Common thread

 

One of my favourite textiles by May Morris is Maids of Honour. Over the past few years the version of her embroidery featured in this post has piqued my imagination to the extent that it became the source of inspiration for a drawing, a small painting (the study for a larger work currently in progress) and most recently, a linocut (pictured top).

Recently I discovered a remarkable connection between Maids of Honour and the artist Marie Spartali Stillman, whose work appears next to mine on the poster for the upcoming exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ballarat: Pre-Raphaelites Drawings & Watercolours and In the Company of Morris. 

On re-reading the exhibition catalogue, May Morris Arts & Crafts Designer, I noticed for the first time that the embroidery, now in the collection of Kelmscott Manor, was previously owned by Marie Spartali Stillman.

Pictured above, 1-5: 

Deborah Klein, Maid of Honour 2, 2023, linocut with Chine collé, 15 x 10 cm, Ed. 40.

Deborah Klein, Maid of Honour, 2020, ink, gouache watercolour and water soluble graphite, 42 x 30 cm. Private collection.

Deborah Klein, Maid of Honour (study), 2023, acrylic on canvas on board 10 x 10 cm. Currently part of the exhibition One Hundred Faces at Playing in the Attic, running until late May. 

Poster for the joint exhibitions Pre-Raphaelites Drawings & Watercolours and In the Company of Morris at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. The exhibitions open this Saturday, 20 May, and run to 6 August.

Maids of Honour, c. 1890, coloured silks on silk, designed and embroidered by May Morris. Collection: Kelmscott Manor, given by Frances Stillman. (Page view from May Morris Arts & Crafts Designer).

One Hundred Faces 2023

Pictured above: two recently completed paintings, Maid of Honour and Orange Tree, freshly varnished in readiness for the annual exhibition, One Hundred Faces at Playing in the Attic.

Both works take designs by May Morris as points of departure - in the case of Maid of Honour, 2023, her embroidery Maids of Honour, c. 1890, a personal favourite of mine - and both were labours of love.

Maid of Honour, 2023 (study), acrylic on canvas mounted on board, 10 x 10 cm. 

Some developmental views of the work are below.

Serendipitously, I’ve just discovered that the May Morris panel Maids of Honour was originally owned by the artist Marie Spartali Stillman. Her work appears next to mine on the poster for the upcoming exhibitions Pre-Raphaelites, Drawings and Watercolours and In the Company of Morris at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. (See Blog Post Wednesday, April 12). 

The second work, Orange Tree, 2023 (pictured below) is also followed by a handful of process views, including a reproduction of Orange Tree, circa 1897, the textile designed and embroidered by May Morris that was its primary source of inspiration.

Orange Tree, 2023, (study) acrylic on canvas mounted on board, 10 x 10 cm. 

One Hundred Faces is presented in connection with Tiny Towns Arts Trail. The exhibition opens tomorrow, Saturday 22 April, and runs to the end of May.

Playing in the Attic

13 Ballaarat Street

Talbot VIC Australia 3371

Opening hours: Friday - Monday 10 am - 4 pm

Extended dates for INTO ME SEE

Some positive post-lockdown news: the group show INTO ME SEE has been extended to Saturday 19 June 2021. 

Venue: The One Star Gallery, 301-303 Victoria Street, West Melbourne 3003

Gallery hours: Wednesday-Friday 3-7 pm and Saturday 1-7 pm

To learn more about the exhibition, go HERE and HERE.

INTO ME SEE was curated by Mariella Del Conte. For further information, visit the The One Star Gallery on Instagram HERE or on Facebook HERE. 

Pictured above LHS, top: detail of my painting New Horizon, 2020, acrylic on canvas. LHS, bottom: detail of my drawing Maid of Honour, 2020, watercolour, water soluble graphite and pigmented drawing ink. Click on the image for a clearer view. 

INTO ME SEE (Part 2)

Following directly from my last post is a preview of the two works that are part of the upcoming exhibition, INTO ME SEE at The One Star Gallery in West Melbourne.

The construct of INTO ME SEE (scroll down to read the exhibition brief, or click HERE) underpins much of my own work, which focuses primarily on women’s hidden histories. One of its dominant motifs is the ‘figure seen from behind’, or Rückenfigur. A perpetual outsider, the Rückenfigur reflects a mood of quietude and isolation. Like the protagonist of New Horizon, 2020, pictured top, (1) she invites us to share her journey, learn her story and see the world through her eyes, to the extent that we become as one with her. 

The Rückenfigur addresses a particularly divisive time in our history, when our state of disconnection - from ourselves, from each other and from the natural world - seems greater than ever before. 

My drawing Maid of Honour, 2020, pictured above, (2) alludes to the centuries-long tradition of women stitching their stories onto fabric in place of ink and paper. The pattern on the anonymous subject’s elaborately tattooed back draws parallels between the tattoo and embroidery needle. It is based on a detail from Maids of Honour, an embroidery pattern designed by May Morris (1862-1938). Morris, who characteristically drew her inspiration directly from nature, was a significant contributor to the Arts and Crafts Movement, a prolific embroiderer, textile, wallpaper and jewellery designer and educator. Even now, however, her designs are sometimes attributed to her more famous father, William Morris. 

INTO ME SEE is curated by Mariella Del Conte. Exhibiting artists are: Camilla Gold, Deborah Klein, Deborah Walker, Georgia Janetzki, Heidi Yardley, Jane Burton, Jenny Watson, Katrina Beale, Lisa Barmby, Lisa Roet, Mina Young, Polly Borland, Sophia Hewson, Susan Wyers, Victoria Hartcup, Edwina Preston and Anna White.

Opening night: Thursday, 20 May, 6 - 8 pm

The One Star Gallery, 301-303 Victoria Street, West Melbourne, 3003

Gallery hours: 3 - 7 pm Monday - Friday, or by appointment: 0432357537

Email: onestargallery@gmail.com

Instagram: @onestarlounge and Mariella Del Conte: @salonhang

INTO ME SEE runs from 19 May - 12 June

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Pictured  from top: 

(1) New Horizon, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50.8 x 50.8 cm 

(2) Maid of Honour, 2020, ink, watercolour and water soluble graphite on Khadi paper, 42 x 30 cm 

(3) Mick Harvey, AKA Neo Arts, co-founder (with Katrina Beale) of The One Star Gallery, pictured here with exhibition curator Mariella Del Conte as they begin the installation of INTO ME SEE. My two works are in the foreground. In the background, L-R, are works by Deborah Walker and Heidi Yardley. Mick Harvey’s Instagram page is HERE.