Bees wax, stitch and a whole lot of fun. ExTeXtra weekend 4 - December 5th & 6th.

Pieces of rust dyed fabrics painted with bees wax.

Am playing catch up again. Am nearly there . . . 
I had wonderful weekend with my ExTeXtra group. This group of 8 girls were on Experimental Textiles last year and we negotiated 5 weekends for me to mentor them. This was the 4th weekend - we have one more in February - then they will be gone . .  I will miss them terribly - they are a fabulous group of girls. I am tearing up now just thinking about it!!!


The group have now started exhibiting as 'Out of Line', and they had their first exhibition at The West Country Quilt and Textile Show in Bristol in November. They showed a combination of their work from Experimental Textiles and work they have done since then - it was amazing to see all the photos. I was doing the show in Dublin so I couldn't get there. They had 2 x 8m x 3m stands to hang - a huge task. They coped magnificently. Out of Line will be exhibiting on the Inkberrow Design Centre stand at Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch in March. 
I will also be exhibiting at the show - but that's a story for another day

The work on the Experimental Textiles part of the stand.

So - back to the weekend - a couple of the girls wanted to try playing with bees wax so we got set up with a hot plate, irons and baking parchment. The idea was literally to play, to see what happens if . . .

Jane and Rachel starting to play

 Alison and Kate mucking about.

 Val and Tracey getting down to it.

 For some reason I don't have any photos of Mary or Marilyn - but here is a photo of the book table - that got a little over run with all kinds of deliciousness. Mary made the cake, my favourite, lemon.

 The 'book' table.

 The idea for these weekends is for the group to decide if there is something they want to try or if they want to get on with their own work. My part is to set things up, encourage, make suggestions and maybe give a tutorial here and there if required.

I won't be showing any finished samples of the groups work from now on. It is not my place. They are their own entity now.

 Muslin with tissue and bees wax.

 Cotton organdie and old ledger pages, pleated with bees wax.

 Various mesh and stitch with wax.

 Handmade paper rolled and coiled.

 Muslin and threads held with bees wax (and a very attractive pin).

 A previously stitched piece of work painted with bees wax to enable it to be manipulated and become three dimensional.

A pieced sample by Rachael . .

  . . and a detail.

 Strips of hand dyed fabrics stuck together with bees wax.

 Muslin painted with Inktense blocks, with bees wax and hand stitch.

Experiments with paper, twigs and bees wax.
 
Various papers layered with bees wax.
 An almost finished piece by Tracey.

 Mary had fun with the Inktense blocks and muslin and then found she could take print . .
 
Val playing with a waxed photocopy.

We had a very productive weekend, the group don't really need me any more. It makes me very proud, but . . 

***

I have just returned from the madness that is Art Van Go where I taught a 2 day workshop - will post about that next week. I had the best time. If you are in the area - they have the second day of their Christmas Bizarre tomorrow - Saturday. There is so much to see and artists to talk to. Do get there if you can. 

I will be spending the weekend starting to muck out my house and seeing my family - it has been a while!!!

***

Hello Diana - shall we talk next week? Hello Jill, was soooo good to see you and Hello Tod!! My lovely Aunty.

Have a great weekend

x x x

Comments

  1. Long time now until March, how will we cope? Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We will have to Skype my lovely girl. Was thinking the same thing as I typed your name on the blog. Love to you both. x x x x

      Delete

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