valerie wartelle

got myself introduced to the landscape work of valerie wartelle the other day. i'm used to seing a fair amount of felt work but she takes the medium and really steps it up. i'd love to see these in the flesh

susan hotchkiss

i like an abstract painting. of that's there's no doubt. always have, always will. not that i've got anything against representative painting tho it took me a long while to get into and appreciate it. just that  abstract imagery caught me young and i've been looking at it and making it ever since.

and susan hotchkiss captures everything that i like. colour, composition, stretching the form. i can't believe i haven't come across her before or that this work isn't a familiar name. so i'll nail my colours to the mast on this one. it's about material. it's about craft, it's about gender.

if these were made of paint rather than fibre; if these were fine art rather than technique associated with craft; if these had been done by a man i can't help but feel they'd be higher profile.

and i'm loving the skills i'm seeing in these