A colour wheel and a tints, tones and shades chart.  Here we are back at the IDC studios at The Old Needle Works in Redditch www.inkberrowdesigncentre.co.uk/experimental-textiles. I am teaching my two ExTex 3 groups - we have a Thursday/Friday group and a Saturday/Sunday group. This month we are looking at the use of colour in art and textiles and painting colour wheels and tints, tones and shades charts. We will also be playing with their printing blocks along with wax crayons and procion dye.    Painting the colour wheels.  Some very pretty mixing plates.  A finished colour wheel. The Thursday/Friday group produced some fab homework - there isn't room on here for all of it, but here is a selection . . . . I will post more about the work the girls create over the next three days on Monday before I dash up to Art Van Go to teach my Transfer to Transform workshop.  * * * Just a quick plug for my Hot Textiles weekend

A fab page from one of the sketchbooks. Apologies for being a bit behind with this blog, I was being a student my self this week - on a course with Gwen Hedley - FANTASTIC! I feel as though I have found my path again. It's time I stopped writing books and started creating work. So - The second sessions of Experimental Textiles went well, all the students came back!!! That was a good start - and with such fabulous homework and a good start on their sketchbooks. The homework was to take one design created on the first session and make a collage in black and white, maybe playing with counter change or inlay applique. These are just a few of the beautiful samples that were produced for homework.     This flipped and mirrored design was turned into applique and then mirrored blocks were cut.   The prints from these blocks worked really well and I will show them at the end of the month when the groups meet again with the rest of the fabulous prints.

   A section of the the Journeys from the Thursday/Friday group.  Well we have begun - and there are TWO courses running this year. One on Thursday and Friday and one on Saturday and Sunday. Experimental Textiles was originally taught as a four year course that I had to stop teaching after twelve years as it got - just tooo much!!! So I wrote the book of the course. After having sworn I would NEVER teach a long course again, I found I missed supporting students through a long course with an exhibition at the end. So . . as a happy medium - I now teach a nine weekend version of the course from June to March. This shorter version teaches VERY basic techniques and skills that we all need - but rarely spend the time on - unless we are 'encouraged' to!    Kate, Caroline and Marilyn  . . . . .     . .  and Suzie and Jane from the Thursday/Friday group.     Alison, Mary and Val . . .    . . and Melissa, Tricia and Rachael from the Saturday/