British artist Lubaina Himid makes art with an immediately striking impact, featuring riotous displays of clashing pattern and print. Her love of bold, bright textiles is evident throughout the many strands of her practice, which have varied from painting to sculpture, drawing and installation. These dazzling textiles are, on the one hand, a theatrical device…
Theatre and Spectacle: Lubaina Himid’s Fabric
Embroidery is deeply entrenched in South American history, spanning from ancient times all the way up to the present day. Its history is fascinatingly diverse, demonstrating the great skill and ingenuity that has been passed on from one generation to the next through the millennia. Over the centuries, South American embroidery has evolved into a…
Drama is at the heart of Pierre Soulages’ art, and he achieves it through stark, theatrical means. A leader in 20th century European Abstract Expressionism, Soulages pioneered a bold, striking language, combining dark, enigmatic shades of indigo like MEDIEVAL BLUE with jet black, ultramarine and cerulean. He swept them in grand gestures across his artworks with…
Before I embarked upon sewing my own clothes a year ago, I (re-)started knitting. But because I’m 100% impatient, I was always looking for patterns with thick wool (the thicker – the better to be honest). Until I found Good Night, Day – my personal holy grail when it comes to modern, easy knitting patterns…
Grayson Perry is one of today’s most radical contemporary artists, and his practice is as diverse as they come. Moving between painting, ceramics, performance, textiles, tapestries and more, his fluid approach to art and design proves just how borderless the act of making art can be. This seamless approach also bleeds into Perry’s life, as…
When I’m treating the menstrual cycle, I feel a sense of fusion. The fusion of the individual experiencing reconnection back to themselves. When we look at any type of dysfunction or disharmony within the body, we can often trace it back to a moment of disconnection. A moment or moments of active or passive separation…
ROYAL BLUE linen has the brilliant vibrancy of the Mediterranean Sea as it stretches outwards into an infinite horizon of azure blue. French painter Henri Matisse spent the majority of his life in Nice, where this same limitless blue light filtered into his mind’s eye, to be reimagined on canvas as fields of electrifying ultramarine….
With her psychedelic clothing and bright red wig, Yayoi Kusama is an inimitable icon of the 20th century. Like many before her, including Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe and Andy Warhol, Kusama has recognised the importance of brandishing an unforgettable public image, one that is innately bound with her life and art. Kusama’s public image is…
From Viking Age clothing to Catholic vestments and prestigious royal gowns, European embroidery has a rich history that is closely intertwined with our cultural past. Europe was also a site for embroidery innovation; techniques that were discovered here continue to live on today in the clothes we wear and the ways we decorate our homes….
Wassily Kandinsky lived and breathed colour, letting it infiltrate his entire life. His impassioned, ferocious paintings are a testament to this, with their noisy, clanging clashes of dazzling brilliance that exude a spirit of endless optimism and hope. He was a great leader in the 20th century European avant-garde, taking art into the great and…
Act One: A Failure in Kindness One time I had to ask the local sheep shearer to come to shear my family’s flock. He is notoriously difficult to work with. Several experiences with him in the past led to me not look forward to making this phone call. Mother and I were so anxious to…
Those of you that have already read my first entry ‘Diary of a novice Sewist’, will maybe remember, that PANTS were quite the challenge for me. For weeks… When I started making my own clothes in February, I predominantly found patterns through Instagram. It didn’t take long for my paths to cross with the Persephone…
The art of adorning clothing with embroidery has been an Indian tradition for more than 5,000 years. Its history is deeply embedded into the history of Indian culture, religion and daily life, and it is a tradition that continues to this day. Throughout Indian history embroidery has been there, adorning the homes of ordinary people…
Cubist painter Georges Braque celebrated the ambient power of warm, naturalistic colours throughout his career, bringing rich and appealing earthy tones like LODEN GREEN into many of his most famous paintings. A pioneering French Cubist alongside Pablo Picasso, Braque’s limited hues initially gave him room to focus on wildly experimental designs without letting bright colours…
When I first looked through FS patterns, I didn’t notice the RIVA collection. Looking at it closely, this pattern bundle not only contains the perfect wardrobe staples with timeless designs but also featured outstanding detail. Funny story, I never had a classic white shirt – please don’t blame me – but in all honestly, I used…
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