Leaping Out Of The Box

Sometimes, you need a push to do what you know you ought...or even want...to do. I've been flirting with pastel colours, or at least, the thought of them, for some time, but it has taken a workshop to nudge me into actually doing something about the thoughts.

I rarely attend workshops. This one, associated with the ongoing art exhibition at Salthouse in North Norfolk, sounded like fun, based, as it is, on collections. The tutor, Jan Miller, is doing a sterling job, and I'm tending to wander off on tangents of my own. Nothing New There, huh?

I often use workshops or classes for playing purposes. In this case, I've been pushing myself out of the 'box', and into areas I don't usually go. Like hand stitching. Pastel and light colours. Even smaller work than usual. The collection I'm working with, or rather, from, is a collection of rocks and fossils, plus a beautiful raku vase in glorious Scottish Highland colours...blues, golds, pinks... I seem to be arriving at two different kinds of work based on that collection, though I suspect that there is infinite possibilities in it. The first one is shown here, a small, four or five inch square of handdyed velvet, handstitched with string, and with silk and paper applique'd onto it. There will be three, or maybe four, of those. The other is an emerging collection (that word again) of small pieces, some handstitched, some not, in blues and pinks...again with that interesting string stitched into them. It will be interesting to continue tomorrow, and see where I end up. It's a lovely way to spend a summer weekend.