My heart belongs to Frida

Heart 2006, tapestry weaving, stuffed with wadding and backed with fabric.
I studied tapestry weaving at Morley College last year with William Jefferies. The weaving was inspired by this Frida Kahlo painting. It took almost 6 months to complete.




Frida painting The Two Fridas, photograph by Nickolas Muray 1939. Image found here.

Wellcome Collection

The Wellcome Collection has opened this month in London. Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of science and one of the world's greatest collectors. He was fascinated by anthropology and the history of medicine. The museum will be staging themed exhibitions providing insights into the human condition. The first one is The Heart.


Hanuman revealing Rama and Sita in his heart, Kalighat watercolour painting (C) Wellcome Trust.

I visited the museum today and my heart was most enraptured by what I saw ! I have a bit of an obsession with matters of the heart anyway so to wander round this unusual and varied exhibit was blissful. Not only are there numerous artifacts and artworks but there is a great selection of contemporary art including work by Ana Mendieta and Annette Messager.

Ailsa Ogden

Kidney (2), originally uploaded by Binkacrosstich.

I love this series of recycled organs by Ailsa Ogden - she is definitely an artist to watch. You can see more of the organs here or click on the picture to go to her flickr page, Binkacrosstich.

Curious Expeditions

3 Cephalopods in jars, originally uploaded by Curious Expeditions. Click on the image to go to Curious Expeditions flickr page. Or you can have a look at their blog here.

ignasi Tudela

rest, originally uploaded by ignasiTudela. Click on the image to see more photographs by ignasi Tudela.

Paintistworks

fallen, originally uploaded by paintistworks. Click on the image to go to Paintistworks flickr page and explore her beautiful paintings.

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday, originally uploaded by Feltbug.

My recent favourites on flickr. Click on the image to go to the links to the featured artists. Some of these images have struck a deep chord with me so I have decided to feature 3 of my favourites on their own.

The concise home doctor

I found this wonderful book in the local charity shop - it is full of pictures and medical facts - it looks like it is from the 30's judging by the hairstyles of the women featured. I am working on a collaboration with installation artist Lauren Brown, She Sees Red and this is going come in very useful - more details later !
Biba paper from the 70s - I love this shade of green. As a teenager my best friend and I would get the number 9 bus every Saturday from Barnes to Kensington High Street to visit Biba's emporium. The most I could ever afford was a bottle of nail polish or a poster but it was worth it for one of their black and gold carrier bags.

Christine Domanic

bicycle gear, originally uploaded by jackrabbit.etsy.com.

Check out this amazing crochet bicycle by Christine Domanic, click on the picture to go to her flickr page with more pics - lovely :) Christine also has an etsy shop, Jack Rabbit where she sells her work.

I heart my bike

It is bike week in the UK this week. For some of us it is bike week every week :) I have had my Dawes Red Feather for 8 years, it has a Brookes leather saddle, armadillo tyres and my lovely friend brought me this heart felt saddle cover from Sweden. I don't wear a helmet but do love to wear my crochet fingerless cycling gloves but that is as far as it goes with cycling gear. There is a new website for the Richmond Cycling Campaign which has some useful info for cycling in the borough and they are also running a quiz for bike week where you can win a new bike. If I could design the perfect bike it would look like one of these and be the weight of one of these !

Heart of the house

I love mosaic monday :)

I love mosaic monday :), originally uploaded by Feltbug.

My latest favs from flickr. Click on the picture to go to the page with links to the featured artists.

Morley College

Works by Kara Crook and Lea Tunesi

The textile foundation at Morley College in London have their end of year show at The Gallery at Morley College until 28 June. Mon-Fri 11-6 Saturday 12-4, late night Thursday til 7. When I met up with Memake and Stitchworks at the Royal Festival Hall last week - we walked down Lower Marsh Street, stopping off for a splendid salad at Coopers, ogling vintage fashions galore at Radio Days and What The Butler Wore and breathing in the coffee and atmosphere of days long gone at Scooterworks, on our way to Morley College to see what delightful summer courses they are offering this year. They were in the middle of hanging the textile foundation show so we could only peep in the windows - and from what we could see it looks like a good show this year. Morley College is a really wonderful place to do a short course with lots of arts related subjects on offer where you can study just for the fun of it - without constant assessments and appraisals. The Gallery puts on really good art exhibitions all the year round too. On our way back we popped into Crockatt and Powell Booksellers where they had an exhibition of artist's books made by printmaking students from Morley which runs until 30 June.

Freddie Robins

The Perfect, 2003-2006 34 x 1 x 1/2 (detail)

Freddie Robins is showing her new body of work, The Perfect at Contemporary Applied Arts in London from the 14th June until 7th July. Mon-Sat 10.00-6.00. You can read more about the exhibition here.


