ARTWAVE 2020 COLLECTIVISTS! The CUCKMERE & FLINT Rooms, Crypt Gallery, Church Street, Seaford. Open daily Mon – Sat 10am – 4pm, Sundays 12pm – 3pm from Saturday 5th September until Sunday 20th September. The Sussex Arts Collective’s last appearance at The Crypt Gallery was when their COLLECTIONS 2020 ONE exhibition was abruptly ended in March. But here we are, September, and ARTWAVE 2020 when once more the magnificent work of our intrepid band of local artists and craftspeople will grace the walls and display areas of The Crypt. ‘COLLECTIVISTS!’ exhibition finally gives them a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and provides them with a chance to show the fruits of their labours during Lockdown. For your safety there will be precautions due to Coronavirus; your forbearance will be much appreciated. Numbers will be limited entering the venue with a one, way system deployed entering via Church Street only; visitors will be required to wear a face covering; there will be no refreshments or other facilities available and we prefer to take all payments for purchases by card. Whatever the circumstances though, there will be a great deal for you to enjoy creating a pleasant distraction from our current situation. See you there. This month’s featured member, Alison Mcdonagh only joined last year but her stunning textiles have been an instant hit.
Collections 2020 SPOTLIGHT: Alison Mcdonagh
Alison grew up in Farnham, Surrey in a household where there was always a garment of some description under construction on the dining table. Her father machined with his engineer precision, her mother
taught her knitting and hand sewing and her sister always maintained that she could run up a dress in an evening, so instilled speed and confidence! By osmosis her lifelong interest in textiles was a given’ and a love of music was fostered by an older brother. Dissuaded from going to art school Alison studied a B.Ed degree course in music at Bath instead but painting, paper collage and textiles remained passionate hobbies. Later her husband suggested turning her passions into a business and, following a course at the Scottish College of Textiles, she bought a knitting machine and began a new adventure in fibre and colour. A successful designer knitwear business was established until her three boys were born. A move to the USA meant a return to education this time in the alternative sector, including some years as a home educator. A strong believer in lifelong education, Alison took a course in machine embroidery at West Dean College in 2014, opening up thrilling new possibilities to using the sewing machine as a drawing and painting tool. Combining paint, threads and stitch she started to create textured landscapes or vivid abstracts which were often thought of as paintings. On closer inspection the subtle textures are revealed as stitches created by hand and machine. Alison enjoys the challenge of making something out of nothing and uses her trips to Seaford charity shops to buy interesting fabrics which are cut up and reassembled. New fabric is made out of the pieces by dyeing, painting and embroidering them, mostly by machine but sometimes with added hand stitching to create one-off pieces that are transformed into unique bags, cushions, journal covers and clothing, ethically made, and a positive response to our growing concern about fashion being the second biggest polluter on the planet.
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