Tŷ Pawb Open 2024

I’m pleased to announce that the Giant Cauliflower Harvest has been jury selected for the Tŷ Pawb Open 2024.

Around 450 artists submitted work. After jury selection 100 artworks were chosen for the final exhibition.

The exhibition will be on show at the Tŷ Pawb, Market St, Wrexham, Wales LL13 8BB, from 16th November 2024 – 8th February 2025.

This year’s Judge is Alan Dunn, a Glasgow-born Artist based in Liverpool. Alan creates artworks using sound and digital images, collaborating with thousands of citizens to unlock the hidden narrative in communities. He has developed projects with ICA, BBC Radio, Tate Britain, National Science & Media Museum and Liverpool Art Prize.

Giant Cauliflower Harvest part of the Tŷ Pawb Open 2024
Giant Cauliflower Harvest part of the Tŷ Pawb Open 2024

During the launch event (Friday 15th November from 6pm) the winners of the Judge’s Prize (£1000) and the Traders’ Prize (£500) will be announced.

A ‘People’s Prize (£500), selected by public votes, will be awarded at the conclusion of the exhibition.

Nearly Home Exhibition

I’m delighted to share that ‘Time for Tea‘ has been accepted for the ArtCan ‘Nearly Home’ exhibition in Spain by curators Catherine Fenton and Walk Bye founder Catalina Aranguren.

This digital exhibition takes place at the Mostrador de Mirasierra Gallery, Madrid, Spain, October 21 – November 20 2024.

Artists taking part in Nearly Home
Artists taking part in Nearly Home

“Mostrador de Mirasierra is a gallery cafe bar in an affluent area of Madrid. It is set over two floors and has a reputation for excellent art exhibitions in Madrid. In the basement level there is a large screen on which we will introduce ArtCan to Madrid by having the Walk Bye projection running throughout the month. We will also have a list of participating artists and a QR code to the ArtCan website on the wall next to the screen.” ArtCan.

Time for Tea is part of the Nearly Home Exhibition
Time for Tea is part of the Nearly Home Exhibition
Time for Tea
Time for Tea

Nearly Home Exhibition

“Nearly Home asks us to consider how, beyond the obvious structures of shelter, do we personally define the often intangible quality that gives each of us a feeling of belonging? How do some fortunate enough to have had a happy childhood home, consolidate the feeling of nostalgia, with a need to grow new roots? Whether displaced by circumstance or choice, we navigate the world physically and spiritually in search of home, a place where we are in tune with who we are and comfortable to welcome in the people we love.” Catherine and Catalina.

Curators

Catherine Fenton’s work frequently deals with issues surrounding the environment and human rights. Using collaged material relating to the subject, her paintings subtly draw the viewer in with colour and texture with the intention rousing further curiosity. Her paintings have been exhibited with the Just Water campaign in St Paul’s Cathedral London, along with exhibitions and installations for Greenpeace, Toilet Twinning and The Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture.

Joining ArtCan in 2016, Catherine is now the Philanthropic Programme Director and curated an ArtCan exhibition for The International Day of the Girl Child which combined a programme to engage disenfranchised women with the charity Hibiscus London.

Catalina Aranguren’s work is a documentation of the mundane. Her work is a dialogue about the modern world and our place in it. Because her childhood was a constant wavering between languages, cultures, and third and first worlds, on a daily basis, her work focuses on the relationship between the learned and the subconscious. Her work is in private collections across the United States, UK, Australia, Chile, Sweden and Colombia. She has exhibited across the Unites States as well as Turkey, Spain, UK, Canada and Sweden.

Catalina founded Walk Bye as collective outdoor art exhibition that invited creators to exhibit original work to be displayed outside their home or from a window visible to the public from a distance during the pandemic. Walk Bye continues to create exhibition opportunities and promote the work of artists to positively contribute to their careers. Catalina is a new member to ArtCan. She joined after moving to Madrid from New York.

Darning Sampler 2 – Cloth

Darning Sampler 2 - part of the Repair Restore Recreate

Darning Sampler 2 is the latest addition to my darning series. A series of work celebrating the patterns and variations of the humble darning stitch.

Darning Sampler 2 - Cloth
Darning Sampler 2 – Cloth

The project started with a vintage glass cloth I discovered in my collection.

This soft, buttery and well worn cloth has a beautiful weave, and an iconic red and white logo runs through the centre. The cloth is easy to handle and provides a perfect blank space for layering and weaving the thread.

An iconic red and white logo running through the centre
An iconic red and white logo running through the centre

I started with a test sample of Madeira Cotona thread to see how it stitched and just carried on stitching.

Madeira Cotona thread and a vintage glass cloth
Madeira Cotona thread and a vintage glass cloth

By the end of the first day I’d completed two designs and was researching more.

Darning Sampler 2. A beautiful and buttery cloth to stitch
A beautiful and buttery cloth to stitch
The act of repairing worn and damaged cloth often involves patching, mending and darning.
The act of repairing worn and damaged cloth often involves patching, mending and darning.
Darning Sampler 2  is inspired by a vintage glass cloth from my collection.
Darning Sampler 2 is inspired by a vintage glass cloth from my collection.

Embroiderers’ Guild Members Project 2024

The 2024 Members’ project from the Embroiderers’ Guild is based around repair. Darning Sampler 2 has been accepted and will be on exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Shows this autumn.

“Repair, Restore, and Recreate have become buzz words …. We are all aware of the need to extend the life of what we use. But being textile artists, we also embrace the idea of enhancing and decorating textiles as we repair and/or restore them. What we repair and how, may now be far removed from the days of darning socks ….. The traditional patchwork quilts have evolved into memory quilts … Boro has moved beyond simply patching … Darning has gained a new life as a surface decoration. ” Embroiderers’ Guild.