Christine Sawyer

 

Q Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in North Yorkshire and enjoyed, as I remember it, a happy childhood spent poking in ponds, building dens and performing in impromptu concerts to half attentive relatives. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t draw. Having the means to invent the world as I would like it to be, has been a lifelong occupation. Drawing gave me a private space, which evolved into a life support system. It was a natural progression to study Art, and I enrolled at Bath Academy of Art at Corsham, in the early 1960’s.

It was an exciting and illuminating time, being exposed to a whole range of disciplines, working with practising artists. After the initial ‘taster’ sessions I specialised in painting and construction as main subject, plus ceramic with mosaic as secondary. The most important insight I came away with is the belief in the importance of the idea: i.e. if it’s got sustainability, then you with find the means to make it manifest, in an appropriate medium. I also learnt that sometimes you have to make an arbitrary decision and go with the flow.

 

 

Q When did you decide to become a maker?

In order to support myself I gained an art teachers’ qualification and took a post in a comprehensive school in Bristol. The art budget was very small and it was vital to develop a strategy for using recycled materials: improvisation became key.

I subsequently moved to Devon, where I still live, my final teaching post being part time Lecturer in Textiles at Rolle College of Education in Exmouth, with special responsibility for construction, particularly weaving. The experience of working with students in this area led directly to what I do now. At this time my own work was mainly drawing and colour studies on paper, which I exhibited locally, and experimental weaves connected with work. In the early seventies my biological clock started ticking loudly, and I left teaching soon after my son was born, in 1975.

My work changed immediately: I metaphorically chopped up the loom and incorporated it into constructions with wrapped ropes. I held my first solo show in 1980. Gradually, flat woven tapestry began to exert itself, and in the mid 1980s I realised it’s potential as an expressive art form: it sort of engulfed me. The most absorbing characteristic of the medium is that the structure and image are totally integrated, giving intense colour saturation, and great opportunities to explore texture. There are challenges attached, though. You start weaving at the bottom and work up, so the woven part is completely finished, and elsewhere the warp is empty. In drawings, I address the whole arena and try to maintain an even development throughout.

I was accepted onto the Crafts Council Selected Index, (now Photostore) in 1987, and undertook a first major commission shortly afterwards. The first international touring show I took part in was World Tapestry Today, in 1988 /89. Since then I have made several large tapestries for various prestigious clients, including Coca Cola Schweppes and The House of Lords, and am always engaged in an on going body of personal work which I exhibit here and abroad.

 

 

Q What made you choose the materials that you work with?

My early tapestries were woven in knitting wools bought from the shop around the corner, but after I became more solvent financially I bought a stock of 2/6s worsted and a Russell Dye Kit to develop my own particular palette. I also use 2/12s cotton, which comes in a good choice of colours for plying up into mixtures, and like to incorporate odd yarns given by friends. I am using some strange bobbly yellow rayon that my window cleaner donated at the moment: just what I needed for a small passage in the latest piece.

I like graphite to draw with, on gessoed canvas, but also use pastels, charcoal and pen and ink on various papers.

 

 

Q What other materials would you like to work in?

It’s more a question of time and space than materials. I did a term of sculpture at college, and always have had a hankering to really explore 3D on a large scale.

 

 

Q Where do you get your inspiration from?

I used to think ‘inspiration’ is such a hackneyed word, but having discovered that it literally means ‘breathing in’, I realised it describes exactly the process of how ideas occur and are dealt with. I tend to become absorbed by something seen, read about or personally experienced: the way light falls on things, for example. Occasionally, in that beautiful twilight time between sleeping and waking, when the rational is down, a new approach or solution to a problem floats in. Generally I work in series, mostly developed from contemporary affairs. The period between 2002 and 2008 saw the production of several works concerned with medical issues, the heart, genetics, cancer, and drugs, entailing some pretty serious research.

Currently I am involved in exploring the manipulation of Nature and the consequences: loss of resources, pollution, climate change, waste etc. The latest piece, entitled ‘Out of the Blue’ poses the question ‘What will happen when the Big One hits?’

 

 

Q What motivates you?

