Wild Textiles by Alice Fox
I am sure that you will be aware of the ever more popular trend for a way of living with ones mental state in the process of repair, maybe this has come about the more so since COVID-19. What was once judged as luxury time is now practically a doctors order, prescribed for our very ongoing survival. We live in a society where wellness is sought for and allowance for mind space vital. Are we weaker as generations come forth, or simply more aware of our own inner needs? Whatever the case, I am noticing more and more now that the prior popular (and still fun and worth reading in their own right) bright and colourful practical textile art books have lost the sparkle they had and now; all many are searching for is a method for healing. Batsford as a publisher have certainly hit the market requirements with their recent drops, one such being this publication, written by the well known artist Alice Fox. She is already set for the job of a nature bound artist, working from her allotment…and studio (note which one is listed first here, this definitely evidences to me where her heart lies).
Looking at this book as a whole, the six sections which create the main body of the pages teach us lessons for living. Fox does so much more and goes so much further than simply producing a practical guide on using say, a walk outdoors to inspire us to make. The process is so much deeper than that; it may be a slow journey, yet to me, it seems a vital one, for ones health, for the world we live in and to nourish our own creative path. The introductory section, which spans a few pages, paused by some beautiful illustrations, has some really thought provoking comments from Fox herself. On page six, she divulges that the real motivation behind this book is to ignite a ‘spirit of engagement with the natural world through the creative’. The book is finished with some final thoughts from Fox and the usual resources listed. This publication certainly does not hide its aims and intensions, it celebrates them. This takes one to pause and embrace the thought-pattern-shift which comes along, when we are introduced to a book with such depth of meaning - this is a mindful tome.
Have you heard of an artists manifesto? I personally connected with this method, as portrayed by Fox herself. It reveals her resolutions as it were, her ways of living in connection with her creative side, with the good of the environment at heart. (Find out more on page nine)
A highlight of my own? Chapter three: Foraged. This chapter invited my mind to walk backwards, as it were…it bought my mind to childhood days, of walks to my local ‘little woods’ where I became the explorer, the red waterproofed version of Red Riding Hood, who finds intense jumping jack magic in the location of a conker or orange tainted leaf. On page forty one, Fox voices how ways of wording can be a game changer. I.E. can a ‘weed’ become a ‘wild plant’? In the grand scheme of things, I see Fox’s ability to marry together nature and textiles in this celebratory way, as part of a vital and exciting move forward for the way we look at textiles itself and how we will approach it in the future. We of course live in our own endangered planet as it were and in black and white terms, if we don’t care for the thing which is the most important - namely the environment, there will not be a world to make art in.
So, lets get to know our forests our local places where nature can be found. Let’s bring the outside in (where appropriate), lie them on our tables and….think. Don’t create for creating’s sake. Do a Fox, be an ‘oppertunistic forager’. Stitch leaves and question….what can I? Will it? What would that do?……find joy in the travel, not just the evidence of ones’ artistic time. We live in a social environment where achieving in the only form of self-worth at times. What would happen if we simply felt sated from the rosy cheeks of a winters amble? A dare you.
Wild Textiles, written by Alice Fox and published by Batsford is available to purchase right now.