IT’S BATHTIME FOR DESIGNER JANE’S COLONY OF MOTHS!

Textile designer Jane Deane has a ready supply of silk to create her work – she raises her own colony of moths in the bath at her Devon home!

Jane from Tavistock uses the tub to house a number of different varieties of moth including the Bombyx Mori, which is recognised as producing the best quality silk - but she also has a variety of wild silkmoths that she uses in her creative work.

All the moths are allowed to complete their short life cycle and it is the discarded cocoons, from where the silkworm caterpillars emerge as moths that Jane uses to make a variety of textile products.

Jane’s passion for silk moths began when she had the opportunity to attend a 10 day course with the leading artist weaver Sue Hiley-Harris.
“Moths are quite extraordinary creatures and I became fascinated with the way they begin life in an egg the size of a pinhead, emerge as a caterpillar and then spin a cocoon in which to metamorphasise into a moth, “ said Jane, a resident artist at Duchy Square Centre for Creativity in Princetown.

“It is such a short life as they immediately mate and lay eggs for the next generation before dying. It is a quite magical process though and even after all these years of keeping silkworms I still find witnessing their life cycle as awe inspiring as when I first saw it.”

By spinning the silk instead of reeling it, Jane can ensure her moths are able to live out their natural lifespan. Reeling the silk would involve using the cocoon before the moth had emerged as it requires the single thread from the cocoon to be unwound intact.

To spin the silk, Jane removes the protective gum the caterpillar excretes to harden it by boiling it in soap flakes with a little washing soda. She then stretches the softened cocoon over a plastic pudding basin and allows it to dry before dyeing it and then spinning a thread.

Alongside her own products, which she creates using natural and synthetic dyes, Janes offers talks on the silk moth processes and workshops in spinning, weaving and dyeing. All these are her main disciplines, she also does paper-making, batik, embroidery, knitting and braiding.

She was recently invited to join the Society of Dyers and Colourists and is also a member of Frayed Edges Weaving Group, formed in 2004 for the graduates of Bradford College of Art and Design, which exhibits nationally.

Opened in March and supported by a number of organisations, including The Duchy of Cornwall and Devon County Council, the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity offers low cost workshop space on two floors and is helping boost the local economy by connecting local businesses with other key industry sectors.

The artists and creative practitioners take part in workshops organised by the centre, but also stage their own sessions with smaller groups in their own studios. Anyone wishing to find out more about all the workshops on offer should telephone the centre on (01822) 890828 or visit the website www.duchysquare.org where contact details for all the artists can be found.

DEVON’S COUNTRYSIDE AND COAST ARE THE INSPIRATION FOR HEIDI

Prints and paintings inspired by Devon’s amazing countryside and beaches will be the focus of an exhibition of new work by Heidi Koenig at the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity (3-26 Sept, open daily 10am-5pm)

Heidi’s contemporary abstract prints and paintings will be on display in the downstairs gallery at Duchy Square in Princetown, which is also playing host to one of a series of taster exhibitions by members of Devon Open Studios in the upstairs gallery.

Devon Open Studios is the largest open studio event featuring the work of more than 230 artists and makers across 11 venues between September 5-20 , including the five taster exhibitions.

Along with Heidi’s exhibition, around 30 members of the Open Studios event will have their work on display at Duchy Square, which joins Exeter Phoenix Galleries, Kennaway House, Sidmouth, the Flavel in Dartmouth and Great Torrington’s Plough Arts Centre as the venues for the taster exhibitions.

Born in Germany in 1964, Heidi, who lives in Exeter, attained a first class honours degree in Fine Art Printmaking at Brighton University, before going on to study for a Postgraduate Diploma of Fine Art Printmaking at Slade School of Fine Art.

She has staged a number of solo exhibitions over the last decade, including the CCA Galleries in London, Oxford’s Inspires Gallery and at a number of venues in the Westcountry –the Viewpoint Gallery at Plymouth College of Art and Brownston Gallery in Modbury in the South Hams.

Influenced by the works or Rothko, Frankenthaler and Matisse, Heidi is recognised as one of the strongest artists to graduate from the prestigious Slade School and her enigmatic and energetic images are in demand worldwide.