The stimulus to start and keep going comes from the desire to make an idea come to life, coupled with the somewhat arrogant notion that other people will be interested in what I have to say. One thing leads to another and I just love filtering and navigating my way through the process. The more I do the more I realise how much I don’t know: possibilities seem endless, but time, unfortunately, isn’t. Woven tapestry occupies a unique place in the art landscape, demanding all the acumen necessary for a fine art practice, and rewarding with the sensuous, emotionally satisfying act of making by hand. It’s a very beguiling combination.

 

 

Q Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

We live in a Victorian terrace house, and I have commandeered the front bedroom as my studio. It has good constant Northeast light. My husband, a sculptor and musician also works at home, so we meet up for coffee or tea occasionally, then concoct a meal together when work is over.

 

 

Q Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

There’s always been an overlap and blurred edges in the art / craft / design field. I enjoy imaginative well made work whatever the medium. Makers now are incorporating new technologies in very inventive ways. In this digital age of quick response codes and rapid process 3D printing I feel there will always be an appreciation of the heartfelt artefact encapsulating time, skill and an exquisite understanding of materials.

 

 

Q Where do you sell and promote your work?

This is the link to my recently updated Axis page, http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=86 and my work can also be seen on the British Tapestry Group website and Crafts Council Photostore.

My website is currently under construction. I sell work from exhibitions, undertake commissions, both public and private, and have work in collections in Europe, USA, Japan and Australia. My husband and I are supporters of the Open Studio Movement when we exhibit and sell work from home as part of an annual organised event.

 

 

Q What does your typical working day look like?

Sometime between 9.30 and 10 am I check emails and have a quick gander at the BBC news page to keep up with what’s happening. I am interested in science from a lay person’s point of view, and often there’s an item about new research to mull over.

I always have at least one piece of tapestry on the loom, sometimes up to three in various sizes, as my preference is to have more than one thing on the go at any one time. I also have a drawing in progress: alternating between the two forms means they can interact and feed each other. Also, drawing is so FAST in comparison to weaving, it uses a different kind of energy. If it all gets a bit intense, a good trawl around a few local charity shops lightens things up a bit.

When working on a large tapestry I find it necessary to stop at intervals to do stretches and exercises, otherwise I become stiff. I also endeavour to squeeze in a daily brisk walk: good health is really important. During long hours weaving new ideas spring up and I note them down for future reference. I mix observation, memory and imagination to arrive at new images.

Having consumed a good breakfast (usually porridge!) I can work through until about 4pm if sustained by tea and coffee, after a break I continue until around 5.30 to 6pm when it’s time to start cooking.

 

 

Q 3 words of advice for an aspiring Craft artist/maker...

Heart. Hand. Head.

 

Q Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?

A most difficult question! Favourites come and go, though there are constants such as some early Italian Renaissance artists, also Goya, Samuel Palmer and Soutine. Contemporary artists include Sarah Lucas, Fiona Rae, William Kentridge, David Nash, Anish Kapoor and Jon Eric Riis, at the moment.

 

 

Q 3 likes and dislikes?

Like : The Natural World, family and friendship.

Hate: Cruelty, bigotry, waste

 

 

Q What do you do to relax?

A long chat on the phone with our son does me the world of good. He lives in London so it’s a really good break to spend some time with him. When he comes to Devon we ‘do ‘ the beach and woods.

We live near the river Exe which offers many good walking opportunities and links up with Exeter Green Circle, which, as it’s name suggests is a footpath which goes round the perimeter of the city. I like walking through towns looking at buildings, and through the countryside looking at the sky and plants. Pottering about in the garden can be very satisfying and I also keep scrapbooks. I enjoy cinema and some TV, though the latter is often not worth too much attention so I doodle draw at the same time. I read that Grayson Perry also does this, so I can admit that one now.

 

Shellie Holden

Wall Paper - Mounted Paper Textile Approx. 60 x 115 cm

 

Q So who is Shellie Holden?

I am an artist/maker, wife and mother brought up in Lancashire, trained originally in embroidery at MMU, Manchester then later at Goldsmiths University, London. I lived in London for 11 years before relocating to Wales two years ago, having been drawn to living by the coast.

 

Behind Clouds - Framed Paper Textile - 41cm x37cm

 

Q How did you decide to become a maker?

Naturally progressed from a background steeped in creative and practical endeavours. It seemed the most obvious and fulfilling direction for me to take.

