This year’s exciting winners of the Textile Society’s 2017 Museum, Archive and Conservation Award

The Textile Society’s annual Museum, Archive and Conservation Award is designed to support textile related projects within a museum, archive, or conservation studio for exhibition, publication or conservation that will help achieve greater awareness and access for the public.

The Society offers awards of up to £5,000 for a textile related project within this sector and this year they are delighted to announce the names of two worthy winners - The Charles Dickens Museum,London and the FairlynchMuseum, Budleigh Salterton.

The Charles Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty Street, London, is the former home of renowned author Charles Dickens and is the leading centre for the study, appreciation and enjoyment of the life and work of Charles Dickens (1812-1870).   

It holds the World’s most comprehensive collection of relevant material – over 100,000 items, which includes a small collection of personal textiles - stockings, handkerchiefs and examples of Mrs. Dickens’ needlework.

With support from the Textile Society and an award of £2,500, the Museum will conserve, research and permanently display this unique collection of textiles in an exhibition entitled, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Charles Dickens: Intimate objects and private textiles.’

The museum feels that these items have been historically underappreciated but seen through this enlightening exhibition, will establish an important and tangible link to Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine, as people, powerfully suggesting the personal and domestic.

Director, Dr. Cindy Sughrue OBE said: “We are thrilled to receive a Textile Society Award, which will allow us to conserve, display and produce new interpretation for a collection of intimate objects and private textiles that belonged to Mr. & Mrs. Dickens.  These items, including stockings, handkerchiefs and examples of Mrs. Dickens’ needlework, provide a rare and evocative glimpse into their personal lives.”

The Fairlynch Museum/Budleigh Salterton Arts Centre and Museum, Devon is a small accredited museum managed and staffed entirely by volunteers.

Fairlynch Museum holds a diverse collection of costume and textiles specific to Devon and in 2017 the Museum celebrated its 50^th year of providing awareness and access to local history. 

With support from the Textile Society and an award of £2,550, the Museum will conserve and mount an exceptional rural silk wedding dress made in 1850 and a Honiton lace train and veil, worn by Lady Sidmouth at her wedding in 1914.  These exciting items will be displayed in their upcoming exhibition; ‘100 years of Wedding Dresses’, April to October 2018.

Trustee Betty Hebditch said: “Fairlynch museum were thrilled to win this award and be in the company of such prestigious former award winners.  We are looking forward to showing our wonderful costume and textile collection to Textile Society members in 2018. We hope as many of them as possible will come and see our little museum in the seaside town of Budleigh Salterton.”

Article for the Textile Society in Craft & Design Online November 2017

To read the November/December edition of Craft & design Online click here

Textile Society mention in Period Living April 2017

Right sides together

Always on the lookout for exciting creative talent to encourage and nurture, the Textile Society is keen to connect with their ‘right side’.

Graduate Rachel Howarth was spotted while exhibiting her inventive textile designs at the ‘New Designers’ event in London and selected from over a 1,000 design graduates to receive the Society’s 2014 Lucienne Day Innovative Textile Design Award.

Rachel told me: “I was on my stand at the ‘New Designers’ event, when Fiona and Debra from the Textile Society came on to talk about my designs and the Lucienne Day Award. It was very exciting but totally out of the blue and unexpected.”

“It came just at the right time after my graduation, when funds were low, giving me the belief, opportunity and finances to realise my next project."

“I feel greatly honoured to have won this award, not least because Lucienne Day is one of my heroines - always an inspiration to me, her designs have stood the test of time and still look fresh and contemporary today.”

Rachel also won the ‘New Designers, One Year On, Part 2’ award at ‘New Designers’ last year and recently had a solo exhibition at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford, as part of her prize.

Taking her inspiration from modern architecture and the interesting way light is reflected in glass, Rachel uses digital print to create a tonal azure palette that perfectly combines with her innovative geometric patterns, to create evocative artworks and homewares.

“My solo exhibition was another great opportunity and was well received.  I wrote to the Textile Society to let them know how I am progressing, as I like to keep in touch because of their incredible support.”

As a past Lucienne Day award winner, Rachel has been invited to come along to the Society’s 25^th Antique Textile fair in Manchester on Sunday 30 April, 2017.

Coinciding with Lucienne Day’s centenary, Paula Day, Lucienne’s daughter will be there too and would love to meet other past winners of her mother’s prestigious award. 

Have you previously won this award? If you have, we would love you to join us in Manchester.

Please get in touch by emailing Lynn Broster at bursaries@textilesociety.org.uk

Visit www.rachelhowarth.co.uk to find out more about Rachel and her work.

Walking the line between accidental colour and Abstract Expressionism

Is Clare McEwan an artistic brand that accessories abstract art and just happens to 'do scarves' or is there more to this intriguing designer?  Lucinda Merriman finds out.

The essence of Clare McEwan is difficult to define – it’s like trying to pin a tail on a donkey – fun to try but hard to achieve in the dark.

Artist, photographer, designer, entrepreneur – she is all of these but you get a feeling that there’s a lot more to discover.

Playful yet determined, sociable but equally happy in her own company, Clare’s creative nature is highly tuned, sensitive to things both light and dark. Her specific seam of creativity and the paradox of an artist’s persona; seem to evoke the multiple layers that define her artwork.

Born in Dartford, Clare had an aptitude for science and thought that her future lay there until she was waylaid by the fantastic art department at Dartford Grammar School.