“Inspiration for individual pieces is driven purely by observation and physical experiences,” said Heidi.

“When I set out to paint I don’t have a conscious viewpoint of how I want it to turn out -the image evolves as I paint, taking me back to the places that I have been and the sensory information that I have absorbed.”

Opened in March and supported by a number of organisations, including Duchy of Cornwall and Devon County Council, the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity offers low cost workshop space on two floors and is helping boost the local economy by connecting local businesses with other key industry sectors.

The artists and creative practitioners take part in workshops organised by the centre, but also stage their own sessions with smaller groups in their own studios. Anyone wishing to find out more about all the workshops on offer should telephone the centre on (01822) 890828 or visit the website www.duchysquare.org where contact details for all the artists can be found.

WEBSITES:

www.duchysquare.org

www.integria.net

AUTUMN’S THE SEASON FOR GETTING CREATIVE

There’s a chance for young and old to get artistic at the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity.

The resident artists and creative practitioners based at the centre in Princetown have drawn up their Autumn programme of workshops, to give people of all ages the opportunity to unlock their creative flair.

The autumn programme follows on from the hugely successful summer series of events at Duchy Square, which included a special bunting day community workshop, when people helped give the centre a bold splash of colour.

Once again, the new programme offers a varied selection of artistic and creative disciplines and gives the people the chance to tap into the skills and knowledge of some of the centre’s creative practitioners.

There’s the chance to learn contemporary card-making with Doris Smith Rolli on Sept 18th, followed by a Big Draw Masterclass on October 10th.

Two mosaic making workshops, one using everyday objects people can find and bring in, are part of the ongoing schedule and there’s also silk painting, dyeing, precious metal clay jewellery making, weaving, printmaking, quilting and embroidery on offer. Get into the festive spirit too with a ‘Baubles for Christmas’ workshop.

Tracy Hill, South West Regional Manager for Integria Ltd – which operates and manages Duchy Square – said the workshop sessions had proved a popular way to help locals and visitors alike to feel part of the centre.

“There is a real buzz around Duchy Square at the moment and the workshops are really contributing to that buzz,” said Tracy.

“It’s a chance to learn a new creative skill, but also helps local people in particular feel a real part of Duchy Square and what we are doing to connect businesses and breathe new economic life into the village and surrounding Dartmoor.”

The one-day workshops cost from as little as £10 to £35 and will mostly be held between 10am and 4pm.

Opened in March and supported by a number of organisations, including Duchy of Cornwall and Devon County Council, the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity offers low cost workshop space on two floors and is helping boost the local economy by connecting local businesses with other key industry sectors.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the workshops on offer and to book a place should telephone the Gallery at the centre on (01822) 890828 or email gallery@duchysquare.org

WEBSITES:

www.duchysquare.org

www.integria.net

Jane Deane - Jane Deane Textiles

Whilst Anne is using her exciting new machinery, and others are making jewellery, embroidering, felting, painting and weaving, I am happily playing with fibres and yarns in my studio at Duchy Square Centre for Creativity.

I have several students coming for spinning, weaving and dyeing courses, and next week I have two Dutch ladies coming to learn creative yarn design. We will spend four days designing and spinning yarns from source material that they will bring with them or that we will choose from the moor. These sources might be found objects: flowers, pine cones, stones, etc., or they might be photographs, sketches and the like. We have masses of coloured fibre to work with, as well as naturally coloured fleece, and have a variety of different fibres, too. Apart from wool, I have cotton, flax, bamboo, tencel, recycled plastic bottle fibre, camel, yak, possum, silk....the list goes on!

On Saturday 8th August there is an Indigo Workshop, 10-4. We will be trying out different ways of stitching, tying, clamping, rolling and otherwise torturing cloth before dyeing it in the vat and seeing what happens. When we have done lots of samples, students can choose which they like best and use that technique on a silk scarf to take home. There are still some places available on this course, so if you've never experienced the magical and dramatic indigo experience, now might be your opportunity! Places can be booked through the Gallery.

The following weekend, 15th-16th of August, I will try to bring some silkworms up to the studio. I have a student coming to dye madder with me, and he is very interested in my silkworms, as indeed are many people. So I thought I might take this opportunity to bring a few to work.

Jane