August 2016 - Jane Mercer Felt Artist

The secrets at the fascinating Peak alum works

What a fascinating place Peak alum works is. ! Well worth a visit. Currently being updated. Please come back soon Alum was discovered here in 1640 and the works were build to process the calcined ore and to export the alum flour. The remains are above a beautiful bay shown here at low tide , with Robins Hood bay in the background . The invisible quarries of the Peak Alum Works Peak Alum works were built because of the locally sourced shale rock which could be quarried and then processed to make alum. Today there is virtually no sign of the of the quarries that once changed the face the of the hillsides. They have been covered by gorse and bracken and have disappeared into the landscape. The Peak Alum works were operational from 1650 to 1860 when a cheaper route to alum was discovered. The shale from the…

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21/08/2016

Knitting and Stitching show / shibori / Stitches / Wet felting

Chaos at home : Now is the time to make stitched felt

Did you ever have a time when you needed to try something new ? Here are my ideas to be creative with stitched felt when my house is chaotic as it occupied by builders The renovation and building work we planned on our house before we moved back to the UK is now well under way. It will be wonderful when it's finished but currently there is total chaos in our house and not much opportunity for wet felting. But there is plenty of time for other things. Last weekend I went to the felting day with the IFA region 10 felters. The challenge for our stand at the knitting and stitching show at Harrogate in November is geometric man made forms. This challenge made me think of the wonderful stitched felt of Chung-Im Kim which I saw in the Netherlands in 2014. Beautiful delicate surface texture , with tiny tiny stitches.…

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14/08/2016

Alum / Mordant / Natural dyeing / Yorkshire

Just on my doorstep

Since I moved back to the UK I have been pondering a theme for a series of local felt pieces. I now live on the edge of the North York moors a really beautiful area with a fantastic coast line which has a really interesting industrial heritage. In the photo above you can see the costal town of Staithes with the Boulby cliffs in the background. My first thoughts on a theme were something related to the mining of ironstone in the area and the subsequent development of the steel industry, which has sadly recently closed. Whilst researching I came across another older industry that is far more directly related to my work. I discovered that during the reign of Henry VIII , a local source of Alum which was critical to the textile industry as a mordant was sought in order to break the papal monopoly. This was in the 16th…

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07/08/2016