max & meabh collaborate

He designed it, I wove it. I think he likes it!

season's greetings

Season's greetings to everyone and a happy, healthy, productive 2008.

Cake

The extent of my creativity recently has been three Christmas cakes and quantities of apple chutney and onion jam! I do have one commission to do before Christmas though....


...the artist is my 8 year old son who last Christmas asked for a tapestry. I didn't want to give him any old thing and what with one thing and another it didn't happen. I asked him if he still wanted one and if so what did he think to me weaving one of his drawings? We agreed that I would choose which one so that it would be a surprise. This will translate into tapestry very well I think although I'm going to weave the colour flatter. I'm as much of a masochist as the next tapestry weaver but there is only a fortnight till Christmas after all!

Artists Open Houses

This weekend is the second weekend of the Brighton Artists Open Houses. Over 400 hundred artists are exhibiting in over 60 houses showing painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, glass, jewellery, photography, textiles....everything in fact! Many of the houses and studios will be offering tea, mulled wine and cake. What a great way to see art and do some Christmas shopping away from the madness of the high street. You can download a list of all the participants here plus you'll find links to many of the artists and makers own websites.

back from brighton

I'm back home after a busy few days in Brighton. I've been quiet until now as I managed to catch (and then bring home and share) a particularly nasty tummy bug on the last day of the fair. Until that all was going well... Jon, Annemarie and Sarah deserve thanks and credit for their superb and friendly organisation as do the staff at the Dome.
It was nice to meet up with old friends and as always after 3 intense days with your exhibiting 'neighbours' you make new ones. I was opposite Stephanie Ray who makes elegant silver and bamboo jewellery and round the corner from Deva Priya who uses stunning precious and semi precious stones in silver and gold settings. Also just around the corner was Harriet Appleby and her felt hats, scarves and wraps.
It is the law that you treat yourself to something each time you exhibit and my present to myself this time is a belt from Melissa Simpson - couldn't run to a bag unfortunately...

I've been trying but failing to update my website to show which pieces are available for sale. The revised pages just won't upload so on the tapestries page Stripey Fade; Spotty Fade#1; Spotty Fade #2; Circle:Fade; Cross#2 and Circle#2 are available. I can send them framed or unframed (but mounted) and unframed prices range from £120/$246/€168 to £300/$617/€420 plus postage. Please email me at meabh@cantlop.com if you are interested and I can give you more details.

(edit - the website is updated now)

nowhere to sit...

Places to sit are running out round here as I get ready to set off on Tuesday!

The new copy of Selvedge arrived the other day and I see William Jeffries will be running a tapestry course at Morley College on Wednesday mornings from January 9th. There is very little of his work to see online but he is an interesting maker, always pushing tapestry's limits.

Last one (almost)

Another piece finished and one final pre-Brighton one started. It's hard to stop sometimes......just one more and one very little one and.....
Have a look at Jilly Edwards tapestries here. She has opened a textile gallery at her home in Exeter where I hope to be exhibiting this Spring.