June 1st - Whimsical Wall Hanging with Emily Notman

 

 Work by Emily Notman

GTAG members have just had another amazing workshop creating a textile wall hanging using contemporary mixed media techniques. With Emily Notman. The first part of the day the group experimented with paint, ink and dyes to ensure each piece was unique. 

They then built up a wall hanging which was to include textural embroidery and hand stitch.

Emily studied at Leeds College of Art and Design which resulted in a passion for photography, textiles, and fashion. She then went on to graduate from the University of Cumbria in Contemporary Applied Arts.

She said: "I create bestoke textiles mixing media and building up tactile delicate surfaces. I work and rework my pieces with paint, dyes, bleach, and ink, burning and layering until finishing with hand stitch. I find beauty in flaky walls, overgrown buildings and encrusted surfaces; this is something I recreate in my work. My pieces evolve and grow with time, incorporate history with layering and sometimes the tiniest mark or stitch changes a piece dramatically. It is this detail that excites me. "

What a fabulous introduction into contemporary textile work for our members. Emily was a font of inspiration. Below are the beginnings of the work started during the course.

  

May 4th - Contemporary Textile Workshop with Elnaz Yazdini

 

A fabulous workshop and a great introduction to a contemporary workshop in Mixed Media and Stitch at the May meeting of the GTAG  (Grassington Textile Arts Group).

Elnaz is a practicing mixed media textile artist, specialising in mixed media textiles and embroidery design. She says "My practice crosses boundaries between textiles for fashion, jewellery and sculpture".

Elnaz arrived at our venue with boxes of inspirational items to incorporate with stitch or full kits for those members who felt a little timid when embracing these new ideas.

She also provided plenty of samples for the group to use as inspiration in their pieces.

Elnaz stressed that the main focus of her work was to challenge the process of embroidery and stitch to develop new ways in which to connect, embellish and transform materials.

Below are a few samples of our groups work after a morning with Elnaz. She certainly provided the group with new ideas and inspiration to incorporate into our next stitch projects.

Samples of this month's travelling pages:

April sunsets in Rossendale

Easter Bonnet

April Nature Notes