London

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week

October 13, 2021 by Intern

Last week was full of London Craft Week events, workshops and open houses. A few of which we had the delight to attend including an open house and embroidery demonstration at Erdem, an exhibition of embroidery artist Rosalind Wyatt’s work and a talk and demonstration by the Heritage Craft Association on the red list of endangered crafts.

We also have enjoyed participating ourselves with twice daily live stitching on display in The Service on Savile Row – thank you to everyone who came to see us!

TOAST & Rosalind Wyatt

We started the week with a trip to lifestyle brand TOAST’s London store where they were running a series of workshops and an exhibition of Textile Artist Rosalind Wyatt’s work titled ‘Stories through Stitches’

Rosalind Wyatt is a mixed-media and embroidery artist, most recognised for her embroidered letters and calligraphy. Some of these beautiful pieces were on show in store!

She considers handwriting a significant part of culture and people’s lives. Where calligraphy and cloth meet in her work signifies the emotion held in the textiles, emotions found in handwritten letters

She writes with her needle onto garments people have worn, encapsulating their emotions into their clothes.

TOAST was also running a live workshop where participants leant the art of mixed-media textiles. The workshop aimed to promote a more thoughtful way of life, sustaining traditional textiles techniques and craftsmanship.

Erdem Open House and Demonstration

We were then lucky enough to attend Erdem’s open house to see some of their embroidery in process.

The demonstration featured a neckline for one of their dresses, being embellished in large crystals and beads on a frame, the dress itself was also on display in store to allow viewers to see the final outcome.

Erdem is a womenswear brand, based out of central London. Their collections are often finished with hand and machine embroidery – it was wonderful to see some of these samples too which were on show alongside the demonstration.

Heritage Crafts Association Endangered Crafts

To end our London Craft Week adventures, we finally had the pleasure of attending the Heritage Crafts Association event held at Fortnum and Mason. Fortnum and Mason are known for their long-associated traditions with craft and quality – the perfect venue to hold this event!

Exhibiting their work was ‘Paula Carnell’ a Bee Skep Maker, ‘Coates English Willow’ who are a company of Basketwork Furniture Makers and ‘Ernest Wright’ who is a traditional Scissor Maker. These crafts are all at risk with Scissor Making and Basketwork Furniture Making being Critically Endangered.

Basketwork Furniture making is a recognisable craft, however is critically endangered as only one company which supports the craft is left. P.H Coate & Son was founded in 1819, and although the business has a new apprentice this wonderful craft is at risk!

The straw baskets used in Beekeeping, known as Bee Skeps are beautiful objects in and of themselves. The straw is twisted and bound in a continuous coil of lipwork with lapping (lapping can be made from bramble, willow and hazel). Whilst highly practical the craft started to wane after the First World War as Skep making is a highly time-consuming craft compared to its value.

The final endangered craft on display was scissor making. One of the last remaining companies to produce this craft is Ernest Wright. The scissors are very high quality and long lasting – a durable crafted item.

We hope you have enjoyed London Craft Week as much as we have, thank you to all of the wonderful events that we attended!

More information about endangered crafts can be found on Heritage Crafts Association’s website

https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/

Words by and Images: Rosie Watkins

Hawthorne & Heaney for London Craft Week 2021

October 5, 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter

London Craft Week is alive and kicking this week in London after a skipped year becuase of Covid and delayed from it’s usualy May slot. However, if you are in London between now and the 10th October, there are lots of events, open doors and workshop on to get involved with. We are very excited to have our own little addition to the events, with live embroidery stitching taking place by a member of the Hawthorne & Heaney team each week day. They will be working on a range of hand embroidered pieces such as Broderie Anglaise, with one of our goldwork samples also on display.

We can be found upstairs from our home, at 32 Savile Row. Fast becoming the place to take a minute to yourself or grab a spot of lunch on Savile Row, The Service. The coffee is fantastic and the surroundings make you feel like you’re in your own movie when you are so surrounded by style. As they have ever changing tailoring and art inspired displays, it’s really fun to be working in amongst it all so we look forward to perhaps seeing a few of you over the next few days.

