The ‘Contemporary Textiles London’ group (of which I am a member) has an exhibition in London, starting tomorrow – at the time of writing – that is, Tuesday 30th April 2024 until Sunday 11 May 2024. The exhibition is open from 10.30am until 8.00pm from Monday to Friday. Please note that it is not open on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May. If you are travelling to see the exhibition at the weekend, it is best to consult the gallery website: www.brent.gov.uk › willesden-gallery
Here is the group’s description of the exhibition:
Contemporary Textiles London is a group of around 25 London-based textile artists, with practices based originally in contemporary and modern quilting. The title ‘Freehand’ reflects the recent name change of the group from quilt to textiles, broadening the scope and literally allowing each member a freehand to produce a textile piece both enjoyable to produce and also celebrating their artistic skill, with some nod to their quilting roots.
Separately the group produced the ‘blue’ display, a set of tightly defined pieces, of equal size and colour, providing a panel which is considerably greater than the sum of its parts. The two displays express clearly and graphically the ethos of CTL: the synergy of the blue pieces and the diversity of the Freehand works are the dual aspects of a group where mutual support and close working are rewarded, whilst individual expression is strongly encouraged.
If you go, you will see on display my own ‘Free Hand’ piece, ‘A Sea Change’, pictured below. This is an embroidered, appliqued piece using velvets, silks and couched threads. The side is 46 x 132cm.
You will also see my blue ‘Challenge’ piece, which is named ‘Northumbrian Longboats’ (seen below). The challenge involved using some, or all, of a series of specific blue fabrics, working to a 20 x 20″ size and also not using any straight lines. The variety of responses from the 25 members, all working to these constraints is astonishing. Four of the pieces appear in the poster shown at the top of this post. My own piece appears (rotated round) in the top right corner. Here is the entire piece:
Both of my pieces are for sale, as are many of those contributed by the other Textile Artists who are members of the group.
The exhibition takes place in the Willesden Gallery, located within the Library at Willesden Green, 95 High Road, London, NW10 2SF.
Thank you for reading my blog. Quilt Patterns are here, Fabrics are here, Classes are here
Click the ‘Follow’ button to get a blog-post by email each Monday and click here if you would like the monthly newsletter with design and colour inspiration, etc.
Amanda Jane Textiles 