Bookmarks inspired by the Book of Kells

 

Little Looms Summer 2024

Little Looms is a wonderful magazine devoted to items that can be woven on small equipment.  The latest edition has one of my projects for an inkle bookmark inspired by the colours of the Book of Kells. 

In 2023, two Irish stamps were issued each showing an illustration from the book.

The Book of Kells is a 9th century  Irish medieval masterpiece in Trinity College, Dublin. The book has an astonishing array of illustrations. 

It is fascinating to examine the illustrations up close to see how the monks used a variety of patterns within the designs.  I used a lovely book by Bernard Meehan published by Thames and Hudson 1994. It has 110 colour illustrations and is well worth buying.

The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan

It is astonishing that only eight pigments were used throughout, which were combined to form new colours or shades. 

Colour inspiration 

Colour inspiration .

Many of the characters are outlined with dots. 

For the Bookmark of Kells project in Little Looms, I wove many samples and the editor chose the two to use for the magazine. 

Some of my samples

I wove some of them on a rigid heddle. 

Others were woven on my floor inkle loom.

Plaiting a flat 5-end braid.

To finish the bookmarks, I divided the warp ends into five more or less equal groups.  I plaited them into a flat braid. Here are the instructions in pictures.

Starting position

First move

Second move. 

These two moves are repeated until the length of the plait is reached.

Adjust the tension on the groups of threads.

YouTube Video  

I have also uploaded a short video showing the process. Here is the link.  Plaiting with five groups of threads:

https://youtu.be/SZt3p87oI68

Do check out the magazine for some lovely projects. 

You can subscribe to Little Looms and receive your copy digitally. https://littlelooms.com/subscription/  Instant satisfaction!

Some of my other samples

Some of my many samples. 

Look at the front and reverse of these two bookmarks.  The top bookmark has been woven with a yellow weft.  The bottom bookmark has been woven with an orange weft. 

 The yellow weft gives an interesting dotted pattern on both sides.

The orange weft gives the dotted edge to the bookmark.

Now I have lots of bookmarks to give away to friends!

Susan J Foulkes  May 2024

https://youtu.be/SZt3p87oI68?si=OWY2ew4p2pUbO5Bk

Baltic Open Submission 2024 in association with Fenwick March to September 2024

Baltic Open Submission 2024 in association with Fenwick

15th March to 1st September 2024

 I was thrilled to find out that my piece 'The Red Thread is one of 100 pieces chosen for this exhibition at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead.  https://baltic.art/whats-on/

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

 The opening event on the evening of Friday 15th March was amazing. 

We arrived early to join the queue which turned out to be the a very good idea.  It was a large event from 6:30 - 11:30 with music, refreshments and a couple of speeches. The exhibition is held in two exhibition spaces on the ground floor.

Not too busy  - for a short while.

Then the crowds started to build

Soon there was a  queue to get in to the exhibition rooms.

My exhibit seemed to be the only textile apart from one large felt piece. 

Viewing my piece. 

Exhibition catalogue   

You can find details of the exhibition and the catalogue here: 

   https://baltic.art/whats-on/0g-baltic-open-submission-2024/

         I wove the selection of sayings for the Nordic and World Braids and Bands 2022 - the 5th International Conference on Braiding. Participants from around the world came to share their love of craft, take workshops and listen to lectures by prominent researchers in textiles - ancient and modern.

In honour of the occasion, I contacted people from the Nordic countries to find out their proverbs connected to weaving, thread and  practising a craft. This was fascinating and led to many interesting conversations. I had many to choose from but the red thread connecting them is learning about and sharing a love of craft.

 Den Röda Tråden  The Red Thread

I took the theme of The Red Thread for my piece. The Red Thread, a ubiquitous Nordic metaphor, describes the 'thread' running through something that gives it unity, coherence and meaning – the heart of the matter. It gives meaning to our life – and can weave together friends, communities, and stretch across nations - a collective heritage of many people or the ‘essence that links together the soul of the experience.’  

The red thread, den röda tråden is live, clear, powerful and connective - it is the single line, the spiralling of the soul, of experience, of memory and consistency in the voice of the message  - whether it is a conference, a dialogue, or a lesson. For an individual it can be their beliefs and motivation.

The shared love of craft and art is a red thread that brings people together. All the sayings are from different Nordic areas and are woven using a pick up technique using lettering that I designed. They are mounted on a piece of my handwoven cloth. The surrounding red woollen cord was made on a lucet. 

The border for each saying is in the colours of the national flag. The motifs at each end of the band were chosen to link to the particular country.   The sayings were woven using a pick up technique using lettering that I designed and are mounted on a piece of my handwoven cotton cloth.

Den röda tråden  - The Red Thread. by Susan J Foulkes

The eight proverbs from Nordic countries are connected by craft and learning. This handwoven piece links eight peoples through their shared love of craft exemplified by their proverbs. The spiralling red thread stretching out of the frame is the link to a wider community. 

The Sayings

  The Swedish saying is: Den röda tråden  - The red thread.

In Sweden the phrase, 'the red thread' is used as a metaphor to describe the 'thread' running through something or underpinning a lesson, conference or a dialogue that gives it unity and meaning. As one person has written 'The red thread is live, clear, powerful and connective.' The red thread seemed a suitable idea that underpinned the conference in Denmark bringing together crafts people from around the world with a common love of creating narrow wares. 

