Textile Landscape: Painting with Cloth in Mixed Media

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Using a combination of friction, soap and water to felt together wool fibres, a new fabric is formed that can be moulded into whatever you desire. You might not make it to an art class with Cas, but this book allows you to share her teaching in the comfort of your own workspace. You’ll love it. Dagmar Binder selected just one element and duplicated this to create a repeated three-dimensional pattern. Like Dagmar, you can look to nature for inspiration selecting shapes, motifs or patterns you’re drawn to. Fiona Robertson originally trained in fine art and this influence is evident in her work as a textile artist. Working with embroidery to create intricate landscapes has altered her way of looking at the world. The versatility of nature as a subject is a constant source of inspiration; the striking contrast of a landscape that has been muted by rain, or has been sharpened by the light of the sun provides endless possibilities for exploration. She creates her imagery from personal experience, sketchbooks and photography. Each piece is built from hand-dyed silk, cotton scrim and a combination of other diverse fibres. The basis for Fiona’s work is machine stitched, before detail is added by hand. For example, I share my experience in Japan where I studied how to manipulate paper to the point where it becomes almost as malleable as cloth (which makes for easier hand stitching). Historical Japanese clothing was literally made out of hand-made paper (Washi) that was cut, spun and woven into an incredibly tough cloth known as Shifu.

The patterns, processes and secrets of nature are what inspires Hannah Streefkerk most. But big, expansive landscapes can be overwhelming, so she prefers to focus on the small details. This way she can begin to understand her surroundings. My on-line journal, Magpie of the Mind acts as ‘aid memoir’ to my thought collecting and journal process. From wall hangings to novel multi-eyed sculptures, we found artists from around the world – Latvia, Ukraine, Canada, Scotland and England – and discovered the unique ways in which they create alchemy from wool. Their two and three-dimensional artworks encompass all the attractions of textile art – colour, texture and embellishment. I use recycled household cotton and linen fabrics and so the colours and marks achieved on any one piece of cloth can never be exactly replicated. I find this thrilling.Harlem-born artist and activist Ringgold began working with textiles after a trip to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseumin 1972. There, a gallery guard introduced her to Tibetan thangkas—traditional Buddhist paintings on cloth, surrounded by silk brocades. Returning home, Ringgold enlisted the help of her mother, a professional dressmaker, to make politically minded thangkasof her own, sewing frames of cloth around depictions of brutal rape and slavery. In 1980, Ringgold crafted her first quilt—again, with some sewing help from her mother—called Echoes of Harlem(1980) ,portraying 30 Harlem residents in a mandala-like composition. There’s just something about landscape art that never gets old. Nature never ceases to inspire, and the notion of ‘place’ lies deep within our human psyche. But there’s also something extra special about textile art landscapes: colour and texture. Plant and Loy Yang Power Station: Textile Landscape by Cas Holmes is published by Batsford. Artworks by Cas Holmes, photographed by Jacqui Hurs

The chapter ‘Painting with Cloth’ especially explores the various ways in which paint and print processes can be combined with textiles. Methods presented include straight-forward techniques to colour cloth in which colour or dye is directly applied to cloth. But I also share tips on using printing and resist techniques that can be layered on top of coloured cloth I am extremely proud of being a writer for Batsford, and as a result, my writing and creative arts practice has grown in confidence. Working with the editorial team is a partnership which not only allows but also encourages, my ‘vision’ and specific ‘take on the world.’ Cas Holmes: Studio So to that end, the book shares a variety of techniques for manipulating both paper and fabric to help make stitching easier and more interesting. The book has new starting points for your creative journey and Cas is generous with her ideas and insights. Her wisdom flows naturally throughout the text, and you feel supported in trying new techniques, while inspired on what might be achievable. First, select a landscape that has personal meaning. Think about how you are emotionally connected with this chosen landscape. Is it the colours or the textures? The atmosphere, the geology, or the weather? Or is it a personal connection, maybe a memory or a narrative, that links you to the place?You’ll share in the stories of Alison King, who is inspired by the hills and valleys of Scotland, and Shona Skinner, who became frustrated with the flatness of paint and moved to textiles as a means of expressing the landscape of the Shetland Isles.

