New Clutch Bag Workshop

Had a great day on Saturday making embellished felt clutch bags with 3 talented felters. This was a new workshop and we were all really pleased with how well the bags turned out - as you can see!

If you would like to come and learn how to make these, just drop me a line for details and dates (email: natashasmartdesign@yahoo.co.uk).

Surrey Artist of the Year 2010 - Results!

Well the Surrey Artist of the Year was announced at an evening reception on 7 October. I didn't win, but I was very pleased to find that I'd sold a piece (the fossil necklace) and also that someone would like to commission me to make a bag along the lines of the lily journal I had made. Have a look at the New Ashgate Gallery website here (http://www.newashgate.org.uk/pages/event/295.html) for details of all the pieces in the show (click on a photo to enlarge) and which ones were sold. Overall it was a great experience to be involved in the whole event and make a small collection of pieces for a show. So thanks again to everyone who voted for me!

Workshops and their hidden surprises!

Attended an excellent workshop on Sunday with tutor Carole Waddle and 6 talented felters, as part of the International Feltmakers Association/Feltmakers Lacemakers Embroiderers Weavers Spinners Group (both co-ordinated by Joan Braganza). The workshop was entitled 'Hidden Depths' and was all about layering up different colours of fleece and then cutting back into it after felting to reveal new colours underneath. We used plastic resists to create pockets hidden within the felt (which we could again cut into to reveal new colours) and also to part-attach yarns to the fleece, so they were attached by their ends but were otherwise left loose or hanging where the resist was. Really interesting techniques, and we all enjoyed playing with the Norwegian fleece we used (bit different to the usual Merino). Photo here of the results - I've still got more cutting to do on mine, so I'll post some before and after photos once I've done a bit more.

And more hidden surprises when I got home that day. A lady called Sonia had attended a mini journal workshop with me back in June (see previous posting) but not had a chance to turn her piece of felt into a journal. Well once she'd got home she decided to make a sewing kit with her felt instead - and on Sunday she sent me the results as you can see here. Great idea - and it's always inspiring to see what other people come up with from the same basic idea or material.

Surrey Artist of the Year 2010 - Photo Update

Surrey Artist of the Year 2010 Update

Last Friday night saw the preview show for the Baines Surrey Artist of the Year 2010 exhibition, at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham (see my post of 17 August 2010). I was really looking forward to seeing whether all 4 of my pieces were in the show and how they'd been displayed, and also what the other artists' work was like. It was a busy night with lots of visitors, and the range and standard of all the work on show was very impressive - quite how the public and the judges are going to decide between them all (ie paintings, sculpture, glass, ceramics, textiles) is anyone's guess. Do visit the gallery and vote for your favourite artist if you can (the exhibition is on til 7 October, and the gallery itself has lots of other lovely work on display and for sale).

Alpaca Open Day

Had a great day on Saturday at the Alpaca Open Day, demonstrating feltmaking with alpaca fleece. It was a really busy day (over 1000 visitors), and there was lots of interest in the animals themselves (including other animals like the cute baby donkey you can see here, with alpacas in the background) as well as all the different things you can do with alpaca fleece, eg spinning, knitting and feltmaking. An interesting change for me as I've never demonstrated all day like this before, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to having another go next year. Thanks to everyone who came along and said hello, and also to all the visitors who collectively raised over £1000 for charity!

Alpaca Open Day, Saturday 4 September 2010

If you were interested in my posting back in April (see below) about felting with alpaca fleece, then you may like to come along to an alpaca open day on Saturday 4 September. It's being hosted by Barbara at Lightfoot Alpacas based in Hawkhurst, Kent (click on the poster, left, for full details). It's an opportunity to see and even pet alpacas, as well as learn more about them and what can be done with their fleece. I'll be there all day demonstrating felting with alpaca fleece, so I very much look forward to chatting with everyone about the process. The farm is in a lovely setting, and this annual event is a really nice way to spend a couple of hours - so I do hope some of you are able to make it!

Baines Surrey Artist of the Year 2010

Had some exciting news after the Surrey Artists Open Studios finished in June when I found out I'd been voted one of the top 14 favourite artists by visitors - thank you to everyone who voted for me! This has led to me and the other 13 artists being invited to exhibit in a show at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham in September/October, when the public will have a chance to vote for their top favourite (which will be combined with votes from a judging panel). So I'm currently working on producing 4 new pieces for the exhibition, to be delivered by the end of August (and trying not to panic at the same time!). See the sneak preview photos here for an idea of what I'm making (focusing on combining felting with knitting techniques).

The exhibiton takes place from Friday 10 September to Thursday 7 October, with a Private View on 10 September 6-8pm and a Closing Reception on 7 October 6-8pm when the winner is announced - and all are welcome to both evening events or to visit the gallery during normal hours (Tuesday-Saturday, 10-5). The gallery is very close to Farnham station, see the gallery website (left) for more details and a map. So if you get a chance to go along and vote, please do! I'll let you know how it goes!

More Felt Flowers

Wanted to share the results of a felt flower-making workshop a couple of weeks ago with some talented ladies, making double-layered flower brooches and bold lilies. The brooches (and more like them) should be making an appearance later this summer amongst all the real flowers at RHS Wisley, so do keep an eye out!

Woodturning Lesson

Couldn't resist showing these photos of my husband Steve having a woodturning lesson with Andrew the week after Open Studios finished. He was a very good student, and Andrew's a very good teacher, and the result was a lovely polished tea light from a piece of cherry wood. Very impressed!

Feltmaking Taster Workshops

Here are some of the fantastic results of the the feltmaking taster workshops during the Surrey Artists Open Studios event in June - as you can see, some lovely flower corsages and really creative mini-journals.