Follow the link for a look around on our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CUmmBAyFA43/

Hawthorne & Heaney on The Marketplace

December 28, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney Personalisation booth in action

2020 has been a wierd year, for the past few years we have got into a rhythm that by the time about October comes, we will be doing a lot of monogramming and personalisation events. However this year, that didnt happen.

Kirk Original Glasses against a backdrop of Millie Bridget Henry Hankies and Tyler & Tyler Accessories

We could not just sit idly by though and not have an event, so we created one for ourselves. Along with a whole host of fabulous creators, we joined togather in the Service on Savile Row to create The Marketplace.

The Workers club gloves, Back Yard Gym Cold Brew and Coffee Beans from the Fresh Coffee Company, Wool Scarf from Dugdale Bros. and Co, Handkerchief by Millie Bridget Henry in a Hawthorne & Heaney Personalised Bag

Cad and the Dandy, Baron bags, Dugdale Bros and Co.,the Fresh Coffee Company, Kirk Originals, The Workers Club, Tyler & Tyler, Department Two, Kibble Watches, Tsai x Tsai, Millie Bridget Henry, Gotrich & Co. , Gownsmith, Colhays and Hawthorne & Heaney created a bespoke and specialist style items one stop shop. Curated to bring together hankerchieves, small batch roasted coffee beans, dressing gowns, glasses frames and personalised bags to name but a few, the Marketplace was a treasure trove of beautiful, unusual, crafted gifts.

Cad & the Dandy jackets, Millie Bridget Henry Hankies, Kirk Original Glasses

Sadly with the rerestricting of London going into tier 4, the marketplace is now closedbut we had great (safe) fun whilst we could- which feels like the whole of 2020 summed up dont you think?

Coffee Beans from the Fresh Coffee Company, Wool Scarf from Dugdale Bros. and Co, Handkerchief by Millie Bridget Henry in a Hawthorne & Heaney Personalised Bag

So if you’re think about next year and want to hold an event, get in touch, we’d love to hear from you and are raring to get out there (socially distanced of course)

Hawthorne and Heaney Visits the Summer Exhibition At The Royal Academy of Arts

December 21, 2020 by Intern

On the 10th of December, I had the exciting opportunity to visit the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2020, located just down the road from Savile Row. Due to the current climate with unprecedented challenges and not wanting to miss its 252nd anniversary, the event was postponed to the winter months for the first ever time.

Coordinated by Jane and Louise Wilson, the exhibition supports the exchange of ideas and experiences from any background, shaping cultural conversation to art that we love, hate and smile to. The displays contain over 1,000 pieces of work displayed in 13 rooms ranging from paintings to sculptures to digital art.

Vincent’s Ear by Conrad Atkinson, Shrinking Violet by Ed Mays, Outdoor Minor by Simon Periton

Upon entering Gallery 1, I was surrounded by expressive paintings, textual line drawings put together by Isaac Julien. In the centre of the room stood an installation called Air Kid by Yinka Shonibare. The sculpture is one of 4 in a collection called ‘Earth Kids’, that fights for climate justice illustrating the difficulty of the natural world. Climate change is such a threatening crisis of our time, with sea levels rising, increased temperatures and extinction of many species. It’s important to make people understand the damage and negative effects their actions are having on the planet, a philosophical objective in Isaac Julien’s style of work to make us reflect and visualise.

Air Kid by Yinka Shonibare

One of the pieces that intrigued me the most was the Inter-Concreto sculpture designed by David Batchelor, located in the Large Weston Room. The layering of the coloured geometric grids and multidirectional positionings is similar to the abstract way I like to work when undertaking my own multimedia textiles projects. His work looks at how we analyse and react to colour and hues in this current digital age through hypnotic patterns and shapes. These sculptural installations are made with a variation of industrial material scraps as well as recycled or broken domestic items. In this day and age, I believe it is imperative to reuse and upcycle discarded and unwanted objects to reduce the amount of plastic and landfill constantly entering our oceans. Everything has the potential to be made into something with another form or purpose.

