmer - final quilt

My first students' C&G exhibition

So I haven't been very good at writing my blog recently. Happily this is due to positive reasons rather than sad events in my life. I've just been so busy teaching and getting the final round of C&G classes organised and having some exhibitions to run, oh and occasionally see the family, the blog has sat just that one stage too far down my to-do list to get written. Sorry. 

So new resolution - be less wordy and merely put the photos and information and ideas out there. There is definitely more chance of this!

End of grovel!  Now on to something more interesting instead. My first groups of C&G students finished at the weekend with an end of course exhibition. It went astonishingly well. Their work was finished, copious and well presented. I was incredibly proud. Lots of lovely people from far and wide came to see their show and seemed to really enjoy it. It was good to finally let my village see what we get up to and they were also impressed at how far some people had travelled. 

Wonderfil kindly sponsored some boxes of threads to encourage the finishing students to carry on stitching.  

Tea and cake was provided by Friends of Strathcarron Hospice and they raised over £590. 

These photos are some general shots. More details in the next post. They look empty because I took them before anyone arrived and during the private view - I didn't get an opportunity whilst it was properly open - it was all very busy!

PS C&G is sadly cancelling these great courses and there is only one final opportunity to study them with me starting in June.  Do email me at info(at)gilliancooper.co.uk if you are interested in finding out more.

Inspiration: Eye on Elegance at the DAR Museum

Eye on Elegance Exhibition

Eye on Elegance was an exhibition of antique quilts at the DAR Museum in Washington DC, USA, this summer.  I wish I had been lucky enough to visit as was my friend, Louise Carr.  However, I got second best as she kindly gave me a copy of the catalogue.  As well as the catalogue and physical show, the DAR Museum has also mounted a big and informative online exhibition of these quilts, which is well worth a look.  You can access it here - http://eyeonelegance.dar.org/ .

Pieced and Stuffed Medallion Quilt about 1810 and 1820s

For anyone interested in historical quilts, it is a must.  For others though, there is lots of interesting titbits to be gleaned.  As well as the quilts, which are organised by type (Appliqué, Pieced, Album, Migration and Wholecloth), there is historical information about the makers and the designs and fabrics used.  A few facts that caught my attention:

·         The quality of the stitching is stunning.  Some of these quilts have up to 12-13 stitches per inch.  Reading this made me flick through the catalogue to look at the different standards – even the ‘worst’ has 6-7 stitches per inch. I think I would struggle to draw 12-13 stitches per inch, let alone stitch them!

Reverse Applique Flower Basket Quilt 1849

·         These are not ‘make-do-and-mend’ quilts.  Some of the fabric cost more per metre than a farm hand would earn in a week.  I would be terrified to use such expensive fabric now in case I got it wrong.  Unsurprisingly, many quilters followed patterns and sometimes it seems you could buy a kit ready basted ready for you to stitch down the appliqué and then quilt.  This would still be very time consuming.

·         The curator makes the point that even when there is one named quilter (and there is much information on their individual lives, which is fascinating), often any woman who could stitch to a high standard living in that household would be commandeered into helping – including servants and slaves.  I admit knowing this changed how I looked at some of the quilts.  We have this lovely cosy view of a sole maker inviting her friends to a quilting bee to finish off her masterpiece, but how much does this actually reflect reality?  Did these woman see stitching as a break from their normal routines, or resent being made to do it?

Although these quilts are over 150 years old, it is surprising how relevant they are to today.  

Tree of Life and Birds quilt 1810s

For example, I was teaching Broderie Perse to my City & Guilds Certificate Group yesterday – it is part of the syllabus.  No, none of them were using pieces of chintz that cost over £200 a metre, but it is the same process.  And the other month with the Diploma Group, we were looking at borders and their proportions, just like the medallion quilts in this exhibition, which were very popular at that time.  

Mathematical Star Quilt 1830s

And I love the star design, and was already thinking of making one using paper piecing, even before I saw this book.  Actually, I’m trying to dissuade myself due to lack of time and to concentrate on my 4-years-and-counting hexagon paper pieced quilt, which is still going to need another 3 years!

If you have the opportunity, I would thoroughly recommend reading the book - the photos are stunning and there are lots of detailed shots -  and having a flick through the online exhibition.  And fingers crossed that one day I can get to see some of these quilts in person.

All images used with kind permission from the DAR Museum.

