Making Space Christmas Fair

Tomorrow I'm off to set up my pitch at the Making Space Christmas Fair.  Come along and grab yourself some quality hand crafted gifts for your loved ones.  Open Saturday 3 December 11am til 4pm and Sunday 4 December 12pm til 4pm.

Another photoshoot by the water!

First of all may I say a massive thank you to everyone who dropped into my Open House last Saturday, we had a steady stream of visitors all day and made some great sales as well as enjoying catching up with everyone and indulging in a little mulled wine.  Massive thanks again to you all.

This is definitely the silly season and I've been non stop with shows.  I returned from MADE at the Brighton Corn Exchange last week, exhausted having worked 16 hour days but very content with how it all went, met some fabulous people, both customers and makers and it was lovely to catch up with a few of my previous customers from last year's show.  The feedback for my scarves was fabulous, everyone seemed so happy with their purchases and I'm so pleased that my products have become really treasured items for them.  Despite the fact that times are a little hard at the moment, my sales were good and it is always a pleasure to talk and inform people about my design ethic and making.  I hope that I will have the opportunity to return next year to this amazing show.  I even treated myself to a little something, A SCARF would you believe!  Take a moment to look the following links of my fellow exhibitors, you are all brilliant and it was a real pleasure to meet you all and hope that our paths cross in the future.

Sarah Warsop Jewellery
Claire Armitage Textiles (I've got one, lucky me!!!)
Corinne Carr Knitwear

Following a very busy few days I decided to take a couple of hours out to clear my head.  I've been out and about with my camera again and been snapping away at all the lovely things that inspire me and my work and am quite pleased with the results......again, so wanted to share them with you.  Check out the link here to my Flickr account to see the full set of pictures.

Tracy Evans Textiles: New gift ideas

Tracy Evans Textiles: New gift ideas: Over the past few weeks I've been keeping myself busy making new products from my hand woven fabrics, and a selection is now available in t...

New gift ideas

Over the past few weeks I've been keeping myself busy making new products from my hand woven fabrics, and a selection is now available in the gifts section of my website shop.  If you're looking for inspiration for Christmas why not take a peek, there's a variety of gift ideas with a good range of prices to suit every pocket.  Finally, after months of searching for the right product I've managed to make some cuff links by combining acrylic resin and my fabrics.  The cuff links have a sterling silver plated stem and feature a tiny piece of hand woven fabric suspended in the resin.  

They are both decorative and durable, which is really important as your cuffs get lots of use during the day, especially if you work at a desk.  Each pair is presented in a little gift box and make a lovely gift for men and women, especially with this season's androgynous fashion trend on the catwalks.  It's definitely all about the tailoring and these little gems can easily bring a bit of sparkle and colour to a simple white shirt.  They have the appearance of glass without the weight so you won't feel like you've been doing a work out at the gym all day!

Next are my little notebooks with hand woven covers. I've been making and selling these for a few months now and generally only put them out at shows as they go quickly. The covers are made of fine lambs wool and cotton and woven in a classic stripe combination, the colour ways change dependent on my mood so I rarely weave the same colour story twice. Being a typical Gemini, I get bored easily so like to keep it fresh. The notebooks are standard A6 books which can be bought in any good stationers, such as Staples or Smiths so, when you've finished the book you can just slip the cover off the old one and pop it onto the new one. This gift just goes on and on until you get bored with the colour, then you can always pop back to my shop and buy another!

Lastly are my hot water bottles, a classic hot water bottle sitting in a lovely hand woven cover which is lined in fleece and fastened around the neck with a little ribbon.  I must admit, I really like these and am tempted to keep one for myself but I've only made four and they were time consuming.  Not only was the fabric quite a complicated structure and, it was almost a metre wide, took me ages to thread up on the loom, it also required me to use all 16 of the shafts on my loom, something I haven't done for ages, so my right leg was definitely getting a good work out during the weaving.  Just to add insult to injury it shrunk up to almost half it's width after washing so, needless to say, I was getting a little frustrated by the end of it, but I think the effort was worth it.  They are really soft and I can image snuggling up with one on a cold winter's night and feeling very warm and toasty.

