Ferns unfurling down my boreen. The first days of June have seen a burst of life and growth in my local area. You don't have to look very far for inspiration for colour or design. Line and form are all around. A friend of mine who is an entomologist regular runs a moth trap in my field. We are recording all the moths and beetles. Very few recordings have been made in this rather wild area. Nick is licensed to run the moths traps by The National Biodiversity Data Centre and all our findings are recorded. It is important to discover how well the local biodiversity is doing.   Last week we had an Eyed Hawk Moth in the trap. The first one we have had here on Loop Head and only the second one Nick has seen on the west coast. The larvae feed on sallows and willows but the caterpillars are also frequently recorded feeding on varieties of apple tree found in gardens. The Eyed Hawk Moth undisturbed When moving away from anything that worries them, the moths extend their wings to show their...

A lovely print by Jo . A few days later - I was going to continue this sooner but preparations for the photo shoot next week and my teaching this weekend at Foredown Tower just sucked time away - plus I have a new distraction . . .  My ExTex students produced some fabulous prints on our disperse dye/transfer print day. If you are not sure how to create these prints there is a chapter in Hot Textiles (Colouring your fabric) that will help.  The three prints below show some experiments with cutting and printing. A simple print showing how translucent the prints are. This print was created by printing with two different paper bags, first one, then the other. The six prints below show how using resists such as grasses and feathers can create very beautiful and simple effects. You can then turn over the resist (which is covered in dye) and then take a print from that.. Torn strips of dye painted paper over printed. ...

A square of orange painted Bondaweb ironed onto space dyed fabric which has then been decorated with strips of newspaper, foil and glitter. So - to part 2 of this post featuring the work using fabric as a background rather than newspaper. All the pieces have been created by experimenting with layering up different types of decoration and with the idea of making surfaces on which to stitch at a later date. The metallic paints we used were Colourful Thoughts mixed media paints from Craftynotions the gilding flake is also from them. The paints were watered down by half with water to paint the Bondaweb and they still retained a high metallic effect - Fab! This was an interesting piece that just used painted Bondaweb to great effect. Another simple sample using painted Bondaweb and gilding flake. Painted Bondaweb with gilding flake and feathers. These torn skeleton leaves seem to be floating around the painted Bondaweb, this piece is just crying out for stitc...