  The Icelandic saying is Að komast í álnir - To become rich. This is an old saying and refers to the trade in textiles from Iceland which was important for about 1,000 years. Originally, women did this weaving and as a result could bring wealth to their family. Only later did Guilds restrict their creative and productive capacity. 

 The Norwegian saying is: Øving gjør mester  -  Practice makes the master.  This is a reminder that gaining a skill takes time. 

   The saying from the Faroe Islands is: Altíð bagir illum barni okkurt.  A bad workman blames his tools. A craft is learned by an individual and failure or mistakes cannot be pinned on the tools that are used. 

  The saying from Greenland is: Uppertunut ajornartoqanngilaq.  Nothing is impossible for one who believes.

In Japan there is a similar saying which stresses the relationship between learning and skill 

'suki koso nomo no jozu nare

to love something is the best way to become skilled at it.

     The Danish saying is: Gennem livet går der en usynlig tråd. An invisible thread goes through one's life.  This lovely saying is attributed to Hans Christian Anderson and originated with Goethe. 

The Sami saying is: Vuosttaš maid meašttir dahká, lea oahppat. The first thing a master does is to learn.

   The Finnish saying is: Mestariksi tuleminen vaatii kaikkien virheiden tekemistä. To be a master you need to have made all the mistakes. 

The red thread around the sayings is a lucetted woollen cord. 

Denmark is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. I was thrilled that the conference was held near his birthplace museum, the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense, Denmark I loved his stories when I was a child. 

A few years ago I completed a course through Future Learn about his life and work. Unfortunately, the course has now been retired but it fired me with enthusiasm to revisit his stories and hopefully to go to Denmark. The conference gave me the opportunity to explore his life and work in Denmark.

 

The saying from Denmark is attributed to Hans Christian Andersen.

Each saying has a woven motif at either end. I chose the motifs to fit with the country of origin. Here is a close up of four of the sayings. 

I found motifs that appear on woven bands or other decoration of the countries concerned.  

The second band with the motif like a fish is a very common motif in Sweden.  The other motifs are all from items such as designs of belt buckles or woven patterns. 

The small item on the left is : Teresa Easton : Industry without Art is Brutality 

Enjoying the music and the art.

Andrew Livingstone: Future Archaeology, how will they tell?  and Emoji Fruit

Susan J Foulkes March 2024

Flax Spinning at the Durham Guild

 The Durham Guild of Spinners Weavers and Dyers meets every month. Our February meeting was a real treat.  I am not a spinner but the talk and demonstration was about  flax spinning. 

Cath Snape 

Our talk was from Cath Snape from the York Guild who became fascinated by flax spinning. She showed us some of her woven materials and different types of carded flax. She demonstrated how to wind carded flax onto a distaff. The traditional distaff was harder to fill, but the distaff made of a bound tree branch made winding on

 the carded flax seem easy.

winding flax onto a bound branch

First I must show you a recently restored double flax spinning wheel. This is a German 'double-flyer "wedding" wheel. This type of wheel was typically given to a bride as part of her trousseau and would have a name plate on the front. It is designed for two-handed spinning of flax. 

German 'double-flyer "wedding" wheel.

This wheel was bought by a wonderful Guild member who enjoys renovating old weaving and spinning equipment.  He has also built carders and plyers of his own design.  The Guild is enriched by his love of craft and his engineering skills. He had to mend and sometimes reconstruct broken or missing parts.  

dressed distaff

She demonstrated how to spin flax on a modern spinning wheel. However it was her demonstration of two handed flax spinning which was amazing. She told us about the history of this type of spinning and said that she was not an expert but her smooth action and the resulting linen thread was wonderful. She had her own double-flyer wheel. It must be quite unusual to have two such wheels in the same place. 

She had placed her carded flax onto a towel which she explained could be flopped over one shoulder for spinning. However, the flax could also be rolled up in the towel and placed on her lap.  Her dexterity was amazing. 

A truly inspiring talk.

Susan J Foulkes

February 2024

Bolivian weaving

 I was given a wonderful Christmas present from a friend in the USA. It is a ch'uspa made by a Bolivian weaver, Alicia Solis in Huancarani, Bolivia.

It was purchased from Dorinda Dutcher who was a Peace Corps worker in Bolivia.  She worked to assist spinners and weavers to support them towards becoming independent by arranging classes in spinning and dyeing. Dorinda has wound down her work and helped the weavers towards organising themselves to have full responsibility to determine what comes next. 

Here is a link to the work that the project accomplished. 

https://pazaboliviablog.com/author/dkdutcher/

On the web site there is a few short  documentaries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2_ugjuQHg

I searched the web site to see if Dona Alicia is mentioned. 

Here is a picture of her. It shows Doña Maxima Measuring Doña Alicia for a Pollera in Huancarani.  

As Dorinda writes on her web site.  'The weavings are a highly personal gift because the weavers weave a bit of their story into their work as they sit at their loom.'

Here are some pictures of the beautiful bag. 

The ch'uspa

Close up of the strap

Sides of the ch'uspa finished with tubular weave.

Close up of pattern in centre of ch'uspa

Close up of tubular weave pattern

This beautiful ch'uspa is my first example of traditional Bolivian weaving.  It is a perfect present for me. Thank you so much.

Susan J Foulkes    February 2024