News

Sara Cook, a local quilter and quilting teacher, has an exhibition of Bojagi work coming up later this month at Colonnade House in Worthing. Bojagi is the art of Korean wrapping-cloths, which Sara makes into pieced and patched colourful wall-hangings which have a translucent quality. It’s from 20th to 25th June, open Tuesday – Sunday (Closed Mondays)  10.00 – 17.00.

The exhibition blurb says: ‘Her practice is influenced by the textile traditions of Bojagi, Korean wrapping cloths. The translucent qualities of Bojagi, seem to her a perfect medium to express these fleeting moments. The word Bo means wrapping happiness or fortune and was expressed using colour and symbolism. In her works she tries to achieve, Cheon-ji-in, which translates into sky, earth and the harmony of human coexistence. A traditional Korean value that chimes with the pressing need to find a way to live sustainably’. Well worth a visit. https://colonnadehouse.co.uk/event/sara-cook-light-in-the-landscape/

At our AGM this month, we enjoyed pop-up exhibitions by each of the three sub-groups: Traditional, Mixed Media and Thursday Workshop Group. We also saw work from the Introduction to Goldwork course, as well as other work that members have done over the year. Cobi also set up a table of Vivienne Proyer’s work for members to see.

The business of the AGM was conducted swiftly, with a report from Annette as outgoing Chair of the group, and a report by Valerie Robinson, Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Annette stood down from the committee, and the group gave grateful thanks for everything she has done for the group over the last few years. Other members of the committee all remained in post: Pam Reeve (Secretary), Valerie Robinson (Treasurer and Membership Secretary), Maria Griggs (Programme planning), Jane Robinson (Website, FB page and Publicity), Margaret Borbone (Newsletter and Fabric sales). Two new (or rather returning) committee members were elected: Jane Baskerville, and Anne Turner.

Scroll down to see work in the pop-up exhibitions. Let me know if you would like your name added to your work. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Traditional Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday Workshop Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed Media Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goldwork Workshop

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other work by members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viviane Proyer’s work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, it was a good chance to have a chat and catch up with other members. All in all, a celebration of a positive and busy year.

Thanks to Cobi, I have had an opportunity to photograph some of Viviane Proyer’s beautiful work at her home. The photos here give a small taste of her varied talent; her work is a feast for the eyes. The purple and gold piece show here was one of Vivian’s City and Guilds assessed pieces. Look at the detail! If you scroll to the bottom of the images, you will see a photo of the Worthing Town Panel which Viviane masterminded. The Worthing Panel (below) can be found in the entrance of Worthing Hospital. Viviane coordinated many detailed contributions from members, which were combined into her design. There is so much detail in the panel that it deserves a whole news post in its’ own right. Photographing it during the day wasn’t very successful due to the lights in the WH Smiths shop oppositive which cast reflections on the glass (which is why it is shown here at a strange angle). I will go back another time after 8m when the shop is closed, when I hope to get some better photographs that show the details. In the meantime, here is a ‘taster’.

Eileen Amos was a member of our group for many years, and members will have read this tribute to her in our newsletter, written by Jan Angove. Rather than squeeze photos of Eileen’s work into the newsletter, we thought we would put them here on the website so that members can see them at a better resolution, and remind themselves of her talent.

Jan wrote: I met Eileen in 1985.  She ran a group “Dressmaking for the Blind” at Northbrook College. She needed an extra pair of hands so I volunteered.  As our ladies had limited sight our task was to think of ways to make paper dress patterns usable by highlighting notches with textured stick on dots, checking the layout before the fabric was cut, and threading machine and hand sewing needles, as well as undoing the occasional seam!  I learnt a lot about how to fit clothes from Eileen, she was a superb dressmaker. The group ran for many years and was fun as well as providing a meeting place for ladies who shared a love of sewing. The finished garments were worn with such pride.

Eileen trained at Brighton College of Art, and then taught dressmaking at Tunbridge Wells College of Art before the family moved to Rustington.

She made some of the examples of sewing techniques for books on dressmaking produced by Ann Ladbury in conjunction with her TV series in the 70’s. Sarah, Eileen’s daughter says she and her sister Karen modelled some of the children’s clothes Eileen made for Woman and Home magazine.  There were many clients for whom Eileen would make beautiful clothes. She also made garments for the weaver Geraldine St Aubyn Hubbard, a textile artist based near Chichester. The cloth (silk, cashmere and wool) was woven, then passed to Eileen who made it into loose fitting couture garments destined for London boutiques. This partnership lasted many years.

After Eileen gave up some of her dressmaking she turned to hand and machine embroidery on silk which she had painted, producing exquisite pictures and bags. She was a member of the Embroiderer’s Guild for many years, and of Pizazz and exhibited with them. Eventually mobility issues meant she had to give up attending meetings.

Over the years I kept in touch with Eileen and we would meet occasionally for coffee and a chat about all things “sewing”.

Jan Angove

Thank you to Maria who wrote this description of the talk given by Rosi Robinson at our March meeting.

On Tuesday 14^th March Rosi gave us a very comprehensive talk about her work as a batik artist, teacher, lecturer and author. She retired from teaching in 2013 and now lectures and teaches batik workshops throughout the world. Rosi is a member of the Sussex Guild, the Batik Guild and Craft Nova Scotia Canada. In 2022 Rosi was filmed in her studio for a feature on Bargain Hunt when they were filming at the Ardingly Antiques Fair. They filmed for two and a half hours for a four minute slot. Following the exposure on National TV Rosi was inundated with over 60 orders for her work.

Rosi told us that batik is a traditional resist technique of decorating fabric where wax is applied to white fabric to resist colourful dyes. She uses this technique to produce pictures that are often mistaken for watercolour paintings. Rosi started her talk by showing various batiks collected from around the world and explaining the various techniques used. As these were then passed around the room there was a “buzz” as everyone touched and discussed the various fabrics.

Rosi then demonstrated the technique by applying hot wax to fabric which works as a resist. She demonstrated different waxing tools such as cantings (tjantings), brushes and caps (tjaps). She then painted on the dyes. The waxed areas resist the dye and remain the original colour. Only unwaxed areas take up the dye.  Start with the lightest colours, gradually building up the tones to the darker colours. The fabric has to dry before the next layer of wax is added. Once completed a hot iron is used to remove most of the wax and the item is then boiled or dry cleaned.

Rosi then shared a slide show of lots of stunning examples of her own work.

Several members have already attended a workshop with Rosi and others have expressed an interest in attending one. We will be looking at options for 2024.

Thank you to Pam for helping people to make embroidered hearts during our February sit-and-sew. Felt, threads and beads were provided by the committee, and anyone who wanted to join in could use Pam’s template to make a heart to their own design. There were some lovely works in progress.

The hand-stitch table was introduced in sit-and-sew sessions from the December meeting. This followed feedback from several people who had said that they weren’t sure what to work on for the afternoon sessions, including people who are beginners or feel a bit ‘rusty’ on their stitching, and also experienced people who appreciate a new idea to work on. We plan to have something similar at other sit-and-sew sessions. We would welcome ideas for subjects that would be suitable to do in an afternoon session and that don’t require much in the way of materials or preparation. If you would be willing to help beginners in this informal setting, please let a committee member know. Encouraging each other is what SCS is all about.

We were amazed by the stitched 3D pheasant that Gay made in the Mixed Media group. Caroline, Maria and Jane B led a couple of sessions making 3D creatures, and it’s interesting to see what different directions people took the project in. I hope Gay will forgive me for putting a couple of photos here. He is too magnificent not to be shown!