Under the Surface

I am delighted to have two of my textile pieces in MADE IN IRELAND exhibition at the National Design and Craft Gallery in Kilkenny.

With work by over 100 makers from all over Ireland I am very proud to be included.

The exhibition is on until end January 2022 with further venues to follow.

Big thank you to curators  @hilarymorleyvisualartist, Mary Gallagher @blue_egg_gallery, @stephen.o.connell and all the team at @dccireland and @ndcgallery for all their hard work and expertise to create such a beautiful strong collection.

My two pieces are on theme ‘Under the Surface’ , because what goes on underground is as fascinating as above !

Here is a small blog post about making one of the embroideries,‘Under the Surface (Garden)’ textile art embroidery wrapped on 30cm x 30cm canvas.

I started out with a rough sketch of layout for above and below surface.

I then dyed silk with flowers, leaves and rust to get a base for earth.

I stitched over felt stone shapes and included scrim and frayed fabric to add texture.

I wanted bright strong flowers to contrast with the roots beneath.

So I choose deep reds and purples and strong centers of bullion stitch. 

To link the story of above and below I embroidered a bluebird pulling up worms.

I love hand stitching because it gives me so much control of movement.

I stitched the bird separately and then carefully cut close and restitched into place.

For the worms  . . . I added some antique nails (salvage from Spanish church c1750 )

Underground is a fascinating place, full of interacting roots and hidden treasures.

I love the structure of bulbs and rooting that seem to dance under the surface.

I used some natural mulberry bark as it has so much fiber and texture.

To give some colour I dyed with tea and a little rust, then teased it out to form the network of roots.

Flower bulbs are amazing things and I tried to show some of their layers with

different fabrics and frayed tulle. I used watercolour pencils to shade the bulb.

My duo of ‘Under the Surface’ textile art on canvas hang in the ‘Made in Ireland’ exhibition until end January 2022 and then on to further venues 

INSTAGRAM: @marymoorkens

'She Dreamt of Growing Antique Lace'

 

This is a very personal piece based on a poem written by my very talented cousin the writer Geraldine Moorkens Byrne.
It is a poem she wrote about my crazy love for antique lace, the woman knows me !

It is part of the international exhibition called Texnet2. I am delighted to be part of this wonderful project which is a collaboration of 21 international textile artists. We are artists from Europe, United States, Canada and Australia and have interacted, discussed, planned and inspired each other via a facebook group since 2018 under the guidance of Juliette Eckel.

The result of our project Texnet2, a collection of 377 textiles works.

It was a joy to work on as well as so wonderful to get to know fellow textile artists who I have never actually met ! The pandemic canceled our chance to exhibit in EPM (Carrefour Européen du Patchwork) in 2020, but going ahead September 2021.

My first challenge was how to draw myself . . . fun. I used light flat felt as base and drew guide markings, then it was hand stitching in many shades of thread.

I wanted to depict the dream of growing the lace.

I stitched layers to form a bulb shape and then painted extra detail of colour with watercolours.

The hands were tricky !!

The background was silk noil I had dyed with flowers and leaves.

I tried various ideas for hair but because it was a dreaming figure I ended up going very detailed.

I mixed thick knitting yarn with thread and ribbon and of course lots and lots of antique lace.

Finally I wanted to include the poem that started it all, printed on cotton.

‘I am my inner stitch . . . the needle dreams my journey’

August 2020

The Irish Guild of Embroiderers exhibition in the Lexicon called ‘2020’ celebrating 20 year Anniversary of the guild.

One little needle and lots and lots of thread and the journey begins.

I celebrate the magic of embroidery that creates worlds just by moving that needle in and out of cloth.

I have learnt to trust it and go where it takes me.

My flowers and creatures are not accurate species, they appear on fabric with their own personalities mixed with mine.

I love the wildness of free stitching that can be unpredictable, satisfying, therapeutic and totally addictive.

All of the elements I love are in this piece, naturally dyed fabric, antique lace, vintage textiles and very slow hand stitching. 

