Reclamation, part 2

Well, the previous reclaiming of the blog didn't come to much, did it? I realised that it was mainly because the blog didn't really feel like me any more, I have moved on quite a bit since I started it. As you will know, if I have any readers left!

So yesterday I finally decided to do something about it; I hope you like the new look. The menu now links in to my main website so I'm not having to keep up with 2 separate sets of pages - and now my website links back to here too - a definite incentive to post more often! I did think about moving the whole thing over to wordpress (which hosts my website) but I felt I had too much history here to leave behind. So I'll see how it goes. I hope the transition from one to the other doesn't feel too clunky.

But enough of the tech talk... in the meantime the 'Reclaimed' exhibition I spoke about last time is up and running, still plenty of time to see it if you are anywhere near; for more details see the TX Creative Textiles website. It really is an excellent exhibition, well worth a visit, though I say so myself! There are two other exhibitions running at the same time in the arts centre and a rather nice cafe on site - perfect for a day out.

Reclamation

Lately I have been thinking it was about time I reclaimed my neglected blog. Especially after a good friend recently left a (pointed?) comment on my last post, which admittedly was written just over a year ago...

And coincidentally, 'Reclaimed' is the theme of a group exhibition I will be taking part in in the summer. Although I already use reclaimed materials in my work wherever possible, not wanting to repeat myself I was struggling to come up with a direction for new pieces that I was satisfied with. Until, I came across a job lot of damaged vintage linen on ebay, a bundle of pieces not fit for anything else; some stained, some fraying and some quite simply falling apart.

At first I thought I would disassemble the linens and combine individual motifs with the reclaimed picture frame glass I like to use for my glass work.  But while the samples I made were pretty things in themselves they still didn't feel quite right.

So I decided to turn the concept around and try to 'mend' the damaged linens with my reclaimed glass. I'm much happier with this idea, with the strange mismatch of the materials, the idea of trying to effect a repair with something intrinsically fragile, and the way the glass magnifies the damage to the linen while at the same time covering it up.

Here are the first couple of pieces:

If anyone happens to have any tatty table linen they'd like to get rid of, do let me know.  And as you can see from the first piece above, the tattier the better!