 

Text Book

 

Q What made you choose the materials that you work with?

Low cost/low key/reclaimed- freedom they gave to be experimental and non-precious with the opportunity to turn them into something unique and valuable because of the labour and investment of time spent in the making.

Extracted Teeth Book and Neckpiece

 

Q Are there any other materials you would like to explore and work in?

I have recently been producing a series of laser cut paper textiles and this has led to an interest in working with more precious materials such as silver and copper as this would enable me to produce more robust pieces hat could be used for both interior pieces and body adornment.

Bookworm

 

Q What are you currently working on

Several projects - one of which involves looking after my new-born! I’m catching moments in-between to work on pieces, including the project described above. I am also completing a piece for the ‘First Anniversary: Paper’ exhibition, 5th May- 31st July 2011, at Unit Twelve, Tixall Heath Farm, Tixal, Stafford, ST18 0XX and also for an exhibition at Newport Art Gallery and Museum, Wales, with Fibre Arts Wales, a textile group that I am affiliated, 30th April - 11th June.

 

Q Where do get your inspiration from?

Difficult to pinpoint exactly - my surroundings, attitude to life, experiences and chance occurrences. Perhaps something someone has said, or something I have seen that triggers a response or reaction.

 

Q What motivates you on a cold winter’s day?

Being in my home. I collect and acquire pieces of furniture, objects and textiles which I enjoy refurbishing, restyling and reinventing. This is an on-going project, which I see as part of my creative work. I like the idea that objects can evolve and change, but can also be timeless when mixed with traditional and contemporary styles.

Stitched and Constructed Textile Painting  - Dimensions 92cm x 92 cm each

 

Q Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

I have a studio from home in the loft of our Victorian property. It’s a unique space, which has slanted walls and an original fireplace. I have furnished this with tables and chairs I have acquired over the years, each which has its own story. They just happen to fit perfectly around the edge of the room leaving me a big open space in the middle. I love walking to the top of the staircase and entering the room. It is my sanctuary.

Q What is your working style?

It is very much about collecting and collating, reclaiming and reinventing. I approach my work with an idea, which I then aim to convert into visual objects/pieces through a process of experimentation with materials and techniques.

Q What does a typical day look like?

Varied - Some days/weeks I am able to devote entire periods to the production of new work, which I find deeply gratifying and inspiring. Other times I am distracted by domestic chores, and other projects, which perhaps take me away from the immediate task of making although give me the time and space to process ideas and consider new or different approaches, which are equally valuable to my work as a whole.

Stitched and Constructed Textile Painting 2 - Dimensions 50cm x 40 cm

 

Q Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

Versatility, vitality, diversity - breaking the rules, revisiting traditional materials and techniques, experimenting with new technology. Less about trying to categorise, more about (effortless) originality.

Q How do you sell and promote your work?

I am a member of CAA, London, Fibre Arts Wales and Textile Forum South West (TFSW). I’ll be showing work at the two exhibitions due to open (mentioned above), and am hoping to sell work directly through my website soon.

Q 3 words of advice for an aspiring Craft artist/maker...

Perseverance, persistence and passion!

 

Corsages - hand made in fabric or paper. Approx. 10 cm circumference

 

Q Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?

Wide and varied including photography, sculpture, painting, textiles, mixed media….. Includes Jeff Wall, Cy Trowbly, Sarah Sze, Jonathan Callen, Louise Hopkins, Joseph Cornels….My husband recently brought me an exhibition catalogue featuring photographs by Robert Polidori which I am currently looking at.

 

Q What music are you listening to at the moment?

Wintermusik by Nils Frahm, The Blue Notebooks by Max Richter, Music for Egon Schiele, by Rachel’s, Found Songs by Olafur Arnalds……

 

Q What do you do to relax?

Fresh sea air (and a swim in the sea in summer) always helps.

 

Ordnance survey of England, Kingsbridge and District (third edition) sheet 150, 1908-9 - updated in London 2006 Dimensions and Ordnance survey of England, Cornwall and Devonshire 1919 - updated in London 2006 - Framed Stitched Drawing 75cm x 87cm

Benedicte Bodard

Q So who is Benedicte Bodard ?

