Tag Archives: galleries

Sunbury Gallery Exhibition

01 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, galleries, Knitting and Stitching Shows 2018, Textile Art

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I’m delighted that my exhibition A Stitched Timeline will shortly be opening at the purpose-built Sunbury Embroidery Gallery. It runs from Feb 26th to April 7th. Details are on their website, http://www.sunburygallery.org  The gallery is well worth a visit, beautifully situated by the river Thames, with easy parking, stunning gardens, and has a great cafe that serves lunch, coffee and tea. I can recommend the chocolate brownies, but you may need to save half for another day! I’m also giving a talk on March 14th at 7.30pm , tickets and information from the gallery.

At the Knitting and Stitching shows, the response to my early work and to my sketch books was tremendous. So you did hand embroidery before? You made paper? We all have our own journey to make and its been a joy and privilege sharing it. Here are a few drawings and images but you’ll have to visit if you want to see the early hand stitched work as I have no photographic record and some of the work was too delicate to take out of the frames.

Drawing “Garden” 1980s-this way of drawing with oil pastels led to the delicate hand stitched work in the 80s

Journey garden 89

Different ideas that have led to textile pieces, although the middle one is from an old paper making piece I found recently, and have chopped up! It’s waiting for me to work into it…..

hi.res.print_the lake at petworth_detail_1

and finally my piece “The Lake at Petworth” made for the Embroiderer’s Guild touring exhibition  “Capability Brown” in 2016

Sunbury Gallery Exhibition

01 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, galleries, Knitting and Stitching Shows 2018, Textile Art

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I’m delighted that my exhibition A Stitched Timeline will shortly be opening at the purpose-built Sunbury Embroidery Gallery. It runs from Feb 26th to April 7th. Details are on their website, http://www.sunburygallery.org  The gallery is well worth a visit, beautifully situated by the river Thames, with easy parking, stunning gardens, and has a great cafe that serves lunch, coffee and tea. I can recommend the chocolate brownies, but you may need to save half for another day! I’m also giving a talk on March 14th at 7.30pm , tickets and information from the gallery.

At the Knitting and Stitching shows, the response to my early work and to my sketch books was tremendous. So you did hand embroidery before? You made paper? We all have our own journey to make and its been a joy and privilege sharing it. Here are a few drawings and images but you’ll have to visit if you want to see the early hand stitched work as I have no photographic record and some of the work was too delicate to take out of the frames.

Drawing “Garden” 1980s-this way of drawing with oil pastels led to the delicate hand stitched work in the 80s

Journey garden 89

Different ideas that have led to textile pieces, although the middle one is from an old paper making piece I found recently, and have chopped up! It’s waiting for me to work into it…..

hi.res.print_the lake at petworth_detail_1

and finally my piece “The Lake at Petworth” made for the Embroiderer’s Guild touring exhibition  “Capability Brown” in 2016

From drawings to a stitched landscape

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, Spain, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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I have recorded here some of the stages of my most recent embroidery, completed this week, and would welcome your comments. The drawing was done in central Spain near Covarrubias last summer. I have shown some of the stitching as it develops, explaining the processes that resulted in this final piece, a Spanish landscape that contrasts strongly with my gentler South Downs pieces.

Here is the drawing, A4, pencil, pastels, watercolour pencils, and pen.

looking-towards-clunia-drawing

The planning stage with mainly Madeira threads, Natesh and Wonderfil added later

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I draw a few main lines directly onto the painters canvas, stitch them in and then turn to the back as most of the work is done with cable stitch. This technique means putting threads that are too heavy to go through the eye of the needle on the bobbin. I stitch on the reverse side of the canvas, couching down the heavy threads to give long, uninterrupted lines of threads- the next image shows me workimg from the back. The top thread colour is important as it affects the bobbin thread adding new  colours to the piece eg the bright red is couching down a heavy metallic copper underneath.

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I have to keep turning to the front, shown next, to make sure I’m happy with what I’m doing, but as the bobbin runs out every 3 minutes I get plenty of opportunity to correct any errors and add any fine details. You can see below that the fabric starts to move and undulate. I “go with the flow” in the hope I can control the final results!

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-and here it is, 24cm x 35cm approx. The drawing is  only ever a guide, as once I start stitching, the thought processes and techniques take over. I never try to copy my sketches, but aim to translate and interpret. Hope you found this useful and interesting!

–looking-towards-clunia-final

 

Sketchbooks revisited, the 80s part 2

28 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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Some more drawings from my 1980s sketchbooks to look at, from a garden in France to a student field trip to Munich via Garmisch Partenkirchen. I  did not always draw with end products in mind, but to record where I was, what I was thinking and so on. Many pages are too messy or sketchy to put here, but I’ve found a few that show my journey They are shown in chronological order . Next post-the 90s! The first drawing was made in a garden in Cesson, France 1982. One of my followers might recognise the venue!

All drawings approx 20cm x 18cm French garden 1982 Detail followed by full page .

french-garden-1982001_edited-2

french-garden-1982001

The alps at Garmisch in 1986 and yes it was cold drawing outside so it was done very quickly!

garmisch-86-001

Fruit bowl 1985, pencil and coloured pencils, drawing what’s in front of whilst the TV was on

fruit-bowl-001

This is a pastel drawing from 1989. I was looking at landscapes and playing with potential ideas for embroidery. I did work  up a series, but only have a couple on old fashioned slides!

landscape-abstract-001

In 1989 we seemed to keep coming across standing stones, dolmens, rocky formations on our travels, so lots of drawings did lead to a series of works in handmade pulp with additional stitch and fibres. Here’s a drawing and one of the final pieces which I made for an exhibition in 1990. The drawing uses pastel and a tippex pen

dolmen-1982001

carol-naylor-1988-dolmen

see you in the 90s next time!

