Backbone

Oh goodness gracious woman,
What a nerve!

Don't be so spineless,

Button up,

Brace yourself,

Have some backbone,

Please.

 

 

Spine - New Work by Penny Leaver Green

The Corset Books by Tamar Stone*

 

Two fascinating links to start the day.

 * More here

Teresa Green Design

Teresa Cole has long been a favourite designer of mine. A lover of "elongated watering cans and apple ladders", Teresa's work marries beauty with functionality, often featuring utilitarian objects such as ladles and weighing scales inspired by her passion for antique kitchenallia. She sources all her fabrics within the UK and Ireland and uses only water-based inks for printing.
Although I love virtually everything that comes out of her old stable block (gorgeous girls' dresses, aprons, cushions, tea towels and table linen, you really must take a peek!), I've chosen to show you a few of her simple but beautiful greetings cards, which make a nice change for birthdays and would also look lovely framed, grouped together in a child's room.
C'mon, everyone likes egg and soldiers, don't they?

Eat, drink and be merry!

Oh dear! Nothing but torrential rain for three days, we're all starting to get cabin fever! Everything's depressingly wet outside, the garden's water-logged and if I eat anymore biscuits I'm going to start looking like an advert for chocolate chip cookies (Amanda has the answer to that problem though!!!). Anyway, thought a few pictures from Georgina Bell's portfolio would cheer me up. If you haven't seen her work before, check out her wonderfully uplifting Flickr stream and website. I love her childhood books, mapped clothing and embroidered felt houses. Enjoy!

Penny Leaver Green

It's been a while since I've found anything as interesting as Penny Leaver Green's embroidery.
This Bristol-based textile artist, with a background in English, drama and theatre design, makes sewn pictures from fabric and thread. Her work is conversational, incorporating language and exploring the relationship between fabrics, design and words. The provenance and type of materials she uses is important, nothing is planned, her pieces stem from an idea and develop as fabric is placed in a certain way and thread is worked.Penny occasionally works on a specific theme or creates a series of pictures, such as her bird series, exploring the place birds have in our consciousness.

Six Eggs
Hand- dyed linen ground with silk and thread from a series of pieces exploring the depleting number of British birds

She is currently working on the place buttons have in our culture in collaboration with a button phobic and a clinical psychologist. Through 15 pictures she will be exploring a particular button phobic's reactions to buttons and also looking at the button phobic presence on the internet. Her work will be exhibited in Harvey Nichols in Bristol in 2010.

Scale of Repulsion IV
Vintage French linen, vintage bakelite buttons, thread

A picture based on the response to 16 similar buttons by a button phobic in order of repulsion

It's very difficult to choose a favourite, but I especially like her "into the woods" series exploring fairytales in the woods

Hansel and Gretel

Silk screen print Liberty fabric vintage cotton and thread on vintage calico
the text reads: 'quite happily they played on the edge of the deep dark wood..'

If you are interested in finding out more about Penny, her work in progress and work for sale, please visit her excellent website, flickr stream (beautiful quilts, wall hangings, children's pictures and children's toys) and new etsy shop.

A joy to explore!