more thinking hands

...........a short film by J.P.Flintoff about the event on Saturday.( I appear towards the end)

Thinking with your hands

image of my threads by Charles Saumarez Smith

  Yesterday I took part in an event at the Art Workers' Guild in London which focused on the 'reciprocal illumination' that can be had between skilled craftspeople and surgeons.It was a big event as all the invited guests were from major institutions or studios either from the arts ,science and education. We demonstrated our work and compared how it is that we work in such a similar way and yet on very different things.Discussions were held between ourselves and those we had invited  so that we could all share and get an understanding of how important hand skills are to humans and our society.
    If you are reading this you probably share our dismay at the decline of craft skills and the slow dismantling of our arts education. (petition link to stop this)We talked about how important the zen state of mind is when working and how making objects for ourselves connects us to the world around us.Some talked about 'intelligence of touch'and 'thinking with your fingers'  whilst others discussed the idea that  previous knowledge of sewing can enhance a surgeons initial learning.The mind was a common subject and although some are uncomfortable with talking about an inner self most would agree that the ability to concentrate and mental discipline were a form of 'mind yoga'.
   I'm sure that the discussions are still going on and this can only be a good thing.(the first review here) If you would like to join in too there is a public event coming up soon, please see my previous post.

The Craft of Medicine

The Craft of Medicine at The Art Workers’ Guild

What do magic and medicine have in common?

How can understanding puppetry skills change how doctors learn?

What skills do a lace-maker and a surgeon share?

( that would be me)

Come and find out as we explore the mastery of skill-learning

in medicine and the arts, and the overlaps between

different craft specialities and healthcare.

Join us for any, or all, of our series of discussion evenings:

Monday 29th of February: Magic & Medicine

Tuesday 22nd of March: Puppetry &Medicine

Tuesday 26th of April: Threads &Medicine

Registration and refreshments from 18.30

Discussion from 19.00 until 21.00 (including a short break)

All events will be at the Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT

Nearest tube stations Russell Square or Holborn

Places are free but limited, and must be reserved.

Please RSVP to laura.coates11@imperial.ac.uk

Diabetic lace

you are cordially invited to the opening of an exhibition

Tales of Diabetes

&

Stories of Teeth

by

East London Textile Arts

Monday March 14

6 - 9 pm

at

The Art Workers Guild

6 Queen Square

London WC1N 3AT

Exhibition will be open to the public

Tuesday 15th, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th March

10 - 5 pm

I will be showing needlelace inspired by macrocellular photography of beta cell destruction during diabetes!!( it's still not finished!)

Art Workers Guild

 This is a picture of the hall at the Art Workers Guild of which I am a member, or brother as we are known to each other !!! Under the busts at the top of the picture runs a name board with everyone's name from the start over one hundred years ago, my name is up there too! (William Morris is the man in the middle). This Friday we are opening our doors to the public as part of London Craft Week and I will be demonstrating...probably part of a big piece that I'm working on at the moment...

Thread Management Deja Vu

 A bit of a problem with the last post about this film so here it is again, all shipshape! It is a lovely little film about the work I have been doing with Professor Roger Kneebone and his team and documents what happens when surgeons talk to lacemakers, embroiderers, knitters, puppeteers, fly fishermen and computer modellers. The film is by Smart Docs .

( if you can't see it here, see it here !)

Auction

   This needlelace piece will be up for auction at the Art Workers' Guild soon. It is a wired edge feather, coiled around to form a choker style neck piece. I have worked it in various shades of silk and rayon, the edge being beaded. The fastening at the back is a simple drop chain with a green glass bead as the weight.

    All the auction details can be found on the flyer below or here at the Guild website. Our most illustrious member was of course William Morris but also Arthur Rackham, J.W. Waterhouse and Edward Burne Jones amongst many other remarkable artists and crafts people. We believe in art for all and that art is good for you !!!! Today we have master practitioners from every field of the arts and crafts movement plus surgery and engineering.

   Here is our new Tumblr site.

Art is Unity

'just got back from a trip to Cumbria with the Art Workers' Guild. We had been invited up by Grizedale Arts to be involved with their long running community project with the Conniston Institute. There was little in the way of a brief as it was a 'go see' kind of mission but never the less, being artists, we did stuff ! The public were invited to come and learn or just observe the various master crafts people there and many did ! I teamed up with Rachael Matthews of PYF and we decided that various aspects of the institute needed attention. The Ruskin museum is situated at the back of the main hall and there is a large collection of Ruskin lace in it. It was developed as a form of income for local people and combines drawn thread work with needlelace techniques. We took the idea and started developing some ways of making lace that could be printed with . Rachael had a huge roll of jute with her and we made various pieces to explore simple ways to improve the floor and chairs !The above photo shows how I turned a chair into a loom and then made a strip of needlelace on it . This was then wrapped around a roll of masking tape and made into a printing roller by Daniel Heath , another member of the team.

The complete story can be found on the Guilds' Tumblr