This article features an interview with Cas in which she explains what inspired the book’s creation, as well as some of her favourite techniques featured in the book. As suggested by the title, this is more than a book about stitching, it is a book about using cloth in textile art. The cloth underpins most of the book, whether it is being stitched on or printed onto, and Cas encourages you to tear the fabric and release it from two dimensions if the art requires it. You can learn the basics for a strong start to your art This is one of the most difficult questions to answer. I find the Australian landscape inspirational, full of texture and amazing flora and fauna, but alien. It tells its own story and it is one where I can only, as yet, find the most transient of connections. For the Aboriginal artist, the landscape tells its own complex stories of place and connection to people. European settlers brought with them Western conventions of pictorial landscape painting to interpret the land. At best my experience is only ‘fleetingly felt’ as I travel and feels ‘borrowed.’ Finding a more solid connection to place takes time, if it comes at all. As carpet-making is a revered practice in Azerbaijan—Azerbaijanis have been producing patterned textiles since as early as the 3rd century B.C.E.—it took Ahmed a few years to convince local weavers to produce his warped designs, and the first to do so worked in secret. While some might describe his practice as rebellious or irreverent, the artist has been embraced by the international art scene. In 2007, he represented Azerbaijan in the 52nd Venice Biennale. If you are inspired by the work featured in this article, take a look at the eBook Textiles: A Response to Landscape, which brings together 10 more incredible contemporary artists who speak of the subject matter in a unique way. In compiling the book, we sought to highlight the vast range of opportunities textiles offer as a means of interpretation by exploring the stories, influences and techniques of the artists featured. There’s also a wide selection of beautiful images of their work.That global collaboration just kept growing and was recently exhibited at The Knitting and Stitching Shows. Now that you’ve found a landscape that inspires, it is time to observe. Look for the key characteristics of your landscape. What is it that you would like to represent? Are you looking for realism in your work, or a more idealistic outcome? Do you want to work in a more abstract way, to capture the atmosphere of the location? Perhaps you want to focus on the shapes and the texture, and capture the vibrant or earthy colours. Or you could use stitch to express the emotional impact of the place. Exploring the connection between landscape, people and place Cas collects found materials as she goes. marks are then created which combine cloth, paint and stitch with a disregard of the divisions of medium usage and application that often define the world of painting and textiles. The conch shell was part of my final work for my A level; I obtained the highest marks in Lewes College that year. This piece was the starting point of my journey with embroidery.

While the field of landscape art (pun intended) has been explored many times, the real pleasure in this book comes from Cas’ curation of the textile techniques you can try, and the involvement of other artists. Artists like Jane Fairweather are included for further inspiration Conversely, I can also stiffen my cloth temporarily by applying paint and collage mediums to make it easier to handle for free motion stitching. Those techniques are explained in more detail in the book in relation to the creation of cloth journals. We often have strong connections with places that have special meaning to us. But how can we translate that emotional connection into textile art? Drawing inspiration from the world in front of her, Cas thrives on the challenges of the unforeseen and unexpected. She is equally guided by the materials she works with as to her ideas connected to the landscape and nature. She is fascinated by objects with a story to tell, cast-off sheets and clothing, handwritten papers, and the history of what we do with them and the familiarity they have in our own life. (Allison Young, Gallery Curator Rochester Gallery on the exhibition Painting with Cloth)

Judi Miller

Buildings feature strongly in my works at the moment. I am passionate about landscapes, but often an old croft or bothy will find its way in there. Maybe I’m trying to convey a sanctuary within my work. A place that creates a feel good factor where the onlooker can create their own story within.