This is one of her earlier works, Craft Kills. She uses knitting to explore pertinent contemporary issues of the domestic, gender and the human condition.
Craft Kills, 2002 machine knitted wool, knitting needles 2000x680x380mm

The Sparrow and the Actress

Accentor or British Hedge Sparrow, 2007


Mrs Abington, English Actress 2007

Mrs "ABINGTON" in the character of Miss Prue in William Congreve's bawdy comedy, Love for Love. Miss Prue is a "NAIVE" country girl who is seduced by a predatory, half-witted dandy. Mrs Abington had worked in a brothel before making her name on the stage and was, when "REYNOLDS" painted her, the "MISTRESS" of a wealthy MP. Information provided by one of my flickr friends, Spiers65, check out his blog, Urban-Miner.

Robin Cracknell

Girl Three, 2007, C-Type photograph. (c) Robin Cracknell

Robin Cracknell's show opens this week at The Whitecross Gallery in London, a combination of beauty and melancholy pervades his work. Robin's blog is The Camera Suture. Can't wait to see the show !

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday, originally uploaded by Feltbug.

Here are my latest favourites from flickr, click on the picture to go to the page with links to the featured artists.

William Jefferies

Experimental samples of woven tapestry, ideas for larger works.

I went to visit the studio of William Jefferies yesterday, part of the Richmond Art House open studios which runs until 17 June. I was particularly taken with some of his smaller samples that he is working on. I first saw William's work at Contemporary Applied Arts in London, he works with some very unusual materials to produce innovative tapestries. You can visit him at Kew Studio on the 16&17 June, 11am-6pm. William teaches tapestry weaving at Kew Studio and also at Morley College in London where I studied with him last year.

Bug feast

Yum yum !

A week in the life of a plant

I went to my sister's allotment today - these are before and after shots of a poppy and some verbena - a lot can happen in one week ...

Sebastian Buescher

Carnivore, flesh eating ring, 2005 Silver, enamel, epoxy putty, sand, paint.

Untitled, ring 2005 Silver, moth cocoon, sand, paint.

Sebastian Buescher is an artist working in the UK who makes the most amazing jewellery - I have seen his work at shows and in galleries around London over the last couple of years and now he has started a blog, Life Inside The Well.

The Toilet Gallery

Faye Incorporated are at The Toilet Gallery in Kingston until 14 June. There are also Fine Art Degree shows at Kingston University until 15 June.

In and around Cork Street.

There are some good shows on, in and around Cork Street in London. Here is a selection of the shows I saw yesterday.
The Dutch Nul Group which was formed in 1961 by artists Armando, Jan Schoonhoven and Henk Peeters at The Mayor Gallery. Exuberant new paintings by Gillian Ayres at the Alan Cristea Gallery

'Untitled (Mylar)' (detail) - Tara Donovan, 2007Mylar and glue,

Installation dimensions variable
and around the corner in Old Burlington Street an installation by New York based artist Tara Donovan at the Stephen Friedman Gallery.

David Austen

red-head figure looking up, watercolour on paper 10x10inches from the exhibition catalogue for David Austen: Froth on the Daydream 2005

David Austen has a show of new paintings, drawing and sculpture at the Anthony Reynolds Gallery in London until 16 June. You can read more about the show here.

Anne-Laure Djaballah

threads-(knots) edit, originally uploaded by anne-lauredjaballah.

24x24inches, 2007 acrylic on panel

This makes me want to start painting again - have a look at Anne-Laure's blog a path no wider than a pencil stroke for more inspiring work or you can click on the painting to go to her flickr page.

Jodie Carey

Daily Mail 2005 (detail), 228x54x60cms Newspaper, tea, coffee and blood - from Seventeen Gallery.

Jodie Carey graduates from the Royal College of Art this summer. The Royal College of Art is putting on The Great Exhibition from the 15-28 June 2007 in Kensington Gardens, it will feature the work of over 400 students.

Seon-hwa Lee

Beads made from recycled paper.

Necklace, London metro
Necklace, London metro (detail)

Handmade paper jewellery by Seon-hwa Lee, a student of the Jewellery/3D design HNC at Richmond Adult and Community College. Lee's work is exquisite - all the more so for being made from newspaper - I cannot imagine a better use for the London metro - one of the many free newspapers discarded daily on the transport system.

Seon-hwa Lee can be contacted on seonhwaly (at) hotmail.com

Richmond School of Art

The end of year HNC & HND and Art foundation show at Richmond Adult and Community College in Surrey 5-9 June.

The glass sculpture, Even Mother said. . . "Pain is Normal!" is by Tania Porter.

Hinge

Janaina Tschape

Janaina Tschape is a painter and photographer whose work also incorporates latex, balloons and condoms. She is currently showing work at Sikkema Jenkins & co in New York until 22 June.

I found the artist through Art Moco, a web magazine featuring modern contemporary art news, and views. It is a great resource with links to lots of interesting art.

Karen Gelardi

Karen Gelardi is showing work at the Front Room Gallery in Maine from June 14 until July 29. You can read more here.

Shades of grey

Shades of grey, originally uploaded by Feltbug.

A selection of art from flickr, click on the picture to go to the page with links to the featured artists.

On the allotment

A perfect end to the day - a visit to my sister's allotment with my family. Nature goes wild !