Lesley Millar

Lesley Millar gave her inaugural Professorial Lecture at the Design Council on Monday 6th October.

Rothko at Tate Modern

Mark Rothko, The Late Series is at Tate Modern, spread across 9 rooms it focuses on his works from the 50's and 60's.
A superb collection of works including 'sketches', works on paper his iconic murals.
The two field compositions, Brown and Gray, (left) on paper were begun in late 1968. They were a concious move towards a new 'series' of works of almost uniform format. The range of tonal hues is incredible and having them together in one romm without the distraction of more colourful pieces adds to the sense of brooding drama.
Untitled, 1958, (right) is on loan from the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura, Japan. In the exhibition it is hung in the main room with many other richly saturated murals. One of the aspects of this particular mural that fascinates me is the way that the colours change depending on the angle from which you are viewing them. From certain angles the inner edges of the reds glow firey orange, form another angle they become more muted and the maroon background takes on a more bluish hue. I could immerse myself in this for hours and still not feel that I had plumbed its depths.
The Black on Gray series (left) were Rothko's final 'series' and like the Brown and Gray series were on paper. Although the black lacks the depth of tones that appear in the Black-Form paintings it's relative uniformity is a perfect foil for the sensuous hues of the grays (although to call these areas 'gray' feels such an understatement of the range colours that are present as to be almost insulting). Again these painting being together without the distraction of more colourful works is ideal.
There were many beautiful books on Rothko for sale but none of them can really do justice to the real thing, prints on glossy paper can't reproduce the tonal ranges or textures any more than these photos can. However they do provide informative texts and visual memories of a fabulous show. For me the only down side was having to share the works with so many other visitors - the constant chatter and movement are distracting and at time hard to tune-out.

Westhope Group

The Westhope Group meets once a year at Westhope College in Shropshire

Knitting & Stitching Show, NEC

The Westhope Group have one of the gallery stands at the Knitting & Stitching shows this year. The work is based on a theme of Divergence, grounded in centuries-old techniques but challenging the traditional view of lace. The general view shows some of the work including pieces using led lights, wire and felt.
Ann Wheeler's Undulating Form.
Sue McLaggan's Graffiti Neckpiece.
Caro Quarini's hanging, Memory,

Embroiderers Guild Auction

Twisted Threads, who organise the Knitting & Stitching shows are hosting an auction of donated textiles to raise funds for the Embroiderers Guild. They have limited the number of items in the auction to 200. These items can be viewed and bid on on their website and at the Knitting & Stitching shows. Items vary from ethnic and antique pieces, through works from ordinary members to pieces by famous textile artists. each piece has a reserve price. I am currently bidding on a piece by Ann Wheeler.

Northampton Museum Store

My daughter was visiting the Northampton Museum Store to look at the use of lace on shoes. As her knowledge of old lace is limited I was asked to accompany her to identify any lace she might find.
The most relevant pair (left) were on display in the Museum. Red leather and Chantilly lace (machine made). M.E. Sablouiere, Paris. Made for the great exhibition 1889, they won a gold medal.

Modernism in St Ives