Phoenix Blog

Earlier this year I paid my first visit to the city of Berlin. I am old enough to remember the Berlin Wall being erected in 1961 and dismantled in 1990.  Dividing the city’s East and West German portions, it spanned 155 kilometres (96 miles). It actually consisted of two walls, the border wall (the part … Continue reading THE LONGEST OPEN AIR ART GALLERY?

The Phoenix biennial exhibiting schedule affords us the luxury of being able to do in-depth research on our chosen theme. This takes various forms: observational drawing, experimenting with materials, online research, following news reporting in depth, visiting museums and galleries, travel, or studying the work of other artists. But in this instance, we are focussing … Continue reading THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRE US

Collagraphy was totally new to me when I signed up for Sally Hirst’s Complete Creative Collagraphy course last year. Suddenly a new world opened up for me.  I loved making the plates, then inking and printing them. Sally has done a vast amount of research on tools and supplies which is invaluable to a beginner … Continue reading A SNAPSHOT OF SALLY HIRST’S COMPLETE CREATIVE COLLAGRAPHY COURSE

Murray Edwards College (formerly New Hall) in Cambridge houses an unparalleled collection of art by women artists, which can be visited free of charge and without the need to pre-book: Visit the Collection From February 17 to August 28, 2022, they were also host to the exhibition “What Lies Beneath: Women, Politics and Textiles” by … Continue reading What Lies Beneath: Women, Politics, Textiles

The Woven Child exhibition, shown at the Hayward Gallery in London in Spring 2022, was a great opportunity to view some of the work Louise Bourgeois created in the last decades of her life. The artworks on display incorporated her own clothing and textiles (such as bed linen, handkerchiefs, tapestries and needlepoints) from all stages … Continue reading THE WOVEN CHILD – LOUISE BOURGEOIS

Our June meeting this year fell on the weekend of  the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, so we decided to do something different and  some of us gathered to experiment with  an indigo dye vat and share a picnic. In these days where everybody (except me!) has a pair of blue jeans the colour is very familiar … Continue reading INDIGO … the true blue

Jo Coombes gives below an exceptional synopsis of the Festival of Quilts exhibition, held earlier this year. The Festival of Quilts, launched 19 years ago in partnership with the Quilters’ Guild, recently had its four-day annual show, attracting both national and international visitors. Quilts in a variety of categories from traditional to ‘art’, pictorial, miniature, … Continue reading FESTIVAL OF QUILTS

Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature Victoria and Albert Museum London until 8 January 2023 https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/beatrix-potter-drawn-to-nature This fascinating exhibition documents the life of the artist, author, natural historian, farmer and environmentalist who was Beatrix Potter. Most of us will have grown up with and loved the characters in her books and it is a privilege to … Continue reading BEATRIX POTTER: DRAWN TO NATURE

Tetrapak Drypoint Printing Here at Phoenix, our members are always looking to expand their knowledge of techniques and methods.  The potential of a new technique often gives freshness to our work, and the variety of skills and expertise within the group provides for a range of enjoyable in-house workshops.  When Rosaline Darby showed us her … Continue reading TETRAPAK DRYPOINT PRINTING

Text to Textiles by Maria Walker The sharing of skills is an important part of the Phoenix ethos, so our members often give demonstrations or workshops at our monthly meetings. Phoenix member Maria Walker uses stitched text on fabric in her narrative based work, so she offered to demonstrate some of the techniques she uses … Continue reading TEXT TO TEXTILES