NEW BLOG ADDRESS

My blog is now part of a new website please click here for new posts and subscribe to the new blog on the site - many thanks - carole

Decorex International is an annual trade exhibition of fabrics, furniture, lighting,wall and floorccoverings - and lots of other decorative elements for interior design.
It has been running for many years and its traditional stance has recently seen lots of updating and some innovative and beautiful products were on show this year. I showed there with Regina Heinz who makes most beautiful ceramic tiles http://www.ceramart.net/rmh/index.html

I worked closely with the laminators of my glassworks - T4 Design - to produce some new abstract fabrics and panels of glass for interior use.
Abstract design :  Silver, gold, and blue.
They loved it and the reception was SO enthusiastic I have not had time to respond to everyone's  individual enquiries. I am sorry!
The painted silk cloths can be hung flat against walls, or for bound wall panels - or  for the voile, inner layer of curtaining. The fabric has been worked (etched or burn out or devore in technical terms) to introduce texture through a mix of transparency and opacity.
Light , weather and wet colour are the inspiration for the marks and intensity of colour -  the cloth is painted by hand, to produce a fabric and image full of depth and a sense of fluidity - 

and a sense of three dimensionality - as inspired by the English landscapes I am looking at  - here is the pond in Kensington Gardens early in the morning, where Decorex took place.
 This cloth can be laminated between two layers of toughened glass to produce freestanding glass panels , screens , door panels - windows - balustrades and anything your imagination can invent in a context where glass might be used in or out of doors.
Thank you Katie for documenting your work experience days on this blog! Good Luck in you future at college and real life .....keep in touch  everyone
xxxx

The Pink Jacket - by Katie

I am in love with this jacket. I have seen it through it's entire journey. I saw Carole paint it and steam it, and then I washed it, span it, dried it and ironed it before it was sent off to the dressmaker to be made into this beautiful jacket. And now I have steamed it and witnessed it being photographed at the fashion shoot. 

Above are some behind the scenes shots that I have taken. 

A couple more photographs from our shoot today - by Katie

Here Carole is moving the garment to create a drape in the cloth, so that when it is photographed with the use of the fan, the image has the composition that she wants. 

Photo shoot - by Katie

So we have arrived that the photo studio in Bristol, and hair and make-up is well underway in the dressing room whilst the photographer discusses light and composition with Carole. 

Carole's vision for the shoot is to illustrate the essence of the empowered woman, creating an

image that will speak to her demographic and enhance her new website. 

The studio itself is striking, a huge cove that appears to stretch out to infinity. It's a fitting canvas for such strong, expressive and abstract clothing. 

Getting ready for Decorex - By Katie

As we shall be installing Carole's new work next week at Decorex International, part of Design Week in London -  we are getting the fabrics photographed and ready to go. The backwards devore method that I mentioned in a previous post has been used on these three fabrics which will be sold as voiles. 

Since my last post on these pieces, I have changed my mind - I have now fallen in love with the silver piece, my new favourite! The colour scheme is beautiful, and I can already imagine in someones home hanging in splendor with the sun light behind it.

Jewelry making - by Katie

Today and yesterday afternoon, I have been helping Carole with transfer printing on to metal which will be turned into jewelry. The process is very interesting, starting off with cutting the metal into shapes before placing it into the heat press along with pieces of paper with Carole's beautiful brush strokes on.

The results are wonderfully successful - a contrast of bright pinks, yellows and greens with dark browns and black, the small chunks of metal would work perfectly as statement jewelry but also would come together brilliantly with some of Carole's garments.

 

The pieces will be sent to jewelry maker Cate Wood who specializes in handmade jewelry, before being shown in the Christmas exhibition at One Two Five, alongside Carole and Gary's work. 

Cate Wood's work can be seen on her Facebook page.

Interning with Carole Waller

 I shall start by introducing myself: my name is Katie McAuliffe, and I am a Fashion and Textiles student at Southampton University. I am on my third day of work experience with Carole, and
I will be sharing my time at One Two Five on the blog as I go.