Benedicte Bodard is that French girl who never felt that she was at the right place and went to live in California at the age of 22 where she eventually worked as a wardrobe stylist mostly on commercials. She always liked colours, shapes, prints, patterns…

Q Where in the world are you?

9 years ago, for my husband’s work, we moved from Los Angeles to Barcelona. The economy was booming and there were constructions/remodelling being done all over the place. I started seeing with great dismay hydraulic floor tiles way too often thrown away in the dumpsters. I just could not believe that such beauties would have such a fate.

 

Q The work you make uses found tiles, what is that attracts you to these tiles?

I believe in recycling just about anything in life. I love leftovers and the idea of turning them into a new dish. I like the idea of passing over some clothing or furniture you do not need/use and I totally believe in the conservation in architecture. Something had to be done, these tiles cannot go away forever ?

 

Q How do you source the furniture that you transform?

I find the tiles and depending on the quantity, the state, the style they have, turn them into a console, a frame, a bench and so on… Sometimes, people ask me for specific pieces but usually I am the one who comes up with new designs. Just by looking at a tile I usually know what I would like it to be placed on.

 

Q What are you working on at the moment?

Right now I am working on a table to ship to Malaga, a night stand with drawer and some really amazingly sweet and extremely rare little tiles with a flower print that I will turn into coasters, I am growing impatient…

Q Do you having an arts background?

No not really but always took some Art History classes as I worked, always went to Art galleries, Museums and I love Architecture.

Q Where do you get your inspiration from?

I look at magazines, Art, I look at patterns, contrasts, anything can light a spark but in general I know just by looking at a tile and its composition as a floor.

Q What motivates you?

Nobody does what I do, it is a very physical work, the tiles are heavy, dirty and it is a challenge to turn them into the finish product, really a lot of work that I am willing to do just for the love of the tiles. They are way too pretty to be thrown away and I might as well turn them into some useful objects so that people want to have them in their homes. They are part of Barcelona’s heritage and can be up to 150 years old.

Q Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

I have a studio where I keep the tiles and work, it happens to be downstairs from where I live therefore my home is like a showroom. The “dirty” work is done in the studio, the “assembling” work is done in my home.

Q Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

A woman/man aged 20 to 75 working at night while everyone is asleep because it is what he believes in, what he relaxes with and loving every moment of it (or almost). The antithesis of made in China.

Q How do you sell and promote your work?

Ah that part !!! you mean one is supposed to make a living ! Well like many, this is the part that I have the most difficulties with. I have a web page : www.mesabonita.es and if you like what I do, please feel free to order from it. I ship all over the planet. I also do some markets around town, this allows me to meet local people and make them somewhat aware.

Q What is your typical working day look like?

After I take my daughter to school, it is not rare for me to go and pick up some tiles in some dumpster or go to talk to some workers about upcoming remodelling projects. I clean up the tiles that I need, make some phone calls. Sometime I go and visit the person who makes the frames, the aluminium guy… My customers, I often see at night or during the week ends, lots of them like to come as a couple to decide on a style of tile. At night, I work on the internet.

Q What music do you listen to?

My taste in music is fairly eclectic, depends on my mood : Brazilian, African, Classical, French classics, Latin, Opera… When I need to concentrate on some idea, I need the silence though.

Q 3 likes and dislikes?

The Likes: Having friends over, travelling and visiting new places, a day at the beach doing nothing but looking at the sea.

The dislikes : Pretence, greed, tripe!

Q What do you do to relax?

Look at the sea, play with my daughter, cook for my friends, listen to music, walk, look at Architecture…

Joan Baxter

Joan Baxter Weaving

 

So who is Joan Baxter?

