Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th October 2013, from 12 noon – 5pm
I would like to invite you to the Dundee Meadow Mill Wasps Artists Open Studios on Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th October from 12noon – 5pm.
My studio will be open with a range of Bargain Boxes with scarves, cards and prints and you can see some of the new things I’ve been working on! I’m on the 4th floor, in studio 404! (there is a lift!!!). I have the lovely Sooz Gordon sharing my studio who styles funky eclectic interiors, makes Dundee inspired cushions and offers Style Surgeries for others to learn about interior design.
Lots artists will be taking part all under the one roof from a wide range of creative practices – painting, ceramics, illustration, textiles, jewellery, installation, interiors, photography and much more. It’s a chance to have a look inside the creative spaces.
As well as the usual amazing array of artists and makers welcoming you into their place of work, this year we have a programme of FREE events in the Gallery Space on Saturday and Sunday (see below). There will be a cafe and a group show of tenants work in the cafe area and Project 2 on the 4th floor. This year we will have a shop curated by Lovely Things with some of their product alongside work from artists and makers. I will have a selection of things in there too, it’s on the 3rd floor, in studio 316.
Saturday 19th
12-1pm Creative Writing with author Zoe Venditozzi (maximum of 8 people)
1:30-2pm The Museum and the Whaleback City – Poetry Reading by Andy Jackson.
Fife-based poet Andy Jackson reads from his poetry collection The Assassination Museum and also from Whaleback City, the new anthology featuring six centuries of Dundee poetry, of which he is co-editor. Expect quirky, accessible poetry on themes as diverse as Daleks, dancing and conspiracy theories.
3:30-5pm Best Bits of Pecha Kucha Dundee (screening).
Sunday 20th
12:30-1:30pm – Meet the Inkers – Vanilla Inkers new intake.
2-5pm TRiGGER : Connectivity @ WASPS 2013 – TRiGGER is holding a participatory drop in afternoon on Sunday 20th October at WASPS Meadowmills Gallery space from 2-5pm. We will be inviting visitors and studio artists to contribute to an informal reflective visual response to WASPS Open Studios weekend. The afternoon is a relaxed and interactive experience with participation welcome from all visitors.
(These events will take place in Project 1 on the 4th floor.)
Ms Battenberg’s Travelling Tea Room will provide a veritable cornucopia of delectable treats. Sit back and relax with some homemade treats and a cuppa. Available throughout the weekend.
Come and try on my scarves and enjoy my colourful patterned studio! Come and see the creative talent Dundee has to offer! For a map please link here.
Please spread the word to others you think may be interested!
I’ve been creating some one-off, hand printed scarves in my studio. The Sneak + Peek collection is inspired by the pheasants hiding amongst the fields. Where I live there are thousands of pheasants but it’s not till you come close that they reveal themselves with their distinctive call warning all there pheasant friends to look out. The mono printing technique that allows me to capture the textures of the fields and no two scarves are the same. Each scarf is reversible to allow you to change your look and get two scarves for the price of one!
Material – 100% Silk Crepe de Shine
Dimensions – 32cm x 180cm (aprox)
Price – £120
Scarves are available to buy directly from me, please email me hello@louisekirby.com I will include free postage and packaging to any UK address.
It’s that season, the leaves are changing colour and their is a chill in the air!
I just wanted to let you know about my artwork being used on 2 Anthropologie scarves called Wings of Braemar. They are only available through Anthropologie stores and online.
They are a lovely quality of wool and I love wearing mine! I’m really proud that my logo features on the edge and sold in their stores all over Europe and USA and online. It’s great having my work reaching a wider audience and with such a high profile that I really admire.
I hope you like them!
Thanks for reading my blog!
My first export order has gone over the pond and far away… all the way to New York! They have flown to 2 of Anthropologie’s stores in New York – the Chelsea Market store and 16th & 5th store.
These hand printed scarves are all handmade by me in Scotland; and each scarf is ever so slightly different. It’s intensive and very much a labour of love to design and craft my scarves to create the finished product.
