“The Hunter is home to a surprising number of leading textile artists whose work I will feature alongside national and international artists in our inaugural new exhibition, “Revealed: Uncovering the Beauty of Fibre Art” which opens Thursday 25^thAugust and runs for 3 weeks. This opening exhibition will introduce eighteen of the artists who will be featured in solo exhibitions over coming months.

The inaugural exhibition will be opened by the well known Fine Art Program Convenor  at University of Newcastle Dr Kathryn Grushka.

“There is increasing interest and appreciation of the fine skills involved in creating beautiful textiles, the ability to transform fibres into exquisite forms of art.

Building on Newcastle’s avant-garde approaches to art, Timeless Textiles will focus on new works by local and international textile artists using techniques such as felting, dyeing, quilting, surface embellishment and design as well as  and fibre jewellery. As well as the art featured during exhibitions there will be a selection of pieceswhich would make unusual and beautiful gifts, suitable for all budgets.

“I have created a space especially designed for fibre art to expose the fine skills of textile artists and to claim its place as a collectable and desirableart form,” said Kempton. “There is increasing interest and appreciation of the fine skills involved in creating beautiful textiles.  This Gallery will also offer workshops for people interesting in learning the processes involved in fibre art.”

The workshops will provide an opportunity for anyone interested to experience the wonder of fibre art and textile design in a day workshop – on your own or with your friends. “This is a chance for people to learn new skills, brush up on their techniques and most importantly to enjoy themselves” enthused Anne “I hope to see you there!”

Ethereal threads of Meredith Woolnough.

An exhibition of the intricate and ethereal work of fabric artist Meredith Woolnough will open at Timeless Textiles gallery on 16 August.

In the exhibition Woolnough explores the power and fragility of nature through intricately embroidered sculptures. The shapes and patterns found in coral and leaves are replicated in tiny stitches that build up to form specimen-like constructions that are light and delicate. Each piece is carefully mounted onto paper with pins to give the embroidery relief from the page so that it captures the light and flings shadows onto the paper creating depth, volume and movement.

This exquisiteexhibition will be opened from 6-8pm on Thursday, 16 August 2012 and will run until 9 September 2012.

Family connection shines through in Akin exhibition.

The family connection between mother and daughter artists Meredith and Rae Woolnough is strongly apparent in their joint exhibition, Akin, to be held at Islington’s Timeless Textiles Gallery in May.

The fibre artist duo may use different materials and work in separate cities but their art is intrinsically connected – and not just by their surname. Although Meredith and Rae approach art-making in vastly different ways, they both draw inspiration from the natural world.

This joint exhibition showcases the stunning work of two artists who are each pushing the boundaries of their chosen materials and processes. Meredith’s unique three-dimensional embroidery technique is used to stitch delicate forms inspired by the colours, patterns and structures found in leaves and coral. Rae uses silk and fine merino fibres to create semi-abstracted landscapes from felt.

Mother and daughter both find inspiration in the formations and patterns of nature and interpret these into their work in inventive ways.

Akin exhibition opens at 6- 8pm on 22 May and runs until 15 June 2014.

Natural Networks: Meredith Woolnough.

A fascination with natural structures and an experimental approach to embroidery and thread has led to a fascinating exhibition by artist Meredith Woolnough that opens at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery in April.

In the work prepared for the Natural Networks exhibition, Meredith has created elegant embroidered traceries that capture the power, beauty and fragility of nature in knotted embroidery threads. She explores the sculptural possibilities of a unique embroidery technique that utilises a domestic sewing machine and a base fabric that dissolves in water. By repeatedly stitching threads into dense structures Meredith creates intricate and complex openwork compositions that are then carefully suspended in space with pins, causing them to cast delicate shadows.

This exhibition explores the life and growth systems of various plants, animals and fungi in embroidery. Each piece is inspired by a particular natural structure such as the segmented growth of molluscs, the vein structures of leaves or the branching forms of coral.

Meredith, who has a first class honours degree in Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales and a Master’s of Teaching from the University of Sydney, finds inspiration in nature.

“I live close to bushland and coastal environments,” she said. “Exploring, collecting and drawing makes up a large part of the field work aspect of my practice and I like to research any plant or animal thoroughly so I understand it completely before I translate it into stitches.”

Also a scuba diver, Meredith loves to explore the world below the waves as well. She is fascinated by the structure of things, from the hard shapes of coral colonies to the minute arterial veins in leaves.

“I like to draw parallels between the growth and life systems of various organisms in my work commenting upon the interconnectedness of all living things.”

It was during her fine art studies at university that Meredith fell in love with textiles and freehand embroidery in particular.