I was born in Edinburgh and went to Edinburgh College of Art in 1972. I discovered tapestry weaving there and gained my Diploma and Post Diploma qualifications in tapestry. Having seen tapestries from Eastern Europe that were completely different from what was being made in Scotland, I decided to try to do some further post-graduate study there. I got a scholarship from the British Council to study at Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts for two years...it was a fantastic opportunity to see a completely different world - Poland was still an unknown place to the 'west', still firmly behind the Iron Curtain when I was there in the late '70s. Returning to the UK, still feeling ill-equipped to survive as a maker, I was very fortunate to get a job as a weaver at West Dean Tapestry Studio, where they were weaving a series of large tapestries from drawings by Henry Moore. While I was there I also made work by Hodgkin and Piper. In 1984 I was invited to work for a year at the much larger and more commercial Victorian Tapestry Studio in Melbourne, Australia. I view the eight years I spent as a studio weaver as an indispensable part of my training. I not only honed my technical and interpretive skills but learned all aspects of working to commission, dyeing and good studio and professional practice. Most importantly it gave me confidence in my own abilities. The only problem was I wasn't doing much of my own work. In 1987 I was offered a rent free studio in rural Nottinghamshire by a charitable foundation and since this co-coincided with a commission to weave a very large tapestry for tapestry designer Marta Rogoyska, it seemed a suitable time to set up as an independent maker. Over the next few years I worked incredibly hard establishing myself as a designer, weaver, teacher and bespoke dyer. In a modest way I was successful, selling most of what I made, gaining some prestigious commissions and at one time in the mid 90s employing 4 weavers. I exhibited work widely both in the UK, in Denmark and in North America and was active in promoting and teaching tapestry wherever I could. In 2000 I inherited a tiny house and 7 acres of land in the far north of Scotland. I had been longing to return home to Scotland for many years so was very happy to move back to the landscapes that have inspired my work throughout my career. I have continued to weave tapestries to commission and for sale as well as teaching master classes and short courses, writing and giving occasional lectures.

 

Midwinter Naver

 

Where in the world are you?

I live near the village of Brora in the far north of Scotland....its about an hours drive north of Inverness, half way to John'o Groats and the Orkney ferry. My home and studio lie on the edge of the crofting township of Doll, just where the farmland turns to woodland then the heather-clad hills and secret upland lochs of the interior. Mine is the last house before the old droving ford over the River Brora, about one and a half miles inland from the main A9 and the sea.

 

When did you decide to become a maker?

My dad was a very talented landscape painter so I was exposed to the visual arts from birth and drew all the time as a child. I was also exposed to textiles early, my grandmother was a tailoress and I loved playing with the fabrics, threads and buttons of her trade. As a teenager I made all my own clothes from remodelled jumble sale finds chosen for their interesting fabrics. I went to art school not really knowing what I wanted to specialise in, except I knew I didn't want to be a painter. During my first year I was introduced to tapestry and I knew immediately that this was going to be my medium and my destiny and I have never deviated from this decision. Tapestry combined the best bits of painting...narrative, colour and scale with the tactile, experimental and seductive nature of the materials. It also had the added allure of rarity and subversion.....the tapestry department at Edinburgh College of Art was the only place in the UK you could study tapestry as a subject in its own right and at the time - the mid 70s - it was very cutting edge and very cool. We felt we were part of the bough wave of something very exciting.

 

Migdale Kilt

 

What made you choose the materials that you work with?

For those who don't know what tapestry is, it is a very ancient weaving process, to this day carried out entirely by hand with the processes and tools largely unchanged for millennia. We can see beautiful ancient tapestries made in Coptic Egypt and pre-Columbian South America in museum collections, and we have many large scale tapestries made in Europe from the middle ages onwards in collections like the Burrell in Glasgow and the V and A as well as in stately homes around the country. A tapestry is basically a woven picture, a decorative wall hanging, constructed entirely by hand, with no function other than to adorn ( and in the past draught proof) and to show status and wealth. In Europe since the middle ages wool has been the material of choice for making tapestries for both warp and weft. It is readily available, very durable, takes dyes better than most other fibres and holds its colour well over long periods. It is firm enough to create a strong surface yet soft and pliable enough to be easily worked. It is the most stable fibre in a damp European climate and probably still the most suitable for tapestry. Until recently I used wool exclusively in my work - maybe with a very small amount of silk, linen and cotton...but I always used a cotton warp as I couldn't find wool warp at the thickness I wanted. Many of the high quality materials once commonly available before the industrial revolution and the advent of man-made fibres are now rare or unobtainable - really good quality woollen warp and high quality, high lustre, tightly spun worsted woollen weft are difficult to source. If you want yarns that are of anything like the quality of those used in historic tapestries, they have to be specially commissioned from the 'last spinner who still has the old fashioned machinery and still knows how to use it' or imported at vast expense from Scandinavia where they understand the need for high quality materials. Fortunately I have recently found a good wool warp and it has changed the way I work. Given that it is so hard to get the quality of wool weft that I want, I have embarked on a period of experimentation with materials new to me...hemp, linen, cotton rags, twigs, cut up digital photos...after 20 years of a very traditional approach to materials. Its liberating and exciting but nothing so far approaches the beauty and durability of wool.

