Posts

Uzbekistan Tour March 2025

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Remarkable Architecture In six months I will be traveling to Uzbekistan for a nearly a month. The plan was to travel with one group on a tour of 14 days 7th - 21st April. However, that booked up so quickly, we had to add another tour for the people that missed their chance. We now have 5 places left on the second tour which is 23rd March to 7th April. Strong simple forms The tours are concentrating on the amazing architecture and textiles of Uzbekistan. We will also be enjoying the local foods and culture of each area we visit. I have a particular interest in in the geometric designs and colours used on many of the beautiful buildings. You will notice the buildings are generally strong, simple shapes which means you can appreciate the colour and designs. Perfect inspiration for artists and anyone interested in beautiful architecture. Beautiful colour and form     We will also be visiting a fort in the desert, I get excited just typing that!! How amazing. Again strong shapes but less co

Distressed and Burnt - long post warning!!

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  An image of work created by Carrey Gorney, featured in the exhibition and book Burnt Histories     The conversion started this morning at 8.33 on Messenger. I don't mind messages on social media as I can choose to answer when I have time, or feel like it! But as it was Carry, we started to chat. Carry Gorney is an artist and a past student of mine. She played and developed new ideas in my original online workshops several years ago, and came to my home in Ireland to take part in one of my Look, Draw, Print, Stitch weekends.   An image of work created by Carrey Gorney, featured in the exhibition and book Burnt Histories   Here is part of Carrey's question this morning - "Your surface teaching work is still wonderful. I would like to develop that using photographs ...from my Burnt Histories exhibition which is still being shown and referenced.  . . . and I suddenly thought why don't you incorporate digital photos into your work and teaching? Photos are what you do.

Exciting news and some fabulous work

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I do love silk fibre bowls, they look so wonderful in the light.     Yes, it's been a while. Life got in the way of things for a few months . . . But I am very happy to tell you that The Experimental Textiles Video Library is now complete. It took me much longer than I thought to film and edit all 12 workshops. But they are now all live on the website. www.kimthittichai.com Lutradur, zapped with a heat gun and decorated with puff paste and acrylic paint. From Zap! Pow! Slash! and Melt! The last 3 workshops to go live were Working with Silk Fibres, Zap! Pow! Slash! and Melt!, and Raising the Surface. I really had fun filming and creating the samples for these workshops, they round off the video library perfectly.  All existing subscribers have had the end of their subscriptions moved to 15th July 2025. The students who already subscribe to the video library have been creating some brilliant work. This piece is by Sally Thompson in Australia, inspired by the bark of a tree on one of

Do you collect treasures?

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A beautiful bowl and vase from The Blue Pottery in Jaipur  I don't often dust . . the housekeeping gene definitely missed me!  But sometimes, when I have time, or I am avoiding doing something else, I dust, and admire and enjoy the many beautiful and colourful artefacts that have traveled home with me from different parts of the world. I am particularly fond of the mementos/trophies that I collected from my 4 textile holidays to Jaipur with Colouricious. What an amazing time we all had together. Lovely long beaded, decorated cords with bells on, hanging in my beaded curtain and on the wall of my lounge.    Small, inexpensive, purchases can bring such delight, even years after, bringing back happy memories of warm, colourful days.   The simple beauty of un fired terracotta lassi cups. I am particularly fond of these lassi cups, they are quite fragile and I was delighted they got back to Ireland in one piece. The yogurt drink lassi is served in the cups and then they are smashed aft

Being different . . part 1

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  Aunty Shirley on the left, me in the middle and Mum on the right. Is it nature or nurture that makes us different? As the oldest of 2 sisters, I was encouraged to be the noisy, happy little performer and my sister Lynda, was always described as the quiet, thoughtful one. And that is what we became . .  I remember being very young, having to stand on a box in my Nana's garden singing "Senor Don Gato was a cat . " for the family and all the neighbours, I hated it. I was creative and colourful and not very academic, whereas Lynda always did well in school and quietly got on with life.  Basically I took up all the room!! It wasn't until I left home to go to art college at 17, that Lynda really started to blossom. Lynda, my sister on the left and me on the right Apart from the usual early sibling rivalry, my sister and I have always got on, now more than ever. Lynda is the best thing in my life. We are both very lucky to have been able to work on our relationship through

The Jane, Sue & Gina Show!

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A selection of beautiful beaded bowls by Sue Redhead, Jane Wolfe & Gina Dean I find it amusing that a workshop I created based on bowls and bangles I have been making all my life - has become very popular in the The Experimental Textiles Video Library & Membership. I have never taught this workshop as it is something I have always just - done. Making strange and unusual pieces with random beads has always given me great pleasure - I hadn't realised that it might intrigue others too.  I decided to film the workshop and see if any of the membership wanted to play with the techniques. My goodness they have been having fun. It just goes to show - you never know!   One of Gina's larger vessels Students on the video library go through waves of working, there will be a flurry of work and samples on one workshop, then others will start on another. As the member is for 12 months, you can create your work when it suits you. What I love is how they all chat to each other, showing
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One of the memorials in the Maharani Gardens in Jaipur that is featured in my Textile Travels online lecture.   How are you all doing? Are you coping with and all the rain we are having? I know some of you will be enjoying warmer temperatures on the other side of the world. Wherever you are, I hope all is well. As I now live in Ireland, I am delivering less lectures, it is a bit far to travel now!! However I do deliver 3 or 4 during the year - online. Guilds and textile groups are much more experienced with Zoom now, so it is easy to talk to groups in real time, if not the same place. I can talk about anything - but I do offer a choice of 3 when I am approached. And I can write a new lecture if that is requested, I certainly have enough images to choose from after all these years.   I was booked by a lovely group from Ayelsbury, U.K on Saturday to talk about my textiles travels. Having traveled and taught in Australia, New Zealand, India and a few places in Europe as well as the UK,