A sample beaded vessel for the Baubles, Bangles and Beads workshop Looking inside I love working with different sizes of beads   It's nearly here - The Festival of Quilts 2023. www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/exhibitors/kim-thittichai/  The last show I did was Festival of Quilts in 2019. Then the world ground to halt! It seems to have taken ages to prepare for this show. Just the admin takes a lot of time, and then there are the decisions on how to dress the stand. What do I want to promote and how do I want to promote it? What will I sell? Various heat distressed effects on painted and layered Tyvek Well the decisions are all made and I am halfway through loading the car ready for the drive over to the UK on Monday. I will be promoting the Experimental Textiles Video Library & Membership with a special show discount and selling various packs of Hot Spots and Tyvek along with 2 special packs of transfer foils. I will be demonstrating on the stand every day. I will be in th...

Printed layers of bonded recycled papers It's not long now - The Geelong Fibre Forum in Australia 24th to 30th September 2023 is just 12 weeks away!! I had better start getting organised. It always takes longer than I think. Planning what I can take in my suitcases. Teaching a 5 day workshop on the other side of the world can be a challenge, what materials do I REALLY need to take? The students have a comprehensive materials list, but I am always worried someone might forget something. I think there are couples of places left on my workshop - https://taftainc.com.au/workshops/kim-thittichai I haven't taught in Australia or New Zealand since 2019. I was due to teach this workshop in 2020 - but we we all know what happened that year, things got very quiet!! So International Tutors are now being invited back to the Fibre Forums and Quilt Symposia. Painting The Journey Taking sections from The Journey Printing blocks created from the original designs taken from The Journey It'...

A detail of one of the panels of the mobile Those of you who teach will know how great it is when a past student sends you an excited email with images of work they have created (and sold) after one of your workshops. This student, who doesn't want to be named but has given me permission to use her images. She took various online workshops with me during the pandemic. This work was created after working through my workshop A New Starting Point, which features painted Bondaweb and recycled papers. Maybe a bit of glitter and foil too . . ! The work that has been sold is this beautiful mobile. Isn't it fabulous? The mobile featuring 11 double sided panels of gorgeousness   Here are a few of the panels in progress . . Detail of the print on these small panels    The decorative papers were torn and layered with painted Bondaweb and decorated with transfer foil and print. I love the use of red, not many people use it, It balances the darker blue beautifully.   Here are few...

Ferns unfurling down my boreen. The first days of June have seen a burst of life and growth in my local area. You don't have to look very far for inspiration for colour or design. Line and form are all around. A friend of mine who is an entomologist regular runs a moth trap in my field. We are recording all the moths and beetles. Very few recordings have been made in this rather wild area. Nick is licensed to run the moths traps by The National Biodiversity Data Centre and all our findings are recorded. It is important to discover how well the local biodiversity is doing.   Last week we had an Eyed Hawk Moth in the trap. The first one we have had here on Loop Head and only the second one Nick has seen on the west coast. The larvae feed on sallows and willows but the caterpillars are also frequently recorded feeding on varieties of apple tree found in gardens. The Eyed Hawk Moth undisturbed When moving away from anything that worries them, the moths extend their wings to show their...

  The dynamic duo - Viv and Kevin Change is a part of all our lives. It is important to mark certain changes, particularly one that will affect so many people in the creative textile world in the UK and further afield. Art Van Go is winding down . All good things must end! Art Van Go was started by Viv Arthur in 1989.  Viv bought herself a van, filled it with art materials and travelled around the country to colleges, schools, and textile groups. Her mission? To 'take the art shop to the artist'. Through travelling the country, meeting artists from far and wide and building contacts, this led to the need for a solid base. And so, in 2001, Viv and her partner Kevin, bought the bricks and mortar shop in Knebworth to be able to connect all the artists they had met, and continue building the Art Van Go community! The brilliant Art in Action stand at The Knitting & Stitching Shows Over the last 34 years, Art Van Go has become an institution. An artistic hub for artist...

   The 12 workshops that I am currently filming       Argghh!!! It was all going to well!! Have you ever lost work on your computer? I have learned a big lesson when editing videos - save the entire file first, then start editing. The software that I use to edit my videos crashed while it was exporting a finished file - without saving it. Groan.  So, back into the studio to record the final part of Bonkers about Bondaweb. The second workshop I have recorded for the Experimental Textiles Video Library & Membership. At least it was only the last shorter section of the workshop. I am really enjoying recording all my workshops, even with the hiccups. It is good to revisit processes I have been developing and teaching for a good many years. The new membership is only available to my newsletter subscribers, you can subscribe at the bottom of any page of my website - www.kimthittichai.com The membership already includes students who have signed up from variou...

  I'm talking to Nicola live on on Sunday at 10am BST Here is the link to the livestream on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHH6ukhvlcQ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1702337703569486/?ref=newsfeed If you can't make the live interview, Nicola is recording it. Well this is going to be fun. Nicola Brown is a great friend. We first met in Australia 8 years ago when were both teaching at the Fibre Forum in Geelong. Since then we have become very good friends. Nicola lives on the east coast of Ireland, about 3.5 hours drive away from where I am on the west coast.  You wouldn't necessarily think Nicola and I would work friendship wise. We are very different and our textile practices are poles apart. Nicolas work and teaching is based on all things natural. Eco dyeing and printing and felt making. She is an authority on these wonderful processes, particularly eco printing without mordants. Nicola modelling 2 of her eco printed garments  We both love ...