Tucked away in one of Mary's work book was this beautiful sampler of textures. The Experimental Textiles End of Year Show went down very well. It was good to see so many visitors asking the girls questions. It makes a massive difference when you are making a piece of work to know that it is going to be seen by thousands of people - it can be very scary.  Especially when it is the first time you have ever shown your work!  The day always started quietly as the visitors made their way through the show to our back corner. It gave the girls a chance to 'warm up'.  This is Kat and Rachel explaining about the course.  Rachel's paper collage is a the top and 2 of Val's samples are below. The students have to help hang the show and then steward it between themselves. I am there to keep an eye on things  . . . .  We had a lot of interest in the course - I am hoping to run 2 courses side by side from June - one on a Thursday and Friday and the o

   Two of Tracey's stitched colour samples. Well the show was less busy than previous years but that is hardly surprising considering we had so much snow.  Many thanks to all of you who braved the weather, it was wonderful to see you. It was a bit of an emotional few days with the knowledge that I wouldn't being seeing 'my girls' for while. Their course has now finished and we are recruiting for the next course which starts at the end of May. I know I will see them again, just not so regularly. I know you are not supposed to get attached to your students - but you can't help it when you have been together for just under a year.     One of Tracey's experiments with the Classic Pelmet Vilene.   One of Shaun's stitched print samples.   Heidi created a brilliant wall piece to illustrate her interest in D and T.  The piece had sections that moved and lit up. It is a very exciting piece. Sally created so much work she could have fill

  this stunning Houseleek/Sempervivum graces the front terrace of the villa Because of worries about the threatened Spanish air traffic control strike and illness we were a small and exclusive group. This meant we could get through a lot more work, it was a great luxury. It is unlikely to ever happen again so we all made the most of it. The timetable was -  Monday am - Market Monday pm - Studio Tuesday - Studio Wednesday - Studio Thursday am - Studio Thursday pm - Tapas lunch in Murcia than a guided tour and shopping! Friday - Final day in studio and 'show and tell'. Working in the studio during the week - As with all of my workshops we had to paint all the products before we could use them. Of course being in Spain that was no hardship, everything dried in record time. We painted up the Bondaweb and Tyvek with Colourful Thoughts paints from Cratynotions www.craftynotions.com These are high metallic paints that stay really bright even when you need to water them down to pai