Update December 2024
- sarahcooke80
- Dec 26, 2024
- 2 min read
As the New Year approaches, it's a good time to look back to all that happened in 2024, a very busy year, and to look forward to 2025.
2024 kicked off in March with the Living Threads Textile Group exhibition at the Nottingham Society of Arts Gallery in Friar Lane, titled 'Sea, Sky, Earth'. I was proud to show off several woven pictures and wall hangings, and my 'Collection of Sea Shells'- woven 3D sculptures, using waste materials.
May brought me to take part in the Lady Bay Arts Trail, and June saw the Notts Open Studios event, where I have pieces on display at West Bridgford Library and my house/studio open to the public for one weekend. I was very pleased to have the Sea Shells accepted to display at the National exhibition of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers in October, held at Hay Castle, Hay-on-Wye.
In between these events I've been busy teaching weaving and giving talks for local (and not so local) textile groups, and working on commissions. The Notts Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers is a valuable support network, and I've demonstrated weaving at several events, encouraging others to take up the craft.
My own work is always developing in new and unexpected directions. My trip to Guatemala early in 2023 inspired me to explore adding supplementary weft threads to a ground cloth, which resembles embroidery but it actually part of the weaving. Recently I have rediscovered Macrame, which I love, but then how can macrame be combined with weaving on a loom? After several experiments, I found a way of knotting around the warp threads, which I call 'Macra-Weave'. It's really fiddly tying all those knots, but I'm pleased with the result.
So what will 2025 bring? It kicks off with a Living Threads exhibition in January at the Arts Centre in Stamford, Lincolnshire. I've got several teaching events (see the page Learn to Weave in 2025 for details), and I'm looking forward to a trip to Bhutan in March, on a tour called 'Weavers' Trail', which will no doubt be very inspiring.