All of these products and more are available on my website while stocks last and I am continuing to offer free postage and packing on all purchases (UK only).  If you like what you see but I don't have it in your colour, I am happy to take commissions but please give me as much notice as possible if you need it by Christmas.

Tracy Evans Textiles: Beautiful Bosham

Tracy Evans Textiles: Beautiful Bosham: I've been out and about with my camera getting to grips with learning how to use it properly and am quite impressed with my shots of the wa...

Beautiful Bosham

I've been out and about with my camera getting to grips with learning how to use it properly and am quite impressed with my shots of the waters at Bosham (even if I say so myself), so I thought I'd share them.  

This little place is a bit of a gem on the south coast, not far from Chichester, it's small but perfectly formed.  It served as a welcome break from my loom, which has been misbehaving due to constant use of late.  Well that's not completely true we managed to grab a sneaky break to France last week!  I'm busy getting ready for MADE at the Brighton Corn Exchange which runs from 18th to 20th November, I'll be posting details very soon but check out the link to see who else will be there.  

Six in the City!

I've been meaning to blog this all week but wanted to wait until I'd got a few photos before so I could show you what we're up to.  Since last Monday (17th), I've been exhibiting at the Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester with 5 of my arty friends.  We've all known each other since meeting at the Festival of Art in Southsea in 2007 where we formed a small artist network and have been working together on projects ever since.  This is our third visit to Chichester as a group, the last one being in 2009, but our group has been somewhat depleted since then and we are now an all female bunch.....girl power!  I love the Oxmarket, it is such a beautiful old building and the light in the galleries is just amazing.  It boasts the John Rank gallery, a large exhibition space which is currently being occupied by the West Sussex Art Society, the small Wilson gallery where we are and also space within the lobby and foyer, also being taken by us at the moment.  My products and artwork are on display in the lobby, it's a really intimate space and I'm really pleased with how it looks.

So far I've been successful with a few scarf sales but it's really nice to have some of my artwork on display for a change, a first for me.  My little hand loom is also there to hopefully put the craft into perspective.  I only use it for demonstrations, I don't actually use it to weave scarves, it would  take forever.  I've also got a couple of lampshades hanging in the Wilson Gallery alongside Chantelle Cheshire's hand drawn cushions and a hand embroidered lampshade (a work in progress).

 

Chantelle likes to use recycled and alternatives such as bamboo and hemp to create products like lavender bags, dolls and cushions which she screen prints with her quirky designs and doodles.  She takes her inspiration from many things but especially old children's books.  

Some of Chantelle's screen printed lavender bags

Also in the Wilson gallery you will find ceramic artist Rose Bates' collection of chrystaline and raku glazed ceramics, pit fired pots and garden poppy heads and urchins.  Rose has a passion for colour and an interest in both human form and animals.

Rose's pit fired pot

Rose's  raku glazed torso

Rose's garden poppy heads

More of Rose's raku work

Samm Mackinnon specialises in marine scenes, painting with acrylic she works from photographs, sketches and her own extensive archive of images.  Samm's work is visually stimulating, evocative and colourful.

Samm's paintings

In the window of the foyer is the work of Katherine Webber, a Southsea based jeweller who uses semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls, glass, sterling silver and gold vermeil beads to create distinctive styles from  the subtle and delicate to the bold and dramatic.  

Katherine's semi-precious jewellery

Our last exhibitor is Di Wren,  working in ceramics, printmaking and mosaics Di is exhibiting artwork in foyer and three dimensional work in the Wilson gallery.  She is inspired by twentieth century artists such as Matisse and Picasso and she also has a taste for the gothic.   

Di's raku glazed fish

The exhibition continues until Saturday 29 October 2011.  Opening times are 10am - 4pm and admission is free.  Hope you get the opportunity to come and see it.  If you do make it to Chichester pop along to Pretty Scruffy on Cooper Street, a lovely little shop selling only hand crafted goods, where you will find a few more of my scarves for sale.

