Well you might wonder how the talk went at Manchester Art Gallery. I had lots of fun! There were so many talented crafters assembled in the foyer and as I arrived I am not sure I have seen so many people in that atrium before.
The assembled group then toured the gallery to look at the work of Joana Vasconceles with the wonderful curator Natasha Howes. I have admired Natasha’s work for a long time and she was a brilliant guide. I made a few interjections about the techniques used and my observations of the yarns etc.
After a brief break we then stepped into the lecture hall where I shared a small presentation of images. I say small…. it took a while. Look at the size of the screen! We had a lovely wee Q&A session and all the while people sat working away at their crochet or knitting. Isn’t that the best way to enjoy a sociable evening.
I cannot tell you how happy I was to chat to people about crochet. I just adored the lively dialogue and afterwards I was able to physically man-handle some of the pieces people were wearing of making. As Little B would say ‘There were some serious SKILLZ’.
If it is possible I will share the presentation with you here – with the additional audio. One friend likened my accent to similar to Joyce Grenfell.Oh how I wish it was but it is an honour which I am aiming to develop more with age. So you can make your own judgement on that.
For a while I have struggled to define my style. I can spot the crochet style of Lucy from Attic 24 very easily, I can also identify the work of Vanessa from Coco Rose Diaries in a trice. Mine? No, not really able to articulate that.
In my head I hope it is paired down, plain style, elegant. Yeah Right! When I un-packed my huge swag bag of ‘show-n-tell’ items the following day, I realised it is quite bright, a little bit cheeky and mostly just fun. That’s not too bad I think.