Inter-Concreto by David Batchelor

There was a common theme amongst some of the galleries that reflected the year we have all lived through, learnt and educated ourselves to a brand-new way of life during a pandemic. Gallery 4 curated by Sonya Boyce, portrayed this theme well with mass paintings, photographs and a video named ‘Twice’ by John Smith, who demonstrates how to wash your hands thoroughly whilst singing Happy Birthday through twice.

Twice by John Smith

The Earth is full of violence by Biggs & Collings, Bringing the past to new horizonsby Athena Anastasiou

Every year there is a room that presents small architectural projects and ideas including works from student designers. The inspiration this year was taken from the constructivists in Eva Jiřičná work, displaying bold colours, large plinths, drawings and miniature models.
Inside Gallery 6, Drawing together by Niall McLaughlin

The exhibition was ticket-based priced at £20 and definitely worth the visit if you are in the area. It is a great way of promoting artists as well as supporting the creative arts industry in these difficult times. It is also available to view online for those who are unable to attend in person.

(Exhibition visits were undertaken within contempary covid guidelines)

Words and images by Jessica Westley

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The House of Bandits Exhibition

October 30, 2020 by Intern

On the 16th of October I got the opportunity to visit the House of Bandits exhibition, which is based at Rembrandt House in London, just down the road from Savile Row. This exhibition is part of the Sarabande foundation created by the late Alexander McQueen to support the new and upcoming visionary talent of today. Offering both studio space and scholarships the foundation has helped many inspiring artists to date.

One of the artists in particular who I went to go see was Esna Su. She creates handcrafted pieces which explore ‘the subtle issues of identity and memory and how these are shaken in the context of political instability’. Within her work she uses the traditional Turkish techniques of weaving, twinning and crochet. As a fellow weaver myself I can understand the complexity and detail that goes into her woven pieces.

Below you can see the process that Esna Su goes through to create some of her final creations. When it comes to knitting, Su uses strips of vegetable leather and knits them together. She lets the designs take shape in their own way as once the leather is dry the organic shapes are exposed. In her own words ‘’through irregular and hollow shapes, she exposes the burden of displacement but also sketches an aspiration towards protection and preservation’’.

“It’s a big part of my life being at Sarabande and I’ll always remember my time with a big smile. I would never have been brave enough to do this without the support of Sarabande.”

Along with Esna Su’s work was another Turkish artist called Berke Yazicioglu who showcased his woven wall hanging which had a particular inspirational point of view. The following designs shown below are woven representations of Igor Stravinsky Rite of Spring. Listening to this piece he used the sound colour theory by different sounds, notes and instruments meaning different textile aspects. For example, the beat inspired the framework, the instruments represent a specific colour and the notes equal to a certain colour tone.

This exhibition is free. And for specific artists you can buy tickets. This is a great exhibition to help support fellow designs and is one to check out.

Words and Images by Isabelle Humm

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits Tutankhamun at the Saatchi

April 7, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

The Saatchi Gallery is currently home to the artefacts of Ancient Egypt as they play host to the travelling exhibition ‘Tutankhamum: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh‘. We went to visit while the opportunity presents’s itself and because who doesn’t love gold on gold, on gold?!

The exhibition features over 150 artefacts from Tutankhamum’s tomb, ranging from large to very small, like this amulet above which can only have been about 3-4cm high.

The pieces on show really make you appreciate the craftsmanship of the makers in ancient egypt. These pieces are here for us to enjoy because they have been preserved so well, but they are beautiful because they were made beautifully in the first place.

It has very hard to try to wrap your head around how old all these things are. Looking at items in a museum from the Victorian era for example, look old and when you try and think about the people who might have owned them, they feel so far removed from us. But those items are not even babies by comparison to the pieces you see at this exhibition.

