MY FEET WON'T STOP MOVING!

I’m not good at writing, but sometimes my tutors give me 3rds and I get upset and write a lot…

Or…once that happened.  And it’s kicked me into gear.  Well, I was actually doing much better with my uni work before feedback, I’m just writing about it more articulately now, so that next time I feel like a tutorial is actually more of an attack zone I can speak more articulately rather than just standing there in baffled and distraught silence… 

“Crafty Praxis collaboration

After the photo shoot I started brainstorming what my work could be used for.  I have a tendency to be very broad within my practice as I like to be able to be varsatile and adaptable to any situation or commercial output.  However, for the degree show this is impractical.  I considered feedback from tutorials, discussions with peers, re-examined my visual diaries and settled on the idea of window dressing, advertising and corporate branding/merchandise under an umbrella of visual merchandising.  Through this project I will situate myself as a versatile textile artist for a commercial output, veering into the product sphere.

I approached 3rd year students Elisa Etemad and Helena Clarkson.  Elisa and Helena have been working on opening their own shop in Byram Arcade in time to launch for students returning in September.  I feel I should emphasise that just because this is a commission and collaboration with other students, this does not invalidate my work and is not a pipedream.  Elisa and Helena have already been in conversation with Byram Arcade and have put the wheels into motion with securing the shop space.  They have also been working with business mine and have been working hard on how the shop will look and work.  

The shop is something I feel very passionate about.  It will stock the craft and art work of local makers while running workshops and encouraging Huddersfield’s creativity.  I feel this is something that at the moment Huddersfield lacks and that having a space to tap in to and expand on Huddersfields massive creative potential is extremely important.

My role within this will be to create an advertising campaign (posters, business cards, fliers, postcards etc), a display for the shop window (they plan to continue after this with approaching students and individuals to create more window displays) and create some printed merchandise and staff tshirts.

My personal angle on this is to focus on Huddersfield and it’s rich textile heritage.  I believe Huddersfield is beautiful and that this needs to be celebrated.  Huddersfield’s history as a hub for weaving fascinates me.  I would like to focus on the act of craft itself, recreating the town in local materials, creating half finished pieces that look like they have frozen in time, that the hand of the maker can be seen in.

I will celebrate Huddersfield’s architecture within my work.  There couldn’t be a better time to do this.   Not only has the Guardian recently cited Huddersfield as the happiest town in England and suggesting we all move there, but the town as it is is under threat. An issue that is close to my heart is the potential Kingsgate expansion.  The Kingsgate centre would like to expand the shopping centre, taking town beautiful industrial architecture with it and replacing it with chain stores.  The knock on effect of this would be that local businesses would suffer, my involvement in both Crafty Praxis and the resistance to the Kingsgate expansion is to create a sense of town pride.  I would like to encourage people to look at the stunning details of the sandstone buildings above them, to be proud of the largest town in Britain and to respect and encourage local businesses that make Huddersfield unique. “