Fairfield Mill

On our second holiday to Sedbergh in Yorkshire, a lovely little village, we stayed just outside in a house called Oakdene. A former B&B the Victorian house originally belonged to a mill owner, presumably the owner of Fairfield Mill which was a 5 minute walk down the road.

Fairfield Mill is now an arts and heritage centre, which includes about 3 floors of some amazing craftwork and hosts loads of working artist studios including people practising traditional weaving techniques. I was of course in my element, there was some really beautiful stuff, it was a real find. Below are a small selection of some of my favourites. I've tried to give credit/link to artists websites where possible. I can't wait to inspire my A-Level students with some of this work.

This was in a display of work by some students at the University of Cumbria. This wool piece, by Elizabeth Birch, really caught my eye. I've experimented with heat forming synthetic fabrics before, but not tried it in wool and now can't wait to give it a try. It gives some really exciting texture, especially with the changing colours.

 One floor played host to lots of different styles of spinning wheels and looms, and artists were in residence working on these. It's something I'd love to have a go at but am pretty sure it involves a lot of patience and precision which isn't my strong point.

 There were quite a few wool and felted pieces due to the mill producing woollen products up until the 1990s. This piece by Abigail's Attic reminded me of clay beads, as well as some felted sushi a friend of mine made at college! A really unique way of using wool to make jewellery!

 This was one of my favourite pieces, I loved how delicate it was and the great way of combining fabric, papers and wire to create 3D structures. The artist had made a whole collection of items including teacups and spoons. This was by Priscilla Jones, whose website you can find here.

 Another favourite - so many things I loved!! I've experimented with silk painting before so I know how difficult and fiddly it is! This was just beautiful, I would love to have this one my wall. My photos don't do any justice to the colours, but the image of a spiderweb was really striking. Can't find a website for her but there is a little further information here.

It took me a long way to drag myself away from these pieces by Mary Taylor. The artist combines various fabrics, layering them up, embroidering into them and burning away to reveal different layers creating beautiful representations of Cumbrian landscapes. Due to the inclusion of synthetic fabrics and metallic threads these pieces catch the light beautifully.

Summertime

Well this summer has certainly been eventful, which might account for it speeding by so quickly! I had 8 weeks off from school and work...and I can't believe that I start my first proper, actual career-related job tomorrow as a Textiles teacher.

I spent a couple of weeks at the beginning of summer at school, one induction week at my new school which I love so far!, and taught a Summer school on Photoshop designed t-shirts at one of the placement schools I was at during my PGCE.

Then we moved into a bigger flat, just down the road but with a lot more room and it feels much less studenty! Still working on getting things just right but pretty happy so far!



 Best part of the summer - for my birthday Jimmy surprised me with 5 nights in Monaco! Amazing, especially as I thought he was taking me to Harry Potter world! We came home on Friday night, then headed to Yorkshire the next morning for a second holiday with Jimmy's family in a big old house in the middle of the country. More on that later when I get hold of some photos,  but for now here's some visual loveliness from Monaco!

We spent one evening after dinner wandering around the harbour looking at all the MASSIVE yachts. Some even had door mats outside, as well as beds and hot tubs on the deck. Pretty amazing.

In Casino square, just behind the fountain is the Grand Casino. At night this filled up with dozens of supercars, and we spent several evenings joining the throngs of people just standing around watching the Ferraris and Bugattis roll up and their owners to step out and throw their keys at the nearest valet!

Monaco was a great experience. It was wonderful to spend 5 days in the sun, getting thoroughly burnt, and a real eye opener as to how much money some people have to throw around. The yachts and supercars were amazing to look at, but I'm pretty happy with our one-bed in London!