Hand cut leather embellished with felt, beads, machine and hand stitch. I am alternating posts between The Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin and my last two workshops that were both newspaper based. Even you, dear reader, can only take sooo much newspaper! The work that I have selected to show you is what either fascinated and inspired me, or just tickled my fancy. There were some fabulous artists exhibiting at the show but I can only show you so much - so this is my choice. The work of the Irish graduates was a delight and two of them are featured here - the other - a graduate from the U.K. is also featured.  Amy Brannigan's work is very intricate and is based on lace patterns and the Irish Coastline. Leather is either cut by hand or a laser cutter to create beautiful layers and voided areas - a beautiful lace.    The work is reminiscent of seaweed washed up on the beach with all kinds of encrustations.   Laser cut leather encrust...

 Torn newspaper layered with painted Bondaweb. I am going to alternate writing up my workshops with the Dublin show. I will show you some of the graduate work from Dublin in the next post. I have taught A New Starting Point twice in the past three days. A treat for me but could be monotonous for you, hence the alternation. The first workshop was with the ladies of Basingstoke Embroiderers Guild on Thursday 7th November. We got off to a flying start painting up the Bondaweb then getting down to business with the 'backgrounds' and 'pretties'. The tearing and layering process is a simple one but can be difficult to get to grips with at the start.  I love this workshop - it is my favourite, the results are always fabulous. Just by layering newspaper with painted Bondaweb and all kind of sparkles.           The ladies getting on down with their sparkles.        After the tearing and layering the ladie...

The National College of Art and Design of Dublin. The Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin was a splendid affair. I was expecting a very quiet show as the whole population of Ireland is roughly equivalent to that of Birmingham, but I was wrong. We were very busy, obviously not as busy as Ally Pally - but a very healthy turnout. It was great to meet so many interested visitors. There were some different different stands at this show, not all the exhibits from the U.K shows travel to Dublin - I thought I would highlight a few of them over the next few posts.   The stand I most enjoyed was the National College of Art and Design of Dublin. The work was outstanding - particularly innovative. Also very colourful. www.ncad.ie           I think you will agree the work has energy and great imagination. I really loved it. The Irish graduates put on an exciting show - I will post about th...