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Carol Naylor

~ Contemporary textiles, making, exploring and communicating ideas

Carol Naylor

Category Archives: Commissions

New works exhibited in 2021

29 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Drawings, Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, teaching, Textile Art, UK textile artists

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drawing, embroidery, exhibitions, landscape, south downs, textiles, thread

Having a theme to work to is always a challenge I enjoy. With an exhibition called Alchemy postponed from last year, I was able to make more embroideries on the ideas I started in 2020. I found old threads and embedded fragments of gold leather and fibres, often catching them down over a layer of machine embroidery, to add to the depth. The first 3 pieces shown were made for “Alchemy” with local contemporary art group Artel, and the second exhibition called Excellence was with the Society of Designer Craftsmen. I’ve chosen to show two of 6 works exhibited there. All these works took on their own characteristics and are now for sale, so do please message me if interested.

All are mounted on canvas boxes in whitewood frames to 43cm square. Both exhibitions were at the Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester, UK

1 ) All that Glitters – ideas adapted from the landscape of the South Downs “Alchemy“

2) and 3) on the left Nightfall and on the right The Promise of Spring, inspired by observing the sky and landscape at different times of the day

The Second exhibition Excellence with the Society of Designer Craftsmen , 2 of 6 pieces shown again using the landscape of the Downs

Twilight

Silver Light

Fragments, lockdown 3 in the UK

10 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Drawings, galleries, Inspirations, Spain, stitched textiles, Textile Art, UK textile artists

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Art, stitch, landscape, drawing, embroidery, sketchbooks, stitch

My first post for some months, but I’ve been looking at all my sketchbooks recently and my mark making seems to have been intrinsically linked to my embroidery, not necessarily with the intent to stitch, but to record information. They are my diaries and often bring back happy memories of places visited, some returned to many times, others one off holidays or work trips as I am lucky enough to have taught in many places. This year for all of us has been one where we have stayed at home or only visited local areas. I prefer to draw on site where ever I am and then often develop and invent from there. Sometimes I don’t like the end results so I cut up pieces then in my sketch book I extend the piece. I enjoy doing this and people who follow my instagram amd facebook will have seen some of these! I have many more. Your comments would be welcomed!

Fragment drawing from central Spain

Poppies on the South Downs near my home in West Sussex UK, followed by another fragment drawing from a piece based on central Spain

This one uses drawings I cut up and then extended with further drawing in my sketchbook

EPSON scanner image

Chichester Cathedral and Homeward 1994-2019

06 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Drawings, Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, Inspirations, Textile Art

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Art, Chichester Cathedral, drawing, embroidery, landscape, south downs, thread

A very much overdue post by me but here it is. An article has just been published in Stitch Magazine issue 123, on my piece for the Embroiderers Guild UK touring exhibition “Home” in 2019/20. You can still catch this at the Spring Knitting and Stitching show. Sally Stirling, managing editor of Stitch says this about this edition. “Stitch 123 is out now! In recognition with International Women’s Day, this issue is packed with projects, features and inspiration – all either by or about women. Embroidery may be dominated by women, still the depth and breadth of skill and talent continues to astound, and as ever, the best is brought to you by Stitch magazine”

My piece has Chichester Cathedral as a small but vital focal point, and this reminded me of early work I did in the 90s. So for the first time I’m showing some of this work alongside a glimpse of my piece for Home.

The South Downs have long been an inspiration but I haven’t used the Cathedral in my work since way back when I was still lecturing, and had two commissions for St Richards Hospital. I’m showing one of these here, as although the image of the final piece is low res, the drawings give an idea of how I developed the piece. Luckily I do have the sketchbook I developed and these haven’t been seen before! Some of my very talented students produced pieces as well, but I havent access at present to their work. The theme was A Sense of Place and the work was made in 1994 I called this piece Cathedral Vistas

Cathedral Visitas004

Cathedral Visitas002Cathedral Visitas005

Cathedral Visitas001

And now for 2019 and the ideas I developed. You can see my drawings and progress, and read the article in Stitch magazine. I also have a link on my Instagram account @naylorcarol

These were my inital thoughts for the theme “Home”

Like a beacon guiding you to safety, Chichester Cathedral can be seen from which ever direction you approach the city. It is the only medieval English Cathedral that can be seen from the sea, and the only one with a separate bell tower. I have lived in the city since 1972. When you stand on the Trundle near Goodwood, on the rolling South Downs, the spire is often shrouded in mist, a view I’ve drawn many times. You can see it from the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth on a clear day, from the coast just a few miles south of the city and from the trains that run from Brighton or London.

