Linda Green

I first saw Linda Greens work at the brilliant Follow a Thread exhibition at Ruthin Craft Centre. It was one of the best exhibitions I'd ever seen celebrating textiles, which saw me visit and revisit the show time and time again. One of the bodies of work that kept drawing me back was the exquisite 'Exploring Structure' series by Linda, a tapestry graduate of the Royal College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art.

A series of 21 miniature woven studies were created on pieces of found wood, shells and other ephemera upon which the textile remained. It's a delightful depiction of the fact that to weave, you just need 'something' to hold your warp threads taught, for you to then interlace the weft over and under. I love the fact that the 'loom' is not only a functional tool, but an imperative part of the resultant textile artwork. The series was displayed in a linear landscape arrangement, propped up on a shelf against a wall, and the pieces seemed to just dance from one to another. The tiny scale commanded you to look closely and appreciate the minutiae of the fibre and yarn surface in a way that you'd otherwise overlook.

The exhibition toured to Dovecot after it left Ruthin Craft Craft Centre, and you can see some more images of Linda's work in situ, as well as some of the other exhibits on the Innovative Craft Flickr photostream

Ptolemy Mann, Ruthin Craft Centre

There is a truly sumptuous feast for the eyes exhibition at Ruthin Craft Centre which will be closing on the 15th January, so I urge you to go see this wonderful celebration of Ptolemy Mann's work in the primary gallery space whilst you can.

Ptolemy is one of the leading woven textile artists working in the UK at the moment, renowned for her ikat colour satuated artworks which adorn the walls of numerous public and private spaces. In recent times she has developed her signature style into digital prints which have opened up a whole new commercial avenue for her to exploit.  The exhibition presents these digital prints as fabric lengths, garments, furniture upholstery and cushions, alongside her handwoven ikats, and also her rug collaborations with Christopher Farr.  There are also some framed prints of her architectural colour facade designs.

Woven rugs on wall and floor - a collaboration with Christopher Farr

New hand dyed & handwoven ikats stretched over circular frames

I covet this sofa by Kristian Stringer upholstered in jacquard woven ikat effect fabric by Ptolemy



Detail of tufted rug

If you can't manage to visit Ruthin to see the show, you can order a catalogue direct from the gallery.

These pictures are all from Ptolemy's blog 'Significant Colour' which she started writing last year. Its a fantastic blog which I thoroughly recommend subscribing to.  She is generous in sharing her inspirations, preoccupations and thoughts about her all consuming passion for colour in all its guises.