To End all Wars - Ely Cathedral

Our installation is up!!!
 
Please come and see it. 

This is a group show by members of   Ouse Life Drawing Group  to commemorate 100 years since the end of World War 1. The artists have painted, drawn, printed (in my case) and stitched into fabric to create 100 banners.

'The war to end all wars' - if only that were true.

Anyway, it's in the South West trancept of Ely cathedral which is the bit on you right when you enter and it's before the desk where you pay, so there's no excuse not to go!

 

Mad Hatters - part 2

A quick post to show some of the gorgeous hats made by students on Saturday.....

 

A couple of them need a little pleating and shaping to finish them off, but I think you'll agree that they are fabulous!

Mad Hats - Wet Felting Workshop

New year.... well almost the end of January and we have a 'Mad Hats' felting workshop on Saturday. 

I always think of felting as being creativity combined with excercise  - my two most favourite things (after chocolate).  That makes felting an ideal New Year's 'resolutiony' kind of a thing to do.

The 'Mad Hatter'  - In the old days when felt hats were made from rabbit fur, mercury was used in the felting process. And over time, many Hatters did indeed develop a neurological condition from exposure to these mercury fumes. According to Wikipedia  "It is commonly characterized through behavioral changes such as irritability, low self-confidence, depression, apathy, shyness and timidity, and in some extreme cases with prolonged exposure to mercury vapors, delirium, personality changes and memory loss occur as a result"  Hmmmmm - I don't need the mercury , I already have most of these.

Well, I am pleased to say that we no longer use rabbit fur and we no longer use mercury.  In fact, I think that making felt is a highly therapeutic activity. All that soap, warm water, rubbing and rolling- it's all very sensory.

And hats are fun!  Hats can be silly, they can be elegant, they can be a statement of your individuality, they can be cute, or they can be a cosy head warmer for walking the dog.   And on the subject of cosy, if your hat is too mad to wear, just pop it on the teapot.

Thanks to Kate for being a very beautiful teapot!

Anyway,  Saturday 27 Jan at Cottenham Village College - here's the link:    Saturday Schools 
If you scroll down to 'Mad Hatters'  and click on the right hand box it will take you to a pdf with more details.

Or go directly to contact to book a place.

Alternative Christmas Tree

Call me a grump, but I've never felt comfortable with traditional Christmas trees.  Too Scandinavian, too spikey, too kitsch  - I can't quite put my finger on what it is that I don't like.  So, I was really pleased when Katherine from 20twentyproductions asked me to run a couple of workshops to make a 'Tree of Positivity' with a  group of young people from Cromwell Community College.

I love the idea of a Tree of Positivity because it feels so non denomonational and inclusive.

So we did lots of expressive painting, some random printmaking and then cut and collaged our positive words on labels.  It was fun to do and I think the results are great!

Indeed!

Have a great winter holiday, whatever your beliefs!



 

Angel

 An angel has landed on the Prickwillow phone box!

A collaboration by Cary Outis  (the steel part) and Magenta Kang (the wings)

As you can see it's well tethered and it's staying for Christmas.

Screen Printing on Cloth

Impington Village College
 
Saturday 25 November
10.00am – 3.00pm

This is a new teaching venue for me.  As it's a building with a great design legacy,  I think this should bode well. (see here) 

I wonder if  Walter Gropius would approve of the spirit of experimental creativity or would he be turning in his grave to see such extravagant surface design?

Here is the class description:


Screen Printing on Fabric: The emphasis is on the experimental, creating simple paper stencils with small silk screens to create bold shapes and pattern on fabric. The day is aimed at those with some experience of screen printing as well as beginners and it is an opportunity to work in a studio atmosphere with tutor support.  An A5 screen and squeegee is provided for use during the day.

