Spring beginnings & reflections!

March has been quite an interesting month so far!  In February I moved back to the North of England and have barely taken a breath since.  March began with a business trip down to London, followed by a flying visit to Sheffield where I saw A Hawk and A Hacksaw play in a restored church which was pretty magical.  I then rushed off the next morning to Manchester to re-exhibit at the Antique Textile Fair, a sort of one year on showcase with a Q&A after being awarded runner up bursary for my degree project last year.  Showing here was quite a strange experience, showing the same project of work from a year ago, only with a larger dye lab book and a more organised thought process & presentation!  It was lovely to reconnect with the project and think through everything I have achieved since March 2011.  It was also a wonderful opportunity to see Glasgow School of Art textile students representing about half of the shortlist for this years prize & wonderful to have a GSA catch up with the talented Meg Held and Kathy Beckett.

The day after this event I went back to my old sixth form college (Priestley College, Warrington) to see some of the current students and show them the degree work again.  I have also loaned my Year 3 Fashion Show Project collection to the college to show as part of their annual Catwalk Show on the 29th March.  It's quite strange to have these various years of work at the front of my brain and also revisiting a place where I was still studying sciences and applying to art school without a clue of where it would take me.  I still remember the pressure I felt when applying & still remember the moment of realisation when I got in - I relaxed into life for the first time...ever.  It is good to be reminded of these things now and again.

March will also see me releasing my new card designs, the beginnings of a home & giftware range & hopefully some more sales in the US, fingers crossed!

Take care & be creative! Annice x


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The year of creative!

Hello,

As you can see from my last post I have been off the radar slightly as this blog used to be primarily used to showcase images of my work. I am still not in a position to do this but I can tell you a few things I have been working on and you can read my assurances that there will be images where the copyright belongs to me on here shortly!

I am still working on a fairly regular basis (about every six weeks) for Debenhams Rocha department, in fact when some of the things I have done hit the shops I shall post links accordingly. I am also popping in today to begin some new work for them.

Studio wise, I am thoroughly enjoying working for studios, the freedom I get with it is amazing and because I am working for a few it gives me a bit of variation in my month. Working with "Code" is always a pleasure and my work is currently in New York (the US seem to like my work so fingers crossed). I am also working for a studio in the South East, near Brighton called "Swatch Loft" who have a really lovely collection - very different from 'Code' which is nice, I believe this work is to go round the world very shortly, Hong Kong, NY, LA and Australia - Exciting! I have been working hard for a new studio which shall remain a surprise until launch but I am really excited about this too! Details to follow upon launch!

I have been working with Ellen Turnill Montoya a fellow GSA graduate on a book cover project, there are 7 short stories each one is based around one of the seven deadly sins. I have been asked to embroider the samples for the covers which will then be printed upon production. It has been (and I'm sure will continue to be) great to work with Ellen and reconnect with her as we had been too busy to see much of each other since her Glasgow days. It's also been great to work on some new techniques and work in a different format that my usual studio work which although has some interiors work, it is primarily for a fashion market.

I have other things in the pipeline, including using my paintings and drawings for some interesting work and also developing a small home & gift ware collection to hopefully sell in the GSA shop - news & images to follow!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year, for me it was definately a time to think and suddenly realise everything that has happened within the past year to me, everything in my life has changed - in really adventurous and ultimately good ways so I hope that any changes you are all going through they also prove....ultimately good!

With lots of love and creative energy for the new year,

Annice x

The Return...

Hello,

So I have been somewhat remiss in uploading any images or updating this blog with my progress. I am unable to put up any of the images from the work I have been doing currently due to intellectual copyright complications, however I have some work going into a large well known shop soon and when I do I shall share the links!

I am currently in the process of producing new drawings & photographs (again based around my beloved hedgerows) for new independent work, less cryptic news to follow!

This year was an amazing year for hedgerow lovers, as the weather has been very disruptive and down right crazy to nature - everything including my body seems very confused. However, the confusion of the hedgerow gives you once in a lifetime information to work on. It is believed that due to the weather getting suddenly very hot again (last week or so) the colours of the turning leaves and the combination of seasons seen within the same plant is incredible. I went home to the north recently & I should have some photographs to show you shortly. As I haven't drawn for a long while, it will be a bit of a time until I have drawings good enough to put my name to!

Have a creative day :)

Annice x

Collection Concept: June 2011

The first Division of Common Land legislation is believed to date to the Twelfth Century. This was the beginning of a process that shaped the class system and important political and social movements in Scottish and British history. This is the starting point from which my collection grew. Hedgerows are a continuing visual manifestation of the Division of Common Land process. As well as embodying part of our history act as linear, self contained eco systems which support many forms of wildlife: insects, birds, mammals and plants. The varied and dynamic content of hedgerows is a living, colourful and rich resource for research and to inspire design.

My collection is entirely hand dyed. I used silks and wools because their natural fibres provide a matte backdrop for the varied and delicate hues of the hedgerow to emerge. I have used predominantly hand embroidered techniques. In my research I re-discovered and learnt embroidery techniques that have not been used for generations. Modern design can be enriched by these beautiful and distinctive craft traditions. Using labour intensive hand techniques meant that each embroidery took several long days to emerge, which helped me to stay true to the living, growing and emerging nature of the hedgerow and its inhabitants.

This project is based on research I conducted in one day and along one very short stretch of hedgerow. It is worth noting that if this project was undertaken in another hedgerow – or even the same location at another time - it would have resulted in a very different project and collection.

Visualising my Collection

Arran Photoshoot

My Antique Textile Fair Adventure

This weekend I showed my work at the Antique Textile Fair in Manchester as part of the Textile Society undergraduate bursary application. A good chance for me to organise my brain and project!