Intern

Hawthorne & Heaney on Florence Sargent’s Sampling Project

September 11, 2019 by Intern

by Abi Tominey-Smith

During her time here, our last intern Florence Sargent visited the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019 for her research project, where she was briefed to create a sample based on the Summer Exhibition including 3D aspects. She became increasingly aware of how much reference there was to the animals of the world and nature throughout the art. This year the colours were bold and capturing and this was something Flo wanted to reflect when it came to sampling.

At the exhibition, she began by taking photographs to capture her favourite pieces, most of which included animals with an unusual look or aspect to them – bright colours and interesting faces. This sense of the individual and different, she has taken through to her final samples.

Mach Brothers, EASY TIGER, 2019.

Christopher James, MACAW, 2019.

Caroline Piggott, UK FISHING RIGHTS, 2019.

After visiting the exhibition and writing a blog post about her time there, Flo began her development by creating lots of drawings. She has created some really beautiful and realistic work using only pencil and shading.

To develop further Flo began to turn her flat drawings into 3D artworks, using stitch alongside cutting and joining techniques with glue and tape. These gave her work more of a 3D focus and gave her some ideas as to how she could put together and join her final piece to include these 3D effects.

Flo moved on by adding in more character, using bold colours combined with her 3D style, and experimenting with mediums such as paint, pen and pencils mixed together to give her work a bit more life.

Then when it came to actually beginning the sampling process, Flo decided to start with a simple line drawing plan, laying out all the techniques and shapes to be included when it came to creating. This really helped her final piece come together as a success.

You can see here, she has decided to combine 2 of the most popular animals seen at the RA, a fish and a bird combined, to create her own fantastic creature.

Finally Flo took both the Goldwork Beginner and Tambour Beginner series of classes and learnt the basics of both practises. With some time blocked out for her during the weeks at Hawthorne & Heaney, she was able to practise and build on these skills to create her final pieces.

Goldwork was the first class Flo took part in, so this was the first technique she became comfortable and practised in, and is how she became so skilled at putting together these samples in such a short amount of time. Alongside, she also tried her hand at a smaller tambour sample to practise these skills further.

Overall I think Flo has really captured the fun, bright, wildlife inspired themes seen in this years Royal Academy exhibition. You can see the progression through her work and that she has really taken the time to think and plan out what she aimed to archive. This has resulted in these stunning final pieces, full of life and many embroidery skills!

Image Credits:

https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/culture/review-royal-academy-summer-exhibition-2019/
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2019
Own photographs of Flos work, at Hawthorne & Heaney.

Hawthorne and Heaney Attends Amy Barrie 2020 Collection Preview

September 5, 2019 by Intern

This week we visited the preview presentation of the new London based designer Amy Barrie. Amy recently graduated from Central Saint Martins and her 2020 Womenswear collection demonstrates her understanding of how art and culture is central to fashion design. The collection celebrates the history of story telling and the garments are designed to empower the wearer through feminist text and imagery.

Amy Barrie wearing her machine embroidered two piece suit and t-shirt made by Hawthorne and Heaney.

The presentation was held at the Royal Academy and spanned across 3 grand rooms. We were greeted at the door by Amy who talked us through the collection and what we could expect to see in the presentation which involved young female poets modelling the garments in a set of luxurious regal sofas littered with news and campaign posters from the suffragettes. We were then free to walk through the rooms and talk to some of these poets wearing her empowering suits, dresses and t-shirts. When the audience was large enough the poets would perform feminist poetry that bought to life Barrie’s clothing. Their performances were incredibly moving and covered important topics such as sexism, rape and violence.

Spoken Word Poet Priscila Hernandez reading in Barrie’s digitally printed suit.

The idea of performance and event hosting is certainly a modern approach to viewing fashion yet it is understandable why it has become so popular with emerging designers with the growing demand from the consumer for an all encompassing and immersive shopping experience. Many fashion brands have also chosen this route and are rethinking retail as the rise of online shopping becomes a bigger threat to high street stores. Barrie has certainly noticed this and has found her audience through providing a storytelling experience with her clothing.

Her garments are covered from head to toe in written word, both hand and machine embroidered. A casual cotton t-shirt read ‘nether-the-less she persisted’ across the front, achieved through careful hand embroidery. A baby pink satin blazer with renaissance style puffed sleeves and pleating was printed with portraits of influential women such as Malala Yousafzai and Hilary Clinton. As well as using embroidery techniques, Barrie’s collection also involved a lot of print design for accessories; she had made boxing gloves, printed with feminist text as well as a cushion. Perhaps the most impressive piece was Barrie’s flouncy maxi dress, the skirt made entirely from Votes For Women sashes whilst the shoulders were covered in metal fountain pen nibs symbolising the importance of the written word but also taking the viewer on a journey back in time to the ages of calligraphy and poetry.

