Vendulka Battais – Meet the Artist

A little textile inspiration from my YouTube ‘Meet the Artist’ Collection. Today it features the work of artist Vendulka Battais.

Vendulka and her husband Oliver work together on designing and creating the quilts.

“I started with traditional squares and triangles, which gave me good skills I can now build upon,” Vendulka says. “My passion for free motion quilting took me away from piecing and more into whole cloth and art quilts. I’m also very lucky I can share this passion with my husband Olivier.” 

The intricate design of the quilts in this exhibition have been designed by Olivier and quilted by Vendulka. They then explored the use of glittery and metallic paints to bring more colour and, more interestingly, ‘bling’ to their work, which is not often seen in textiles.  

Browse and purchase the Marabu Metalic & Glitter Liners on Amazon.

Catch up with Vendulka and her stunning artwork at the Festival of Quilts 2022.

Vendulka and Olivier Battais’s Artwork: https://www.oliven.co.uk/

Each piece is dedicated to a different woman who inspired or influenced their textile journey. Since embarking on her textile art adventure, Vendulka has won awards at major quilt shows, including first runner-up in Wearable art at PIQF in California.

Artwork by Vendulka Battais
Artwork by Vendulka Battais

The couple won third place in the Great Northern quilt show in Harrogate and Best in Show at the Festival of Quilts 2021. 

Artwork by Vendulka Battais
Artwork by Vendulka Battais

Watch this space! – join the mailing list and be first to see some wonderful artist interviews.

Micheal Cummings – Meet the Artist

A little textile inspiration from my YouTube ‘Meet the Artist’ Collection. Today it features the work of artist Micheal Cummings.

Micheal is considered America’s leading African American male quilter, with an ever-expanding influence on the current generation of quilt artists.  Each piece is created from appliquéd pieces of old and new cloth before being embellished with buttons, beads and stitch.

Catch up with Micheal and his stunning artwork at the Festival of Quilts 2022.

Micheal’s Artwork: https://www.michaelcummings.com/

Patchwork quilt by Micheal Cummings featuring musicians
Artwork by Micheal Cummings

He began experimenting with collage construction in 1973 and soon moved on to fabric collage compositions, using appliqué techniques. He devotes his time to research in African American culture and quilt making, translating this history into narratives within quilts.  

Artwork by Micheal Cummings
Artwork by Micheal

Watch this space! – join the mailing list and be first to see some wonderful artist interviews.

Textile Study Group – INSIGHTS Exhibition

A little textile inspiration from the Arnold’s Attic YouTube Collection. Today it features the INSIGHTS Exhibition created by members of The Textile Study Group.

In this video Mandy Pattullo, Alice Fox and fellow artists, guide us through the contemporary embroidered art in the INSIGHTS Exhibition and share the stories behind the work.

The Exhibition includes work by Lois Blackburn, Bobby Britnell, Jenny Bullen, Sarah Burgess, Penny Burnfield, Rosemary Campbell, Jean Draper, Janet Edmonds, Jan Evans, Alice Fox, Kay Greenlees, Gwen Hedley, Ruth Issett, Alison King, Sian Martin, Jan Miller, Sheila Mortlock, Amarjeet Nandhra, Mandy Pattullo, Shelley Rhodes, Mary Sleigh, Julia Triston, Dorothy Tucker, Ann Wheeler.

Filmed at The Festival of Quilts 2021.

Textile Study Group - hand woven forms by Alice Fox
Hand woven forms by Alice Fox
Textile Study Group - hand stitched vintage quilts by Mandy Pattullo
Artwork by Mandy Pattullo

The Textile Study Group was originally established in 1973 to promote a high standard of design in stitched textiles & the teaching of embroidery – members’ work is varied in the themes addressed & techniques employed – hand stitch, machine stitch, quilting, constructed textiles, pieced textiles, lace-making, mixed-media, sketchbooks & drawing, print, dye, in both two and three dimensions.

Watch this space! – join the mailing list and be first to see some wonderful artist interviews.