 

What you need to bring:

 

Apron & wear old clothes
Reference pictures to use as inspiration.
5/6 old newspapers
Notebook and pen
Paper cutting scissors / craft knife & board
Fading marker or dressmakers chalk (only if you already have one)
20 sheets computer / photocopy paper ( not recycled)
Cost of inks in included in course fee.

FABRIC:
You will need to bring your own fabric to print on:  These must be 100% cotton. Polyesters and poly- cottons do not print well. I suggest you bring about two to three metres of white, 100% cotton fabric, preferably washed and ironed.  You may wish to pre-dye some of your fabric to create a background but make sure the colours are not too dark. If you are a non stitcher, you can bring pre-made items for printing on eg T-shirts, shopping bags, pillow slips - as long as they are, a light or bright colour and once again, 100% cotton. (T-shirts & shop bags do not need pre-washing)

Student Work - Screen Print Summer School

Cottenham Summer School - Spectacular Screen Printing. Why has it taken me so long to post this wonderful work by students on the course? 

Everyone makes SO much work during the week that any pictures I put up can never capture the sheer exuberance of printed fabric that's produced.

As always, what I love about teaching screen printing is that each person in the class brings their own personality to their prints. Some people like to do multi- layer, multi-colour prints, some like to be graphic, some textural.  Whatever style people work in it's always  done with a spirit of exploration and discovery.

Jean's screen

And the print

Betty's print

Nicola'a amazing multicolour print

David adding finishing touches to his cloth

One of sarah's many miles of fabric!!

It's quite difficult to get onto this course but I am teaching two Saturday day schools (not linked) before deep winter.  One is at Cottenham Village College on Saturday 14 October '17 (see post below) and the other at Impington Village College on 25 November '17.  

Screen Print Studio

There are still places left on Screen Print Studio at Cottenham Village College on Saturday 14 Oct 17, from 10 am to 4.00pm -  a lovely long day for getting immersed in a print project.  Cost is £35 / £26

This is an informal class for Adults.  There will be an introductory, hands on demo for beginners who will be taught about equipment, materials and basic techniques for screen printing. All techniques shown are ones that can be achieved at home on the kitchen table.

Anyone who has done screen printing with me before can skip this bit and work on their own projects.

A4 screens and printing inks are provided for use in the class (small materials fee) and you bring your own fabric to print on. It could be patches of cotton if you are a quilter, or textile artist; you can also print short lengths of fabric for sewing up into clothing / tablecloths etc;  or if you don't sew, bring light coloured T-shirts, shopping bags, pillow slips etc.  The college will give you a materials sheet which will explain exactly what to look  for in the fabrics you choose.

 Screen printing is magical and fast - come along with a pile of plain fabric and leave with a great pile of colourful prints.

If you are interested contact community@cvcweb.net

Handmade Book

A little handmade book from some of those coloured papers:

Front cover

Concertina pages for display

Little collage motif on corner of each page

And a rectangle of painted paper to frame picture or to write upon

The end...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coloured Papers

Whenever I start a new project, I like to begin by making components.  And the components for my book making workshop are coloured papers.

You can buy all sorts of lovely papers from hobby shops but they are expensive and in the end, they're somebody else's work.  So I like to get messy and make my own.
 

Splashing, stencilling, printing

 

Wax rubbings and paint- I used a combination of brusho and food colouring.

So much fun!


 

Little Paxton - The Hub - The Norris Museum

Screen printing workshop in a garden opposite the new community Hub in Little Paxton.   This workshop was sponsored by the Norris Museum as part of their community outreach program.   We used a modified version of the Hub’s logo as a frame and we asked people  to draw something that they would really like to see in a museum. We had so many great results:

I don't have favourites - as you can see I love them all - but this one has a  special place in place in my heart - it's just so happy!

And 'grown ups' could take part too.

There was a very neighbourly friendliness to the whole day, culminating in the generous sharing of a great hamper of fruit that someone won at the raffle. What better way to spend a Saturday than printmaking outdoors amongst a bunch of lovely people?