The aftermath of an exhibition

Getting over a major exhibition takes time and something I should really factor into my processes, but of course, I never do.  Either I forget about it or assume that this time would be different. 

This time was the same as normal.  I had put it to the back of my mind and besides, I have so much work to do for the classes I am running I wouldn’t have time for the major low that comes after the high of a successful show.  It still happened!  It crept up on me last week and suddenly, my work seemed not very good, I felt that sense of being a phoney and not sure where I should be going next.

It happens for a variety of reasons.  Firstly, I have been so focussed on one event that afterwards you struggle to refocus, especially if there is nothing as urgent on the agenda.  Secondly, there is the exhaustion.  For something like the European Patchwork Meeting, I have worked non-stop for months, then travelled, put up the show and spent four very intense days talking all the time to lovely, enthusiastic strangers.  When most of my time is spent in the studio alone or in small classes, it is rather different.  Thirdly there is all the nervous energy which I have spent worrying about whether the show is going to work, will I be ready on time, what will I wear.  I kid you not on the last one!  I live in my studio and spend the rest of the time with small(ish) children.  Clothes are generally the last thing on my agenda.  So I actually have to find sufficient outfits without stains or holes and which say ‘textile artist’.  I don’t think it would be such a pressure if I worked in glass!  Finally, I arrive home and that’s it.  It is hard to gauge if the event was a success in the month afterwards.  There are no special emails, I’m not suddenly in massive demand, but often something special will come of it months later.  So it all feels rather flat in the immediate aftermath.

Please don’t see this as a complaint about my life – it isn’t.  I love being an artist and I love sharing my work through exhibitions and teaching.  I sat down to write a totally different blog post, but this is the one that felt right today.  I had a fantastic time at the EPM and seem to be climbing out of the trough remarkably quickly this time.  The reasons why?  I have lots of things lined up, so I can’t really stop fully.  Since getting home, I’ve researched Fibonacci and have made appliqué samples for my C&G classes.  I have also written three articles.  And there are still other things on my list.  This has certainly made it easier.  I’ve tried to get enough sleep and to keep exercising, something that goes out the window when I get very pressured.  I actually scheduled my time before I left, so I don’t need to think too hard about what to do when and that has been very useful too, especially as I tried to be a bit more realistic about how long things take.  And I’m trying to make sure I make time to see my family and friends. 

So that just leaves two very important tasks to get on with and to schedule in: making more work and lining up some more exhibitions!  Long may the cycle continue!

Unsung Muses at the European Patchwork Meeting

Unsung Muses by Gillian Cooper

I'm still trying to process the European Patchwork Meeting in my head.  In all honesty, it passed in a bit of a blur.  Over a year building up to it and then it is over in four short days.  It was a very busy four days.  The family waited expectantly with me for the doors to open on the first day and the first visitor was very prompt and very positive about the work, which was lovely.  And then there was barely a moment when someone was not looking at the work.  There was definitely an ebb and flow of visitors, timed with the arrival of the shuttle buses, but the rooms were seldom empty.

Unsung Muses by Gillian Cooper

There was a huge mixture of languages, of which I reckon English was about fifth or sixth in the list.  It felt like there were roughly equal French and German visitors, then large numbers of Dutch and Danish quilters, then Italian and English speakers.  There were also Swedes, Koreans and Russians - a truly international mix.  I only speak two of these languages and my French improved greatly as I learned a lot of French quilting terms.  It also amused me, like in English, how many different ways you could describe a similar term.  There were two words for wadding, like in English (second one being batting in American English).  It was also a bit shaming at how well most visitors spoke English, given how little I speak in other languages. 

Lots of visitors

Unsung Muses was well received by most of them.  The language of appreciation is universal.  It was lovely when people made the effort to come up and say how much the installation had touched them.  We also made the local newspaper on the final day, which was fun.  The kids were very pleased to be mentioned and it was fab that Richard's huge support was also mentioned.  He drove the whole way there and was a mega help in hanging the work, as well as keeping me and the kids on the straight and narrow!

Unsung Muses by Gillian Cooper

A huge, unexpected bonus for me was that the local ladies of the church were running a tearoom in the kitchen of my venue, with fantastic home made cakes.  I had peach tart, plum tart and a Mille feuille over the course of my exhibition.  At the age of 40-something this week, I had a brace fitted to sort out a dental problem and am now not meant to eat sugary things for 18 months. I'm so glad it was after the EPM, not before!  

Yummy plum cake

Unsung Muses at the EPM

Lovely shadows