stitching together - craft...

Stitching Together

A project with British textile artist Alice Kettle

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Farnham Maltings is one of 40 arts centres from across the UK which are participating in the 25th anniversary of the National Lottery.

The Maltings is working with Alice Kettle to make a huge textile artwork. Alice is a textile artist who has lived and worked locally. She currently works at Manchester School of Art.

You can see Alice’s work on her website www.alicekettle.co.uk.

This piece ‘Odyssey’ is in Southampton City Art Gallery.

Alice has done many projects with the community using stitch as a way of working together.

‘Ground’ 8m x 3m, for Thread Bearing Witness project. Alice stitched the drawings which were given to her by participants in the project.

‘Stitch A Tree Karachi’4,500 trees stitched by groups in Karachi, Pakistan.

‘Stitch a Tree UK’6,000 trees stitched by groups from all over the world.

‘Stitching Together’, Farnham

Alice has designed this background. The finished artwork will be 10.5 meters wide x 2 meters high.

The textile work will hang in the Great Hall at the Maltings.This space is used as a theatre and for many other fairs and events.

The textile work will look something like this.

This is how it will work:

1. Alice designs the background.

2. Alice prints the design onto cloth.

We will print it in separate sections, like this.

3. Schools will draw images that will be stitched up by groups and will go onto the background.

These images were drawn by refugees for the ‘Thread Bearing Witness’ project.

4. The drawings by schools will be given to local groups who will interpret them in stitch onto pieces of fabric. These will be attached to the background cloth. The drawings may change a little through this process, but we will keep them as near to the original as we can.

These are some stitched patches and images for the ‘Thread Bearing Witness’ project.

The Background FabricAlice’s design uses bright colours to represent the landscape and town of Farnham.The town map of Farnham looks a little like a flower head, with the A31 like a stem.

Colours and shapes taken from maps

The South Downs

The River Wye

The A31A map of Farnham showing neighbourhoods

The artwork shows how the town and its people are connected to the landscape and how it is linked to the past and the future.

Primary schools:

Look at the flora and fauna that you can find in your garden and collect some specimens to draw from or look online for inspiration about Farnham and its local landscape.

Do your drawings on size A4 sheets.Use up to 3 colours.Don’t make your drawings too complicated.

Secondary Schools

Draw symbols and images of contemporary life.It may be graffiti, signs, people, food or anything else.Take photos on your mobile phone and use as reference for drawings.

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Grayson Perry

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Tilleke Scharz, this is stitch

Examples of some drawings.byartists whose work you may know. These examples are just to give ideas of the kind of drawings that can be translated into stitch.

Do your drawings on size A4 sheets.Use up to 3 colours.Don’t make your drawings too complicated.Lines are easier to stitch than too much tone.

Your drawing will be used by the stitching groups. They will interpret your drawings into stitch. You may find they change some of the imagery and the colours. They may choose certain parts to stitch up.

Do sign your drawing.

They will be given to Alice and photographed and kept for display later. We will show them on our website and photos of your drawings will be given to the groups who will stitch them onto pieces of fabric which will then be joined onto the background.

You will be invited to come and celebrate the finished work.

Thank you!

craft.farnhammaltings.com/stitching-together

Contact: allison.thistlewood@farnhammaltings.com