Doing things...

 we don't seem to have had time for recently - like mindless needlework [cardi for the VHC] and going to exhibitions. Oh, and watching cycle races.

It seems like years since we last went to an exhibition. so on Monday we visited two - although they were in the same place, one upstairs and one downstairs. And, surprisingly in this almost all sport-hating household, both had an Olympian connection. And even more surprisingly, we enjoyed both of them.

Upstairs at the Discovery Centre is 'Faster, Higher', a video installation by Susan Pui San Lok, which is as much about the politics of sport as it is about sport - probably why we liked it. I also liked the way she used the 5 screens, which gave me ideas of ways of using photographs - I'm not quite up to video installations yet...

Downstairs is 'Sporting Heroes' which is probably of most interest to locals. Highlights for me were 5 Greek vases with sporting scenes on them [courtesy of Winchester College] and the opportunity to see a time trial bike up close. [My tastes are nothing of not eclectic.]

Today the Olympic Torch came to Winchester. Bah, humbug.

So we went to Whitchurch - to the Silk Mill to see a small exhibition of Midsummer Night's Dream fairy costumes by Anna Nowicki. A fascinating variety of techniques - I was specially struck by Oberon's costume, which had a real Stuart feel to it, despite being made with very twenty-first century materials and techniques.

We didn't manage to avoid the torch, completely however - on the way home it passed us going the other way, heading for Andover. It was in stealth mode - they hadn't asked anyone to walk/run/stagger along the A34 - but the caravan of other vehicles and the escort of all the motor cycle cops in Hampshire were a bit of a give-away.

Much more exciting, as far as I'm concerned, was spotting this in the front garden when we got home. At first I thought it was one of those plastic balls with holes in we used to play with at school - but no, it's a fungus. No idea what, but I hope someone out there does.

The flies seemed to like it even more than I did.








Isn't that a wonderful form to inspire a 3D textile? Possibly even craft Vilene.














And speaking of photos [how's that for a bad segue?], today's iPad app is Blur FX. Nothing to do with a musical group whose lead singer's father Wensleydale used to work with. [Three degrees of separation to Damon Albarn, three to Sigmund Freud - my contacts are nothing if not eclectic.] [And only two to a fifties actress called Sabrina of whom none of you will have heard...] [But I digress.]

Blur FX does what it says on the tin. It makes your photos go blurry. Then you can wipe away the blur with your finger - an effect I like. With a bit of luck I can do it with the camera, but it's nice to have a retrospective option.

Blur FX also offers you a few filters, which you can apply to the blurred or clean areas. or to the whole thing...

including inverting the colour.


OK, it's another one trick wonder, but it is a very clever trick, and one I like [and use] a lot.







Tomorrow the gasman cometh, so I'm planning a bit of non-mindless needlework - oh, and possibly a bit of cycle race watching...

Another Tuesday trip!

The excitement may be more than I can bear.

I’d heard about the opening of the new premises of the National Needlework Archive, which used to be in Southampton but is now in Newbury, so we thought we’d take a look. [So great is my antipathy to driving in Southampton that I would far rather go to Newbury.]

So we pottered up there  – and arrived in the middle of a power cut. However there was enough light to see by, so we had a good look round. The exhibition space is not enormous – the building was previously the chapel for Greenham Airforce base – but there were some interesting textiles, old and new, and a couple of sewing machines as well.

There is a wonderful irony in an exhibition of ‘women’s work’ in a  place that was once famous for its efforts to keep women out. And, like their suffragette predecessors, those women used textiles  to publicise their cause.

On the way home we popped into Whitchurch Silk Mill again. If you Gift Aid your entrance fee, you get free entry for a year, which is quite a bargain. Wensleydale always enjoys the technology, and their little exhibitions are usually interesting – at the moment there is one about scagliola, and another about wooden printing blocks. [I’m sure you know that silk is used in making scagliola. And of course you know what scagliola is, like I do – now.]

Despite the rain

we went for out planned visit to Whitchurch Silk Mill this afternoon – and even got a walk round the grounds in between the showers. Of course these two didn’t mind the weather.

 

Last time we went the garden of dye plants was looking very sparse and dry – but it seems to have grown a bit. So much so that most of the labels were hidden in the undergrowth and I don’t know what some of these are.

We came home with some goodies.

We paid for the guide book – the feather was a freebie plucked from the river, and probably donated by a swan.

 

 

 

Although the gardens are pleasant even in the rain and the mill is very interesting in its own right [technically minded husbands seem to enjoy it as well], we really went for this exhibition, curated by Lynn Szygenda, from the Embroiderers' Guild.

Like all exhibitions at Whitchurch it is small – two cases, one with smocks from the EG’s collection, and one with items by the Smocking Branch of the EG – or, as one notice has it, the Smoking Branch. Which conjures up an interesting mental image of women with smocking pleaters and other embroidery paraphernalia standing in doorways with cigarettes in their mouths. [Of course I just typed ‘smoking pleaters’ – criticising other people's typing is asking for trouble …]

I found the exhibition a real eye opener, especially the early 20th century pieces which were made for children or as demonstration pieces. I’ve seen pictures in books, of course, but books don’t do them justice –  the dense cream on cream stitching, both smocking and surface embroidery, is quite beautiful.

There is one smock which is believed to be a genuine 19th century work garment – and as you might expect, the embroidery is more utilitarian and the materials coarser.

There are also a few 1950’s girls dresses which may be familiar to those who, like me, were young then, and had mothers who embroidered. I particularly liked the red dress with matching knickers …

Worth a visit if you are in the area and want to see some interesting pieces. Last time we visited the mill we Gift Aided our entrance fee and were given free admission for a year – which is useful as there is an interesting looking exhibition of unusual knitting planned for the autumn …

Oh – and for those who coveted my little loom – they have some slightly different ones in the shop, which you can get to without having to pay to go into the mill. But don’t expect to pick up lengths of silk for a song. When you realise that just warping a loom can take three weeks, you understand why the stuff ain’t cheap.

Today’s texture picture is – yet again – an apple tree. [We do have several but unfortunately they are mostly unproductive, being, we think, about 80 years old – and, let’s be honest, neglected.]

This isn’t an easy one to envisage in stitch -  possibly bits of silk paper layered and stitched? Anyone got any better ideas?