Smocked Building Project
Installation: 16th January - 15th February 2026
Workshops: 2pm-4pm Sunday 11th January &
2pm-4pm Saturday 17th January.
North Tawton Community Centre, EX20 2HN
£15 per session.
Smocking Workshops- BOOK HERE
A smocked art installation covering Ruth Smith Gallery, a film piece with local archival images, and smocking workshops.
Installation and workshops by New York based artist Annie Coggan. Film in collaboration with Exeter/Berlin artist Sam Godfrey.
We're very excited to be pioneering the first Smocked Building Project by US artist, Annie Coggan, who will be covering Ruth Smith Gallery with a huge textile installation using smocked hessian.
Smocking involves pinching together fabric in patterns to create a dense almost padded textile. The installation will use the honeycomb technique associated with the rural English smocked frock, while the hessian nods to its traditional use covering buildings to regulate the drying times of lime render.
Along with smocking a North Tawton building, Annie has collaborated with artist Sam Godfrey to make a film showing the history of smocking and its contemporary uses. It will be screened in the gallery window during over the month the installation is up.
Furthermore, Annie will teach a series of smocking workshops at North Tawton Community Centre that outline the history of the craft and show the “how-to’s” and “what could be's” by passing on this haptic knowledge. On Sunday 11th January Annie will teach the honeycomb stitch that Ishe is working with to Smock the Building and on Saturday 17th January, Annie will teach the bird beak stitch.
Smocking Workshops- BOOK HERE
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Honeycomb Stitch- Annie Coggan
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Bird Beak Stitch - Annie Coggan
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Smocked Hessian - Annie Coggan
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Corn Harvesting at Rill, Buckfastleigh, c. 1911, Devon Rural Archives.
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Annie Coggan, Silkscreen Edition LITTLE SMOCKED BUILDINGS, Edition 35, Printed by Kingsland Editions
Smocking involves pinching together fabric in patterns to create a dense almost padded textile. The installation will use the honeycomb technique associated with the rural English smocked frock, while the hessian nods to its traditional use covering buildings to regulate the drying times of lime render.
Along with smocking a North Tawton building, Annie has collaborated with artist Sam Godfrey to make a film showing the history of smocking and its contemporary uses. It will be screened in the gallery window during over the month the installation is up.
Furthermore, Annie will teach a series of smocking workshops at North Tawton Community Centre that outline the history of the craft and show the “how-to’s” and “what could be's” by passing on this haptic knowledge. On Sunday 11th January Annie will teach the honeycomb stitch that Ishe is working with to Smock the Building and on Saturday 17th January, Annie will teach the bird beak stitch.
Smocking Workshops- BOOK HERE
Honeycomb Stitch- Annie Coggan
Bird Beak Stitch - Annie Coggan
Smocked Hessian - Annie Coggan
Corn Harvesting at Rill, Buckfastleigh, c. 1911, Devon Rural Archives.
Annie Coggan, Silkscreen Edition LITTLE SMOCKED BUILDINGS, Edition 35, Printed by Kingsland Editions