I travelled down from Derbyshire to be part of the whole day celebrations at Winchester Cathedral for the 200th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s passing. It was an amazing day with diverse events including the launch of the new ten-pound note by The Bank of England. The Dean and Dr Gillian Dow made special tributes to Jane Austen, not only about her very special resting place at the Cathedral but also how she now has the ability to travel the world in our pockets and purses. The Dean, Catherine Ogle also praised their summer exhibition, ‘Inspired by the Word’, and how artists had been selected to create art. It is an honour to have my portrait of Jane Austen, made from labels and pins included in the exhibition, particularly with such a local and global dedicated audience (ends 30th Sept 2017).
Duke of Edinburgh exhibition in Mayfair
It is a pleasure to announce that the Duke of Edinburgh portrait will be exhibited in Mayfair, London at bespoke tailors Kent Haste & Lachter, 7 Sackville Street, London, W1S 3DE. John Kent (Royal Tailor) has been privileged to make trousers for HRH Duke of Edinburgh since 1966 and still holds the Royal Warrant. The tailoring team are thrilled to exhibit the Dukes portrait celebrating his contribution to The Duke of Edinburgh Award since 1956. The portrait is assembled from the names of Duke of Edinburgh Award holders including Stephen Lachter (Gold Award), Managing Director, bespoke shirting. The window exhibition will run from 1st- 29th September 2017.
Woven name tapes of Duke of Edinburgh Award holders.
Red Cow - now sold to collector
Red garment labels are scarce in second hand circles and it took five years to gather sufficient used labels to produce Red Cow. The work evolved following my visit to a farm to study pedigree Ayrshire cattle, dairy farming and new milking technologies. The farm in Somerby, Leicestershire, has 120 Ayrshire cows; their milk is used to produce (the world-famous) Stilton cheese. The Ayrshire is both practical and pretty, with her smart red-and-white coat and is often described as being any shade of red and white with brown. The used labels in this collection reflect these colour ways and were gathered between 2003-2013, the labels are assembled on canvas using only dressmaker pins.
Private View at Winchester Cathedral 21st June 2017
St Alphage Chapel
Inspired by the word exhibition official opening, Jane Austen 200 years.
Homespun Australian Designer Edge
Thrilled to be featured in Australian Homespun monthly magazine, June 2017 issue, page 22.
The Makers at Ashbourne opening 2nd June 2017
I have been invited to show a selection of work at The Makers, a new shop opening in the Derbyshire town of Ashbourne. The shop will showcase work by a selection of creatives, some established and some new and up and coming. You can find The Makers at 47 Church Street, Ashbourne, DE6 1AE.
Out and about this week
I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Dennison at BBC Radio Nottingham this week, promoting my opportunity for Duke of Edinburgh participants to be part of my next portrait. Also lovely to meet Diana Ali at the summer exhibition launch at The Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham. You may have seen Diana presenting the BBC Big Painting Challenge.
BBC RADIO Nottingham
I will be on BBC Radio Nottingham on Monday morning 15th May 2017 at 10.35 talking to Mark Dennison about the opportunity to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh portrait.
Opportunity to participate
Latest news, Dame Kelly Holmes holds a silver Duke of Edinburgh Award and is proud to have her name included in the Duke's portrait.
I am offering an exciting opportunity to participate. As you may know the Duke of Edinburgh has recently announced that he will be stepping down from his official royal duties. I would like to celebrate some of his achievements by assembling his portrait using the names of people who have completed a Duke of Edinburgh Award. The Duke created the award in 1956, which has since benefited thousands of young people.
Please note the named person must have completed a Duke of Edinburgh Award at Bronze, Silver or Gold. Each participant must be able to pay £10 towards the cost of their nametape. The nametapes will be organised by myself and purchased from Cash’s of Coventry www.jjcash.co.uk. I anticipate a good response to this opportunity.
If you would like to be included or would like to put forward a name please send a message via the contact page. Please include the first and last name of the participant along with their award, for example Joy Pitts Bronze. I will contact you for payment once I have enough names. Thank you in antipation, Joy.
Summer Exhibition at The Institute of Mental Health Nottingham University 2017
Pleased to announce that my study - Lobes of the Brain with 321 garments, has been selected for the exhibition HERE & NOW at Nottingham University, exploring mental health.
Summer Exhibition, Here and Now
Institute of Mental Health
University of Nottingham Innovation Park
Jubilee Campus, Triumph Road
Nottingham NG7 2TU
0115 823 1294
17th May - 29th September 2017
Understanding personality expression and decision making are explored through the development of this study. Utilising the small size description label from each garment reduces the scale of the work but increases its content, allowing many community contributions to be included. Woven and printed labels removed from garments with dressmaker pins on canvas.
