Yorkshire Archives - Jane Mercer Felt Artist

Exciting November Exhibition with York Textile artists

It's been a while since I posted here. What have I been doing? Catching up with friends and family and spending lots of time in Scotland. Plus of course some felting, eco printing, dyeing and stitching. I also applied to and was accepted by York Textile artists. I am delighted to be taking part in their winter exhibition. The exhibition will take place at York Cemetery Chapel on the 13th and 14th of November from 10am to 4pm. Holidays in Scotland So here is the beautiful Sango Sands beach in Scotland. I watched seals from the cliffs above these sands. In Scotland you know the rain will never be far away. And all around beautiful scenery just one example of some inspiring lichens. Work in progress Following the eco printing of a scarf using peony, alchemilla, jack by the hedge and eucalyptus leaves, I have stitched the resultant beautiful iron blanket with…

0 Comments

27/10/2021

Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Fabric / Yorkshire

Can taking an online course improve my ecoprints?

In December 2020 I registered for an online course in the hope of improving my ecoprints. The course was Foundation of ecoprinting and was run by Caroline Nixon. The course started in early January. I did not get very far with the course because I broke my elbow. That is what you get for cycling when it's icy. I was then unable to wring out fabric or wrap bundles. Caroline kindly let me join the April course instead. Luckily my elbow is fully recovered and I could participate in the April course. Good timing as well as many of the plants in my garden were coming into leaf. Here is one of my first ecoprints. The fabric is a hemp silk blend and has a slight texture and lovely drape. Certainly, this is not the best ecoprint in the world but it tells me loads. I have printed with raspberry, aquilegia, alchemilla,…

2 Comments

25/04/2021

composite photograph / Photography / Wet felting / Yorkshire

Five things that have inspired me on a local walk

After more than a year of restricted movements due to COVID, I have gone for a walk regularly but nothing I saw to inspire me. I did not take a single photograph in months. On the plus side, the exercise was good. One cold snowy sunny morning this began to change. I took this photo. And I thought maybe I will walk this way again and take some more photos. There is nothing special about this walk. It's about 5 Km, a circular route from my house taking in a local lane called Ings Lane and some fishing lakes and a disused railway track. Structures on my walk There are lots of gates, fences and a railway bridge with crumbling brickwork. Ageing Lots of items are showing their age and looking very dilapidated Maybe this is an old horse box ? Wild Flowers Slowly the remnants of the plants from last year…

0 Comments

11/04/2021

art exhibition / British wool fibres / Felt Workshop / IFA / Natural dyeing / Prefelts / shetland / Textile art / Wet felting / Wool / Yorkshire

How exciting to be taking part in my first virtual exhibition

I like to take part in an exhibition, but this is the first time I take part in a virtual exhibition. ReConnect opens today and I am exhibiting two pieces. The exhibition is organised by the International Feltmakers Association, of which I am a member. The exhibition coincides with the AGM of the organisation it was to have been held in France, but along with so many things has become virtual. I am inspired by the title ReConect. It is so very appropriate to so many of us, who have spent much of the last year isolated from friends and family. Isolation wasn't easy but reconnecting is also going to require relearning old ways and will take time and patience. Sculpture My sculpture piece uses Bluefaced Leicester, Masham, Welsh, Grey Shetland and Swaledale wools, all with such beautiful natural colours. I made 15 different elements to represent different people, isolated in small…

2 Comments

28/03/2021

art exhibition / Framing / Natural dyeing / Textile art / Wet felting / Yorkshire

How I frame felt art perfectly using stretcher bars

I wrote a blog on framing with stretcher bars in 2017, and I am surprised that it is my most read blog post. I am in the middle of framing felt pieces for an exhibition so I thought I would show some more photos of the framing process I use. What are stretcher bars? Stretcher bars are made for artists to stretch their own canvases on prior to painting but I don't think they are intended for textile work. That is not a problem for me. These are the ones I have just bought from Great Art Stretcher bars are made in a huge variety of sizes and they are really quite cheap. The bars to frame this picture which is 68 cm long x 32 cm wide cost £7.18. Plus a bit of postage. Measuring First, measure your felt piece. I normally start right at the beginning and design the piece…

