Sunday, June 21, 2009

IN CONVERSATION WITH ANGIE HUGHES

Angie Hughes is a textile artist and tutor who lives and works in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Her artwork is inspired by many themes, particularly poetry or text, the natural world and especially plant forms. Since September 2006, she has solely run Ledbury Artplace - a recently renovated 18th century building comprised of purpose built art studios and workshop facilities used for teaching a variety of drawing, painting, textile and craft subjects. Stitch, Cloth, Paper & Paint is her first book and is full of wonderful mixed media ideas and inspiration.

ANGIE HUGHES

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS STUDIO: Favorite place you've been or lived?
ANGIE HUGHES: The Knapp and Papermill nature reserve near Alfrick, Worcestershire any time of the year, though in the spring it's the most beautiful place in the world to me.

FLOWER BOOKWRAP

RWSS: Morning person or night owl?
ANGIE: Morning - I usually go swimming if I'm at home.

RWSS: Dogs, cats or.........
ANGIE: Tadpoles.....very low maintenance, cost nothing in vets bills and leave home on their own!

RWSS: If you had to choose another career what would it be?
ANGIE: A musician.

RWSS: Do you do anything special for your birthday?
ANGIE: Not particularly, though a friend of mine always carries a marrow with him on his special day.

HUNG WITH STARS

RWSS: Best dessert:
ANGIE: Anything with lemons.

RWSS: Mac or PC?
ANGIE: PC - I spend far too much of my time in front of it though.

RWSS: Who's on your i-pod?
ANGIE: PJ Harvey, T-Bone Burnett, Dan Auerbach, The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, The Be Good Tanyas.

URIEL

RWSS: Best advice you've ever received?
ANGIE: If you can't stick it, stitch it!

RWSS: Worst advice you've ever received?
ANGIE: Wait!

LIVE LIFE BAG

RWSS: Are there any of your own pieces that you can't bear to part with?
ANGIE: A piece I made last year called What Lies Beneath - it's too personal to let go.

WHAT LIES BENEATH

RWSS: What is the most rewarding part of being involved with Ledbury Artplace?
ANGIE: The exchange of ideas with the students, I learn as much from them as they do from me.

RWSS: Best part of your day?
ANGIE: 4 o'clock at the end of a workshop, the humdrum of noise dies down and reflection sets in. I love teaching but enjoy the silence afterward.

GARDEN BOOKWRAP

RWSS: Favorite medium to work with?
ANGIE: Velvet. It's a lovely surface to paint and stitch and it has super quiltyness about it.

RWSS: Who would you most like to meet and how would you spend the day?
ANGIE: Myself at the moment!

BABEL

BABEL DETAIL

RWSS: What would you do with a few extra hours each day?
ANGIE: Sleep. I think it's me age.

RWSS: Favorite quote:
ANGIE: "Time flies like the wind, fruit flies like a banana". Groucho Marx.

BEJEWELLED BAGS

RWSS: What is the one thing that people would be surprised to find out about you?
ANGIE: I sing and play guitar and perform quite regularly.

RWSS: What's on the horizon for......
ANGIE: I'm trying to write another book, but I find this process hard to start.

INDIAN ARTIFACT

RWSS: I'd be lost without........
ANGIE: My sewing machine a Bernina and my guitar.

RWSS: Any words of wisdom?
ANGIE: Don't think too hard - it doesn't change anything. Always carry a camera and sketchbook, eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired.

SUNDIAL DIPTYCH

DIPTYCH DETAIL

Beautifully illustrated, Angie's new book Stitch, Cloth, Paper & Paint explores an exciting range of mixed media techniques and their effects on fabric and paper. Filled with inspiration and know-how, this book is sure to become a favorite with textile artists, embroiderers, quilters and papercrafters.

STITCH, CLOTH, PAPER & PAINT

We were delighted that Angie was able to fit our interview into her busy schedule and wish her much success with her first book. To learn more about this entertaining and talented artist, please visit
www.angiehughes.com.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

THR3FOLD JOURNAL ISSUE 04


It's here! Thr3Fold Journal Issue 04 has been released and we've just received our copies!


Linda Kemshall, Laura Kemshall and Catherine Nicholls are authors of the very popular Thr3Fold Journal series and have just celebrated the launch of Issue 04.

If you are not familiar with the Thr3Fold series, each journal is a book and CD set that covers a wide range of exciting, creative topics. This latest release is no exception and continues on with the format of a high quality printed book and CD set. Issue 04 features articles including:
Diary of a Quilt: follow Catherine's progress as she creates a quilt on a brand new theme.
Get Your Motor Running: free motion quilting advice and project with Laura.
The Golden Rules: Contrast: explore the importance of contrast in your work with Linda.

Other topics covered in this issue include oil painting, handmade textile jewellery, drawing with pencil and charcoal, knitting and photography. Features 52 pages with full color photographs and the accompanying CD is equally filled with informative articles backed up with patterns, copyright-free images and video clips. With absolutely no advertising, the journals are pure inspiration!

We are pleased to offer all four books from the series in our online store - they make an excellent gift set! There is a virtual launch of this issue by Linda, Laura and Catherine on the Thr3Fold website - please visit www.thr3foldjournal.com and go to 'Events' to join in on the fun!





To read more about these three talented artists, we invite you to visit the In Conversation
with
Artists and Authors series archive listed on the right hand side of our blog.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

THE PINK ARTIST PROJECT

Monica Magness, founder of the Pink Artist Project, is a self taught textile and doll artist living in Madison, Alabama. Her endless enthusiasm and creativity are the inspiring force that has drawn hundreds of artists to work together in support of breast cancer research.

MONICA MAGNESS

In 2008, the Pink Artist Project raised more than $3,000.00 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and breast cancer research. The Pink Artist refers to a community of artists world wide who joined together to create ONE art doll to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

LOVE SQUARED
PHOTO COURTESY OF MONICA MAGNESS

Each artist donated a 2" x 2" art square that when joined together made one creation called
The Pink Artist Doll Love Squared. One square from each of the 180 artists is featured on the art doll Love Squared with 182 artists in total helping to create her. She stands just under 40" tall and weighs 6 lbs 2 ounces.

LOVE SQUARED DETAIL
PHOTO COURTESY OF MONICA MAGNESS


To enter the fundraising draw for the doll and runner up prizes, donations were made and the donors names were entered into the draw.

LOVE SQUARED
PHOTO COURTESY OF MONICA MAGNESS

Block Party 2009 is a group of 24 artists reuniting with block art creations left over from The Pink Artist doll project. They have come forth to stitch up the remaining squares into 10" x 10" blocks that will be sewn together to make ONE unified art quilt.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MONICA MAGNESS

If you would like to create and donate art towards the continuation of the Pink Artist fundraiser being held from July 31 - Sept 1, 2009 please visit BLOCK PARTY '09. Details are still forthcoming. All monies raised through the fundraiser will benefit
Susan G. Komen for the cure.


We are pleased to support this worthwhile project and encourage you to visit Monica's blog Girl Gone Thread Wild for more information on how you can participate and become part of Block Party '09.