I'm very excited to announce that my work will be taking part in the Craft Emergency 2014 exhibition! The exhibition is being shown as the Aspex gallery in Portsmouth from October 11th - January 4th 2015 and includes  work from fifteen artists and designers working across all disciplines. Click here to see more...

Dorothy pictured next to her very impressive yarn wall!

Whilst working as a school teacher, a friend suggested that she might enjoy weaving. One thing lead to another and Dorothy bought a small loom and set about teaching herself to weave, travelling across the world to study different weaving methods and techniques.

In 1934, she set up her studio, Dorothy Liebes Design, in San Francisco. However, demand for her fabrics was so great that she set up another studio in New York and moved there permanently in 1948.

One of Dorothy's terribly glamorous assistants in the 1940s.

I love her incredibly bold colour combinations - especially her intense bright purple, black and green stripe design (below).

Dorothy was the pioneer for using alternative and unusual materials such as feathers, glass beads, leather, plastic, cellophane and even bamboo, which she used to create highly textured and tactile fabrics for a range of applications. She worked largely in collaboration on large scale architectural projects with designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Samuel Marx and Edward Durell. Alongside running her own studio, Dorothy also helped to develop mass weaving techniques and synthetic fibres.

Green woven sample from 1948 - including materials such as cellophane, lurex and glass beads.

Just a quick post today to say that I've been working on a few new things recently. Here is a quick peek of some passementerie soon to be transformed into bracelets...

If you get the chance to go to the cinema in the next few weeks, go and see Belle - its stuffed full of beautiful passementerie and sumptuous costumes - and the film is pretty good too! Just look at that stunning fuchsia dress which is dripping in ribbons and trimmings.

I am thrilled that my Boroughbridge ribbon has been included in Mix Magazine's SS 2016 trend report as part of the 

I have just opened an Etsy shop selling a small collection of hand woven bracelets and hand braided & beaded necklaces. Please click the image below to be taken through to Etsy.

The second part of Rising Stars 2014 has now opened at the Milton Keynes Arts Centre until May 31st. 2014. You can just see my ribbons peeking out on the left hand side.  More information on www.miltonkeynesartscentre.org/rising-stars/

I love a collection of unusual objects, particularly when they're objects that tell us something about how people used to live and work. I recently went on a research trip to the Bluebell Railway & museum in Sussex - what a fabulous collection! I particularly love the enamel advertising signs and the wonderful old luggage.

Five of my ribbons were recently chosen to take part in a touring contemporary craft exhibition called Rising Stars. The exhibition is currently on at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham before then moving on to Milton Keynes and finally Bury St Edmunds later in the year.
I went to the private view last week which was great - so super busy and packed with people. There is roughly 34 different  people's work in the exhibition ranging from ceramics to jewellery to lighting and all of it has been produced to such a high standard. I'm thrilled with how my ribbons have been displayed (see picture!), many thanks to the gallery for showing them off beautifully.

A couple of works really caught my eye, particularly silversmith Juliette Bigley's beautiful 'Conversational Vessels' and 'Split Bowls' collections which are simple in design but totally stunning. Image from www.juliettebigley.com

Sevek Zargarian's fabulous collection of 'Grogged Vessels' are formed by incorporating fired coloured ceramic pieces into each vessel. Image from www.sevakzargarian.com

Beth Lewis Williams collection of porcelain lights have been formed by using the traditional technique of lithopanes combined with contemporary 3D printing technology. The lights look great, especially when the three different designs are hung together. Image from www.arts.ac.uk

The exhibition runs at the New Ashgate Gallery until April 19th , before moving to The Milton Keynes Arts Centre (26 April-31st May) and then onto Smiths Row, Bury St.Edmunds (7th June-12th July).http://www.newashgate.org.uk/whats-on/458/rising-stars-2014