For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Thursday, April 5, 2012

once upon a time.....



Yes it's true.....once upon a time I dyed and printed cloth. The design I developed too, all part of a box ticking exercise and now I'm sharing it with you.

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11 comments:

Jane said...

I really enjoy these glimpses into your textile past, and the process from thought to end product.

Unknown said...

How lovely and how much fun. The designs are so joyful!

deanna7trees said...

loved seeing your dye work. you did some lovely pieces. i have friends who have taken similar classes. i'm not that organized with my dyeing and never keep records. i do love the dyeing with things from nature...so no colored hands. thanks for sharing.

Joanna said...

Oooh love the colour! The designs are good too

henrietta (aka ani aka zani) said...

i always just sit in envy and amazement of your sketchbook. as deanna said, not that organized myself either. maybe it's discipline. Have you considered teaching an on-line sketch book class in the future? thank you.

Tina said...

Thank you so much for the video and sharing your creations. I would so love to take these classes and go through the process of exploring all sides of textile arts. I really love the fabric you created. If I remember correctly you created a wonderful piece with some cloth you painted. I am so in awe of your talent and your creations.
Take care!

Lynda said...

Thank you for sharing your artistic journey with us, inspirational!

Doreen G said...

Thanks for showing this work Karen I am always intrigued with peoples sketchbooks and how they are made and I loved the fabric samples as well.

Rachel said...

Always interesting to see past work. Strange to compare all the colour in the prints with your current white-on-white...

Rosa said...

I so enjoy watching these videos of your sketchbooks.
A very happy Easter to you and family :-)

stitchinglife said...

Oh, I love these! But 'boo' to box-ticking, one of the more annoying things about study programmes. Happy Easter :-)