Textile Creativity through Nature
Felt, Texture and Stitch
Jeanette Appleton
Her name rung a bell in my head, I felt that I knew something about this artist….discovering that much of my past felt based education was inspired by her working practice. This artist and writer is more than what she seems. It is all about the ground, the very nature of our being, the landscape my occupy. Its natural, enviromental, living by the land and seasons.
Within Textile Creativity through Nature, there is a definite focus towards the felt, again wool being a natural medium - lending to her love. Its about what you can do with the fibre, not just seeing a flat piece of felt.
On page 17 she voices her experiences surrounding the lockdown periods, when we can to turn inwards, not to navel gaze, rather to become thinkers, “inventionists” (my new word), see what we could find, rather than go out, travel and discover. What is a journey? Our aspirations and expectations went from Spanish dreams to local streams, as it were. I loved her concertina sketchbooks, mapping out the ground she trod during this time.
On page 21 she looks at ways of mapping. This was so enlightening. Imagine a map, as a map. No, don’t, here imagine it as a shoe trodden path, in mud, in snow….a journey. Where? It could be yours.
With poetry and quote extracts throughout, a mash up of imagery, oh and do not miss the beautiful light of the work she has pictured on page 90; personally I see a Van Gogh in this? (This is a repeat of the cover)
I feel better on reading this book, I hope it does the same for you.
Use this title as a way of controlling your mental prowess as well as your creativity. This is a way of felting our minds into a more stable fabric, as well as the cloth compounds.
As the artist Paul Cezanne once said - ‘Nature is always the same’, yet it is up to us to capture it, it is its’ right, as our appreciation and validation of it living for us to have joy.
Okay, enough said.