 

Sheneval

 

What other materials would you like to work in?

Tapestry is such a labour intensive medium that I feel I don't want to make time to work in other media. Also because I am skilled in my own medium, I find it frustrating to work in areas where my ambitions outstrip my technical abilities. Having said that, I'm starting to want to collaborate with artists in other media on specific projects - marrying my strengths and knowledge with other skilled people, so this might be the answer to broadening the scope of my work.. I'm in the middle of a project with a choreographer, projecting dance videos onto textured woven panels. I'm drawn to video as an addition to my textile work but although I have recently bought a video camera, I find my computer is too old to support the editing - so I will have to wait until I can afford to upgrade before I can start to work seriously with it.

 

Where do you get your inspiration from?

My primary source is landscape and the stories, myths and histories that spring from landscape. The landscapes of the far north have a particular minimal beauty and are strongly atmospheric. The inspiration spark can come form anywhere - rarely simply from a pretty view, much more often something complex and nebulous, more of an emotion or a feeling than a visual idea. If I am making a piece about a particular place, then it could be about the archaeological layers present in the place ( see Sheneval). Sometimes I try to capture a moment in a landscape (October Clothscape), the quality of the light, the textures of the land. In other pieces I am inspired by more general themes to do with belonging to a landscape (Migdale Kilt) or the ghosts of people who once lived in landscapes that are now empty of them (Hallaig, Midwinter Naver). Most recently I have been inspired by the past two exceptional winters - the sheer, stunning beauty, the quality of the light, purity of the colours and the otherworldliness of it all as well as the reminder of how vulnerable we are (Winter Skyline).

 

Winter Skyline

 

What motivates you?

This is a hard one to answer. I have persisted to weave what I need to weave for almost a quarter of a century, with little hope of recognition beyond my own small tapestry pond and with very little financial reward. I have designed my life in order that I can continue to weave more or less full time. I live from my work but its not what most people would call a living. Before I moved north, I was certainly a workaholic, spending up to 60 hours a week working with no outside interests except my visits to Sutherland for inspiration. Now I live a more rounded life and weave for fewer hours but I can't imagine ever not weaving - its what defines me, I see my life through it and my life is dedicated to it because that is where my talent and fulfilment lies.

 

Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

I work from a studio I built onto my house about eight years ago. It is 7m x 5m, with a tall pitched roof to accommodate my largest loom. It faces south and looks out onto a sweep of grass, a small loch fringed by birch and willow with pine-clad rising ground beyond. The studio, as well as having passive solar heating from large south facing windows, has a third of its north facing roof glazed so the light is fantastic and I rarely need to use artificial light during daylight hours. You can see a 360 view of my studio with some audio clips at: www.vasutrail.com and click through to studios then Joan Baxter.

 

  House and Studio

 

Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

I think there are encouraging stirrings of a re-awakening of interest in quality, skills and experience (over youth and novelty and those who can draw the most attention to themselves). Collectors of craft are quite rare and critical appreciation of craft beyond an obsession with how things are made is also unusual. The recent exhibition 'The Age of Experience' was exactly the kind of educational exhibition that we need to see more of. It featured work by mature craft makers, most of them approaching or over 60, with a whole lifetime of making behind them. It was a great way of demonstrating that quality materials, great design, technical skill and experience are what makes beautiful and highly collectable craft objects. In the long run I think this is what people crave - something that finds the balance between concept, function and execution. This is all encouraging as I have felt like a lone voice crying in the wilderness about the joy of making and materials and the need for skill and beauty, all the way through post-modernism and the YBA movements that have valued and celebrated other qualities. I'm concerned about the lack of technical knowledge and practical craft skills in those who are teaching the younger generation in schools and universities and the difficulties facing craft makers - usually sole traders with precarious and fluctuating incomes - in being able to take on and train apprentices. These two things combined make it very difficult for anyone setting out on a career in crafts to acquire the whole range of skills needed to practice successfully.

