#contemporarytextiles

🎪☠️🦋🪲🎩🧠Roll up…Roll up…Roll up…A new little Grimmblee Bug Troupe has arrived in my local city of Lincoln, leaving a trail of chaos and mischief in their wake. They have now settled themselves into the https://indigocrowgallery.com and are trying really hard to behave! Just look at the determination in those eyes! Meet, (starting at the back with the tallest): 🎪🎩👀🧠👁☠️🦋🪲The Mind Reader,…

The Pixillus Laboriosus, is my piece for the Museum of Lost Things at the Poetic Tiger Gallery , #NOW SOLD#A HUGE thank you to the fabulous collector 🙏🫶✨️⭐️, and to the gallery for having us there! Please check out the other SCRUMPTIOUS pieces in the exhibitionMuseum of Lost Things now online!✨💙🖼 View Exhibition: https://poetictiger.com/collections/exhibits/museum-of-lost-things/Pixillus…

A little peep at a piece I have been working on – before the opening tommorow … for the exhibition at http://poetictiger.com‘Museum of Lost Things’ : opening April 3rd 2026.Collectors’ Preview: today, Thursday April 2nd, at 12  Noon MST.Join the Collector’s Preview:  https://poetictiger.com/collectors-previewPurchase enquiries:  [email protected]’m so excited about this amazing exhibition!…

A huge thank you to the http://www.instagram.com/cupolacontemporaryart gallery for having these two curious creatures  ‘Willpower’ and ‘Doer of the Thing’ in their Christmas exhibition “Home” … hopefully they will behave themselves, but I can’t promise there won’t be mischief and mayhem! They are the first 2  one of a kind mixed media sculptures from the new collection I’m making- Grimmblee…

As part of my ongoing design development, I visited the Islamic Art Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The experience offered valuable visual and conceptual insights that directly inform my textile work, particularly my use of natural fibres, scale, negative space, and symbolic layering.

During the exhibition, I was deeply moved by the scale, craftsmanship, and spiritual symbolism embedded in the textiles on display. One of the most striking exhibits was the complete Kiswa, presented in its entirety for the first time without being cut. Its monumental scale and intricacy offered a powerful reminder of textile as both sacred object and cultural vessel.

Figure 1 – Complete Kiswa

Figure 2 – Close-up of the Kiswa fabric

Figure 3 –Kiswa embroidery work

Also impactful was a large-scale installation by Louis Guillaume, titled 'When We Welcome the Wind'. Constructed in jute, the piece evoked fluid movement and negative space—concepts I am actively exploring in my own samples. The open weave and porous structure echoed the spaces between the veins in a leaf, which I have attempted to reproduce in my cyanotype and embroidery samples on hessian. Just like Guillaume’s work, mine aims to hold space, let air through, and speak of impermanence and presence simultaneously

The exhibition’s atmospheric lighting and architectural setting created a contemplative space that helped me reflect on the role of light, void, and repetition in textile storytelling. This experience reaffirmed my intention to embrace negative space in my work—not as emptiness, but as potential and flow.

Figure 4: 'When We Welcome the Wind' by Louis Guillaume 

Figure 5: Close-up image of Art Work 'When We Welcome the Wind' by Louis Guillaume

This set of cyanotype samples was developed using botanical motifs on both watercolour and rice paper. The surfaces were first coated evenly with the cyanotype chemical solution and left to dry in total darkness in the dryer for 30 minutes. The exposure setup was prepared in the dark room, the botanical motifs were placed first onto the glass surface of the UV exposure unit, followed by the sensitised paper layered on top, ensuring direct contact between the objects and the coated side. The lid was then closed, and the samples were exposed to UV light for 14 minutes. After exposure, the paper was rinsed with cold water to remove unexposed chemicals and allow the image to fully develop. The prints were then left to dry on the working table, placed beneath the overhead heat lamp to accelerate the drying process evenly and avoid warping. In some cases, diluted green and orange inks had been applied to the paper before coating. These pre-coloured areas interacted softly with the cyanotype chemistry, leaving subtle traces of their original hue in the less-exposed zones. This resulted in gentle chromatic shifts that enhanced the botanical silhouettes and created a subtle painterly effect. The outcomes were visually rich and detailed. The cyanotypes revealed strong Prussian blue tones with clear definition of the plant forms. These qualities suggest promising applications across textile design, wallpaper concepts, and interior decoration. The natural forms, enhanced by light and tone, serve as a flexible base for further exploration. Looking forward, I plan to apply this process to fabric, using illustrations from my narrative work. While this transition presents challenges—especially in controlling absorption and exposure—the technical clarity achieved on paper offers a confident starting point. This body of work draws conceptual inspiration from Anna Atkins, whose cyanotypes of botanical specimens fused scientific methodology with artistic sensibility. Her pioneering efforts continue to resonate, particularly in the way she transformed ephemeral nature into visual archives—an intention that aligns closely with my own pursuit of capturing organic memory and feminine identity through print.

Eastern blue-eyed grass, Asagi Fujino.

I am fascinated by small wild flowers in gardens and along roadsides. When I walk in search of small wildflowers, time flows slowly. I find small joys in these peaceful moments in the busy everyday life. I have used the motif of the Japanese elderflower, with a shape that makes the most of the growth of wild flowers and colours that remind me of the seasons, in the hope that I will be touched by the love of wild flowers and that small joys will continue.

Je suis fascinée par les petites fleurs sauvages dans les jardins et le long des routes. Lorsque je marche à la recherche de petites fleurs sauvages, le temps s'écoule lentement. Je trouve de petites joies dans ces moments de paix au milieu de la vie quotidienne trépidante. J'ai utilisé le motif de la fleur de sureau japonaise, avec une forme qui tire le meilleur parti de la croissance des fleurs sauvages et des couleurs qui me rappellent les saisons, dans l'espoir d'être touchée par l'amour des fleurs sauvages et que les petits bonheurs se poursuivent.

Sweet stimulation, Hanano Nozawa.

I decided on the honey as theme when I looked at the images of the garden and of the beekeeping. In my mind, honey has a beautiful and sweet impression, but also a slightly dangerous aspect. I expressed this feeling in the motif of lilies, which have both a sweet fragrance and thorns.

J'ai choisi le miel comme thème lorsque j'ai regardé les images du jardin et de l'apiculture. Dans mon esprit, le miel a une impression de beauté et de douceur, mais aussi un aspect légèrement dangereux. J'ai exprimé ce sentiment dans le motif des lys, qui ont à la fois un doux parfum et des épines.