Tracy Evans Textiles: Look what I made!!!

Tracy Evans Textiles: Look what I made!!!: Over the last 6 weeks I've been neglecting my work in favour of a new craze.....copper foiling! My friend Mandy asked me if I fancied doin...

Look what I made!!!

Over the last 6 weeks I've been neglecting my work in favour of a new craze.....copper foiling!  My friend Mandy asked me if I fancied doing a 6 week evening class at our local gallery and, using it as an excuse to escape my loom, I eagerly accepted.  I had no idea what copper foiling was so went along thinking that it was something like using gold leaf on things......WRONG!  It's stained glass, am I the only person in the world who had never heard of it?  Well, what a joy, it felt so good to do something other than textiles, a completely different medium.  Of course the designer in me wanted to experiment with the most complicated design but I think I pulled it off in the end.  What do you think?

It's now hanging up at my sitting room window for the world to see.  Not bad for a first attempt I guess.  I'd like to be hooked on this new craft but I just don't have the time at the moment.  Here's a few images of the rest of the projects being made by the course.

This is Mandy's flower in progress.  I just love the way that the swirls in the glass are being used to show the movement of the wind.  Hopefully she'll have a chance to finish it as she wasn't a well bunny for a couple of the sessions.

Julia's Angel

Pete's Mondrian inspired clock

A variety of evening and daytime courses are available at Gallery 77 Lee on Solent.

Tracy Evans Textiles: New for Autumn Winter 2011/12 - Menswear collectio...

Tracy Evans Textiles: New for Autumn Winter 2011/12 - Menswear collectio...: Gosh, it's been such a long time since I blogged. Time has been whizzing by at a crazy pace and I can't believe that the big 'C' word will ...

New for Autumn Winter 2011/12 - Menswear collection

Gosh, it's been such a long time since I blogged.  Time has been whizzing by at a crazy pace and I can't believe that the big 'C' word will soon be upon us.  So this year I decided that it was time to treat the men in our lives to a little something for the season and have developed a new range of hand woven scarves to keep them all warm in the forthcoming winter.  The range is called Prep Stripe, and is made of 100% pure fine cotton and is machine washable.  The design is based on classic two tone stripes but in funky bright colours to cast away the winter blues, they are beautifully soft to touch and really warm without being bulky,something I know men will welcome.  All are presented in a gift box and, if you buy from my website, the postage and packing is FREE.

Come and visit us!

Hampshire Open Studios http://www.hampshireopenstudios.co.uk/ starts today and we are joining in all the fun of the trail and opening up the weave studio for viewing and the chance to bag some bargains at the same time.  I have enlisted the talents of 6 of my creative friends who have joined me at my home with their lovely artworks, so do come and visit.  We are open from 10am to 5pm from 20th to 29th August (closed on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd).  As well as my hand woven products there is jewellery by Katherine Webber http://118400205415889676.weebly.com/index.html made from semi precious stones, ceramics by Rose Bates, a mix of raku and crystalline glazed work as well as garden urchins and poppies (they're fab, I own a few myself!), felted and embroidered textiles by Alison Reynolds printed textiles and art work by Chantelle Cheshire, jewellery by Tracey Lodge, hand carved silver pieces,  and ceramic based artwork by Christian Dakin Brown http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/littleloveart.

Why not make a day or two of it and plan your route to take in all the Open Studios in the area.  We would love to see you.

A lovely day in Winchester!

