TeaSet Collaboration

These are some swiss roll cakes that I made out from old face flannels for a collaboration that I initiated with a number of other textile artists for the Prism show at the Mall Galleries in London next May/June 2013.  It's been a challenge not least because none of us live nearby and Anna lives in Sweden and Willeke in The Netherlands, but that is what interested me most, that we could live so far away from each other but still be able to work together, thanks to the marvels of the internet.  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/thetset

At the moment everyone is making a cake that has some significance to them....amongst other things.  The chocolate swiss roll reminds me of when my youngest daughter was filming a Teletubbies insert making Christmas chocolate logs.  She must of eaten quite a lot of the icing because when I collected her afterwards to take her to her sister's carol concert she was sick over the lady sitting in front of us!  I was completely mortified but there is little you can do in those circumstances, except apologise profusely!

This collaboration is being shown at Prism's annual international textile exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London at the end of May 2013. www.prismtextiles.co.uk
 

Here is a selection of the textile cakes collected together at the British Museum and which rather intrigued people passing by our table!  I love Anna's Swedish lace plate of cookies, Jackie's kitchen sponge Angel Cake is an inspiration and the felt Battenburg slice looks just like the ones my Great Aunt Amy used to eat.  Willeke's petit fours or 'boob buns' as christened by Julieanne really do feel like boobies!!

Jackie is indigo because we both admired the indigo at WEFT show and she is quiet but has hidden, shiny bits to her.  Julieanne loves green and makes fab flowery creations out of all sorts of things.  Willeke was wearing an extraordinary Tshirt in London and this silk has similar colours.  Julie is always understated and elegant, Anna has a real love of ethnic textiles and my silk is rather frayed and unravelled but I liked the fragment.  This is based on an Indian embroidery we saw at the WEFT show at the Brunei Gallery in London together.

 This is the latest idea to install all that we've made so far, a mad hatters teaparty of cakes, cups and cutlery!  A lot of trust has been invested in this project so far.  When the cloth is posted on or a call is made for something else to be added to the table, you never know what is going to arrive, you may love it or hate it, but that is exactly what the original idea was about - the fact that one man's truth is another man's madness.  There will always be someone that loves it even if you don't because that's how life is.

Birds on a stool with daisies for the TeaSet table, just missing Anna's Swedish cookies for them to peck at.