Members' Blog

The origin of patchwork and quilting comes from a desire to recycle. Small pieces of fabric, from old worn clothes, were sewn together to make warm quilts. They were quilted – stitched through three layers – to make sure the wadding (the soft, warm middle layer) stayed in place. Quilting was also used to repair and reinforce garments.

Nowadays, we can buy beautiful cotton fabrics by the yard, along with a variety of waddings. I do, but in keeping with the spirit of P&Q, I do my best to save and reuse as much of my material as possible. I have a bag full of little scraps of fabric, and only throw bits away when they are absolutely too small to use.

I don’t make bed quilts, but my wall hangings are created using the same techniques – most of them feature applique and free-machine quilting.
A couple of years ago I made 5 different coloured blocks by layering tiny scraps of material onto a backing, and stitching all over them. These were used to make my wall-hanging “If Mondrian could Quilt”. But there were bits of these new blocks left over, so I used them to make “Cathedral Window” – leftover leftovers!

I bought a bag of silk pieces some 20 years ago, from a dress-maker who specialised in evening dresses. I am still using them up, and they appear in a lot of my more contemporary work where colour takes centre stage.

My Kandinsky-inspired Circles hangings are made with quilted pieces left over from “Colour Blocks”. I have also made a few small framed Circles pieces, including the pre-Covid “Circles behaving Irresponsibly” and the lockdown “Circles at a Social Distance”. The fabric for these circles all came out of the silk and scraps bag.

Last year’s Christmas wreath was made using red and green pieces from the scraps bag. And, I have to say, there were more red and green fabrics in the bag that I didn’t use – it’s fair to say that I was spoiled for choice.

A recent work is “Salmon Circle”. The salmon were stitched individually and then added to the background fabric. The wadding and backing for each fish was, again, left over from a previous project. I used fabrics from my stash for the salmon themselves, but made the corner fish motifs from the same pieces.

Last month I was rummaging through my fabrics drawers and found a small sample left over from my City&Guilds days, over 20 years ago. It was an experiment in Bondaweb painting – I painted the iron-on side of a piece of bondaweb with Brushos, in a random fashion, and ironed it onto white cotton. The adhesive fixed the paint to the fabric and I had a colourful result. (Fun to try, just remember not to iron it afterwards if you don’t want a sticky, colourful iron!). Finding it again sparked an idea, so I free-machine stitched over the fabric to create a fantasy landscape.

I love buying fabric, and take great care in choosing the right material for a piece. When I made memory pieces from trips abroad (when I could make trips abroad, that is), I bought as much of the fabric on site as I could. But I possibly get more satisfaction by creating from what I already have - the challenge is not to buy any new materials. I feel the P&Q spirits are nodding approvingly, and a scrap has to be very, very small before I can bring myself to put it in the bin.

I am aware of the effect colours can have on feelings and mood. Relaxing colour schemes were purposefully used already 50 years ago in the psychiatric hospital where I started my nursing career. Lately I have been thinking more about my own emotional relationship with colour. Apart from finding some colours mouthwatering (I call those my wine gum colours), stimulating, soothing and/or incredibly beautiful I have also noticed that my colour choices and subjects are linked to what happens in my life, life around me and even world event. In happier times I am drawn to calming, harmonious hues. Sadness, grief and emotional upheaval have resulted in the most vibrant and often contrasting colour schemes. The light house is another recurring theme at such times. A reason why I have returned to bright primary colours in my most recent paintings?

The woodland scene was completed today. I am hoping it will be dry enough to be included in the exhibition.

Thank you for reading my blogs and looking at my paintings. I hope you have a chance to visit our Open Studios. There will be a warm welcome wherever you decide to visit.

Hello! As some of you may know, I am a portrait painter and I also make narrative based art, most recently focusing on my own body and the condition I have, Lipo-lymphedema. This causes large fat cells to build up in response to female hormones, and then extra fluid gets trapped in the body. I have chosen to be very truthful and open in my recent self-portraits, exploring the textures and colours of my skin and flesh, and looking for some painterly beauty. The last few works have been looking at my enlarged arms in particular, and there is now a twist in the tale, as a month ago I had surgery to reduce them – so they are now very slim indeed! I do plan to make some more work reflecting this new development, and in time plan for more surgery on other affected parts of my body. It is quite a strange feeling to be in the middle of this story, as I am planning changes to my body and documenting it as I go – I am almost repainting my real body and the portraits – and am starting to feel like the chicken and the egg! The ribbons represent the stitches in my previous abdominal surgery.
I have been taking part in Open Studios for quite a few years, and love inviting visitors in and hearing their comments about my work – a lot of my work is quite large, and is worth seeing in real life, and I think there is something special about seeing work in the space it was created. I have a few different rooms and areas, where my work is grouped together chronologically, so each space has it’s own themes and subject matter, and I am always happy to explain what I was thinking about as I made each body of work. Do come along!  As well as paintings, I also have drawings and prints for sale.

This is my last post on the OSNF blog for this year.

I was going to talk about my recent residency in the Highlands but i don't want to fill up this blog with too much writing. You can find out all about my residency via my Instagram account @Mathersart

But suffice to say it was amazing. Especially as a mother, prioritising my work is hard, so to have 10 days all to myself and my art was everything.

I watched so many art documentaries, listened to podcasts about art, read about nature, walked for hours - up hills, around lochs, got lost in forests... And drew and painted.
I think when I need to go to my happy place I will be going right back there in my head!

If you would like to see more of my work produced as a result of this, visit my studio during Open Studios and if you'd like to follow my progress or get in touch, you can find me here:
Www.instagram.com/Mathersart
www.facebook.com/MathersArt
www.mathersart.com

I am currently exhibiting at the Borders Art Fair, 24 - 26th March in the 30 x 30 exhibition with SSA and also at Art and Vintage in Edinburgh.

The images in this post are from my residency - a mix of inspirational images and images of sketches and work made while I was there.

My name is Lindsay Mathers. I am taking over the OSNF 2022 blog for the next few days.

You may have visited my studio last year but if not here is a wee bit about me and my work.

I love being out in nature, especially in the sea, or up a hill, or in a forest, or …. You get the idea.

In my work I try to grasp that feeling that I get when I'm out on a paddle board, or lost amongst trees, or halfway up a hill - feeling insignificant, at the mercy of nature, yet being intrinsically connected to it at the same time. Being overwhelmed by it all but embracing every moment.

I’ve just returned from a residency in the Highlands - but more on that tomorrow. For now, here are some examples of my work.