So here it is, very different in every respect to my piece from 1994 which is still hanging in the hospital and I’ve just posted one drawing below as there are lots in the magazine!

2019-06-11 16.37.48-2-1

Drawing Home001

Drawing with the Isle of Wight in the background.

and hope you enjoyed the two pieces and their very different feel. It does show how my work has changed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spanish and Italian Reds

02 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Drawings, galleries, Inspirations, Italy, Spain, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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Art, drawing, embroidery, France, Italy, poppies, red, Spain, stitch, thread

I’m not talking wine here for those who know me well (!) but this is a follow up to my last post, where I looked at using the colour red in my work. Below you will see a number of contrasting pieces where different red tones and threads have been used either as one of the main colours or as highlights within the compositions. I always use first hand experience, even if its just a fleeting glimpse of something that can inspire a series of works. The first embroidery is called “Sol y Sombra” which translates as sun and shade. The image comes from the landscape of central Spain near Santo Domingo de Silos. The light  was pouring through the valley, with golden wheatfields, terracotta earth, and blue shadows reflecting the mountains, catching my eye. After drawing on  site, when back home, I stripped out the vegetation so that I could concentrate on the land’s surface, and the act of stitching took over.

I am always interested in hearing what readers think so your comments are welcomed.

Sol y Sombra cropped

This next piece is called “Winter’s Song”, memories of cool light and chillier weather and the changes wrought by these conditions on the landscape.

C Naylor Winters Song

I showed this next piece in my post entitled ” From Drawings to a Stitched Landscape” where you can see how I developed the piece, but its so very red it needs to be seen again here! The cascading fields were seen against a backdrop of wheatfields and distant blue hills, Spain at its hottest and best, rich with colour and the sounds of insects.

looking-towards-clunia-final

From the fiery reds of Spain now to the rolling Tuscan hills peppered with poppies. I use a crimson rather than a scarlet thread in this series as I feel it echoes the landscape more softly. I called this “Tuscan Serenade”. I never tire of playing with ideas that take me back in my mind to Italy, with its cypresses, hills and late springtime poppies that permeate the fields.

Tuscan Serenade

Finally the following embroidery was a small commission for a French family who requested a red landscape. I took the reds from Spain and mountain ranges from France, and really enjoyed the challenge of adding richer scarlet colours combied with metallic copper and gold threads. Its about 20cm square.

Bouton 1_edited-1

Petworth Revisited

04 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Drawings, Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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Art, Embroiderers Guild, embroidery, exhibitions, landscape, Petworth House, textiles

I wrote about my work for the Capability Brown Festival in my last entry, explaining how Petworth House in West Sussex was my inspiration, but this was not the first time I had used this beautiful venue for my work. Back in 1997 I relinquished my  post as principal lecturer in the Fine Art department at Chichester University in order to free lance and concentrate purely on making my own work. This was a pretty scary step at the time, waking up each day with no timetable and no commitments other than going ot my studio to stitch! I began to apply for anything that looked possible for textile art, and saw a Festival of Craftmanship advertised. This was being organised by the Surrey Guild with Crafts Council support. Nothing venture, nothing gained, they wanted applications for commissioned pieces. I had  carried out a commission for St Richards hospital in Chichester earlier in 1997, and this had been the catalyst that made me stop teaching. The brief for the commissions was to make work inspired by Petworth as the festival was to be held there in 1998. I was delighted when my ideas and designs were accepted.

As you will see from the images that follow, my work was completely different nearly 20 years ago! At that point architecture was the theme I had been working with, so the house provided me with wonderful starting points. I made a diptych (approx 55cm x 130 cm) each panel for the commission, and made several more pieces that explored architectural features in Chichester and Petworth. I don’t have really good photos of the work, but I think the following gives a clear idea. Here is the diptych where you can see the architectural features of the house and gardens, followed by a detail.

