November 20, 2009

I’ve just been introduced to Altoon Sultan’s wonderful hooked “ruglets”. Created as art for the wall, they’re an extension of her work as a painter and contribute to her ongoing study of nature and landscape, abstraction, and the work of artists that inspire her. Click here for her paintings and here for her ruglets.
Posted in Textile Designers | Leave a Comment »
November 18, 2009

Visit the website of Macan Tidur Textiles for a glossy, well-curated “look book” of textiles from Sumatra, Java, Bali and beyond. Above, a sarong from South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Via Susi Johnston.
Posted in S.East Asian Textiles | 1 Comment »
November 16, 2009

Here’s a pretty eye-opening story about the economic realities of traditional carpet weaving in Morocco.
– It seems like there must be some importer out there who would be interested in working in a beneficial way with the collective of female weavers featured in the article…
Posted in African Textiles, Carpets, Small Industry | Leave a Comment »
November 12, 2009

Seema Krish’s debut collection is called Bombay Bliss and includes six patterns made in a range of fibers and techniques. There are pillows and throws — and fabric by the yard is coming next.
Via Interior Desisgn magazine’s “Market Tabloid” issue, 10/31/09.
Posted in Indian Textiles, Textile Designers | 1 Comment »
November 9, 2009

A “William Morris-inspired” wool / viscose carpet by Sanderson, sold through the British company John Lewis.
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November 5, 2009

Segueing from my previous post, artist Joanne Mattera’s 10/26/09 blog entry offers an interesting commentary on the limitations and implications of defining artists within subcategories — like “fiber artist”. Her entry also includes examples of several artists-who-happen-to-work-with-textiles-as-a-medium, including Polly Apfelbaum. A detail from her piece “Funkytown” is shown above.
Posted in Exhibition Textiles | Leave a Comment »
November 3, 2009

Debra Smith uses vintage textiles to create compositions that are sewn and quilted to collage-like effect. By framing her pieces for the wall she also helps blur the art/craft distinction that often leaves fabrics in a lesser camp.
If you like Smith you might also appreciate the work of Leah Evans.
Posted in Exhibition Textiles, Textile Designers | Leave a Comment »
October 31, 2009

…A European fabric company with some beautiful patterns, worth keeping an eye on in the months ahead.
Posted in From the Showrooms | 1 Comment »
October 29, 2009

I find decorative arts of all kinds can have amazing power to re-shape, dislodge, and entirely shock my sense of time as an historical progression of the “old” leading to the “new”. The carpet above (shown in close-up) is a case in point. According to dealer Sandra Whitman it was made in China between 1723 and 1735. That means this very “new” looking carpet (replete with a simplified color palette, abstracted open field and streamlined border) was sitting in China decades before the U.S. Declaration of Independence or the French Revolution. That unwires my brain a bit.
Posted in Carpets, East Asian Textiles, Historic Textiles | Leave a Comment »