I took an interest in No Walking Canvas Ltd when I came across Carole's work at Bath in Fashion back in April, and so now that I am on my summer break from University, I asked if she would possibly take me on as an intern. Thankfully, she said yes.

When I arrived for my first day at One Two Five, I was struck my the artistic beauty of the house and studios. Carole and her husband Gary display their art proudly all over the house and garden, creating a haven of colour, pattern and shape that would evade a regular home. Ceramic pots and bowls cover the surfaces and great panes of glass trap and reflect colour and light as irregular figures and forms dance on Carole's glassworks.

Of course, it is her Art to Wear - the beautifully painted fabrics that make up her collections - which interests me the most, and so I was pleased to be helping her in her studio on my first day. Carole showed me her inventive technique of practicing  devore almost backwards, with really fantastic results which she will display at Decorex in a couple of weeks time.

Above is a photograph of myself in Carole's studio.

The colours in the finished pieces of fabric are beautiful. My favourite being the gold piece, which exudes an autumnal warmth with dark red's, burgundy's and strong oranges setting off the predominant mixture of transparent and opaque golden tones.

Conduit St

I love Conduit St - my favourite shops , Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake are there.
They continue to inspire me with their intelligent forms which are wonderful to wear and to watch in wear.

Miyake is still designing the 155 collection of sculptural form with images and colours to die for.

While I was taking this photo I realised, looking through the lens that I was seeing a perfume bottle.
RUSHING inside I was like a kid in a sweet shop - because the original Yohji perfume has just been relaunched after 9 years. Gary and I first discovered this heavenly scent in the late 90's in Paris when I was doing Fashion week and were devasted when it disappeared.The shop was out of stock, everyone else must love it too . So instead of spending the afternoon in the British Museum, I spent it in Selfridges - so I could get the 100ml .
Gary has hidden it.

atmospheric conditions for autumn

My collections of clothes always have stories behind them.
This  Autumn I am making a group of  painted velvets and silks completely inspired by weather and light over the sea.

This is the moon at Eype on the south coast of England, and a digital print silk chiffon scarf

More pictures as the collection develops.

Summer School for teenagers at ONE TWO FIVE

Last week we welcomed 20 wonderful teenagers to ONE TWO FIVE art school for 5 days of creative activities ......We taught them to screenprint , transfer print, to throw pots , to draw with the wrong hand , to write backwards - to make mosaic with found objects - to weave with scrap materials  - to make books from old paper bags. We worked on all sorts of surfaces and substrates - to transfrom materials and ideas through colour and form. The theme was 'Identity' - as individuals , as groups , as colour , geography and as voices ...... we laughed a lot and made many things. Each student documented the week in a journal of words and pictures. This they also constructed themselves  - using whatever they wished and inspired by a workshop with Alison Harper. This was the really creative space for each in terms of personal expression and they were fantastic.
The final day was one of clearing up the studios, the gallery, the whole ground floor. (especially the black dye footprints from the carpet ......) Then curating, installing and presenting a one hour exhibition of all the work to their invited guests - and a few of ours.
Wonderful.

I did not read an email all week.

Art In Action is this week near Oxford at Waterperry Park ..... It is a wonderful event with more than a hundred artists and craftspeople demonstrating their techniques and discussing ideas and inspiration with the public! Unbelievably hot but full of goodwill and real intelligence . I love it. fini

shes this weekend.

This month is all about our summer Exhibition at One Two Five here in Bath - launching a summer collection based on the door into Frances Bacnon's studio - which he used as a palette. So the painted marks on the clothing was a series of colour tests to see what worked next to what - very risky! the ones that did not work ended up black but some radiant pieces won through ......and the exhibition includes wonderful carpets by Morgan Ashard, Silver and gold jewellery from Beata Host , aluminium and resin  jewellery by annie Beardsley and illustrations by Ben Lothery. Gary Wood is launches 'The Tea Bowl Company' a brand newhttp://www.theteabowlcompany.co.uk website so do have a look.......