0 Comments

21/03/2021

Armley Mill / IFA / Natural dyeing / Wet felting / Wool / Yorkshire

My fantastic time at Armley Mills as artist in residence

I have recently spent a fantastic week as artist in residence at Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills. When I first visited the museum with the IFA in April 2017 I did not think that I would enjoy the luxury of a week in the museum , dyeing and felting. How lucky I have been. Armley Mills , was once the world’s biggest woolen mill. It is therefore a very appropriate venue for an artist in residence with a love of wool and a passion for felting with naturally dyed materials. I am fascinated by most machines, but especially those which process wool. My felt pictures using commercially dyed wool inspired by the machines are in the current exhibition at Armley Mills. As artist in residence, I wanted to take this work further. But also limit myself to using naturally dyed wool fibres. A…

2 Comments

23/08/2018

Armley Mill / machine stitching / Photography / Stitches / Textile art / Wet felting / Yorkshire

Why my love of textile machines is inspiring me.

In a dark mouldy area on the ground floor of Armley mill there are three fulling machines, textile machines, in a room that once housed many. The machines were driven by water and large hammers smashed the wet woven cloth , shrinking it and making it warmer and water resistant. On the more airy first floor of the mill amongst the warping, carding and spinning machines stand two jacquard head textile machines. These complex, intricate machines allowed the automation of the weaving process and were at the very start of the development of computers. Each machine contians hundreds of threads and beautiful cast levers, cogs and wheels. Two totally amazing and totally different textile machines both key to the development of the woollen textile industry. Armley Mill is the industrial museum of Leeds , containing not only textile machines, but a cinema and photography equipment exhibits. Plus lots of artefacts relating to…

1 Comment

07/01/2018

Staithes festival of arts and heritage / Yorkshire

Staithes Art and Heritage weekend

What a wonderful weekend this has been. After months of planning by me and I am a sure even more months of planning by the organisers , the sun shown and the crowds poured in. I shared a location in Trig point at the top of the village with 6 others artists. Trig Point was an old army camp and dates back to the First World War. Here some photos of our brilliant displays in the old dining room. Lots of visitors ! Everyone had a great weekend and hopefully we will be able to go back next year.

1 Comment

11/09/2016

Alum / Natural dyeing / Yorkshire

The secrets at the fascinating Peak alum works

What a fascinating place Peak alum works is. ! Well worth a visit. Currently being updated. Please come back soon Alum was discovered here in 1640 and the works were build to process the calcined ore and to export the alum flour. The remains are above a beautiful bay shown here at low tide , with Robins Hood bay in the background . The invisible quarries of the Peak Alum Works Peak Alum works were built because of the locally sourced shale rock which could be quarried and then processed to make alum. Today there is virtually no sign of the of the quarries that once changed the face the of the hillsides. They have been covered by gorse and bracken and have disappeared into the landscape. The Peak Alum works were operational from 1650 to 1860 when a cheaper route to alum was discovered. The shale from the…

2 Comments

21/08/2016

Alum / Mordant / Natural dyeing / Yorkshire

Just on my doorstep

Since I moved back to the UK I have been pondering a theme for a series of local felt pieces. I now live on the edge of the North York moors a really beautiful area with a fantastic coast line which has a really interesting industrial heritage. In the photo above you can see the costal town of Staithes with the Boulby cliffs in the background. My first thoughts on a theme were something related to the mining of ironstone in the area and the subsequent development of the steel industry, which has sadly recently closed. Whilst researching I came across another older industry that is far more directly related to my work. I discovered that during the reign of Henry VIII , a local source of Alum which was critical to the textile industry as a mordant was sought in order to break the papal monopoly. This was in the 16th…

3 Comments

07/08/2016