First I made the flowers, a little alien and imagined. Then some seed pods . . . even more dreamed up !

I always like to add a few mushrooms, they are part of fairy tales and magic and I love their stalks and textures.You can really have fun texturing a mushroom !

I prefer to stitch birds on a separate fabric and they cut out very close to the stitching and add to background. I find it is easier to position and also can give a slight three dimensional feel.

When the birds had taken their perches I added the needles they hold and linked them all together with a thread to form my stitch journey.

Antique lace is a big part of my textile embroidery and it is the texture and history I always add to my work. For me it brings the story together.

'I'm Still Here'

Textile embroidery wrapped on canvas 50cm x 70cm

 

Exhibition theme

I was delighted to be part of the Irish Guild of Embroiderers exhibition at the Lexicon Library, Dun Laoghaire Co Dublin.

The theme was ‘Meetings’ and the selection of embroidery and textiles by members was fantastic.

The exhibition in August 2018  (took me awhile to finally write this blog post).

Here are some photos of parts of the process.

I always start a large textile textile piece for an exhibition with a mixture of excitement and buzz of ideas.

Then after the initial flurry of looking at materials and scribbling notes I get that uncertain stage . . . what exactly do I do ???

Eventually I decided that my slant on the theme of meetings would be . . . meeting time head on !

This ended up a very personal piece about awareness of ageing.

Contrasting the different seasons and physical changes in flowers / pods etc

My mother told me only ever admit to age of 37 - no more.

No matter what happened in her life she would say “I’m still here”

Now I find myself saying it.

Starting 

I started off with a black felt background to give depth to my colours.

I dyed my silk background with flowers, leaves and some rusty bits and then did some water ripple effects with free machine embroidery. I added felt under the silk to form stones.

I always start with stitching my first elements individually, so that I can change my arrangement as I go along. Elements get added and eliminated as I go . .  like chopped up the fabrics to fit until I was eventually content !! (after lots of standing back and looking at it  !)

Starting to take shape.

On my lap

I enjoy seeing the beautiful work done in embroidery hoops. 

But I am not a ‘hoop girl’ . . . I am an ‘on my lap girl’ and apart from some small amount of free machine embroidery, I hand stitch every tiny or huge project on my lap and love the control I have.

However that might be cosy in winter months but can be a bit too warm on hot days.

Like having a constant heavy blanket on my knees !!

Flowers

I wanted the top flowers to be the big bright full bloom ones, the vibrant young ones.

I used silks mixed with antique lace and a mix of texture stitching like french knots and bullion. I added lovely deep green scrim as a mossy base for them to grow on !

Seed pods

One of the things I love to stitch the most is the gorgeous seed pod.

I love the complex layers they have and most of all that although they are often the end cycle of the flower or plant they are still so beautiful.

I again used silk I eco dyed with dark flowers and rust and of course more yummy antique lace.

I often buy the antique and vintage lace other people reject - the damaged torn pieces.

I love the history and I will rip and intertwine it with my stitching.

Painting lace

Sometimes the lace, although very old, need to look darker so I paint it.

I use watercolour pencils and deepen the colour to suit my textile piece.

Love the way this is often call ‘to sadden’ !!

Dandelion

Another thing I love to stitch . . dandelions at the seed stage. The make a wish stage !

Antique lace at the centre and work around it.

Mushroom

Another addition to the older section of my textile art are mushrooms.

Who doesn’t like stitching mushrooms?

More of my dyed silk and antique lace.

Stems and roots

They were such fun to make !

I suppose partly due to the fact that at this stage I was well into the project and also finally feeling I was making progress and also because I just love making them.

Some I made by wet felt rolling out for roots and then I had to ‘dirty up’ with watercolour and coffee.

You can get lovely thin root ends by hand rubbing felt.

Others I made by ripping and twisting fabric to form stems and thicker roots.

Lace ending

Finally I gave the mixed garden a strong base and anchor by lots of dark antique lace at bottom.

Sign off

I added my wording ‘I’m still here’ just like my mother 

. . . and stitching keeps me that way . . still here