Moving Things Around...

is a good way of seeing them with fresh eyes.  This textile piece has been sitting in the conservatory, but at such a height, and with so many other things, that it was difficult to actually look at.  Now, here it is on a clear wall, and it can be seen for itself.  To good effect, I hope!  I forget what I called this piece, which is alarming.  Usually titles stick with me, but clearly I must have got the title for this one wrong.   I'm tempted to call it 'Palely Loitering', not entirely sure why; probably something to do with the abstract figure to the right of centre.  We'll  see if that one sticks.

I like this piece, partly because it has a lot of movement in it. As part of the tidying up process, I looked through a couple of large sketchbooks and found these images in one of them, along with several black and white versions.  I realised that the feeling of movement in the textile piece is mirrored by these earlier sketches.  Interestingly, though, I find myself wanting to use them in a very different way, now, as works in their own right, and I'll doubtless ruminate about that until it's clear in my head, just as I must have done, unconsciously, with the sketches.

I've been ruminating on the other blog about not getting things done; this has been moved because I'm making a space for Big Bertha, my large scale printer, in the conservatory.  Mainly, I'm doing that because I'm about to go on a dyeing and felting frenzy, and steam and damp are not good for the printer.  But it does also mean that I might actually be able to sit in the conservatory, once I've finally finished tidying it up.  It is probably my favourite room in the house, simply because of the amount of light in it.  Of course, all that glass means that it's very warm in summer and cooler than I like in winter.  At the moment, though, I'm ironing hand dyes, and the coolness is very welcome.  More of the handdyes later...

Going Away...

for a few days, to stay with my friend Terry and her menagerie (one dog, three cats, two horses and a parrot).  I'm meeting up with Mervyn from Spunart, too, to discuss a possible project surrounding spun bonded fabrics in general and lutradur and evolon in particular.  Watch this space...

Robin is, of course, holding the fort here while looking for the next job.  The cats won't be pleased, but they will, at least, get fed, watered and stroked.  He'll probably also be answering the door to the postman; I just ordered a lot of silk organza to dye, so that I can make more of these pretty little bags.  This particular one is made from a piece of hand dyed silk organa which has been felted, creating the lovely textures you can see in the photograph.  The hand made silk flowers are also made from my hand dyed organza, and it is lined in silk, also.  I'm going to be making quite a few more of these little bags with my friends Jill and Clare, for our new venture, Myrtle & Rose.

The idea behind Myrtle & Rose is to create accessories for special occasions from hand dyed fabrics, all of which are made from the same materials.  So, for a wedding, we might make one of these little bags for the flower girl, and make her a headband from the same materials, as well as shoe clips with tiny versions of the flowers.  It's always difficult to get things that match, much less are made from the same materials.  Guess how I know... I was really lucky to get my bag and fascinator from the same place, but the shoes were...challenging.

But I digress.  Actually, I'm not sure I've finished digressing... I'm having such fun making these pretty, happy little things.  It's fun.  I've been talking for ages about making happy things, and now I'm Actually Doing It, it's even better than I expected.  Just goes to show... we should stick to what we want to do, not what we think we ought to be doing.  It makes such a difference.

Learning New Skills...

takes time.  Working in three dimensions, after years of working in two, is great fun, as well as challenging.  The image shows the fruits of a couple of afternoons work...though I forgot to photograph the bag that I made from silk paper.  The rest of the time, of course, was spent tidying up.  Feathers get everywhere, unsurprisingly taking flight at the slightest breeze; so every time the door opened, whoosh!  But I am now set up to make some more silk paper, this time to make flowers with for fascinators, as well as a couple more bags, methinks. 

My favourite is the black flower, but I've always been fond of a bit of glitz... what about you, any preferences?

Brightening Up Bags...

seemed to be a good thing to do on a dark and depressing winter's day.  You know, the little cotton ones that you tuck into your handbag before you go out shopping, just in case...  I've been hand dyeing some, and they have come out really well.  I thought that I might embellish one or two, and provide the means for embellishing others in the bags themselves, and sell them as kits with full instructions.  I have something of a money focus at the moment, as Robin is still looking for work, and it's a bit scary.  I don't earn all that much (surprise, surprise...) and may have to go back to the Day Job to help with paying the bills.  Meantime, though, these little bags will go onto Etsy, with and without embellishments, along with some tshirts and other hand dyed bits and pieces. 