We found the exhibition both moving and empowering. Barrie’s collection is beautiful and elegant yet gives the wearer a sense of confidence and self-assurance. We cannot wait to see what’s next for Amy Barrie as she carves a path in the fashion industry.

Words and Photos by Florence Sargent

Misshapes: The Making of Tatty Devine

August 8, 2019 by Intern

20 July – 11 August 2019
Lethaby Gallery (Central Saint Martins), 1 Granary Square, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4AA
Free Entry

By Abi Tominey-Smith

Crafts Council have collaborated with Central Saint Martins within the University Arts London to bring you Tatty Devine’s first solo showcase, including jewellery work, video footage, sketchbook drawings, fashion work and installation pieces. Set in a bright, open setting, reflecting the style of this incredibly cool brand.

University of the Arts London graduates themselves, Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden joined forces about 20 years ago to create the brand Tatty Devine, an original and independent jewellery company based in London. They have challenged the basic conventions of jewellery through their acrylic laser cutting, quirky design and use of scale.

Acid Blossom Ultra Bead Necklace by Tatty Devine.

This body of over 100 work shown spans over their whole creative careers as Tatty Devine, with themes across their collections from Rebellion, Space, Music, Magic, Food to even a reference to Haberdashery!

Being one of the first companies to use laser cutting as a jewellery making technique, their work was bound to stand out. You can see the talent and creative spark of these ladies, as their jewellery is full of originality and personality. The fun colours, shapes and larger scale they’ve played with definitely makes a statement.

Lobster Giant Necklace by Tatty Devine.

Inside Misshapes, there are multiple screens to showing a looped step by step video of how the various materials are turned into wearable jewellery through laser cutting and hand techniques. It shows the process of bending, joining and piecing together such pieces as the Lobster Giant Necklace (above). Many more wacky pieces, similar to the Lobster are on display here.

Tatty Devine are a company very passionate about change and equality which is obvious throughout their work and team with all of their jewellery handmade in the UK by a group of 30 women.

They’ve teamed with The Fawcett Society to fight for women’s rights and often pay homage to the movements such as LGTBQ+ through colour and wording, allowing for their platform to speak up and spread empowering, strong messages.

Courage Calls Necklace (left) and Votes for Women Badge (right) by Tatty Devine

‘Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere’, was a line taken from a speech by feminist Millicent Fawcett that was given after the death of fellow suffragette Emily Davidson. This along with the Votes for Women badges are Tatty Devine’s way of showing support for the suffragettes and women’s rights everywhere. This and many more under the theme of ‘Causes’ are displayed at the exhibition.

Rainbow Halo Instillation with Rosie (left) and Harriet (right) by Tatty Devine, 2018.

Another area covered within Misshapes is their public art, where more recently they have been commissioned to make works for spaces such as the Peninsula Square, Greenwich, where they’ve been able to take their use of scale to a whole new level. Themes of Love, Peace and Magic were the inspiration for this Christmas based instillation. More photographs of their crazy public displays are shown in the exhibition, alongside some of the pieces included.

Altogether, the exhibition was buzzing, innovative and a very engaging experience. With a broad range of subject matters, there’s something for everyone – whether you’re a creative mind or not. It’s definitely a must see!

All images (courtesy from the Misshapes exhibition)

Hawthorne & Heaney at RCA Summer Exhibition 2019

July 9, 2019 by Intern

The Royal Academy’s prestigious Summer Exhibition is back once again and this time with a lot to live up to. The Exhibition saw a record number of visitors for its 250th Anniversary curated by Grayson Perry CBE, known for his bold tapestries and ceramics that critique British culture, class and politics. This year the gallery took a sharp turn towards a showcase that although included it’s usual wit and parody, also seemed to dwell in safe and conventional political territory covering themes such as climate change and Brexit.

The Exhibition has been held annually at the Royal Academy since 1769 and is the world’s oldest open submission exhibition. This is an incredibly important event for the art sphere which is often labelled as elitist and untouchable. It gives amateur artists the chance to have their aspirations realised and step into the world of professional artistry many can only dream of.

