West Dean College 17th - 21st January Hot Textiles - Exploring Layers

Hello again and welcome to my new followers.
I seem to be having trouble getting on with things this week. I had 2 more very hectic but enjoyable days teaching at Harrow Way Community School in Andover (see Thursday January 6th) on Monday and Tuesday and spent most of yesterday in a daze and recovering. Am I getting too old for all this dashing about? Consequently I am behind with paperwork and updating this blog. However - here I am now!
  West Dean College
This will be a 3 part post on the tales of my course at glorious West Dean College last week We had a fantastic time with the students producing work of a very high standard. To do the work justice I will separate it into sections. We will start with using old painted and dyed newspapers. The students enrolled on the course were - Mike Wallace, Janette Lazell, Linda Beadle, Rose Chapman, Alison Davis, Alyssa Bacon and Avril O'Brien. One of the luxuries of teaching at West Dean is the small group sizes, each student has their own table and power supply. I am very lucky to teach there.

 newspaper after it has been used as a background to paint onto 
 
Any of you that have been on a course with me in the last year will know of my love for using up old newspapers with painted Bondaweb. It is fast becoming a passion. I love the way that odd words and parts of images peek out from behind the layers of paint. Newspaper, particularly when it has been painted is quite strong enough to layer up with painted Bondaweb, it up to you how many layers you create. You can keep on making back grounds, tearing and layering until you have built up a very thick and strong surface that can be used to make boxes and book covers.


  
layered newspaper decorated with discs of Vilene Spunbond cut with a soldering iron

 



 As you can see, the group created some beautiful samples - I will up date with more of the fabulous work tomorrow. The first layouts of 'Layered Textiles' arrived at the week-end and I need to spend a few hours each day on them, chopping and changing pages and editing as I go. It is actually starting to look like a book now, rather than sheets of paper full of my random stream of consciousness  . . . . . it's all very exciting.

See you tomorrow, x

p.s. Very many congratulations to Jill for finishing her City and Guilds - Well done that girl!!! x


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