Light shades made from the rings that seal plastic bottle tops   Yes!! I teach and create Experimental Textile surfaces - but I have also been working with plastic on and of since 1975!! The work in this exhibition was a challenge to me, by me!! It has been a while since I have had the time to experiment with new work and try out new processes. In the end – you just have to make time. I started working with plastic in 1975 on the degree course Wood, Metal, Ceramics & Plastics. We were trained to be artists craft persons and I have worked in that way ever since. I have never been interested in mass production – only making by hand. Living on Loop Head I am surrounded by farms and grazing cattle. One of my favourite views from my house is the local herd of cows coming out and going into milking. I am also aware of the brightly coloured sheets of plastic that wrapped around the feed and fertiliser bags on the farms. The colours are fantastic. Plastic bottle ...

Layers of Tyvek and polyester organza stitched together and zapped with a heat gun. *** A glorious weekend   Well, what a fabulous weekend. It has been warm in the sun. It is so good to feel the heat, even if it won't be long lived. We have to enjoy the sun when we can in Ireland!!! We have unsettled weather coming up. Over the past couple of days I have been catching up with admin as well as working in the garden. I thought a catch up on my live Zoom workshops might be helpful. We had great fun on The Journey in January and Creating Unique Printing Blocks in February. The Show and Tell 2 weeks after the workshop has proved very successful, students are pleased to have an opportunity to develop their work. There are still spaces on all workshops, so if you would like to learn a new technique, or remind yourself of the fun you can have with any of these workshops, just click the link on the workshop you fancy. This month is Tinkering with Tyvek. I do so love working with Tyvek, you ...

Painted and textured Tyvek and painted Lutradur cut with a soldering iron. Workshop 6 - Zap, Pow, Slash & 3D. Well it's been a busy few weeks. We had another shoot for the new website. I think we have everything we need now. Today we were shooting with a drone for some landscape shots around the house. I think we can safely say Fizz and Pop are not fans of drones.  They HATED the noise and the hovering. So much for having shots of them from above gamboling happily in my field. Never mind - we tried. David has already taken all the photos of my photos, we had fun moving the furniture around to get the 'feel' for each image. It will be great to be able to sell my work online. Here are few images of David from  Lukewarm Volcano at work.   I am really looking forward to seeing these shots on the new website.  *** The Show and Tell for Raising the Surface went well. I am so glad I decided to do a show and tell 2 weeks after each workshop. It means I get to see what t...

One of my favourite pieces of painted and distressed Tyvek - Ever!    Is it odd to have a favourite sample of Tyvek?   Tyvek is one of my favourite products. Having taught all my heat processes for so many years, I thought I had probably taught most of the people who were interested. Apparently not! My first book, Hot Textiles seems to be having a bit of a revival, and with that comes new interest. So, in response to all the emails and messages I have received asking how do I work with Tyvek - I have written 2 new workshops. How to enrol and all the details are at the end of this post.   All the samples in this blog post have been made by students on previous workshops with me. Some are from as back as the early 2000's. The first one will be Workshop 4 - Raising the Surface. You may have noticed that I LOVE working with painted Bondaweb. You can create some fantastic effects by adding transfer foil or gilding flake. But as you need to iron Bondaweb, your work is alwa...