A Taste of Seville • Part 1

If I was looking for some inspiration on my recent  travels I certainly found it in Seville. It has everything I love and in the Spring the weather is perfect for me. It ‘s a friendly city with great food (it’s where Tapas originally came from) and is of a modest size compared to some Spanish cities but it has has culture in abundance. There’s still so much I didn’t see I’ll have to go there again.

  

First we visited the cathedral which breathtaking and I even managed to climb to the top of the tower to take in the magnificent views.

Details of the Cathedral, Seville, Spain

One of the views from the top of the tower. Just to prove I made it up there!

It has a beautiful palace, the Alcazar Real with its moorish architecture, decorative and sometimes quirky tiles  and wonderful gardens. The tiles have to be a post all of their own but here’s some images of the architecture, the gardens and the underground pool which was used during the summer months to keep cool.

Details of the Alcazar Real

Details of the Alcazar Real

Alcazar Real Gardens

Alcazar real gardens

Underground pool Alcazar Real

You’ll be pleased to know I did spot some graffiti amongst all this culture in Seville. I love the cat!

Cat Graffiti Seville, Spain

and here are some unusual window displays

and finally some dazzling flowers and it wouldn’t be Seville if I didn’t include and orange or two……….

Inspiration for Stitch – Part 4 – The Innocent Victims of War

The inspiration for my work can come from anywhere and everywhere and it sometimes takes on a more serious note. I turned on the radio and heard her voice and the words I will never forget “This is not my War”. They were the words spoken by a Syrian mother whose children aged 5,10 and 12 had just been killed by mortar fire in a war she did not understand. The sound of her voice will stay with me forever.

Some Things Never Change commemorates those children and the many others like them that have lost their lives, or have been mentally or physically scarred by war. The lives of those who have survived war and atrocity are changed for all time.
My Dad and his siblings Harry and Madge were children of the First World War, born just before and during so called ‘war to end war’. I have used their images to represent the universal child. The concrete pillar in the background is inspired by the concrete architecture of the skate park on the South Bank of the Thames and the graffiti of street artist Stik and is covered with cross stitches representing the kisses those Syrian children will never receive.

Some Things Never Change 2012

I listen to the Radio and hear his Voice again recalls something I heard on Radio 4. A 10 year old boy was talking to the reporter “You can’t imagine what I’ve seen, what my country has seen”. The Universal Child uses an image of my Dad to represent children affected by war worldwide.

The Universal Child

I Listen to the Radio and Hear his Voice.

The Unknown Statistic comes from my research into the First World War during the run up to the centenary in 2014 of the start of the war. A photograph is of some children, unknown to me, but in my husband’s family album was my starting point. I have had this image waiting to be used for many years but it was only when I saw the graffiti in the East End of London I knew how I was going to use it. The children have a poignancy to them. They look as though they are watching someone walking away. I decided to use their images as a way of commemorating all the children left fatherless by the First World War. The exact number of children is unknown as it was not recorded accurately either locally or nationally. I imagined their father was one of the brave Grimsby fishermen whose trawlers went minesweeping the coast with very little protection and little recognition. He walked away and never looked back. It was bad luck for a fisherman to turn around and look back as they walked away to sea. They never saw him again. My own Great Grandfather, Harry Conder died during the first few weeks of World War One when the trawler Fittonia, of which he was skipper, was blown up by a mine in the River Humber. He was survived by a widow and several children. His eldest son Charles Conder died during the last weeks of the war of Spanish Flu, the virus that would be responsible for more than five times as many deaths as the war itself.

Kids from the Family album

east end graffiti

The Unknown Statistic

Inspiration for Stitch – Part 2 – The East End of London

In this second post about my inspiration I take a look at the East End of London, and my love affair with the Grimsby Street area. The street is situated in E2 and shares its name with my hometown. In the early 2000s both my sons lived in London so I was a regular visitor. My younger son, Sam lived in Hackney at that time and had come across Grimsby Street E2 when visiting a friend nearby. The next time I visited he took me there and it was love at first sight.

Here are some of the images I fell in love with. They may seem strange. It’s quite rundown, but an art school education taught me to look and to see beauty in the smallest detail and to enjoy the ‘out of place’. When I look at these vistas I see my next piece of work.

Grimsby St Graffiti

East End Sofas

Grimsby St Stik graffiti

Abandoned chair in East End of London

The images above inspired pieces that depict the then, the now and the journey in-between. The first pieces I made were East End Chair and Closed pictured below.

East End Chair 2007

Closed 2008

East End Chair is a portrait of my Grandmother Annie Jane Smith sat in an abandoned armchair nursing a fish. My hometown of Grimsby is best known for its connection with the fishing industry and the fish represents the prosperity the fishing industry brought to the town.

Closed depicts the demise of the Grimsby fishing industry. The closed shop sign represents the end of the town’s prosperity after the Cod Wars in the 1950s and 60s.

East End Girls

Girl’s Day Out for Hilda, Nellie and Ida

RIP Grimsby St E2 – 2012

RIP Grimsby St E2 version 2

This series made in 2012 combine 2 or more images to represent the passing of time and the transience of life. A Girls Day Out, East End Girls and RIP Grimsby St E2 version 1 & 2.