Inspiration appears in many guises – art teachers seem unlikely heroes but Clare will tell you otherwise: 

“Artists themselves, my teachers had contrasting characters with different areas of expertise that complemented each other perfectly. They were extremely encouraging, introducing me to Abstract Expressionism, Cubism and Minimalism and through their infectious enthusiasm gave me an independence and freedom to create bespoke products from an early age. Drawn to the abstract, I developed my drawing skills, studied composition and the formal arrangement of layer and colour. They made me realise that I could have a career as an artist.”

With supportive yet chilled out parents, Clare left school with ‘A’ Level Art and chose to do a degree at London’s Central Saint Martin’s College.  On successfully completing her foundation course, Clare opted to do a BA in Textile Design for Print.

Graduating with a First, Claire developed a firmly established style based on her independent thought and love for experimentalism and produced six huge 2m x 1.5m wall hangings in a variety of translucent fabrics including PVC mesh and crinoline for her degree show, one of which was bought by the college for their collection.

Clare said: “Textile design came naturally to me as this medium gives me flexibility to work in large format and to indulge my abstract ideas.”

On leaving and after a slight post-uni wobble, Clare moved back home to her parents and got a job with a freelance rug designer where she received an interesting commission to produce an artwork to hang in the reception of a private Bone and joint Health clinic in the Emirates Towers, Dubai. 

"I was so excited, what an amazing opportunity to showcase my work on an International stage.  My largest artwork yet, I created a 6m x 2m textile hanging using similar techniques to those used in my degree show. My abstract imagery likened broken glass, while the back-lighting activated the layers, created an interesting 2-D effect."

Clearly a 'rolling stone' Clare was keen to experience as much of life as she could over the next few years - moving back to London and selling her art on Saturday morning at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, being selected for an Art's Council Residency Digital Artist Placement at Waddesdon Church of England School in Buckinghamshire, then moving to Brighton to work part-time for the council while setting up a print studio and providing creative workshops at a former coach works along with other artists and performers. 

By 2011, hitting 30 and brimming with creative ideas, Clare felt the time was right to start her own business and by trial and error began designing silk crepe de chine scarves from her own original experimental artwork under the C F McEwan label.  

Clare's creative inspiration often starts with a walk and her camera and she describes the process in her Podcast '10,000 steps towards my colour palette'.

"Walking is the perfect way to collect new colour whilst boosting my mental brightness, inspiration and the motivation to get started.  I'm looking for five elements while on the move - Accidental colour, Material combinations, Light and shadow and Contrast." 

You might try to describe this technique as the trendy new meditation of ‘Mindfulness’ but I’m not sure that this is Clare’s style – it’s a little too self-conscious and forced. As Clare immerses herself into the space and her surroundings I imagine she’s an awe-inspired Dorothy stepping into Oz for the first time, what we see as mono, she sees as Technicolor. 

Clare explains:  "I collect accidental colour - unexpected new colours taken from urban or natural landscapes. Influenced by artists Eva Hesse, William Eggleston and William Christenberry, I look out for interesting material combinations that have beautiful, sculptural and textural qualities and an ephemeral instant - a brief experience or moment in time captured and translated."  

"I observe how a structure imposes itself in a space depending on the quality of light and look not only for the contrast in light but also for contrasting materials and textures. I enjoy finding infinite ways of photographing through layers as this is central to my whole practise and provides the tools to combine all my imagery, inspiring  me to create smaller and lighter objects back in the studio." 

Drawing, printmaking, hand stitching and simple marking are combined to create abstract and atmospheric imagery, with irregular shaped objects and surfaces being formed using paper, fabric and plastic.  Clare then photographs these textiles, objects and surfaces using a range of light sources and filters, exploring shadow, reflection and edge. The finished images are printed onto lightweight 100% silk crepe de chine squares (125cm x 125cm) creating beautiful abstract scarves sold in a range of boutiques and galleries across the UK and the USA. 

And what of the future, has this restless spirit found its true vocation and is she content with her current success? 

"I am very lucky as I love what I'm doing and I'm proud of my achievements to date.  It meant a lot to be one of four selected artists to create contemporary artworks for Dartford in 2016 and I've just launched my autumn/winter 2016 ‘The Cut-Out’ inspired collection and it’s already selling in well. 

I do think that I am creatively restless though - I’m keen to develop collaborations with other artists and designers and in the immediate future I’m taking some time off to travel.” 

Bearing in mind what Clare has achieved; one cannot doubt that whatever she does will continue to involve movement and her fascinating multi-tiered view of life.

For more information, visit Clare's website at www.cfmcewan.com

Article published in Dorset Life

To read article, please click here

Dorset Life - The Dorset magazine is an independently owned county magazine. Not part of a national publishing group Dorset Life is produced in Wareham by a small, dedicated team, all of whom live and work in Dorset.

Guest post on Selvedge Blog

I've just started helping out the Textile Society as their Press Officer and in this capacity, I've written a review of their London Antique Textile event, which has just been published on the Selvedge Blog.

Established in 1982 as an educational charity, the Textile Society raises money through its London and Manchester Antique Textile Fairs to help fund the Society's awards and bursaries.

Click here for more information about the Antique Textile event in April.

Click here to read my guest post for the Selvedge Blog.

Selvedge is a bi-monthly publication for interior textile and fashion designers.