Sketchbooks revisited, the80s

06 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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With over 35 years of sketchbooks in my studio I decided to look back to see what I was doing at various times during my career. It has been somewhat revelatory! I drew differently, often more boldly, without holding back, used a wider variety of media, and  frequently explored ideas that I thought I could use with my students. Back in the 80s with a fulltime lecturing post and a young family, I did make my own work, and had several exhibitions in the south of England, but I have no real record of those in visual terms. Do take a look at my drawings and ideas from the 1980s. You might be as surprised as I was!

This is from 1986. I photocopied some images, including pieces by Henry Moore, cut fragments up, pasted them down, then drew freely from them, inventing a surreal landscape. It was an exercise I did quite often, I found several in different books during this decade. I did quite a lot of mono printing and also batik at this time.

journey-1-henry-moore001

Here’s a more formal drawing from 1983 and its one of the few drawings I remember doing. On a field trip with students to Florence and Venice, on a cold, rainy March day, I sat in the Duomo in St Marks Square, and drew what was in front of me. You can see the date in the bottom lefthand corner. Its bolder and more direct compared to my current architectural studies and stays in the memory far longer than a photo!

journey-st-marks-1883001

The following mixed media piece shows me playing with pastels and pencils, thinking about land and sea in an abstract way. Its dated 1986. I did a lot of papermaking at this time, and this would have been part of my thought processes. I rather like it!

journey-1-mixed-media002

We spent several years as a family on a gite in France in Brittany. Here’s a drawing I’d totally forgotten, of the lake at Le Lendu. 1987 Pencil, pen and pastel

journey-1-france001

and finally, from my 1989 sketchbook, an abstracted drawing from a friend’s garden using pastels. Now I’m thinking I need to look at these again and start stitching from them! More to follow in my next post–

journey-garden-89

Brighton Art Fair 2014

21 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by in Exhibitions, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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I’m busy preparing my work for Brighton Art Fair which takes place from September 26th-28th. For non UK readers of this blog, Brighton is situated on the south coast, a really lively and historic town centre.  I shall be showing the Skyfall series, some of which have featured in earlier posts here, as well as smaller, more intimate pieces. I like to contrast detailed, impressionistic works with larger more gestural pieces. As most of the other exhibitors will be showing painting and printmaking, I’ll be one of a handful of textile artists. Here are a couple of images for you. The first is a smaller piece that measures approximately 20cm square mounted onto a canvas and in a box frame to make the overall dimensions 33cm square. The second image is a detail of the sky from Skyfall 1, a windy day on the Downs

Hints of Lavender001EPSON scanner image

Designer Crafts at the Mall 2014

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Exhibitions, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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Firstly Happy New Year to my followers!

I mentioned this exhibition in my final posting in 2013, so starting the New Year with more information seems like a good idea. The exhibition takes place from January 10th -19th, open from 10-5pm daily, closing at 4pm on the final Sunday.

The Mall Galleries, London SW1 (near Admiralty Arch off Trafalgar Square)

As well as a wide range of textile media on show, quilting, stitching, felting, mixed media and weaving to mention just some of the areas covered, you’ll see wonderful furniture, ceramics and glass, metal and jewellery. You can get a good coffee and scrummy cake there as well! Details on the following website:-www.societyofdesignercraftsmen.org.uk

I’ve already posted some of the images I’ll be showing there as I’ve made them over the past few months-a record of seasonal changes seen on the South Downs.

Here are a couple more for you, looking at stitch detail that I’ve magnified in some cases as they show the way I draw with threads. Enjoy!

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December update

15 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Commissions, Exhibitions, Inspirations

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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

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Winter Textiles Exhibition, New Ashgate Gallery

02 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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I’m very pleased to have been invited once again to show work in this beautiful gallery in Farnham, Surrey, which showcases both The Fine and Applied Arts. You can see three larger stitched canvases, including “Sea Divided” and The Mountains of Mourne (in sun), alongside three smaller works. I’m also currently completing my series called “Skyfall” a seasonal look at the South Downs where we live, which will be shown for the first time in January at the Mall Galleries in London- more about that nearer the time.

Naylor Mountains of mourne

The Mountains of Mourne in Ireland inspired a series of works following a teaching trip there. This is my favourite one, the others have all found new homes! Sunlight on the mountains following the inevitable  Irish rain shower proved inspirational as rich golds and greens play out symphonic variations together.

In “Sea Divided” I looked at the pattern of sunlight on the sea whilst watching the waters change and divide by the passage of the long distance ferry from Santander in Spain.

Naylor, Sea divided

Featured Artist at Primavera Gallery Cambridge

08 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in Exhibitions, Textile Art

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Carol Naylor, Featured Artist, Primavera Gallery, Cambridge

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My work is currently being exhibited by Primavera Gallery in Cambridge, and the link below will take you to the gallery’s blogsite. This large and prestigious gallery is right in the heart of the city opposite Kings College, so it’s a great place to visit if you are in the vicinity. The gallery always has an eclectic mix of Fine and Applied Arts, from paintings and textiles to ceramics, glass and jewellery.

Here is a quote from the gallery publicity and a link to their blog site-

We have a great new exhibition of Carol Naylor’s textile work on show downstairs at Primavera . We have teamed new pieces with some of her earlier works for you to get a good idea of her progression. 

For more info on Carol Naylor check our blog: http://primaveragallery.blogspot.co.uk/

I’ve had a busy few days, visiting Cambridge and then on up to another lovely city, Lincoln, where I worked with the Embroiderers Guild there over the weekend. Once more the results were great, and show what can be done in a short time. I’m now back home thinking about the new pieces I’ll be making for Autumn and Winter exhibitions. The image featured here is one of my earlier translations of poppy fields currently on view in Cambridge