Textiles in the Venice Biennale: part 1
Detail of Gõegõe In October 2022, I was thrilled to be able to visit the Venice Biennale for the first time. I spent only a short time there with a friend, so we had to pack three days full of gallery visits, taking only short…
What not to say to a tapestry weaver
No doubt every professional suffers the indignity of ignorant remarks, once people know what their calling is, from wanting a medical diagnosis at a drinks party to those who think they understand police procedure from watching television. Tapestry weavers are in the same boat. Whether…
Thanks, Brexit
I have regularly participated in international exhibitions in Europe for many years. There are several juried shows, ie a sort of competition where judges decide whether your tapestry is suitable to be included. So in December of 2020, having had a tapestry accepted, I sent…
Why you are paying for failure when you buy a work of art
Potential buyers of art sometimes complain about the high prices. Part of the reason for steep prices is that you are paying for failures. At the heart of artistic creation is experimentation, trying out things that haven’t been done in that exact way before. Ideas…
Is it a tapestry? Yes.
It makes you want to scream. If you type ‘tapestry’ into Amazon, you find that a tapestry can be yours for £4.99! Often they are described as ‘hippie’ or ‘mandala’ and may be 100% polyester. One site states, ‘Hang your tapestries up, use them as…
Tapestry: Changing Concepts – exhibition highlights
Tapestry: Changing Concepts opened at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh in November and will run until March 2022. The show looks fantastic, with many pieces I would be happy to take home with me. We have also had some good press coverage: ‘Fresh Fruit of…
How to put together a tapestry show
In about two weeks, a big exhibition of tapestry will open at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. Four years in the making, Tapestry: Changing Concepts is a collaboration between the venue and Scottish Tapestry Artists Regrouped (STAR*). Why does a show need four years…
The Year of Grief
2020 was a hard year for all of us, but I had a particularly bad time. My mother died in March, and my soulmate, Barry, in August. Various things helped to keep me going – friends and family, my dog, the allotment (community garden) and…
Scam Alert Part II
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog article about how a Dr Paul Donna had stolen the blurb from my book, Tapestry Weaving: Design and Technique, and published a book of his own called Tepestry [sic] Weaving – The Pratical [sic] Guide to…
Scam Alert!
In the digital world, it is commonplace for images to be stolen and repurposed for someone else’s gain. Apparently on Amazon Marketplace and elsewhere, it is buyer beware, since unscrupulous people take an image and flog an inferior product that looks nothing like it. I…