Tag: here we are

Here We Are at Little Ox and Giveaway

11 March, 2014 / Katy / 0 Comments

The Here We Are show opened at Little Ox Gallery on Friday, 28th February and I thought you would like a little peek!

Due to a technical hitch, my piece didn’t make up for the opening, so I popped in on Saturday for a look around and a chance to take some photos.

Derek, the owner of the gallery, said that he had expected about half of the people who had collected maps to bring back finished pieces, but in the end everyone who took a map made a piece!

There was a definite split between pieces that interacted directly with the map and those that were more obliquely connected. Overall, I prefer art with a meaning I can parse with the information I have to hand, so I was drawn to those which seemed the most map-y. I haven’t photographed everything or even all of my favourites, so if you’re nearby do pop in for a look!

My piece, ‘Blue Plaques – 297 unremarkable lives’ drew heavily on the Malcolm Bull’s Calderdale Companion; an amazing website which catalogues a vast quanitity of historical data from a variety of sources. I literally worked my way down one street and up the next, finding births, marriages, scandals, bankruptcies and murders along the way.

I traced the removals of families, businesses and schools and kept track of the number of people directly affected (as best I could guess if there wasn’t concrete information). The text mimics the Blue Plaques erected in London and other British cities to commemorate famous residents and their deeds. In a further nod to the industries of the area, 297 steel beads were stitched into the distance markings around the edge of the map. You can see more detailed photos of the work in progress in this post and this one.

I have two unused maps which I’d like to send out into the world and see what you can create. If you’d like to have a chance to win one, leave me a comment with your very first idea about what you’d like to use them for (painting, origami, headgear, anything) and I’ll draw two winners at random on Monday 17th March. When you’ve finished your project (even if it bears no resemblance to what you originally thought you would do), I’d love to post a photo of it.

Good luck!

At Sixes and Sevens

27 February, 2014 / Katy / 2 Comments

I’m feeling a wee bit fuddled this week and I can’t seem to focus on anything much. Among other things, we have a flat-pack kitchen and appliances in boxes in our dining room in preparation for what I’m calling Takeaway Week.

I spent the end of last week and the weekend desperately embroidering my piece for the ‘Here We Are’ show at Little Ox Gallery. It was a proper BBC costume drama box set, internet-free marathon with breaks only for the taking on and jettisoning of cups of tea and Pilates breaks in order to counteract chronic embroidery flexion*.

Monday morning I sprang out of bed (…ok, more like a slow motion tumble) and prepared to face the week getting organised for Saturday’s Morningside Maker’s Market. But the Pilates batphone rang and I raced off to teach an extra class.

My conscientious side said ‘Never mind, I can always write a blog post this evening.’ But the rest of my brain apparently over-ruled that in favour of reading a Victorian novel** cover-to-cover. (I try not to read, especially when I have other things to do – like brushing my teeth or sleeping).

But I’m back on track now (I’ve finished the book and resisted the temptation to start it again) so if you’re in Edinburgh I’d love to see you on Friday evening at the Little Ox Gallery in Candlemaker Row and Saturday at the Columcille Centre! All details in this handy calendar.

*neckache

**Oh dear, I’m slipping. I couldn’t work out what sparked my great urge to watch and read North and South. Until I wrote this post and realised that when embroidering the comings and goings in a Northern mill town you pretty much can’t read anything else.

Paper and Stitch

21 February, 2014 / Katy / 1 Comment

Remind me, when I next ask you, that detailed embroidery on paper is a bit of a pain.

There’s one week until the opening of Here We Are at the Little Ox Gallery and so I’m stitching as fast as my hands can go.

Luckily, I’ve got some company (as long as I’m not blocking the sunshine.)

Here we are – Exhibition

11 February, 2014 / Katy / 2 Comments

I’m going to be taking part in an exhibition on the 28th February at the Little Ox Gallery in Candlemaker Row.

There will be a group of us who have all received old survey maps which were found in a plan chest when it arrived at the gallery.

I’m quite excited about the opportunity to get involved in a group show, although I’m a little behind where I wanted to be at this point!

Updates will appear as they occur…