Pictures (from left to right); Macaw – Christopher James, Swaying Trees – Annabel Harrison, Peacock Tree Frog – Sandra Cockayne

On entering the exhibition in Wohl Central Hall you are met with a mass of exciting paintings, photographs and sculptures that hang in abundance on the walls. The hall has become a safari teeming with exotic, mythical beasts that juxtapose artists tame depictions of their beloved pets. Whilst this zoo of misfits is enough to overwhelm the spectator, when looking further you can see the meaning behind the art. Pressure is being put on the public to address the impact humans are having on our environment and in this case there has never been a more poignant time for this discourse within the creative industry.

A popular technique amongst the exhibitors was lithography. It has been used to depict nature as well as the human figure within it and this age old monochrome printing technique allows for detailed depictions by the artists. There was also a noticeable shift towards pastels and charcoal materials being used to create abstract illustrations of landscapes. This year there was unsurprisingly less textile art than previous exhibitions, perhaps this is just a comparison to its predecessor Grayson Perry. Perry works often with tapestry and his interests are entrenched in our British heritage, the textile industry being an essential part of this English Tradition. Nethertheless, Jock Mcfadyen’s paintings are acutely textured and this interest is transferred onto the walls of this years exhibition.

Pictures (From left to right): Tamatoa – Becca Cameron, Easy Tiger – David Mach

The first gallery you enter, next to Wohl Hall is that curated by the co-ordinator of this years show, Jock McFadyen. It is a pick and mix of photography, painting and sculpture but it all has a naturalistic feel and neutral colour palette which is reflective of McFadyen’s style.

Gallery 2 was put together by Richard Wilson RA and on writing about this gallery the Royal Academy has described Wilson as focusing on art with a strong sense of idea without referencing the human figure.

Jane and Louise Wilson were responsible for multiple rooms in this years exhibition and in Gallery 1 the twins delve deeper into political subject matter. With themes exploring immigration and identity the audience is suddenly hit with a more serious and thoughtful tone.

In the recent history of the Summer Exhibition there has been a room amongst the galleries that has been solely dedicated to the celebration of new architecture, presenting architects ideas and realities. This celebration can be found in the Large Weston Room produced by Spencer de Grey. Of course the focus for this year had to be on sustainable architecture and these environmentally friendly buildings all echo the concerns raised consistently throughout the exhibition. The room is filled with towering wooden models filled with miniatures, a doll-house lovers dream. The sustainable, eco-friendly buildings display what look to be utopian societies. This room is sure to unleash the inner child from even the most serious spectator.

Curator of gallery 4,+ Barbara Rae recently took a trip to the Arctic and this inspired her to put together a gallery filled with soft yet chilling neutrals that provide discourse yet again on the effects humans are having on our planet.

Pictures (from left to right): An Austere Beauty, Iceberg of Cape Mercy, Baffin Island – Nicholas Jones, Bear from Dump Circus – Nicholas Hicks

One of the most intriguing galleries was sorted by artists Barbara Rae and Hughie O’Donoghue, once again this room is centered on nature, many of the paintings are filled with natural beauty however there is an underlying message in a multitude of the paintings contained within this room, perhaps the best example of these hard-hitting pieces are Richard Devonshire’s Artificial Intelligence and The language of Bees, as well as Michael Canning’s Digitalis 1 and 3.

Pictures (from left to right): Artificial Intelligence – Richard Devonshire, The Language of Bees – Richard Devonshire, Digitalis 1 – Michael Canning, Digitalis 2 – Michael Canning

Altogether this years exhibition standouts included the mass display of animals and the natural world as well as the darker mood created by the exploration into how humans were destroying this. It is a circus of delirium depicted through the wildness of nature.

The Summer Exhibition never fails to showcase some of the best artwork this country has to offer, whether you are gazing upon the sculpture of an established celebrity artist or the portrait painted by your next door neighbour these artworks mesh together seamlessly and deliver a fun and reflective experience that is well worth a visit every time. With such an abundance of inspiration contained within these walls this is a playground for creatives of every generation, background and discipline.

By Flo Sargent

Exhibition Information:

RA: Summer Exhibition 2019

Dates: 10th June – 12th August 2019

Location: Royal Academy of Arts,

Burlington House,

Piccadilly,

London,

W1J OBD

For further details and to purchase tickets see website: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2019

Hawthorne and Heaney inspired by the Visionary Drawings of Emma Kunz

July 2, 2019 by Intern

After visiting the Emma Kunz exhibition of visionary drawings at the Serpentine Gallery in May our intern Max was inspired by the artists use of geometrics, spirographs and straight lines. Emma Kunz would ask questions to a computer and using a pendulum and this would this result in a series of spirographs and abstract structured patterns. From this research Max was asked to develop a collection of samples for contemporary bridal wear.