1. Alice kettle: The Garden of England
This exhibition was set up in the Queen’s house. It consisted of a portrait piece of Queen Henrietta
Maria on the Queens wall, sandwiched between Elizabeth I and Anne; a textile flower bed sits below
it made up of embellished rosettes, floral twigs, fringes and braids which are represented of the
cloth. The last piece in this exhibition is the beautiful flower helix hanging from the spiral staircase
known as the tulip stairs. I’ve chosen to look at Alice Kettle because she is the first textile artist ever
to interest me. I love the technique and detail of her work. The exhibition included these three
commissioned pieces intended to be displayed in the Queens house. She features a lot of floral
aspects in her work, made of thread and fabric to produce beautiful rosettes and patterns. This link
to flowers is how she will tie in perfectly with my project. The first piece of work I found of hers was
the flower helix and I found it an entrancing piece to look at. The delicacy of the white crochet
flowers contrasting with the small red daisies creates a beautiful shower of art. What I like about her
pieces is that they’re so layered; each time you look at them you notice an entirely different flower
or aspect of the artwork, especially with her flower bed. The exhibition shows the creativity living in
kettles mind, the intricate combinations of art pieces and the wire layered above the portrait piece
show a depth of thought and creativity you wouldn’t expect at first glance.
Alice kettle is an established British textile artist. As I mentioned before the exhibition was intended
for the Queen’s house. Alice kettle used a combination of various peoples artwork to create her
pieces. Her art was made up of multiple contributions from all around the country as well as Ireland
and Italy. Alice’s approach to the hanging portrait was to complement the existing artwork already in
the room. She tried to bring a contemporary feel to the art whilst bringing in enough traditional
aspects to ensure it fits in with the queen’s collection. It was intended to be a ‘discreet
interpretation of Queen Henrietta Maria where you sense that something is different.’ The
exhibition was presented between the 11th March to 18th of August 2013 and took two days to set
up. Flower Helix was influenced by the floral pattern of ‘Queen Anne’s lace’ which links with the
baroque design of the spiral staircase. The textile garden Flower Bed was influenced by the rich
patterns and embroidery often seen in court dress in the 16th and 17th century. The stitched portrait
of Queen Henrietta Maria was included because of her role in overseeing the completion of the
Queen’s house after Queen Anne’s’ death.
The formal element most obvious in Kettle’s work would have to be texture. The fabrics she uses ,
such as lace, and the overwhelming amounts of embroidery and 3D rosettes she incorporates into
her work create immense texture. She also uses a variety of colour. Although her Flower Helix piece
was predominantly white she did add certain pieces of colour into it to contrast with the starkness of
the piece giving it a beautiful, fresh image. Her Flower Bed consisted of warm oranges and reds with
hints of whites, greens and blues. She focuses on golds and oranges understandably to show the link
between courtly dress in the 16th and 17th century. The Flower Helix has a contemporary feel to it
due to the pale colouring whereas the reds, golds and oranges of the Flower Bed and embroidered
Portrait give the impression of rich, stately materials. I intend to incorporate this colouring into my
own artwork because I love the welcoming feeling the warmth in these colours give the art. Because
her artwork is textile based there is a lack of tone in it; however her work is in no need of tone to
create a realistic effect to her work because the majority of it is already 3D. The shapes that she has
used in her work are quite abstract, for example the portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria is made up of
abstract, perhaps exaggerated versions of the real life shapes, i.e. her head is very circular and her
facial features are very much exaggerated and aren’t quite in proportion to her face. This gives her

2. work an abstract feel to it. I feel as though she expresses the mood of her artwork, like most artists,
through the colours she uses to portray it. Flower helix is very white and stark giving an angelic and
pure feeling of beauty however both the portrait of Henrietta Maria and the Flower Bed consist of
warmer, richer colours such as red’s, gold’s and oranges giving the impression of wealth and
opulence. The overall mood of the exhibition I feel is one of pride and grandeur. Being a textile artist
Alice Kettle uses pattern a lot in her work, creating it with embroidery and fabrics. I love the floral
patterns she creates with her techniques and hope to incorporate them in my own work.
I love Alice Kettle’s work, she has really inspired me to step outside of my comfort zone and try a
completely new method of creating art. I love to paint but her work has shown me that textiles can
also be detailed and beautiful too. I will be corroborating her style of work with other, more fine art
techniques, such as Van Gogh’s and Georgia O’Keeffe’s throughout my project.