I am about to embark on a new project. It’s exciting. It’s a little scary. It’s funded by Arts Council England – yay, and I will be writing more about this soon. However, before I start the new project there are ideas for a work that have been rattling around my thoughts for some time. The ideas won’t go away and the urge to make has been getting stronger. I have to exorcise this work from my thoughts before embarking on anything new. The origins of the word ‘lace’ have been

This week I have been concentrating on making work for the Art Language Location Festival, taking place in Cambridge in October. My work, entitled ‘Embroider the Truth’ will be located at the Museum of Cambridge, in their tea room and will be composed of a series of lace doilies designed out of words from Clarice’s diary that reference tea. The first design is completed and the paper doilies made. I have almost finished the embroidered version too but this process takes a lon

Over the years I have come to realise that a common thread that runs through my work is contrast, contradiction and perhaps the more obvious one of conflict. Sometimes this might be just relevant to the initial catalyst that sparks a new work; words, a contrasting thought or opinion and sometimes it becomes a part of the work itself, in the thought processes and development, the materials used or the final outcome. Over the past year I have been experimenting with lead. The d

Two weeks have now passed since The Silence of Knitting and I have been putting off writing my thoughts about the event. Putting it off because it has thrown up so many questions that I have found it difficult to focus on what I really think or want to say. So here are my initial thoughts, there will be more at some point. Initial reflections on Silence of Knitting The Silence of Knitting originated as an event for Margate but when I put the call out for people to take part i

The Silence of Knitting Mon 11th Nov 11am Galerie Newark Nottinghamshire Lace placed at the site of Ransome and Marles munitions factory in Newark which was bombed killing 41 people during WW2, the date of which was thereafter named ‘Newark’s Blackest Day’. Performed by  Elaine Winter and friends who have given me permission to share their thoughts about taking part in The silence of Knitting Yesterday was really moving as we learnt a lot about the town we live in and for me

The Silence of Knitting Mon 11th Nov 11am A shelter Ticehurst East Sussex Performed by Sharon Hall Shipp Photographs and film by Richard Shipp Sharon has given me permission to share her thoughts about taking part in The Silence of Knitting Big day yesterday and also the few days working up to it. Plenty of things going through my head! Despite the recce the day before, I was quite anxious about doing it, no second takes and all that, and I hate to be photographed/videod LOL.

On Mon 11th Nov at 11am people will be joining together in a common task, that of knitting in silence a piece of shamrock lace using white wool. In Margate, Ticehurst, Newark, Liverpool, Calais and Sydney  – silent knitting The pattern for the lace comes from the archive of WW1 VAD Nurse Clarice Spratling. This pattern, handwritten in her notebook dated 1908 is one amongst several others but seemed the most appropriate to use. The symbol of a four leaf clover has been seen a

With only one week to go until Silent Cacophony and my event The Silence of Knitting there are still people getting in touch to take part. The latest is a local school and although there is very little time to organise this I am hoping we can find a way for the pupils to take part. This may mean that they create their own event, in school. Today I collect the posters and flyers from the printer and will be distributing them around Thanet. If anyone would like some please get

A few months ago I was invited to take part in a project called Silent Cacophony. This project, conceived and organised by Platform-7 will see a series of live performance events, across London and beyond, exploring silence during war and conflict. Clarice’s archive is a constant source of inspiration and this project offered a great opportunity to use the archive in a different way. Clarice’s archive is a silent one, yet it speaks so loudly and I have often had to find the m