The pieces themselves are well displayed and fairly succinctly explained in the accompanying descriptions through the main body of the downstairs of the exhibition. Upstairs is more about how the excavation was made in the 1920’s, discussing the process and pitfalls they endured.

At £28 per ticket, this is a bit of a pricey exhibition to visit and while there lots to see, that is a lot for a exhibition. That being said if you are looking for an opportunity to see something different, this might very well be the place for you to go.

Hawthorne & Heaney in Collaboration with James Burke

February 17, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Over the last couple of weeks we have been working on a special project with visual artist and founder of Acrylicize, James Burke. Working with his multidisiplinary style he was creating a new piece in preparation for the ‘Superstar Showcase’. Burke’s work examines the relationship between us and the digital world, drawing upon our need for approval in form of the 5 stars. This new piece reimagines some of Burke’s earlier pieces on a similar theme.

The Constant Need For Approval, 2018
280 x 53cm, Acrylic, LEDs, powder coated aluminium

Burke also likes to challenge the way that we consume art, bringing pieces out of the gallery and into the rest fo the world. He champions art in work places and common space for wider consumption which is one of the objectives of his studio, Acrylicize. This playful, open minded attitude is what makes this new piece a great fit for the upcoming showcase.

Superstar Showcase is being held by Creative debuts X Adidas Originals. For this event they have gathered 25 artists, of which Burke is one to create a piece which incorporate or is inspired by Adidas’s classic Superstar trainers. This is where we come in, as we provided the embroidered elements of the stars created out to the Superstar’s laces.

Constellation, 2020

Adidas Superstars & laces on canvas

View this post on Instagram

On display now, 'Constellation' 2020 by James Burke featuring embroidery from us @jamesburke__artist @creativedebuts @adidasoriginals . . . #conceptualart #visualarts #embroidery

A post shared by Embroidery Specialists (@hawthorneheaney) on Feb 17, 2020 at 1:47am PST

We experimented with using the laces directly and taking a feel for them through the embroidery, but settled on using the laces as directly as possible. The stars are made up by weaving the laces back and forth on themselves to form the legs of the star whilst replicating the fastening process as we are used to seeing it on trainers. The piece has loose laces which join each of the stars to the next in as if formed from one giant lace with the trainers themselves clinging on to what is left of the laces at the end.

With all embroidery pieces, there is always a lot of sampling and preparation before working on the piece itself. This helps is to work out how it is best to approach the piece and achieve a consistent finish. Here are a few behind the scene, making of the piece which might shed a little light on the process.

To see more of James Burke’s work, check out where else you can see his pieces on his instagram. Also see the 24 other amazing pieces by debut artists in the Superstar Showcase on now at Adidas LDN, Oxford Street.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits McQueen’s Old Bond Street Show Space

February 6, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

London is very lucky to be able to offer a wealth of great free exhibitions and museums on many subjects. This open to all attitude really helps to keep feeding the minds of our designers and innovaters that one can go out and have your eyes opened to all sorts of information. One such jem that might be a little lesser known is the top floor of the flagship Alexander McQueen store on Old Bond Street.

They have started to use the stop floor as more of an exhibition type space, sharing insights from the vast archives that the house of McQueen holds. At the moment, the space is dedicated to roses, curated by the Creative Director Sarah Burton.

What we found really special about this space, as an embroiderer in particular is that you can get right up close to the pieces to see the details often lost in show and large scale exhibitions. Something that we found even with very well done exhibitions like Savage Beauty. In addition to this they are sharing a lot of the background research and technical craftsmanship that goes into making a collection and show with this kind of dramatic results. There are development moodboards, fitting notes, embroidery placements onto pattern pieces and draping directed onto the model. There is also a viewing booth with footage from the shows to fully round out the experience and see it in the final context for which it was intended to be consumed.

If you find yourself in the area, it’s definately worth a trip it to see some beautiful things and get some of the background scoop on how these things all come together. The notes and quotes from behind the scenes really give you a sense of being emersed into their world. We are already looking forward