A fine figure of a man - one of the wonderful sculptures at Hole Park. I've just returned from a few days in Kent with my Dad. We had a fabulous time wandering around gardens and vineyards - I feel as though I have been away for a week. It was great to drive about, not having to be somewhere by a set time. We visited three gardens, Sissinghurst Castle, Marle Place and Hole Park. I haven't been to Sissinghurst for a few years and it is just as beautiful as ever - but very busy and very - National Trust. Wonderful shadows created by the nut walk at Sissinghurst. Beautiful borders on a large scale. Stunning structure created by the well tended hedges and trees. And glorious colours . . . Marle Place Gardens is a different kind of garden altogether. A private garden open to the public every day apart from Thursday. It is an exquisite place to wander for the best part of a day. They don't serve lunch - just teas and coffees and de...

  One of the many beautiful views from Foredown Tower  So . . .  onto part 2.   A New Starting Point includes making faux chenille with newspaper. The group layered eight sheets of A4 newspaper with polyester organza. Using contrasting colours of paper and organza can create some very colourful samples. The layers of newspaper need to have some support otherwise your work will fall apart. Adding a sew-in interfacing such as classic pelmet Vilene (S80/239) or the 'pelmet Vilene light' to the back of your work - Vilene interfacings will re enforce your work. Once you have stacked your layers up you then machine stitch 'tramlines' across the whole sample, your 'channels' need to be at least 1/2 inch apart. If the 'channels' are too close together you wont be able get your scissors down the 'channels' to cut them.   Another tip when stitching newspaper faux chenille is to use a long stitch, the longest your machine will do - usually no ...

Layers of torn newspaper and painted Bondaweb. Regular readers of this blog will know how much I love teaching at Foredown Tower - high up on the Sussex Downs you can see for miles. It is also home to a wonderful camera obscura. The tower is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays with camera shows at 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm. On a clear day you really can see forever . . .  . Foredown Tower A New Starting Point is my newspaper based workshop. It is easily my most popular workshop I have ever written. Once the group get the hang of the 'background' and 'pretty' rotation, they are off and away, having great fun throwing glitter and gilding flake around with great abandon. I think that because the workshop is process driven and the samples aren't supposed to 'look like' something, the students can just relax and enjoy making their samples. Colour washed newspaper printed in a similar colour with a wooden printing block. Once the sa...