The re-opening of the Seagrass art Gallery (part 2) - Other Makers

In the first post about the reopening of the Seagrass Gallery in West Kirby, I showed you the work of the Gallery owner, Jo Smith. This post is about some of the other artist/maker's work available from the Gallery.

Dennis Spicer is a Wirral based artist and has work in the permanent collection of the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead, and in the collection of Hammersmith Borough Council in London, 

You can find out more about Dennis' paintings on his website dennisspicer.co.uk

Daffodils and Blue Coffee Pot (appologies for the wonky photo.

Peaches.

Barbara Meynell paints on silk for scarves, ties and she makes batik paper. 
You can find more of her work on her website scenicsilks.co.uk 

Mary Bryning is an artist who creates these beautiful textile maps of the local area.  
You can find more of her work and her husband's art (his cat drawing are beautiful) on their website bryningart.co.uk/.

Birkenhead Docks

 
Helen Smith works in glass, print and stitch.
You can find more of her work on her website helen-smith.com/.
 

Marion Roberts is an occasional artist and a maker of beautiful things out of felt.
You can out more about her work on her website taocrafts.co.uk/

Felted light vessels

 Mechart makes fabulous items from recycled bits of metal, included bits and pieces of cars etc.

You can out more about his art on his website roylewismechanicalartist.weebly.com/

Alison Bailey Smith is an artist that creations fabulous things using recycled materials, including the earring pictured below.
Pop over to her Facebook page to find out more.

There are more artists with work available at the Gallery, so if you're in the area, 1 Acacia Grove, West Kirby, Wirral, pop in for a look around.

The next post will be the second in the 'Putting on the Glitz' series.

You can see the first post by following this link. 

TTFN
Louise
 

Putting on the Glitz - 1930s evening wear (Part 1)

Last week I visited the Lady Lever Art Gallery to see an exhibition of evening wear covering the 1930s and 40s imitating the glamour of Hollywood. The frocks and accessories chosen were taken from the archives of the National Museums Liverpool, mainly donated by Liverpool families.

There were about twenty frocks in the exhibition and I'm going to split them over 3 or 4 posts and this is the first one.

Evening dress, silk satin, about 1932-5

 

 

 The dress is bias cut, enabling the dress to be stretched and closely moulded to the shape of the body.

 

Evening dress, silk crepe and lurex, about 1934-38.

 Evening mantle, silk crepe-de-chine and marabou feathers, about 1930.

The mantle's feathery outline contrasts with the sleek, column-style dress.

The feathers come from the large African stork, which were used to trim luxury clothing.

Evening dress, printed silk crepe, about 1930-32

 This frock was made by the Mainbocher fashion label that was created by the American fashion illustrator and designer Main Rousseau Bocher. 

It has little weights sewn into the hem to stop the dress lying about in the wind and to make sure it hangs properly.

This dress has a small train at the back, but this style is still used for evening dresses today.

 

 

 

This striped dress is reminiscent of the beach wear that was popular during the 1930s.

Evening dress with matching jacket, satin-backed crepe with applied beads and sequins.

 This outfit was made by the London couture house Lachasse, which was founded in 1929 and was still in business until 2006.

Evening dress, printed rayon satin, about 1937-38

This summer evening dress is typical of those made by local dressmakers during the late 1930s. Although the shape of this dress is simple, its vibrant colours and surface sheen gives it a glamorous and sophisticated feel.

This dress was worn by Miss Doris Howard-Jones of Allerton, Liverpool.

With its flowery pattern, this dress is one of my favourites of those in this exhibition. Again, it's something that you may come across in a clothes shop today.

I hope you're enjoying seeing these beautiful dresses. There are more to come.

TTFN

Louise

Note: the second post about the re-opening of the Seagrass Gallery will be posted later this week.

The re-opening of the Seagrass Gallery, West Kirby (part 1).

The Seagrass Gallery is one of the places that sells the things I make, along with lots of other lovely art from the local area.

It's owned by Jo Smith, who is a fabulous painter and maker in her own right, and she has curated a fabulous selection of delights.

The Gallery was originally located in s shop front in Hoylake, but after a change in building ownership, it had to move. Fortunately, Jo found some lovely premises in West Kirby that are much larger than the old shop, giving lots of display space, along with extra rooms for workshops and a studio for Jo.

The Gallery reopened on 6th February 2015 and I popped over a couple of days later to take photos to share with you. I took lots, so I'm going to split them over a couple of posts.

Jo Smith's paintings, art work and jewellery.

 

In the next post I'll share the photos of some of the other maker's wares available in the Gallery.

You can find Jo on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

TTFN
Louise

Vintage style Easter decorations with a spot of embroidery

With all of the dreary grey and wet weather that's been around lately, I'm really looking forward to Spring and making these decorations has started to get me in the Spring mood.

I've printed vintage images onto good quality, matte photographic paper and then added a little embroidery to each one. These were then attached to card and I added a hanger made from vintage cord.

Packs containing a rabbit, sheep and a bonnet wearing chick are now available in my newly opened Etsy shop.

TTFN
Louise