On leaving university, she worked as a secondary school teacher for a time before making a decision in 2011 to devote herself to her art practice.

“I took a huge risk. I left my job, moved to Newcastle and began work full-time as an artist. It has been one of the scariest, but also the most satisfying choices I have made in my life so far.”

Meredith’s work in Natural Networksinvolves her using a domestic sewing machine as an unconventional drawing tool. Employing a similar process to traditional machine darning, or the more modern name ‘freehand machine embroidery’, she turns off the feeds teeth, giving her complete control of how to move the base fabric under the needle.

“I use a water-soluble base fabric to create my work, once my embroidered design is complete I simply wash it all away in hot water to leave my skeleton of stitches behind.”

ViewNatural Networks from 13 April until 8 May, with an official opening on 21 April.

HOLDING: Contemporary fibre art

HOLDING: Contemporary fibre artpresents a unique and diverse range of fibre art. Showcasing 25 international, national and local fibre artists, the exhibition explores – through textile mediums and techniques – ideas around containment and ownership. The exhibition is curated by Anne Kempton Director of Timeless Textiles, the only dedicated textile fibre art Gallery in Australia.

From smaller and intricate works of art like that of American artist Shannon Weber’s Amulet 2016using wire hemp and stone, to larger scale works such as Newcastle artist Brett Alexander’s five metre high Every time I have sex I think I might die (PEP/Prep version) 2016,

this exhibition expands on Kempton’s ideas around the ‘vessel’ as a form in contemporary fibre art and in this context is represented both physically and conceptually. Kempton states;

“The title HOLDING can allude to a sense of belonging, homeliness, security and memories. For me it’s a gentle nurturing of our souls, our world and each other. The materials for each of these works of art have been created or reused, held (sometimes times for long periods of time) in the artist’s hands during the making process.”

The environment is also a source of inspiration for many textile artists; drawing upon the world around them using both natural and synthetic materials, each artist is the primary creator of their work, all of which are layered with personal and individual meanings. In the Shelter 2016 by Western Australian artist Nalda Searles combines parts of a salvaged doll with native plant fibres and grasses held together using her own unique form of stitching.

HOLDING brings together fibre artists from Austria, Canada, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA as well as Australia and Newcastle revealing their deft ability with the fibre textile medium and the realisation of this in three dimensional objects.

The Embroidered Thread: Interpretations from Australia and America: Meredith Woolnough & Jennifer Cranshaw

The latest exhibition at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery presents the work of two internationally renowned textile artists. These two artists have never met, but they both use a unique medium.

Meredith Woolnough and Jennifer Crenshaw both use an unusual embroidery technique. Working with a domestic sewing machine and a fabric that dissolves in water, they create delicate sculptural forms unlike anything you will have seen before.

The upcoming exhibition; The Embroidered Thread: Interpretations from Australia and America, presents their work together for the first time. While each artist approaches the medium in different ways, there is a comfortable familiarity in the works.

Celebrated local artist Meredith Woolnough has exhibited work at Timeless Textiles several times over the last five years. Her elegant embroidered traceries capture the beauty and fragility of nature in knotted embroidery threads. Through a delicate system of tiny stitches she creates intricate and complex openwork compositions. They are pinned like preserved specimens in shadow boxes.

Meredith’s work involves extensive fieldwork to research the natural specimens that she depicts. In this latest body of work, she has taken her inspiration from plants that are close to her home.

“Since becoming a mother, it has been hard to get to exotic places to study plants,” she explains. “I have kept my fieldwork local. I study my houseplants or leaves collected on walks with my daughter. It is nice to study and appreciate the natural beauty on my doorstep.”

By focusing on the veins, patterns and colours of leaves, she aims to highlight the beautiful intricacies in leaves, which are often overlooked.  Some of the works are large-scale studies of a single leaf. Others feature more than 100 leaves in swirling designs.

American artist, Jennifer Crenshaw, says her work with free motion embroidery began with the desire to create multiple motifs and shapes using metallic threads. She wanted to create free forms that are not attached to a substrate.

“Through repetitive motion I am able to join the individual shapes and create sculptural forms. I use my knowledge of weaving, drawing and sewing to create my work.”

Each of Jennifer’s installations has the ability to take on new forms, shapes and shadows. By hanging, suspending in space or placing on a flat surface, a new set of patterns and reflections emerge and the artwork is re-born.

“It allows me to let go of control and to trust internal cues, which come from years of working with the elements of design,” she explains. “The process becomes a dialogue between creation and creator. It is the result of responsive interaction with the unfolding story of the work.”