East End Girls combines an image of my grandmother, Alice Ann Stone, her daughter Madge and my Mum Muriel May Sone with an image of 2 abandoned east end sofas. It’s 128 cms wide x 104 cms high.

A Girl’s Day Out for Hilda, Nellie and Ida combines an image of 3 Grimsby sisters Hilda, Nellie and Ida with an image of Grimsby Street E2 graffiti by graffiti artist Stik.

RIP Grimsby Street E2 versions 1 & 2 chronicle the knocking down of part of Grimsby Street E2 in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics. An analogy between 2 different eras and 2 different environments .1930s Grimsby girls meet London 2012

The ever changing images of street art are fascinating. I have now been documenting the area for more than 10 years. Part 3 of the inspiration for Stitch posts will look at my documentation of the South Bank and more recent pieces inspired by the East End.

Anna Scott : I am inspired…

Anna Scott who is an Australian embroiderer and blogger has kindly posted about my work.

Anna Scott : I am inspired….

It was so refreshing to get an email from Anna asking if she could use my images for her blog. Usually people just help themselves nowadays. I don’t really mind this on the whole as the images are usually used by students as reference material. Reproduction for financial gain would be another thing but images of my work can be found all over the internet and I like to share. She asked me why I use the image of a fish so often. It ‘s quite simple really. My hometown is Grimsby in Lincolnshire in the UK. Grimsby was once the largest and the busiest fishing port in the world and was known as the ‘ Klondyke of the East Coast of England’. Sadly this is no longer true, the northern cod wars with Iceland put paid to that and the place has gone to rack and ruin. Actually there are quite a few of my pieces that are about this very thing with references to a Grimsby St in London which has been knocked about somewhat in recent years. My family was very involved in the fishing industry both as fishermen and fish merchants so the fish has become my signature if you like, a symbol of where I’m from and I usually try to include on somewhere on my major pieces. The image below shows the first work in which I included a fish.

Public voting for the craft&design selected awards 2014 is now open

To vote for me please go to at the bottom of my makers page  http://www.craftmaker.co.uk/suestone/

Woman with a Fish 2007

Tokyo

Part 2 of Penny Burnfield’s trip to Japan and some spectacular trees. Tokyo.

Penny Burnfield’s Japan – introduction

Penny Burnfield is a fellow member of the 62 Group of Textile Artists and has a keen interest in gardens and gardening . Here she tells of her recent trip to Japan to help hang the 62 Group exhibition.

pennyburnfield

I’ve wanted to go to Japan for most of my life. One of the first gardening books I bought was “The Gardens of Japan” by Sima Eliofsen. I remember reading it from cover to cover. I longed to go and see these wonders for myself. So when an opportunity arose at the end of 2013, I took a deep breath and said “I’ll go”.

I belong to the 62 Group of Textile Artists and by dint of persistence and good fortune we were able to send an exhibition out to Tokyo. So the primary reason for the trip was to help our Japanese member, Atsuko Yamamoto, to “hang” the show.

Those people who visit art shows but have never been involved with their organisation, can have no idea how much it involves: unpacking – arranging a disparate selection of work into a harmonious whole – lugging moveable boards and display…

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The Place Beyond the River Kei – NOWNESS

A lovely film documenting the Contrasting Beauty of Nelson Mandelas Birthplace on the Eve of His Funeral

via The Place Beyond the River Kei – NOWNESS.

Grimsby’s “magnificent” Ice Factory

My hometown Grimsby was featured on the Food Programme on Radio 4 on Sunday Sheila Dillon extolled the virtues of Grimsby Traditional cold smoked haddock and the the wonderful building that is the Great grimsby Ice Factory. Here’s a quote from what she said

“Grimsby Docks are extraordinary. If you want to know about Britain at the height of it’s imperial power, come to Grimsby Docks. Over there is the Ice House (Ice Factory), I mean it’s a palace, it’s a red brick palace with porticos and grand arches around the windows and it used to produce hundreds, thousands of tons of ice for one of the greatest ports in Europe. Now the windows are smashed, I don’t know whether any part of it is still in production. It certainly doesn’t look like it, it looks as though they bring in the ice from outside. But it’s the grandest building and it shows you what Grimsby used to be and in a way it shows you what the traditional fish smokers actually want to revive about this place, it’s magnificent.”

The image below shows Sheila Dillon with Richard Enderby of Alfred Enderby Ltd , traditional Grimsby fish smokers.

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I am delighted to say that one of the major pieces from my Stuff and Nonsense exhibition will soon be going to a new home in London although I will be very sorry to see it go. I have a soft spot for this piece as it combines some of my favourite people with one of my favourite places. It was first exhibited in the 62@50 exhibition at the Holden Gallery at Manchester School of Art in 2012.

Looking for Lace in Bruges

Apostelientje

Balstraat11. 8000, Brugge

On a recent trip to Bruges I came across this fascinating gem of a lace shop tucked away in the Saint Anne quarter, behind the church.The shop has its own special way of displaying its stock which goes to create a unique atmosphere.

Selling only hand made lace it is packed full of an eclectic mix of beautiful lace, both antique and contemporary. They also sell lace making materials of all kinds, cotton, linen,silk, bobbins, and embroidery patterns and can provide expert knowledge of there wares.

If you are in Bruges and want to see some good quality hand made lace, do go to this shop. It’s well worth a visit.