Karen Charlton Textile Blog

 Blog 10: Finishing Up The final Piece ' Habitat Inside Out' is installed in the Wash House Garden of Saltaire village. It has found its home suspended from the tree where I first heard the blackbird that gave me the inspiration for this piece. Observing the textile sculpture in place I have reflected and have considered the following points:  1. Removing the willow and upholstery trimmings was the correct thing to do. The piece did not need the extra decorations. The narrative would be confused if they were included. 2. At the time of installation I removed the fabric ties. They were a distraction. The textile piece did not blend into the tree as I had hoped. Instead of the fabric ties I used jute. This was less intrusive and did not compete for attention with the finished piece. 3. The initial placement of the textile was too low. Once it was placed higher in the tree between two branches it was better placed appearing as part of the tree. 4. It would have been better if the...

  Blog: Cashmere Cashmere is classed as a luxury fibre. The commercial definition of the fibre is a mean diameter of less than 16.5 microns and 40mm in length.  It is made from the hair of goats.  Cashmere goats have an outer layer of coarse hair which is not used in cashmere products. This outer hair must be separated from the softer under layer of hair which is used in the products. The soft layer is grown by the goats in response to cold temperatures. As the weather warms the hair begins to shed. This can be collected by farmers. Some comb the hair out of their animals whereas others pluck or shear the animals. The yield of cashmere hair is low about 0.5 to 0.75 kg per animal [1] . According to Viva (Vegetarian's International Voice for Animals), there is much controversy around cashmere products. For example there are claims that: Land can be depleted in quality by over grazing.  The collection of cashmere from the animal is often described as cruel when sheared...

  Blog 9 Finding a Context The textile structure has grown. Although not fully complete, I am pleased with how it moves. The various fabrics are presenting different textures from soft velvet, to satin, and robust cottons - I do hope people will touch and feel, as well as look. The piece is weighty and therefore, I am giving thought to how and where it will be exhibited in the Wash House Garden of Saltaire.  With this in mind I have used a pergola to determine a method and style of attachment. I think when I have done some more work on the piece I shall find a tree in which to hang it. I envisage it in a natural setting a wood or forest would be ideal.  Using a photograph of the Wash House Garden, Saltaire, I placed a drawn outline over the tree. I found this difficult to envisage the textile sculpture in place. I therefore, superimposed an image of the textile sculpture over an image of the tree to find out where it would be best displayed. See image below. I feel the pi...