#art Archives - Arnolds Attic

11th June 20168th September 2020

Bovey Tracey – The Contemporary Craft Festival 2016

This was my first visit to Bovey Tracy. I’d heard so many wonderful stories over the years about the brilliant artists who showcase their creations at the Festival, that I just had to come visit and check it out for myself. I was so excited!

Around 200 artists were nestled side by side in the longest adjoining marque I’ve ever seen. Ceramicists were in stands next to jewellers, next to mixed media and textile artists. The place had an amazing buzz of energy, chatter and creativity and it was crammed full of shoppers just like me.

My aim for the day was to catch up with my textile friends, check out their latest work, make some new acquaintances and then browse and indulge in some shopping.
I spent some time chatting with very talented Linda Miller, Viv from Hensteeth, Janine Pope of Mudrabbit and Ella Robinson, before chatting to other artists whose work I adored. I really did quite a bit of chatting.

Marna Lunt – Textiles

Anya Keeley – Mixed Media

Claire Read of Little Burrow Designs – Mixed Media

Lucy Gell – Printmaker

Amy Denton – Ceramic Jewellery

Sue Brown – Printmaker

Kirsty Elson – Driftwood Sculptures

Liz Cooksey – Textiles

Elizabeth Loveday – Textiles

Jane Ryan of OPI – Mechanical Toys and automata

Kate Whitehead – Textiles

……I bought some unique artwork made by Anya Keeley – ‘The Mill’ – my new little Lancashire Cotton Mill.

This beauty came home with me.

… I loved this vintage mobile cinema (called Audrey) who was showing the most wonderful black & white Pathe films all about textiles, fabrics and crafts – I watched the Cashmere Story.

Audrey the Vintage Mobile Cinema

….. gathered some new inspiration for ongoing projects and did lots of shopping.

Linladen Embroidery – of course I bought some!

These goodies came home with me

What a fantastic day out – It’s already in the diary for 2017.
I can’t wait for Art in Action later this year!

25th May 201620th April 2020

Art in Action 2015

I’ve just heard that 2016 will be the last Art in Action ever. So sad. Such an amazing event that will be sadly missed. This year’s date is already in my diary, but I wanted to show you how brilliant last years event was.
……..Art in Action 2015 was as a sunny and inspiring as ever.
The Show was held on part of a working farm at Waterperry. There was plenty of space for parking and for the twenty plus marquees that were bursting with every artistic talent imaginable.

This fabulous Sculpture was at the entrance to the Show

I had a wonderful day out with a fellow ‘mad textile’ girlfriend. Our first port of call is always the Textile Tent – so much talent! I loved chatting to the artists and finding out about the techniques & materials they used. It was a perfect time to check out if they had spaces on future workshops. Between us we managed to chat to every wool, textile, embroidery, illustrative, printing and clay artist at the Show – that’s lots of talking!

Maria Boyle – Embroiderer

Bridget Bailey – Millinery

Carol Naylor – Embroiderer

Harper & Carr – Clothing

Roanna Wells – Artist

Bobbie Kociejowski – Weaver

Trude Timlin Brown – Weaver

Wendy Dolan – Embroiderer

Work by Wendy Dolan – Embroiderer

Kirsten Scott of Elsa Cappelli Hats

Amanda Wright Embroiderer of Goat Street Gallery

Helaina Sharpley – Wire work Artist

By the end of the day, we were on such a high – our feet were killing us, our shopping bags were full and our heads were bursting with ideas. A perfect day.
We couldn’t wait to get home and try out some ideas for ourselves.
I can’t wait for Art in Action 2016!

29th September 20143rd September 2021

“Secret Messages” Bletchley Park Quilt Exhibiton 2012 – Enigma

For those in the know, Bletchley Park needs no explaining…..

For those who have yet to discover it, Bletchley Park (or Station X) was the hub of the British decoding and cipher unit in WW2 and it was here that the mathematical brains of many including the brilliant and gifted Alan Turing solved the puzzle of the German Enigma Machine and developed the first computer – Colossos.
I am a huge history buff and bore my family senseless with the facts and figures of historical events – it all fascinates me, particularly how one event leads and merges with another and why one occurrence is the catalyst to another larger event.

In 2012, Bletchley Park hosted a quilt exhibition – the theme was “Secret Messages” – celebrating Station X and the 100th anniversary of Turing’s birth. Anyone could submit work to the exhibition ….. so I did…..

This piece was inspired by the secret documentation used in operations and planning for the D-Day landings on 6th June 1944 – the ticker-tape design is taken from one used to feed into Colossos. The mathematical formula is part of Turing’s work in solving Enigma. The Union Flag was foundation pieced and formed the starting point of the design.
The piece was a joy to make – lots of surface design and messing about. I wanted it to look like a well used document….. Made using Irish Linen, the pillowcase method, top stitched edges by hand with no binding….. this is how I made it….. I wanted it to look like an old document.