Well I survived my first day at the Winchester Art Market without too many scratches!  What a lovely day, the sun was shining (well on and off), there were lots of people to talk to and, of course I shared my stall with my old friend and fellow weaver beaver Bethany Athill.  It was so nice to have someone to work with for the day, I'm so used to spending time alone in my little bubble, it can be very isolating, so it was great to bounce ideas and thoughts around with someone of like mind.  Sales were pleasantly surprising, there was loads of interest in our craft and I'm definitely going to make it a regular event for my selling calender.  There is lots to see there, makers from all sorts of disciplines from fine art, textiles, glass, ceramics, photography to vintage stalls selling fabulous old bits and bobs for house and garden.  It never ceases to amaze me the wealth of talent a showcase like this reveals.....where do they all come from?!  And it's such a nice atmosphere, everyone on a level playing field from the offset, no need for comparisons and all that competitive stuff.....yuk!  Just an appreciation for what we've all learnt and how we use it.  Next one is on 17th July, make sure you put it in the diary!!!

Winchester Art Market

Tomorrow I'm going to dip my toe in the water at Winchester's Art and Design market, which is held every 3rd Sunday of the month in Middle Brook Street and up the High Street.  I'll be in Middle Brook Street, by Iceland, so if you  get a chance, pop down and say hello.  It runs from 10 til 4, and there is an opportunity to view and buy lots of lovely hand made goodies direct from the makers and artists.  PLEASE let the weather be good, the forecast is for a reasonably dry day and I just hope that it isn't a repeat of last Sunday.  I was down the seafront at Lee on Solent as part of Lee's Big Day Out and was invited by owner of Gallery 77 (High Street, Lee on the Solent) Jane Tucker, to come down with my little hand loom and do a little weaving demonstration for the crowds.  Unfortunately, the rain started heavy and proceeded to pour in stair rods for the day, and that, together with a Force 9 wind from the sea, helped to make the event a complete washout!  Don't you just love the British weather?!

Nevermind, tomorrow will be lovely I'm sure.........hope to see you there! : )

http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/site/whats-on/art-and-design-market-in-winchester-p647371

Tracy Evans Textiles: Now available at...........

Tracy Evans Textiles: Now available at...........: "I'm happy to announce that two more shops are stocking a small range of my hand woven scarves. Tricot Designs , 1 Castle Mews, Tarrant S..."

Now available at...........

I'm happy to announce that two more shops are stocking a small range of my hand woven scarves.


Tricot Designs, 1 Castle Mews, Tarrant St, Arundel, West Sussex (Tel 01903 885298).


Tricot Too, 6 Dragon Street, Petersfield GU31 4JD, (Tel 01730 231 218) 

Here's a photo of one of my Spring Summer scarves in the window display in the Petersfield shop.  

Tracy Evans Textiles: Square Tower Arts in Old Portsmouth

Tracy Evans Textiles: Square Tower Arts in Old Portsmouth: "On 22 May our Southsea Art and Design group and a few other artists/makers tested the water with our first Sunday market at the Square Towe..."

Square Tower Arts in Old Portsmouth

On 22 May our Southsea Art and Design group and a few other artists/makers tested the water with our first Sunday market at the Square Tower, in Old Portsmouth.  Built in 1494 during the reign of Henry VII, the Square Tower was designed as part of the fortifications to protect the Naval Port.  The tower is now being given a new lease of life providing a great setting for art exhibitions and workshops.  It is a beautiful space, with domed ceilings and original brickwork, and there is something very special about the light.  There are two floors with access for disabled on the upper level.  The tower also has a very quaint vintage tea room, with a massive selection of teas and coffees served in delicate vintage china, and of course lots of very naughty but nice home made cakes, which one was obliged to indulge in......


There was a variety of media to see and buy including jewellery, textiles, ceramics, fine art and photography giving a good mix and plenty of interest for all the visitors.  I took along my little hand loom which I've recently acquired for demonstrations (thanks to Ebay and a few replacement parts), and was happy show a bit of hand weaving.  I was really surprised that it was the men who took the most interest in the craft, and a couple actually had a go which was great fun.  It must be something to do with the mechanics.....boys and toys and all that!   


As we all agreed that the venue had great potential and we were very pleased with the footfall for such a new event, despite a very blustery wind off the seashore which took the A frame boards for a walk on a few occasions, we've decided to make it a regular event on the 4th Sunday of every month.  We are also thinking of doing a Christmas fair and also potentially bringing a few workshop ideas into the event at a later stage dependent on interest.  

