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New Work
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Title: Dorothy's Jungle Shoes
The inspiration for Dorothy's Jungle Shoes came from reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series of novels and the journey the characters took; revisiting the Wizard of OZ tower on their way.
The silk braids for the shoes are all plain weave structure. The multi-coloured uppers are single braids stitched together to form a bias fabric. The uppers could have been made from one single wide braid, but I was interested in experimenting with the single braid version to understand the process. The straps were begun with an unsupported point the oval buckle was chosen to accentuate the colour of the strap. Another plain multi-coloured braid runs around the edge and under the insole of the shoe to complete the design. The shoes Uk size 4 were assembled and made by Jackie Claxton using the 'Last' of Prescott & Mackay in their London workshop.
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Body Adornment
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A simple eight strand braid with additional colours added to the core. Made with fine pre-dyed Japanese silk, the beads come from India and France. Photo by Ed Barber
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Designed to be worn as a wrist piece, it could equally be made as a necklace. A pre-dyed 20/3 silk was used for this spiral braid and the large bead is aluminium sprayed with gold paint. Small No 8 beads were used for the tassel. Photo by Ed Barber
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The necklace was started as a square braid carrying a core of extra threads to make the flat part of the braid. The added threads were returned to the core to finish with a square end. The silk used was a thick pre-dyed 2ply yarn from Germany, the same silk thread is available from Treenway in Canada. Water pearls were stitched to the braid. The findings are hand crafted silver. Photo by Ed Barber
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This piece can be worn as a belt or a neckpiece, it is secured by a dyed mother of pearl shell. The fibre is a spaced dyed kumihimo silk from Japan. Photo by Ed Barber
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I made this head piece with my then eight year old daughter in mind. The braid was made using polyester ribbon, a wooden dowel was inserted into the centre of the braid to maintain its "hollowness". A plastic headband was inserted into the hollow tube after the braid was released from the marudai. The silk flowers were threaded onto the ribbon. Photo by Ed Barber
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It seemed like a good idea at the time to make the neckpiece with a long beaded tassel. The position and the weight of the beads caused them to tangle becoming one big mess. The fibre used is pre-dyed silk from Germany, two gold coloured beads hold the braid join together. Photo by Ed Barber
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The colour accent of the large bead was picked up
in the silk and carried through to the small beads used in
the tassel. The braid was made on the marudai with fine
Japanese silk.
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This necklace was shown at a gallery exhibition in
London. It is made with fine Japanese silk on the marudai;
the water pearls were sewn on to the braid after it was
completed. The silver findings were specially made for this
piece.
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A piece commissioned to appear in the book "Exotic Beads"
by Sarah Withers. The book shows completed jewellery using
beads from different parts of the world, this piece
represented beads from modern America. The large bead is a
Dichroic bead made by Nancy Poteck, the braid is made on the
marudai using fine Japanese silk.
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The braid is made on the marudai with fine silk. The
large Turkaman silver bead has at its center an inlaid Lapis
stone; Small blue and silver beads are supported with beads
handmade from silk thread.
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Purses for Dreamtime
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The purses are symbol filled with talisman that can be called upon as guides. They are finger woven with pre-dyed 10/3 silk, the structure is Peruvian. The No 8 beads were added to the fringe. The purse on the left lies against a chinelle jacket that has takadai woven braids as an edging.
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