Here’s a wee bit of info on the processes from start to finish: From the mixing of dyes to create delicious pots of colour, I do lots of testing to get the right shades. Hand screen printing each scarf individually using complicated blending techniques and stencils of pheasants. Mono printing the reverse side, gives a very unique hand made quality where each mark is scratched in. Washing the screens, hanging to dry, steaming of silk to fix the dyes, hand washing till any loose dyes are removed (and by this time my fingers have all gone wrinkly), ironing, sewing and adding in the care labels. Then attaching the official Anthropologie labels, felt good! Packaging up and to note the massive amount of paperwork from purchase orders to packaging list then Fed Ex-ing over the pond!
It’s been a real learning experience working on this project and I’d like to thanks to the whole Anthropologie team that helped me get through all the hoops for exporting. I felt like a very little fish swimming across the Atlantic Ocean or perhaps more apt, a wee Scottish birdie flying across the Atlantic Ocean!
My work sits so well with Anthropologie’s brand and values; with their ethos of quality, love of pattern, and how they really embrace working with artists and makers. I think this makes them them unique even though they are such a big company.
Their unique shopping experience means you just want to spend time in their stores. The beautiful displays are always a feast for your senses; and so many beautiful things mixed with very good styling and visual merchandising.
It’s great how having created the storefore front for their new Edinburgh store in May (see video), I’ve since designed a small collection for the Edinburgh store and now scarves for the New York stores. I really hope the ladies of NYC like my scarves, who knows who will be wearing them!
My studio will be open as part of this fab event. I’m based at Airlie Place (just off the Perth Road and down from the students union) There’s a great mix of Artists and Designers and Special Guests taking part. I will have a range of luxurious silk and wool scarves for sale, and a bargain box for you to have a rummage. Feel free to invite lots of people to this creative event happening in Bonnie Dundee. For more information the facebook page click here.
WASPS Artists at Airlie Place – Genna Delaney, Nicola Morrison, Jennifer Robson, Paola McClure, Louise Kirby, Volker Rosenberg, Neil McIntee, Casey Campbell, Jill Skulina, Louise Ritchie
WASPS Artists at Meadow Mill – Kirsty Doig
WASPS Artists at Douglas Court – Cathrine Holtet, Jonathan Hood, Allan Beveridge,
SPECIAL GUESTS –
Two Dolls
Steven Higginson artist
Howard Callow
Dot Stewart
Juliette Townsend ceramicist
Amanda McAllum
Patricia Griffin
James Skelton Smith
Lee Mitchell
Christina Hirst
The Scarlet Bakery
Yoke
I had a fantastic night at the opening of the 1st Scottish Anthropologie Store in Edinburgh on George Street.
What an amazing store! There’s so many great things about it, it’s boutique-like on a large scale, with lovely displays, lots of lovely textures, and amazing clothes and home ware.
I can’t believe how they have used my artwork form the hoarding, amazing blocky feature near the stairs – much bigger and better than I could of imagined. Some of my pattern used within the artwork spanning over 2 floors.
It was funny as lots of people recognised me from the video of me creating the hoarding artwork. Concept & Graft were there too.
It was great to see my hand printed scarves within the store and also being worn!
Cocktails, delicious hor d’oeuvres and oysters – top night!
Lindsey Gardiner and her quirky dog paintings, fantastic!
Also there’s an photography exhibition by David Eustace.
Live auction for With Kids and the lovely ceiling.
Here’s a link to the Press Release on Textiles Scotland website.
Here is a sneak preview of the scarves I did for Anthropologie Edinburgh. I’m looking forward to going to private opening tonight – cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, exhibition, auction and I can only imagine a fabulous range of products displayed in their boutique style. Looking forward to seeing my scarves within their store.
I was asked to do a collection of scarves for the opening after creating the giant temporary storefront artwork, a piece of this will be in-store too. The scarf design combines my dapple print with some flying or standing pheasants. Hand printed with a merging of colours to create the blended effect and overprints. These scarves are only available in-store.
I’ve been mixing delicious colour for my scarf samples for Anthropologie. I’m creating an exclusive range of silk scarves for their 1st Scottish store, opening on George Street in Edinburgh on the 15th June 2011. I will be hand printing these in my studio in Dundee and finishing them myself. I will reveal the scarves on my blog when they are available to buy in the Edinburgh store. Looking forward to seeing my work in their store.
I’m going to be taking part in the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair on the 23rd – 25th October 2009 in Manchester. There are some fantastic makers going to be there. Come along. check out the website www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk
