With a history spanning five centuries, the Navajo (or Diné) weavers of the Southwest United States are among the greatest and most influential innovators the US has ever produced. Their traditional weavings and garments throughout American history are undoubtedly fascinating artefacts with rich stories to tell about the lives and spiritual beliefs of Native Americans….
Category Archives: TEXTILES
Muted, elegant shades of grey and brown like UMBRA were transformed in the hands of Joseph Mallord William Turner into leaden skies and turbulent seas, capturing a raw and brutal side of nature capable of destroying anything in its midst. In Turner’s late paintings, we see the sublime awe and drama of sea storms coming…
Look closely at any traditional bordered garment made by the Navajo Weavers of Arizona, and it is likely that you’ll notice a small, but deliberate imperfection; a line of contrasting thread running from the inner design field into the outer layer. This line of thread is a release point from where the maker’s ch’ihónít’i, or…
The warm, soft hue of CAMEL can be seen throughout the art of daring French realist painter Gustave Courbet, a raw, human, and naturalistic hue that allowed him to convey the humble, truthful elements of nature with great clarity and honesty. While Courbet might have attracted the most controversy and attention for his politicised figurative…
With her remarkable sleight of hand, American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt was able to capture the breezy, airy effortlessness of daylight falling across the clothing and skin of her subjects. Cool pastel shades like BLUE QUARTZ were one tool in her armoury that she would return to over and over, for its ability to convey…
Buying new fabric, especially online can be intimidating, even more so if you are new to sewing. The cost can seem overwhelming. Luckily there are alternative sources where you can explore fabric options. A great place to start is a secondhand craft store, or a thrift store (a goodwill type) or you can search for…
Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer made art that was imbued with shades of pale gold like HOLLAND, drenching his intimate, ordinary scenes with glowing, radiant light. In comparison with his peers, Vermeer made a comparatively small body of work, producing only around 45 in his lifetime, and of those, only 36 are known today….
As a kid, my family was pretty intentional about how we used things. I can recall my parents sorting through the trash and washing out our recyclables and taking them to our local recycling facilities every week, finding new uses to jars and bottles after they were empty (shout out to everyone’s grandma who stored…
Swedish mid-20th century artist Birgit Skiöld was a pioneer in printmaking, a serial experimenter who skilfully merged traditional printing techniques with playful abstract motifs that hint at the movements and patterns of nature. Much of her work was elemental and ephemeral, made up of wispy, uneven lines and ghostly, barely-there colours, but rich, dark blues…
There is a remarkable symbiosis between Sara Buscaglia’s life and work; she seamlessly blends her charmingly old school textile art – mostly exquisitely handcrafted quilts, but also knitting and clothing – with running a successful and prolific organic farm, where she is currently raising a family of four children alongside her husband. Based in La…
The paintings of Swedish visionary Hilma af Klint are filled with quiet wonder, gateways into their own private spiritual realms where looping floral patterns intersect with floating geometric patterns. Each artwork she made was invested with her own codified language of signs and symbols that pointed to her fascination with abstract, ethereal forces beyond the…
The cold, blue silence of BLUE BONNET Linen hovers like a thick mist through Edvard Munch’s paintings, investing his artworks with a mysterious, pervading ennui. Munch’s Expressionist and Symbolist drawings, paintings and prints captured the changing spirit of the early 20th century, when dramatic intellectual and industrial changes tore apart traditional Victorian values and replaced…
“No colour has been prized so highly or for so long, or been at the centre of such turbulent human encounters.” Catherine E. McKinley Indigo’s deep, intense blue has a long and complex history which spans millennia. Originally derived from the tiny leaves of the Indigofera plant species in tropical regions, the rare colour became…
The silvery grey-blue of LAGOON linen became leaden, steely skies in the hands of painter Joan Eardley, capturing the furious energy of storm-laden seascapes in thick slabs, swipes and streaks of moody colour. A master in capturing the wild, elemental and unspoilt beauty of the Scottish coastline, Eardley heaved huge canvases into the landscape during…
The name Sonia Delaunay is synonymous with kaleidoscopic colours and prismatic designs that seem to splinter, shift and dance before our eyes. In a 60 year long career, her daring, vivid Simultaneisme encompassed paintings, textiles, fashion design, costume and interiors, making her one of the greatest pioneers of the Modernist era. While history has favoured…
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