Vote for me!

No, I'm not going to be standing in the general election, but you can still vote for me in the craft&design magazine Selected awards, to find the best designer-makers in the UK and Ireland in a variety of categories, including textiles. The public vote is open until 30 April, so if you'd like to vote for me, go to www.craftmaker.co.uk/rutholeary/ and follow the link at the bottom of the page. Given the incredible standard of the work in Selected I don't think I'll win, but I suppose you never know!

In a round-up of other news, Kate's Crow has been stretched onto a board and finished off neatly with a plain black backing; I'll be packing it off to Brian the blacksmith tomorrow. I've been working on designs for the centre of my proposed exhibition and am a lot happier with the way things are now working, and should have something to show you soon. That's the good news, though - the venue where I'd been hoping to hold the exhibition (I've had work there before, as part of an exhibition of textile artists in North East England) is either shutting or has already gone. This is a blow; I'm now going to have to try and find somewhere else. I've got a couple of places I thought I'd try, so I'll just have to see what they say and go on from there.