... AS SEEN BY DIANE HUDSON

I am a textile designer and thus particularly interested in the representation of fabrics in old master paintings. I have just completed a study of luxury fabrics in 12th century Siena, based on Simone Martini’s Three Saints in the Fitzwilliam Museum, where designs feature small foliate patterns and vines, picked out in gold on richly coloured grounds. Future plans include actually constructing some designs and working out the repeats of the painted versions of fabrics, as well as a study of Leonardo’s natural history drawings.

Image["Image of Balthasar van der Ast"]

Image["Image of Abraham Storck"]

My attention is drawn to literal, realistic representations of nature and fine drawing skills, as seen in Dutch flower paintings and still lives. I admire details such as raindrops on petals and glittering jewels. A particular favourite is Balthasar van der Ast’s A basket of flowers wit shells on a ledge, depicting a shelf of well observed shell specimens. I also like landscapes and seascapes showing tall ships, such as Abraham Storck’s Seapiece with a Dutch man-of-war. My recent textile design work reflects interest in these two paintings.

Image["Image of Camelia Japonica"]

Image["Image of Iris Susiana"]

Image["Image of Datura rosei"]

I also like to draw flowers and fruit and working at the Fitzwilliam Museum, I have had the privilege to view albums and loose leaves not normally on show to the public. I particularly like the work of Pierre Joseph Redouté as well as that of the women artists Maria Sibylla Merian and Augusta Withers. Their stories and experiences as women artists of their time hold particular interest to me and are possible sources for further research.

My other sources of inspiration include pottery and porcelain, particularly English manufactures of pottery figures and shapes, such as cauliflower teapots, which appeal to my admiration for craft skills. I love the Staffordshire lead-glaze cats, birds, dogs and owls and the ‘marbling’ effects of their decoration. Current ideas in my head are for repeat patterns and hand printed cushions based around these, where I can also use sewing skills. I want to keep these kinds of hand crafting skills alive alongside the onward march of technological changes and standardization.

I could go on and on and include fans, embossed Japanese prints, samplers and stumpwork boxes: to me the Fitzwilliam Museum is a mine of inspiration!

© Diane Hudson, 2008 [text]

Biography

Diane Hudson (b. 1965)

Born in Manchester in 1965, Diane Hudson first discovered her love for art and design at Russell Scott School in Denton and Fairfield High School for Girls in Droylsden. Awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Trust Fund scholarship, she attended a two-year foundation course in Art and Design at Tameside College of Technology and then studied Textile Design at Manchester Polytechnic. Noted for her umbrella design, her work won a course prize for achievement. More recently, she also completed a BSc (Hons) in Product Design with the Open University. She has since continued her studies in History of Art, also with the Open University, and prepared a special project on the use of luxury fabrics in 12th century Siena, based on Simone Martini’s Three Saints in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Future plans involve preparing a special project on the natural history drawing of Leonardo da Vinci, also to assist her textile design.

Initially self-employed on the government funded Enterprise Allowance Scheme as an artist, Hudson has also worked in publishing and has worked at the Fitzwilliam Museum as Photo Sales Manager. A regular exhibitor at the annual Eastern Open and craft fairs, her paintings and textiles can be found in private collections around the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Hudson’s most recent project is to design a series of textile prints for international representation at major trade fairs including Indigo in Brussels and Surtex in New York.

Diane Hudson lives just outside Cambridge, on the borders of the Fens.

E-mail: margueritedesigns@yahoo.co.uk

UCP 2008

Selected Exhibitions

1999 Centre for the Arts, King’s Lynn, group exhibition, Eastern Open

2000 Town Hall, Downham Market, group exhibition, Downham Art Circle Summer Exhibition

2001 Town Hall, Downham Market, group exhibition, Norfolk Adult Education Service Exhibition

2002 Centre for the Arts, King’s Lynn, group exhibition, Eastern Open

2003 Town Hall, Downham Market, group exhibition, Downham Art Circle Summer Exhibition

2004 Neptune Gallery, Old Hunstanton, group exhibition, Auction for Bosnia

2005 Centre for the Arts, King’s Lynn, group exhibition, Christmas Boxed

2006 Oliver Messel Gallery, Norwich, group exhibition, Woman Institute’s Annual Exhibition

2007 Centre for the Arts, King’s Lynn, group exhibition, Eastern Open

Town Hall, Downham Market, group exhibition, Downham Art Circle Summer Exhibition

Exhibition Centre, Brussels, group exhibition, Indigo

Jacob K Javits Convention Center, New York, group exhibition, Surtex

2008 Festhalle, Frankfurt, group exhibition, Heimtex

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