Category Archives: Report

Yin Xiuzhen & Chiharu Shiota • Hayward Gallery

In a break from decorating and moving my studio I went with a friend to see these two exhibitions at the Hayward. Yin Xiuzhen’s ‘Heart to Heart’ work is varied and thought provoking, while Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Threads of Life‘ is a visual ‘showstopper’.

I was a bit put off by the the ‘soft sculpture cities’ installation at the beginning of the Yin Xiuzhen exhibition, (reminded me too much of the things we made for school Storysacks), but the rest of her exhibition was much more engaging, charting her life of observation, explained with different materials and mediums. The massive set of images of clothes she had worn over the years, the memories and stories surrounding each one, definitely resonated with me. I also loved the giant ceramic pieces with little bits of cloth and ephemera tucked inside the cracks. In the ‘town square’ room with scattered chairs and chattering audio, I spotted a little boy sitting on each chair in turn until finally settling on one near the door, saying “Just right” (like Goldilocks).

Chiharu Shiota‘s exhibition is visually absolutely stunning, so beautiful, I just didn’t want to leave!

Yin Xiuzhen: Heart to Heart & Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life. Hayward Gallery, Southbank, London. 31 March – 3 May 2026. The gallery has a really nice cafe and ‘dangerous’ shop full of lovely books and things.

Lelly Young artist and No22 Kite apron….

A few weeks ago I visited textile artist Lelly Young, and her dog Minnie, in her fabulous studio-with-a-view! She had ordered a black Canvas No22 ‘Kite’ apron, so I took a walk down to Deptford to drop it off… and she was kind enough to let me take some pictures of her wearing it.

Lelly makes fantastical creatures with cloth, her clients include Osborne & Little and John Lewis. Some of her work is on her Twitter account – and her breathtaking photography of the natural world, most of it taken in SE London, is on Instagram.

…Design Museum visit

Thought provoking visit to the Design Museum yesterday, the first time I’ve visited in it’s new location. It has a different feel to the old museum and is now free, the collection focusses harder on observations, challenges and practice of ‘good design’. I particularly liked the British road signage designed in the 1960’s. Plus there was a beautiful mini exhibition of alternative materials being developed to replace plastics eg seaweed (transparent disolvable film), bamboo, coconut, nettle…

…Knitting & Stitching Show 2019

Visited the annual Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace yesterday, the first time I’ve been on a weekday…it’s just as busy as a Saturday! Very noticeable this year how many more fabric stalls there were and also lots of small dressmaking pattern companies. There was more space given over to bookable workshops and also ‘artists-in-action’ demonstrations, but disappointed with this years textile art exhibtions. This year my Knitting & Stitching Show buddy wasn’t able to go – it’s no fun on your own, go with friends!

Orla Kiely – ‘A Life In Pattern’ Exhibition…

Yesterday I went, with my daughters, to the Fashion & Textile Museum, to see Orla Kiely “A Life In Pattern’. Really enjoyable exhibition, fun with fantastic attention to detail which is very much Orla’s design ‘DNA’. The gigantic frocks and the wall of bags were the most eye catching exhibits, but my favourite bit was the first room of installations with wonderful drawings and mood boards.

….a lovely way to spend an afternoon whilst my elder daughter awaited her finals results at 4pm…she passed and is now Dr Ruby! The cafe at the restaurant had very nice coffee, cake and food too!

trip to William Gee Haberdashers…

I’ve been meaning to visit William Gee haberdashery for ages. I made the trip to Dalston Junction on the Overground yesterday, with my friend Fran – thank goodness she came, I couldn’t possibly have carried both the rolls of dot & cross paper (very heavy) and manilla card by myself!

William Gee has a modern website full of fabulously useful stuff, so the antiquity of the shop interior was quite a surprise; with most of the stock behind the two long counters and you must ask the assistants for assistance!

Hockney Exhibition…

I went to the Hockney exhibition at Tate Britain on Monday! – A riot of colour on very large canvasses, I also loved the drawing, but actually his most recent ipad work was the most fascinating…. I’d also forgotten how amazing ‘A Bigger Splash’ is in real life!

I bought this book at the Tate because I’m very interested in artist sketchbooks.

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Knitting and Stitching Show 2016…

The much anticipated annual visit to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, on Saturday, with my friend Charlotte. We didn’t go crazy buying lots of things this year, mainly because we have so much from previous shows we haven’t used yet… but there was still a lot to take in. The exhibition by textile artist Sue Stone was a stand out. I wish I’d gone back and had a second look now because I’ve been thinking about it a lot since – the textures of the work and the humour.

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Visit to Rye….

Lovely trip to beautiful Rye yesterday, with friends and family – purchased indigo paisley block printed cotton from Merchant & Mills (to make a nightie I think) and visited the Rye Society of Artists Summer Exhibition at Rye Community Centre – where I bought these cards.. this is a peek inside my shopping bag.

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