Rosemary Latimer - Textiles Artist

Textiles – the use of fabrics, threads, wool, dyes etc – is actually a very flexible medium, capable of great varieties of application, and giving extraordinary breadth of effect from the most sensuous and subtle, to the boldest and brightest of contrasts. Techniques range from the simplest collage to the most complex of sewn forms.

The question of how to introduce all this to the children at Clifton was answered by inviting a professional textiles artist along to take part in a fully integrated programme of activity within the art department's scheme of work. Anyone deeply involved in any subject is worth talking to and working with. It is good for children to see someone excited about something they love. Children need artists to get down to the essentials of materials and processes and to communicate something about how an artist works and what motivates them to do things. Rosemary helped the children in their understanding of the medium by setting up an exhibition in the art studio that served as an essential platform from which to start. Her work revealed how thoroughly each finished article had been researched, and how designs had been carefully developed through several stages.

Thorough research was particularly important to the children as a thematic approach had been taken. Block 3 were to use "Shopfronts" as their starting point, and Block 5 were instructed to investigate the work of an artist roughly within the Impressionist era (a popular and accessible period in the history of art). A visit was made to the National Gallery in London to reinforce children's knowledge, and place Impressionism in a wider context, and a start was made with practical work. The work from the children's findings continued and expanded over a number of weeks, and exhibitions were created to evaluate the effect of Rosemary's residency. The "Shopfronts" were produced on stretched canvas over A3 frames and looked fantastic when displayed in rows. The threadwork that Block 5 children had completed had all the brilliance and painterly quality of the Impressionist works to a remarkable degree.

Above all else the children who took part in the residency realised that textiles could be used in new and exciting ways, and that a process had been learnt whereby common starting points could result in original outcomes for all.

2nd visit

Rosemary had been with us before. She had helped the children to understand the medium of textiles by demonstrating in her own work how exciting and varied outcomes could be.

Her work showed great breadth of effect, from the most delicate and subtle, to the boldest and brightest, on the largest scale.

Textiles had thereafter permeated the work of the Art Department, extending creative work through threadwork and weaving etc. Consequently, we became ambitious recently about a project on portraiture that could clearly develop into textiles, and we needed some expert guidance. Year 7 were to study a variety of approaches to portraiture taken by artists like Arcimboldo, Paolozzi and Picasso, taking the view that work should develop from a formal, realistic and closely observed starting point. From this, work was extended into collage, painting, IT and ceramics, but there was a need for a more spectacular outcome which we felt we could manage with Rosemary's skills.

Children became engaged in the process of translating portrait collages and paintings into textiles, exercising their powers of selection, and showing great sensitivity towards colours, patterns and textures for the task in hand. Techniques included cutting, pinning, sewing, weaving and painting to gain the desired effects, and results took the form of several very large hanging panels.

Rosemary's work continued to expand into different areas of the department's work, with Year 4, 5 and 6, covering such diverse themes as 'Jesters and Harlequins', 'the Medieval Bestiary' and 'Chess Sets' directed by Sally Nuttall. Much of this work went to Malvern College to be successfully exhibited in their Prep Schools Art Exhibition.