Petworth hanging

Petworth detail small copy

 

drawings of building features Petworth drawing 4 copyPetworth urn 2

and finally one of the other embroideries I made which I still have at home! September Haze, Petworth, 76cm x 60cm approx

Petworth, September copy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lavender Fields

10 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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Art, embroidery, private commission, stitch, textiles, thread

I’ve been working on a series of small images inspired by a visit to our local lavender farm in West Sussex, as well as using ideas observed on my travels in France and Spain. I build line over line in different blues, purples, greens, trying to suggest my experiences rather than copy what I see. The techniques I employ in this and all my works incorporate cable stitch, where heavy threads are put in the bobbin. I turn over and stitch on the reverse side, so that the top thread couches the heavy thread on the right side. This allows me to use a really wide variety of rayon, metallic and woollen mixes that would otherwise be inpossible to stitch. Here’s a piece that was commissioned by a client, called ” Shades of Blue and Lavender”

Shades of blue and lavender

This is a follow up piece called “Where the Lavender Grows”

Where the Lavender grows001

And here is a detail of the stitching

Where the Lavender detail

February News

06 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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abstraction, aerial photography, Art, embroidery, landscape, stitch, textiles

A busy few weeks since the January London exhibition Designer Crafts, making new works as well as completing a small commission that will soon be going to its new home in France. As the commissioner follows this blog I’m not showing an image if this until it’s in its new home. I think the owner should see it first!

It did inspire me to start on a new series of small canvases, so “The Scent of Autumn” is a follow up piece and I hope to make more.

It’s also so encouraging and reaffirming when a new visitor to the studio finds an earlier piece to their liking. “Estuary” is one of my favourite hangings inspired by maps, aerial photography and flying so that is also going to a new home. Both pieces follow here.

These two works required very contrasting approaches. The constant  building up and layering of fine threads over a heavier thread base features in “The Scent of Autumn”, whilst the larger hanging uses rich, bold lines, strong colours and merino wools embedded and overlaid with thread. These techniques all result in a more abstract end product exploring shapes and patterns observed rather than an identifiable image.

Scent of Autumn

Scent of Autumn merged

 Estuary

Estuary 2004 (Website)

December update

15 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions, Exhibitions, Inspirations

≈ 2 Comments

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Art, exhibitions, galleries, landscape, stitch, textiles

It’s a while  since my last post. An amazing trip to Dubai has taken a lot of time and energy, and as well as Christmas preparations I have work to complete and frame for exhibitions. Designer Crafts at London’s Mall Galleries is my next outing from January 10th-19th. This is a splendid exhibition with not only textiles, but a whole range of applied arts and crafts by established and new makers. If you don’t know it and are near London then its well worth a visit.  Designer Crafts is the annual showcase of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, the oldest and largest multi- craft society in the UK. It was founded in 1887 as the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and William Morris was one of the first exhibitors and the second president. I am honoured to have followed in his footsteps and was chairman from 2006-2010.

The following pieces are new ones that I’ve made for the exhibition, although ” A quiet summers evening” has already found a new home and so will not be there

“A Quiet Summer’s Evening”

A Quiet summers evening

This next piece is part of my Skyfall series, “Midsummer” I posted a detail of it earlier this year

Midsummer

and finally “A touch of Frost”. I’m looking at this colour scheme for a commission that I will be making in the New Year, so I’ve been working out colours and ideas here

EPSON scanner image

Craft and Design Selected Awards

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by carolnaylortextiles in Commissions

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private commission, stitch, textiles

Magenta Fields, private commission

I’m delighted to say I’ve got through to the final of this prestigious event, six textiles finalists voted for by the public, and I know many of my facebook friends voted for me, so really grateful. Any publicity helps us all. The textiles judge is Kaffe Fassett. There are 6 categories, each with six finalists. You can see all of us by following this link

http://www.craftanddesign.net/awards/selected/

This piece is called Magenta Fields which I’ll be submitting for the final stages. It was a private commission, so quite different to my usual style and colour range but I was pleased with it and happily so were the commissioners!

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