March 2022
Stitched Garden Landscapes – Embroidery Workshop
On Saturday 7th May I'm running a lovely workshop at Winterbourne House & Gardens, Birmingham, where we will create little garden landscapes using heat reactive dyes, fabric markers and hand stitches. I've also booked wall to wall sunshine so we can fully enjoy the gardens ;)
If it sounds like something you'd like to do then please book here and I look forward to seeing you there.
New Year, new inspiration
Happy New Year. It's been a busy start but I find being out teaching has a positive effect on the time I have at home to create my own work - better time management when there's less of it to 'waste'!
Early in 2019 we took a trip to SE Asia - Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. 3 years later and I am still sketch-booking away through all the visual reference I collected.
I have printed, sewn, drawn and painted a lot of work and now I'm pinning it all up to live with and waiting for another wave of inspiration to guide me as to what to make of it all next.
Christmas 2021
Happy Christmas to you and thank you for being here to read this. 2021 was the year that made me want to re-kindle my blog in a meaningful way. With connections, face-to-face workshops and just the equilibrium of life stretched thin due to Covid, it has been reassuring to find this quiet corner and a small interested audience still.
Have yourself a very merry Christmas xox
Embroidered garden
Finding time to create is a juggle when teaching creativity is my mainstay.
Being around students in itself is exciting and inspiring; watching them run with new concepts and dedicate their time to learning and evolving always rubs back off onto me.
So with term winding down I've found some spaces to attend to my own work.
And as the garden itself is less demanding in time during the Winter there was a synchronicity to using it as a muse.
The bare structure of the leaf-less plants inspired a pared down colour palette of black and white materials both to draw with and sew.
I walked from top to bottom of the garden, drawing for 2 mins here and there and created a long roll drawing which I then translated into applique, foiling and stitches (also in a long format)
With Midwinter passing yesterday and the Christmas holidays beginning tomorrow, now is a good time to take stock and plan what projects will be next.
Painting and Drawing Flowers @ macbirmingham
Term has just wrapped up on my Painting and Drawing Flowers course at mac birmingham.
Over 12 weeks I've guided the students through some foundational exercises on tone, understanding and mixing colours, using watercolours, acrylics, pastels, inks and much more.
We have played with salt and masking fluid to create floral effects.
And also mixed all the toys in our art-boxes together to create with mixed-media.
We usually have an artist to reference each week - a great master/mistress or contemporary artist- whoever has work that is most useful for us to study at the time.
It has been really rewarding watching the students build their skills and knowledge and find their unique ways towards their own painting style and choice.
Some were very botanically inspired and wanted watercolour lightness, while others found using paint more thickly a rewarding experience.
I support whatever the individual artists inclination is and help them progress from where they are.
What was common amongst them was an enjoyment of painting and drawing and having the dedicated time to sit down together to do it.
If it sounds like something you'd like too, then places are booking now for the new term start on January 10th 2022 - love to have you with us.
PS - in case it allays any fears.. we sit socially distanced, air the room and wear masks.
