I was shocked to see I have not posted for a year. This is a real indication of how hard it has been to be an artist in England in 2019. The terminal effects of textile art not being acknowledged and in fact openly denigrated and not seen as art has effected my creativity badly.

I have joined the Society of Embroidered WorksI applaud their action to get embroidery more included in the art world. Questioning the Royal Academy of Art about their blocking methods around embroidery art.

The Art and Craft world feels an impossible place at the present time in a society and culture that does not respect it. My frustration has felt nuclear yet I must and do continue to create it is my life, I cannot stop. So I’ve realised I must take my art  and craft more seriously as if a life time of work is not serious enough to take it seriously.  I have had the support of three women artists to help me breathe and look to ways of moving forward. I have always thought that the years before World War two were the most creative and that creativity died with the war. I most admire artists working at the time. Rebecca Compton being my main hero. So I have Annie Albers catalogue of the Tate Modern exhibition. Dora Catalogue from Dorick house museum and Barbara Hepworth Writings and conversations. It has occurred to me I have very little face to face communication with female artists so I have attended an embroiderers guild meeting to help me affirm embroiderers exist

Female artists are providing a wealth of inspiration and allow me to reflect on these heros and where thay have been. I have recently felt defeated by the consumer, competitive, oppressive nature of the UK and world art establishments and there inaccessibility. Confused by the reversal of what is important and an inability to see my way through the wasteful, destructive consumerism. I have also become acutely aware of the terrible uk based class system that continues to destroy our society. Allowing the priveledge to a select monied few who rarely earned or worked for it but had money handed down to them from family. This public school “Eton Mess” with its white mans sense of entitlement needs to be smashed to pieces and new ways created which has an ability to learn from history and not repeat it. Oppressions have to stop. The sense of this time seems to be the inability to learn from lessons long ago enacted and repeated ad infinitum taking away the human ability to learn and grow. Artists studied the old masters, an activity which i have rarely appreciated and still question but the lessons learnt allow us to keep learning lessons which is the most important outcome. So I continue with my textile and mixed media art and creations. Even the term mixed media adeles my thinking why is the language so inadequate? I acknowledge that any media is enough to create with. I will give my media the respect it deserves even if society can barely focus on them or give them the recognition they are due and not by celebratory artists who design but don’t make and climb the social ladder to perform. Women artists are professionals too and because of sexism have rarely recieved the recognition due being excluded from publication and societal representation. Seen by work held in the vaults of national museums and not displayed. Or textiles being held in inaccessible institutions not freely open to the public as other art is shown in The UK Blyth House is an example of this bad practice.

What strange things are happening to this world, the lack of acknowledgement of skills and creativity has got to stop.