5pm on October 30th   5.16pm on October 30th Well it is November - so we do expect to have storms here on the west coast of Ireland. Storm Ciaran has passed over Ireland and is now thrashing parts of the UK. It has been pretty windy and the rain has been horrendous. We have had a lot of local flooding. However the house is fine, everything outside is a bit squidgy and soaking wet. Taking the dogs out is fun at the moment! Though with everything that is happening in the world at the moment, I certainly can't complain . .  With the nights drawing in, in the northern hemisphere, the sun is setting earlier and earlier. We have been enjoying some rather beautiful sun sets. The colours are quite remarkable, the images above were taken within 16 minutes of each other. Living out here on the edge certainly has it's advantages. I think you can see where I get the inspiration from for my work.   www.kimthittichai.com/work-for-sale   5.27pm on October 27th I particularly ...

Gorgeousness by Wilma And then this happened . . . It is very satisfying when you have developed a process and your students really run with it. A New Starting Point is a workshop I developed in 2012 when I was playing with old papers and scraps of painted Bondaweb - and of course, a bit of sparkle. The process became a great 1 - 2 day workshop that can be slotted into a 5 day workshop quite nicely. The great thing is your work doesn't have to look like anything, there is no pressure. The torn and layered process creates a great background to print onto. And then you can iron your work onto a heavy interfacing to create boxes, book covers . . more of that tomorrow. Layers of torn paper, card, transfer foil and Hot Spots The group working happily away The 'backgrounds and prettys' process creates luscious layers with lovely torn edges. I think it is my favourite process out all the techniques and processes I use. I start the students with my way of creating layers, then they...

Chasing rainbows Having taught many students over the years, from 4 year courses to one day workshops, both in person and online, I get quite lot of interaction via email. News about exhibitions of work, getting onto a higher education course, that kind of thing. I was delighted to receive an email from Carrey Gorney last week. Carry has taken various workshops with me, both in person and online. A few years ago Carry created a body of work entitled 'Burnt Histories' - "I have created ghostly portraits using the torn pieces of lace and faded photographs carried out of Germany by my Granny and her sisters when they fled the Nazis. They were always sewing, even before” Kaiser Bill” led the Germans into World War One. My grandmother had longed to become a doctor, like her brother, to rip up her sewing, to rip open her corsets and to become herself. I have ripped, scorched and singed the last fragments of their v...

  Treasure       How are you at tidying up after a workshop or when you have finished a project?  I am dreadful!! I am making an effort, I have bought a few see through stacking plastic boxes to put my materials away in when I have finished teaching. How do you sort your materials and products? Colour? Textures? Products? Techniques?   Last week I taught my first 2 part workshop via Zoom to a group of students in America, Canada, and Scotland. 2 x 3 hour sessions 10am PDT/ 6pm BST. I can be in 3 places at once!! Students on the PDT time zone can work in the morning, and students in Europe enjoy an evening class.  The workshop was A New Starting Point. Featuring my backgrounds and pretties technique. We have the show and tell next week. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the group have developed from their samples.    3 book covers by Sue Redhead from the US.             ...

 Torn music and newspaper . . OK, enough with the relaxing and the pure enjoyment of being back home.  I am a tad late posting this last workshop from my New Zealand trip.  I had a fabulous time with this group - some of them were VERY naughty - you all know who you are!! This was the second of 2 x 2 day workshops in Taranaki and most of the group did both workshops. This has become one of most popular workshops. I think it is so loved because what you are making doesn't have to look like anything. Also recycling old papers, maps and magazines is very enjoyable.      Painting the Bondaweb/Vliesofix  Scones and cookies are the thing in New Zealand -  and I am NOT complaining. Once we had painted the Bondaweb/Vliesofix we got to making the first small samples - you learn just as much from making a small sample as a larger one, and you use much less product. I have named the process 'Backgrounds and Prettys'. It is a repeated...