Saturday, December 29, 2007

Cashmere and Pearls




"my mother checking on me in my cot while they had a party downstairs. It would have been about 1966/7. She was wearing a cream cashmere jumper and pearls and looked very pretty. I could hear the clinking of glasses and voices downstairs".


Source: BBC Radio 4 Memory Experience
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/memory/

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas ribbons

Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas Cherub

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Homage to George



Yesterday afternoon George's shop down the road closed down - George is retiring. 'Passing Buys' was a treasure trove, packed with weird and wonderful stuff. Film and theatre people came to Eastbourne to buy period costumes, fabrics and accessories, collectors of everything - books, maps, postcards, medals, music, jewellery, badges and knickknacks of all kinds - were regular visitors. Everybody loved George's shop - my friends and family from abroad took photos and purchased souvenirs. I often dropped in for a chat on my way to the supermarket or post office and had a rummage through boxes and drawers. Like other artist collectors who frequented George's shop, I was always on the lookout for odds and ends that nobody else wanted: scraps of fabric, torn lace, odd buttons, old patterns and labels, rusty needles and other haberdashery bits and pieces. When I asked George for old hats, he disappeared in the back and brought out bin bags full of the most incredible hats many of which eventually made their way to Germany to feature in an art installation. Other items have re-emerged in my book works, textile narratives and of course in 'The Textile Files.'

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Accepted Ideas on Garters





"Must always be worn above the knee for women of high society, below for women of the people. A woman should never neglect this vestimentary detail - there are so many brazen individuals in the world."


From "Dictionary of Accepted Ideas"
Gustave Flaubert, Bouvard and Pecuchet
translation by Mark Polizzotti, Dalkey Archive Press 2005, p.301

Thursday, December 06, 2007

undergarment




" Undergarment: One always shows too much, and never enough"

From the Dictionary of Accepted Ideas

Gustave Flaubert, Bouvard and Pecuchet
translated by Mark Polizotti, Dalkey Arvhive press 2005, p.324