Fairies

Penny over at Art Journey has recently asked the question 'do you believe in fairies'. This got me thinking;  I am no great scholar of myths and legends but it seems to me that many of them are universal and are similar in belief systems, cultures and countries across the globe. This would indicate in my own personal view of the world that there is truth in them otherwise how could they exist in such a diversity of places.

Jung talks of the collective unconscious"..... there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents.”. 

 I don't really understand a lot of this stuff but where does this collective unconscious come from? To me it seems that as we have become more 'civilised' and further away from nature we have mislaid much of our wonder and faith in our world. To me the collective unconscious is a bit like the force in Star Wars, outside there somewhere waiting for us to tap into it.

Perfection in the Garden

Gertude Jekyll I think

Elderflower

Starry globes

A few weeks ago I said that I might not be blogging for a while due to family stuff. Although that is ongoing though slowly getting sorted I have found that weaving, sewing, blogging and gardening are helping me keep going. They are all types of escapism I suppose and I receive such lovely comments from you which all helps, so thank you.

Work in Progress or a bit of a mess.

This is quite different from the work I normally do, it will be a christmas present for my sister. I don't think she knows I have a blog. They have just had an extension built which has huge windows looking over the garden, so this is my interpretation of a garden, an imaginary one. The messy looking bit is silk sari yarn which comes undone as you use it so works quite well for flower filled beds I think.
Its not coming out quite the way I see it in my head but I think it will work.

Also stitching

I have just started the 'What If' Diaries over at Jude's site.

9 patch white

Why can't I type where I want. The pieces below this piece came from an Indian restaurant
They throw these away after use I am going to try and rescue some more, until I have nine at least. The not so white piece is less white than it looks in the photo and just didn't work on a white background.

Detail

Rescued

 I am starting with white, this is three layers of very fine cotton lawn, stitched and then the top two layers were cut. Maybe a mistake to cut, but only practice pieces.

Not so white

I am still weaving

Nettle, silk and Habu yarns

Recently there have been lots of images but not much new work. Just to prove I am actually still weaving, a small piece just finished.

Suspension exhibition

I have just got back from the opening day of the Suspension exhibition at the Bristol Guild. A very busy and tiring day. About 170 visitors good sales and some beautiful work. Managed to get a few reasonable photos. The top two images are my work which I stupidly didn't take photos of in advance so its difficult to see what the are. I will add the names of the missing artists next time I am there so apologies in the meantime if any of you look on this site.

My work

Spiders web

Private view

Private view

Ginny Epstein

Lydie Gardner

Panoramic View

Panoramic View

Exhibitions

Talking about exhibitions, a couple of weeks ago we went to a christening in Leeds which gave me an opportunity to visit the Bowery Gallery in Headingley and see two artists whose work I very much admire and whose blogs I follow, Alice Fox and Hannah Lamb.
I don't need to say much about this exhibition, hopefully the images will say it all, it is amazing and thought provoking, if you are up that way go and see it, its on until 5th July.
Hannah and Alice I hope you don't mind me putting up images of your work on my blog, though sadly they do not show the full beauty of the work

Alice Fox - Textures of Spurn

Alice Fox

Alice Fox

Hannah Lamb

Hannah Lamb

Hannah Lamb - In Search of Green

Exhibition

Oops forgot to let anybody know about this exhibition in which I am taking part. It should be good several internationally renowned textile artists are taking part. Starts on Saturday for 3 weeks at the Bristol Guild, Park Street, Bristol.