Dates for the diary

26 June

24 July

28/29 August (2 day event) TBC

25 Sep

23 Oct

27 Nov

17/18 Dec (Christmas Fair)

Southsea Art and Design Show

Next weekend Southsea art and Design, a group of eclectic artists and makers, will be hosting the first of three one day shows at The Square Tower, in Old Portsmouth.  The exhibition includes painting, ceramics, textiles and jewellery from artists and designer makers from in and around Southsea.  We all met at the Festival of Arts, Portsmouth, in 2008 and have since put together a few exhibitions at the Oxmarket gallery in Chichester which have been very well received.  The shows are vibrant and colourful with such a mix of media, there's something for everyone to enjoy and there will be the chance to buy direct from the artists.  For directions on how to get there follow the map below.  We really hope you'll come and join us.

Autumn Winter 11/12 Collection

View images of my Autumn/Winter 2011/12 collection at

http://www.tracyevans.co.uk/gallery/autumn-winter-201112.html

Country Living - The Aftermath!

Me looking pensive!
Well, finally it is all over after months of making and prep and, even though it has been a 2 weeks since returning from the big smoke, I am still shattered!  What an experience!  Would I repeat it????  Well, maybe, but I would definitely opt for a better stand position.  We decided to take up the offer of a reduced rate stand in the Newcomers hall (albeit a very small reduction), but the room was on the second floor and very dark and oppressive.  For 2 days there was very little air conditioning so it was like a sauna and we definitely suffered in terms of footfall.  The event was very well attended, hundreds of people but definitely aware of these penny pinching times.  Overall the event was worth doing, especially as there's been post event interest and I'm now selling on another hand made site (www.cherrypickedforyou.co.uk), but the 12 hour long days are definitely something I need to get into training for!

Rose looking exhausted!

Catherine doing a bit of selling

Catherine taking care of Vera!

Country Living Magazine Spring Fair

Come join me at the Country Living Spring Fair 23-27 March at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London N1 0QH.  I will be exhibiting as part of an artist collective called South Coast Creatives featuring quality hand crafted products in ceramics, jewellery and textiles.  If you get the chance please pop by and say hi, we're on stand N38 in the newcomers area.

Get with the programme!: February photoshoot

Get with the programme!: February photoshoot: "Lily Catherine, Kelly and Lily being captured by Stu Giving a leg up! My lovely girlies Catherine My very first blog, and what ..."

February photoshoot

Lily

Catherine, Kelly and Lily being captured by Stu

Giving a leg up!

My lovely girlies

Catherine

My very first blog, and what an exciting way to start.  On 17 February we had our new photo shoot in the grounds of the beautiful Lainston Country House hotel in Winchester.  My gorgeous daughter Catherine was modelling as usual, as well as a new addition to the team.....the stunning Lily Venus, who was only 13 years old on the day of the shoot and has subsequently turned 14!  Both girls were incredible, so professional and it seemed like they had been old hands at the modelling game.  My products were shot by Stu Cooper, from Cooper Photography, a Southampton based company which specialises in lifestyle shoots and wedding photography.  I was lucky enough to meet Stu at a show last year and immediately noticed his wonderful photographic style which seemed to fit perfectly with my branding.  He was brilliant, so laid back and very personable, it was easy to feel at ease with him, and this is reflected in the girls reaction to the experience.  They were buzzing!   The shoot only took a couple of hours and we packed so much in, constantly changing jackets and products to really show off my designs to the best.  Luckily help was on hand with Kelly Venus, mum of Lily and assistant manager at Pavilion in Winchester, where I have been showcasing some of my work.  Stu even got Kelly involved in the modelling, she was great too but I kept myself safely tucked behind the lens!  The weather was perfect too with a watery winter sun giving some stunning light conditions.  I just can't wait to see the results!   www.cooper-photography.co.uk