Still Life box by Jane Wolfe   I had intended to add a few of these images to my newsletter, but this collection of work is so good, I wanted to write more about them, so I am writing an extra blog post. The three students mentioned today are on the current online Experimental Textiles course. When drawing and painting is not normally part of your practice, it can very daunting to paint and draw a still life. I don't ask students to draw for the sake of making a picture, I ask so they can actively look at line and form. The spaces in between, the composition. Above - Jane's still life. Below - the still life drawing Jane's finished box. The still life was stuck to orange cotton then cut to shape and folded.   To make drawing and painting a still life less terrifying, I tell my students they will be tearing their work up when the they have finished drawing and painting. This helps to take away the fear of what the finished drawing or painting will look like. To make it more

A fabulous sample by Lynda  The group that were on my first Zoom workshop, A New Starting Point, 2 weeks ago, had their 2 hour Show and Tell yesterday. Again on Zoom. Wow!! what a great group. Such enthusiasm. Whilst Zoom isn't the best thing for a workshop, at the moment, it is the only choice we have. For the Show and Tell it was perfect. 12 students from the UK and Ireland, having a chat over coffee and talking about their work for 2 hours. What a treat it was, for all of us. I wanted to have some  sort of catch up after the Zoom workshops. I always wondered if the students had developed any work from any of my workshops when I used to teach pre covid. Some students were kind enough to send me images, but you never really knew.  With a dedicated catch up, 2 weeks after the workshop, it gives the group a chance to develop their samples, or do more, have a play . .  and have a date to work towards.  Just look at this collection of gorgeousness!!! A New Starting Point encourages st

Mary Smith's interpretation of her journey in colour and in fabric. So - here we are the NEC for Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch. It is my biggest show of the year. It is a very exciting show, so much to see and do. This is a quick post just to talk about my Experimental Textiles students end of year show. There are 2 stands at the show. Having sorted most of the work on the students last session in the IDC studios at The Old Needleworks, I knew roughly what I wanted to hang on each stand. Arriving and seeing an empty stand can be daunting, you just have to keep going till you finish.  Starting to set up the stand.  Starting to realise just how much work we have to choose from.  . . . And then, as if by magic (several hours later) - you have a finished stand.    A selection of the work created on the course including some crazy 3D pieces and all the workbooks.  The workbooks are always the most popular part of the stand.   Some of the