If you would like to attend a day workshop, making felt jewellery, bags, purses, other accessories or a larger felt journal, then please email me for further details at natashasmartdesign@yahoo.co.uk. Look forward to hearing from you!

Surrey Artists Open Studios 2010

Welcome to everyone interested in details of this year's Surrey Artists Open Studios event! For those of you who don't know, artists and craftspeople across Surrey are opening their studios over a 2-week period in June, giving the public a chance to see artists working in their studios and demonstrating how they create their work (and buying or commissioning work if wanted). This will be my third year of taking part, it's been really fun meeting people interested in feltmaking and textiles - or even just passing by the studio and dropping in out of curiosity!

New for 2010, I'm exhibiting this year jointly with Andrew Griffiths, who's a very talented woodturner. So you'll be able to see a range of art and craft pieces in the studio, from wooden bowls, platters and pens to felted bags, pictures and jewellery. We're also working for the first time on some collaborative pieces, such as wooden pots, pincushions and artwork, which will incorporate both our ideas and work - an interesting concept, so do come along and see how we do!

Andrew will be demonstrating woodturning throughout the event, and will be happy to show you how he makes any of his pieces. He's not able to be present on weekdays, but will be around at the weekends. So if you'd particularly like to see him during the event, please take note of the following dates/times:

Saturday 5 June 1100-1700
Sunday 6 June 1400-1700
Saturday 12 June 1100-1700
Sunday 13 June 1100-1700
Saturday 19 June 1100-1700
Sunday 20 June 1400-1700

As for me, I'll be present on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays between Saturday 5-Sunday 20 June, 1100-1700 (see the Surrey website on the left for exact details). I'll also be running taster workshops on many of those dates (0930-1130, £15 per head, 3 people max) as follows:

Nuno Felt Mini Journal: Monday 7, Sunday 13, Tuesday 15, Sunday 20 June
Felt Mini Flower Corsage: Sunday 6, Tuesday 8, Monday 14 June

I'll also be running a range of day-long workshops (eg felt bag and jewellery making) after 14 June, just let me know if you'd like further details or to book a place on any of the above.

It's a great event, so if you're in the Surrey area in June then do pop along to your nearest studio - again, check the Surrey website for details.

And now for something completely different...Alpaca Felting

For something a bit different in the felting world, try felting with alpaca fleece. It's very different to felting with trusty Merino wool - much harder work for a start, as it takes longer to get the fibres to start melding together and then to shrink, and it's difficult to get up a good soapy lather to help the process (which I believe may be due to the fact that Alpaca fleece does not contain lanolin like sheep's wool). However, if you are a fan of beautiful natural colours (ranging from creamy white through browns and greys to black) and the extra silky feel of the finished fabric, then alpaca may be for you!

Back in December I had a day felting with Jane, who has an alpaca farm with husband Peter: Quarter House Alpacas on the Kent/Sussex border (check out the qhalpacas website). She is keen to properly utilise all the fleece which results from the annual shearing (can you believe, for some alpaca owners it's easier/cheaper to burn the fleece than have it turned into knitting yarn or felting fleece?). So she brought along some of her own alpaca fleece, cleaned and carded (combed) and ready for felting. We spent a day making her a wonderful big bag from a mainly dark brown fleece, with a tie design for the strap that we were both particularly pleased with. Of course by the end I was totally jealous that I didn't have one - yet another thing for my 'to do' list I think!

Anyway, Jane sells her fleece and still has some knitting yarn available (which is lovely and silky) - so do get in touch via her website for futher details. I've also included here some alpaca felt bead jewellery I've made using Jane's fleece, which gives a good idea of the different natural colours.

Afghanistan Inspiration 2010-2011

Well the year to date hasn't been all bad. Last autumn I got involved in a textile-related initiative to support women in Afghanistan. The idea was for artists across Europe to each choose a small embroidered square created by an Afghan stitcher and create a new textile piece with it (to a set size). These new artpieces from across Europe would then combine to be exhibited at European venues, and hopefully be sold with any money raised (also from the sale of the embroidered squares) going back to support the women in Afghanistan.

This sounded interesting (always up for a challenge), with the UK's theme being teapots/vessels. I chose an embroidery by a lady called Hatefa, perhaps (with hindsight) a bit ambitiously with its vivid orange and green colour scheme! I combined it with a Nuno-felted piece (with a landscape feel), incorporating extra hand embroidery and needle felting on top. Of course I missed the deadline and the piece didn't quite turned out as I'd hoped. Anyway, this year after a short exhibition of the UK entries at the Greenstede Gallery in East Grinstead in February, I was pleased to hear my piece had been picked to join the European touring exhibition throughout 2010-11. Starting at the Fashion Embroidery and Stitch Show at the NEC in March, then visiting Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and France. Do have a look at the one earth textiles link for more details. I'm just hoping the initiative will continue to run and I get another go at this!

Studio Diary: January Flooding!

Well what have I been doing all this time since my last posting? I think the photos here give you a clue - the January snow brought a burst pipe in my studio due to the cold. I was very lucky that the water didn't get too high so nothing was ruined apart from the internal decoration (skirting board, flooring, lots of cracks). Unfortunately the garage below didn't fare quite so well, with water soaking the walls as well as lots of items we were storing in there. I'd just had an operation and was out of action so my very kind neighbour helped mop the studio, as you can see here. After a lot of drying out and sorting out damaged stuff, and the studio lino being ripped up, we're finally at the point of getting things sorted again. However, my entire studio has been in storage now for a couple of months so I've had hardly anything to work with (apart from what I salvaged to store in the house). So not my best creative period! Still, the studio's being redecorated next week, then we're getting new flooring laid and all my stuff will come back - can't wait to get back to normal (with hopefully a new and revamped version - watch this space!).