For some time my work has been changing. I find the process of stitch so meditative and over the years that has inevitably seeped into the work itself like a fine mist. The resultant stain cloths are a celebration of how I feel about the beauty of sharing food with friends and family, of sitting together at a table preparing food, talking, laughing, eating, spilling...
I believe a family table is a special place. As we study or work at them. Perhaps we conceive on them! Then one day, maybe it is where we feed our babies. We do craft with them, teach them, guide them. As they get older, we sit and wait for them.. they have their friends back for coffee.. the break-ups and the make-ups.. the family meals. Good times and bad. Sitting up late with friends laughing and sharing our lives. They are the place we share in the very proper sense of the word.
In my credentials I make the point, "whenever we are together at a table with food, wine, music and laughter... inevitably the next day there will be stains. Wonderful stains. I happen to love these flaws - to me they are evocative and commemorative."
Kinfolk is a collective of artists who celebrate those times we gather together to share food. They produce a beautifully shot magazine, a fantastic blog, they create films that feel are like breathing the best, deep breath and earlier this year they took this all forward to share with the wider public and created a dinner series which will be a gathering in 12 cities across 12 months. Everything they do is quiet, careful, considered and joyous. Their aesthetic is beautiful and resonant, simple and honest.
The kinfolk manifesto states;
Kinfolk is a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings. We recognize that there is something about a table shared by friends, not just a wedding or once-a-year holiday extravaganza, that anchors our relationships and energizes us. We have come together to create Kinfolk as our collaborative way of advocating the natural approach to entertaining that we love.
Every element of Kinfolk - the features, photography, and general aesthetics - are consistent with the way we feel entertaining should be: simple, uncomplicated and less contrived. Kinfolk is the marriage of our appreciation for art and design and our love for spending time with family and friends.
all images and film from the kinfolk website
