Bonding and the Burrell at Berwick

Working on the commission today. Have sorted out lots of blue and white fabrics to use. Its always important to me to use materials wherever possible that I already have, have been given or have recycled from our cast off clothes. Started bonding collage pieces on to the backgrounds. In this piece I am working on one of the very elegant oriental ladies on one of the vases. The rest of the pieces I am working on are all to do with the natural imagery - flowers, leaves, birds and insects.

Pele Tower Vintage and Craft Fair

Shipley Lates tomorrow but on Saturday (29th September) I shall be having a stall at a little Vintage and Craft Fair  held in the Pele Tower in Corbridge. Its free to get in and on from 10am till 4pm. Call in and see me if you are around the area.

Backgrounds for Burrell at Berwick

Working on backgrounds. Here are bits ( originally a white damask tablecloth)  laid out all over my sun room floor at the beginning of the day....

and by the end of the day they have turned into these textures and marks,  already for appliqué and embroidery.

Not sure at the moment if the marks are too dominant, they are taken from torn up photocopies of my drawings which I have transfer printed on to a painted background. A few days  of reflection now  before I move on with this project.

Monotyping

I have been teaching a monotypes course all weekend. We started with looking at Monet's layered painterly marks, how he captured light, form and colours in his garden at Giverny. I wanted the students to compare him with Cy Twombly's impressionistic studies  of his flowers.

They all produced some lovely work and it will be up on the photo gallery of Horsley Printmakers soon. Meanwhile here are my little homages to Twombly using the monotype method.

Thread and Thrift

Been busy creating more examples for my Thread and Thrift Folk Art Applique course at the Shipley Art Gallery on Saturday 20th October. To book or  find out more click HERE

I went to the Shipley yesterday to see the Collected Threads exhibition. So nice to see old favourites retrieved from the archives including Kaffe Fassett, Susie Freeman, Michael Brennan Wood, Lyn Setterington, Amy Emms and some tapestries by Sara Brennan that I had not seen before. In connection with this exhibition there is to be one last Shipley LATES on a textile theme. It costs £5 to get in but once in you can participate in 8 workshops and there is lots else to see and do. For information on the evening and the artists running workshops please click HERE.

I will be doing something with one of my favourite recycling techniques - suffolk puffs. Come and join me and the others on Friday September 28th.

Start with Drawing - more Burrell at Berwick

To get in to a project I always start with drawing. Sometimes I don't use them but it is a meditative part of the design process and it helps me to get to know my source imagery really well.  I rarely show anyone else these. I have chosen the blue and white porcelain in the Berwick exhibition  to respond to for the commission.

ink

 monotype

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machine drawing with collage

 machine drawing with collage

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Plant Life

Have been meaning to blog these for a while. I made them for the Flower festival/Open Studios weekend a couple of weeks ago. They are about a metre in length and free hanging. I have already sold one of them. This is the colour scheme I am most comfortable with and with these pieces I have returned to machine embroidery.