Events & Exhibitions

Hi everyone, I’m Pierre Fouché, a lace artist and recent (and very proud) member of the Weavers’ Guild. I’ll be giving a talk this Saturday, and I’m really looking forward to sharing some of my work and ideas with you.

I joined the guild earlier this year, following the wise recommendation of my late mentor and dear friend, Charlotte Keen. Charlotte had a deep love for this community and believed it to be a rare and dynamic meeting place for textile creatives—a space where curiosity and technical know-how intersect beautifully. In the short time I’ve been part of the guild, I’ve seen exactly what she meant.

Some of you may remember a talk I gave to the guild a couple of years back, where I introduced my artistic practice and shared some highlights from my portfolio. This time around, I won’t dwell too long on my full body of work—but I will start with a few slides that track my rather unusual journey: from a bright-eyed mixed-media sculptor to a textile artist completely smitten with the complex elegance of bobbin lace.

From there, we’ll shift gears a bit. I’d like to spend most of the talk exploring bobbin lace from a structural perspective, in a way I hope will feel both familiar and delightfully strange to weavers. This part of the lecture is titled “The Structure of Bobbin Lace – From Nets to Cloth and Back Again,” and it’s been designed especially with you in mind. We’ll examine the ways lacemaking and weaving mirror and differ from one another—conceptually, technically, and even philosophically. There’ll be a short and playful design exercise along the way (no experience with lace required), so please bring along:

• A pencil, an eraser, and a pen

• One coloured pencil (or a small pack to share—just one colour is needed)

• A hardcover book or clipboard to lean on

• And, most importantly, an open mind

Thanks so much for the opportunity to geek out with fellow textile nerds. I can’t wait to connect, exchange ideas, and hopefully leave you looking at lace a little differently.

Warm regards,
Pierre

Forage Inc is a range of botanical inks made from ethically foraged indigenous South African plants. Plants used traditionally in the dyeing of natural basketry fibres and leather tanning, create botanical inks that have good light-fast properties and a beautiful range of colours.
Join us for an introduction by Nikki to foraging for art materials, dyes, inks and pigments and a focus on her special interest: lichens for dyeing and the use of New Zealand flax as a fibre.

Pam will be talking about the
commercially available natural
dyes, weld (yellow), madder
(red), cochineal (red) and indigo
(blue). There will be a demo, so
you can see the process and the
gorgeous colours that emerge.
“Pam’s two passions are crafts
and travel. After studying Fine
Arts she travelled extensively in
Europe. She returned home to
South Africa and completed her
studies to become an art teacher.
After marrying, she and her
husband decided to build a
catamaran and sail around the

world. They sailed across the Atlantic from
Durban, South Africa, to Brazil. Sailing
slowly northward, they travelled via the
San Blas Islands and through the Panama
canal and eventually landed in Peru where
they stayed for two years working on an
irrigation project. While in Peru she
studied the archaeology of the area and
travelled to many of the archaeological
sites. The colours of the ancient weavings
found in the Paracas desert still influence
her work.

As crafters, many of us are quite particular about choosing natural fibers for our projects – for all sorts of good reasons. Natural fibers feel good, wear well, have ancient traditions, are biodegradable, sustainable, etc, etc. Yet, with recycling technology developing by leaps and bounds we are moving towards an era where (some) recycled synthetic materials will have a smaller carbon footprint than (some) natural materials.

In any case, we believe that stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something you normally wouldn’t, is refreshing and can give a new perspective on things. Hence, we are inviting you all to join us in exploring all sorts of weird and wonderful synthetics at our March Guild meeting.

The aim is for each one of us to create a small tapestry on a frame using 100% synthetic materials. The frame can be anything that you can put a warp on (an empty picture frame, an embroidery hoop, a forked twig or a piece of cardboard…) and warp and weft can be anything as long as it’s 100% synthetic: acrylic yarns, plastic bags, orange pocket nets, plastic cutlery, nylon stockings, dental floss – you name it. Technique and design we leave up to you – maybe you’ll let the project guide you as it emerges.

Bring your frame and your most fabulous synthetics and scissors plus blunt tapestry needles and forks for beating and let’s play and be creative together for the afternoon. We’ll start the meeting at 12:00 sharp. Friends and family members welcome!