 

Clothscape

 

How do you sell and promote your work?

I promote my work mostly through exhibitions and my website. The UK is not a particularly good environment for exhibiting tapestry so I have always needed to exhibit much more widely, in North America and mainland Europe, particularly Scandinavia. I have had three solo exhibitions, two in England and one in Denmark, a number of small group exhibitions with other tapestry weavers in the UK, Japan and Denmark and have been juried into quite a large number of big touring tapestry exhibitions in North America and Europe. It is quite hard to exhibit in mixed exhibitions although I have recently participated in craftscotland's Meet Your Maker and will be part of their UNITE exhibition in the Collins gallery in Glasgow in April/May so that is a hopeful sign. I do not tend to sell much work from exhibitions. My sales come about mostly through personal contact, through my lectures, my teaching, via my website, via local or regional promotions like Open Studios. I could spend loads more time than I do on promotion and still not get any sales, so I decided long ago to just keep on exhibiting, talking, writing and teaching in the hope that the person who doesn't know they want that tapestry yet, will find it. I long to be represented by a gallery or an agent but this will never happen in the UK, I am too old, the wrong gender, too rural and working in the wrong medium to ever be cool enough to earn them their commission. Website: www.joanbaxter.com

 

What is your typical working day look like?

Working for myself and from home means that work and life have a habit of blending into each other. This is especially true in my situation as my husband and I do a lot of time-consuming self sufficiency stuff on our land as well as both being creative makers. We grow and process our own timber for heating and grow most of our own vegetables and soft fruit. I spend some time every day weaving or designing in the studio which will add up to around 35 hours a week. What I do each day is dependent on factors like the weather, the time of year, what stage in the making process I am at and whether or not I have students or Open Studio days. Except in the depths of winter, I usually get up very early. Sometimes I go straight into the studio and weave for a few hours, sometimes I fire up the laptop and do emails and sometimes I go for a walk or a bike ride. After breakfast and a few domestic chores I go into the studio and weave through until around 5pm. If the weather is good I might take breaks outside during the day...maybe a half hour of weeding in the veggie garden with a cup of coffee or a walk in our woodland with a saw. If I am designing or working out ideas then most of that is done in my head and with the help of my camera on long walks or cycles in the surrounding countryside. I don't usually weave in the evenings unless I have a deadline or I have been out during the day. Often I'll work on the computer for an hour or two and in the long light of summer I'm often out walking or cycling, looking at things.

 

Atlantis Again

 

What is your working style?

My own ....I have no idea what that is!

 

3 words of advice for an aspiring Craft artist/maker

Just do it!

 

14 Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?

I'm interested in what other makers are doing but I'm rarely as moved by what they do as I am by music, film and writing. I admire the films of Tarkovsky...his ability with layers is stupendous, likewise the many-layered short stories and poems of George Mackay Brown. If I had to choose a favourite maker it would be ceramicist Lucie Rie. She managed to combine function with art in her work and I admire her modesty. Several painters were influential in my early work - Chagall for his magical narratives, Turner for his abstractions and his atmospheres and Mark Rothko for the stillness he creates with violent colour. My favourite tapestry weaver is still my teacher, Maureen Hodge - dark, passionate and mysterious work that always moves me..

 

Hallaig

 

What music do you listen to?

I tend to listen to the same two or three pieces of music for a month or two then move on to something else. The music informs the work to some extent, I can always remember what I was listening to when I was weaving a piece. I can't really generalise about my musical tastes they are pretty eclectic. In the last couple of years my significant music has been Martyn Bennett, Jan Garbarek, Aarvo Paart, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawney, Thomas Tallis, Brian Eno, Faithless, Joni Mitchell and the Afro Celt Sound System

 

3 likes and dislikes?

Like cats, chocolate, walking. Dislike ugly modern houses in the landscape, mobile phones and marmite

 

What do you do to relax?