Meanwhile, I've started another book, a follow up to 'Finding Your Creative Focus'.  This one develops the theme of where you get your ideas from, which I talked about in the first book, and looks at creating personal imagery.  As I did with the last one, I'd like to set up an online group to work through the text; you get free tuition, I get feedback on what works...and the occasional quotation!  I'm looking for five guinea pigs...I mean, volunteers... if anyone is interested, please email me direct, thanks.

Now, hopefully, the shed will be warm enough for me to work in.  I was working with soy wax yesterday, making samples for my talk tomorrow to Kings Lynn Embroiderers' Guild, 'Waxing Lyrical'.  Hopefully, they will have dried enough for me to add the second layer of wax and colour...

Mixing It Up...

is arguably what I do best.  But even I didn't expect to make hats...or anything to do with fashion.  Though one of the few memories of my childhood I have is making 'clothes' for my sister's Cindy doll, using tissues (the only 'material' I had access to) and endlessly 'designing' clothes for badly drawn mannequins.  It's funny, the things you remember.  And of course, when Andrew was little (he'll be thirty this year, how time flies...), I made quilted waistcoats and jackets to sell, which were quite popular at the time.  Unlike my friend Sandy, though, I don't have a fashion training, so I thought no more of it.  But here I am, learning to make hats.  This is my first fascinator, nearly finished (but not quite).  I can't imagine anything more joyful to do.  On Friday, I met with my friends Jill and Clare, who are learning with me, and compared notes with them.  Jill took lots of photographs, so I'll let you see some more when I get the images.

This one is quite straightforward, really, but I'm planning to work with lutradur and evolon, silk and felt, and lots and lots of stitch, to create art to go to your head...as it were!  Watch this space!

Making Samples...

three samples of experimental cloth

for my class tomorrow, and for a talk I'm giving for the Embroiderers Guild at Kings Lynn next week.  The class focusses on experimenting with the idea of making one's own fabric, whilst the talk is called 'Waxing Lyrical'. One of the 'fabrics' in the picture is suitable for both of these; can you work out which it is?

When the guild selected 'Waxing Lyrical' as a subject for a talk, I was slightly taken aback.  Though it is on my list of workshops, it isn't often asked for.  I'm glad it was, though...I've been reminded of just how much I use wax in my work, one way or another.  It's useful stuff, in all its various forms.  No, I'm not telling you anything else.. but I promise to do a detailed blog or two on wax after the talk!

a close up of a piece of Nuno felt.

 Meanwhile, felt making is on the agenda for tomorrow's class; the above is a piece of Nuno felt.  I love working with wool tops; it's like drawing and painting with fibres.  And the textures are amazing. 

I'm planning to run this set of classes as an online course; I know, everyone seems to be doing them now, but I think it's my turn now .  We're going to cover felt making, silk paper making, lutradur lace and bondaweb fabric, over a period of eight weeks, in sets of two.  The first week, we'll make the cloth itself; the second, we'll make a specific project using the cloth we made.  I know what it's like to have lots of samples kicking around in your workspace; we'll get these into use as quickly as we can!  Watch this space for more details... leave me a  comment if you are interested.

Isn't This Amazing...

...a shot of the new Gallery.  This is the gallery space in the Memorial Hall at Dereham, which has been created from an alleyway next to the original building.  It is truly gorgeous, an ideal space for showing art.  The archway at the end is an original feature; the building is full of them, all carefully and lovingly restored.  Now, it leads through into the workshop space, which is flooded with natural light...windows everywhere.  I'm looking forward to teaching there.  I'm doing something new, for me, at least.  I thought I'd put together a set of classes about making your own cloth to use in your textile work.  Not weaving, I'm afraid, though we might work our way up to a little bit of weaving later on in the classes.  I thought, instead, we'd start with felt making and silk paper making.  One week we'll make the fabric itself, the second, a project using the fabric you made.  The classes will be held each Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm... email me if you want more information, or contact Judy at the Gallery for info about this or any other class.  This is a wonderful resource for artists and craftspeople, not just in the Dereham area, but throughout Breckland and beyond.

The front part of the gallery is home to a wonderful community quilt.  Next time I'm in, I'll take a photograph so that you can see it.  Meanwhile...enjoy the view!