I spend time exploring my local landscapes in great detail on foot and by bike. I'm very interested in archaeology, especially the remains that surround me in the landscape I live in. I like nothing better that to be walking in my local hills in search of iron age settlements or bronze age burials. I find it all endlessly fascinating and inspiring. I like the practical aspects of it all - seeing how iron age people took advantage of shelter and damper or dryer areas of land in their farming by observing the faint remains of their field boundaries or seeing how pre Clearance communities interacted by finding the remains of their track ways and river crossings between the ruins of their settlements. I like working my land - I especially like clearing scrub and having fires. Otherwise I spend time with friends, read or watch television. I like C4s Unreported World, music and travel programmes, anything sumptuously visual and I'm really enjoying 'The Killing' the Danish detective story currently being serialised on BBC4 on Saturdays ...the most intelligent drama on telly for decades.

 

Choreography

Caroline Schofield

Posthumous Memory – selected for CCOI & GANS exhibition Tread Softly

 

So who is Caroline Schofield ?

I am a Textile Artist working in Endangered Studios and a member of Filament, a group of Irish Textile Artists who exhibit individually and as a group. This year we are working towards an exhibition in Airfield, a farm in the heart of Dublin. We have been given funding for this project from the Crafts Council of Ireland and DunLaoighaire/Rathdown Arts office.

 

Layers 800 – Detail, Overlooking Kilkenny Castle

 

Where in the world are you?

I live in Kilkenny, Ireland. Kilkenny is a centre for Arts & Crafts with many Artists and Crafts people working in the area. It also has the Crafts Council of Ireland Headquarters and Gallery, Butler Gallery and an amazing Arts Office with one of the best Arts Officers in Ireland (in my opinion!).

 

When did you decide to become a maker?

About age 4!

 

Layers 800 – Commission Kilkenny Courthouse, String and Fleece

 

What made you choose the materials that you work with?

I mainly work in Textiles. I love the feel of them and being able to manipulate the fibres. My great grandfather came to Ireland as a master dyer, my grandfather and dad worked and my brother works in the Textile Trade. It’s in my blood.

 

What other materials would you like to work in?

I’d like to learn how to weld to combine other materials.

 

Woodstock – Detail of Public Art Hangings made with the Public

 

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I think ideas come from my own experiences in life but they are backed up with reading and research.

 

What motivates you?

Chasing down an idea! I love working with an idea and exploring it.

 

Installation – Unravelled Drawing

 

Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

I work in Endangered Studios in Callan. http://endangeredstudios.com These artist studios are based in buildings that are to be re-built/constructed. When I started there, there were no windows or heat but I needed to work outside of home to take myself seriously. The building was to become a health centre but when funding fell through (due to the Irish economy) our studios became a bit more permanent. We now have windows and heat! It’s still very basic but it suits me as I have a large bright space and there is only ideas and work there.

 

Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

I would like to see craft and art on the same page. This language is still problematic in Ireland. I also hope it means that sculptural textiles is given as much recognition as sculpture in traditional hard forms.

 

Side by Side – selected for CCOI Exhibition at the Hunt Museum

 

Q How do you sell and promote your work?

My work is one off and installation based so exhibiting, and submitting work to curated exhibitions, and looking for opportunities with my Arts Office and Crafts/Arts Council.

Last year I was shortlisted for a large commission piece, Layers 800 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2GmGy0mXTE  That came from doing a public art training project with Chrysalis and Kilkenny Arts Office.

My website : www.carolineschofield.ie

Ebb & Flow – Selected for Sculpture in Context - Fleece and Cotton

 

What is your typical working day look like?

Hectic, with three children I work around them but that means I am always working.

 

What is your working style?

It can be chaotic when I am chasing an idea but once a piece has to be made it head down until the piece is finished.

 

Mourning Pots – Hunt Museum

 

3 words of advice for an aspiring Craft artist/maker...

1. Believe in yourself,
2. Know your craft inside out,
3. Get a good camera.

 

Reflected Growth – selected for Sculpture in Context - Cotton, Rust and Manipulated Fabric

 

Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?

Alice Maher

 

What music do you listen to?

Everything....but I love Opera and Choral Music.

 

Woodstock – Training for Real, Public Art

 

3 likes and dislikes?

Likes:

• Exhibitions
• Lecturers who open my mind!
• Curators (good)

Dislikes:

• Politics, specifically Irish Government Parties
• Lecturers that I need a dictionary to understand!
• Curators (who believe they are more important than the work showing)

What do you do to relax?

Eat meals with my family and friends, read, play badminton.

 

Swimmer – Oil Paint and Pieced