SEOS 2013 Update

Thanks to everyone who visited Sheila and I during this year's Open Studios.  We had 64 visitors in total and lots of interest in our work.  Here are a few photos of the studio, including Sheila's ceramics and my textile pieces.

Oxted Christmas Art & Craft Fair - 24 November 2012

I and 8 other local artists who are involved in the annual Open Studios event each June held a Christmas Art & Craft Fair on Saturday, in a room above Oxted library.  It was an awful day weather-wise, and we weren't quite sure what turn-out we'd get, but in the end the event was really well attended.  Plenty of interest from visitors, and the endless tea and home-made cakes kept us all going!  Thanks to everyone who came to see what we were up to, I think we're inspired to give it another go next year so watch this space!  Photos here of my stall loaded up with goodies, plus a great panoramic photo of the whole room by photographer Sarah, one of the artists involved (see her website in my links).

South East Open Studios 2012

South East Open Studios 2012 has arrived!  I spent last week tidying and setting up the studio, making some new bead necklaces and bracelets to display along with my flower corsage wallhanging (see earlier post), putting up posters locally and hoping for sunny weather!  The latter of course didn't happen, instead it was all rain over the Jubilee weekend.  Anyway, fingers crossed this weekend for sunnier weather to welcome visitors.  Here are the dates I'm open:

Saturday 9, Sunday 10, Monday 11 and Saturday 16 June, all 1100-1700.

I’ll again be demonstrating feltmaking and showing a range of felted and stitched textile work, including clutch bags, jewellery, flower corsages and small art pieces.  If you’d like to come along and catch up on what I’ve been doing in the past year, learn about feltmaking or even perhaps attend a workshop, you’ll be very welcome.

I'm running taster workshops during Open Studios, to make either a bead bracelet or a brooch.  So if you would like to learn more or book a place on Sunday 10 or Monday 11 June 2012 (all 0930-1100, £15 per person), please get in touch.  If those dates don't suit, just let me know and I'll be happy to agree a suitable time with you.

And if you’d like to make a day of it and are particularly interested in textiles, there are several other studios close by who are also open on the above days showing art quilts and silk painting amongst other things.  Just visit the South East Open Studios website: www.seos-art.org.  Look forward to seeing you!

Back to School!

Well we all like to get kitted-out for the new school term, don't we, so for my first September workshop we created an embellished journal for all those important notes! OK, not really for school, as I suspect these creative ladies will actually be using them as art journals for their ideas, designs and samples - but where better to store them all than in a notebook you're created yourself?

We made long rectangles of Nuno felt (felting into dyed cotton muslin) for the covers, with added surface embellishment in the form of yarns, ribbons and silk fibres. We stitched in some handmade paper pages, and topped it all off with a felted cord to secure the book. Another enjoyable day, and I was really impressed with the results.

More Summer Nuno Bags

Another enjoyable August workshop with creative felters making nuno bags - even matching their new bags to their outfits (have a look at the black and green one which perfectly matches her hand-made skirt)!

Nuno Bag Workshop, 3 August

Had a fantastic day on Monday with 3 felters making Nuno felt bags (Nuno felt is where you felt the Merino wool fleece into fabric, eg muslin). There was an amazing variety of colours and shapes for the finished bags - they were all really pleased with their creations and gave me lots of new ideas to think about too. Photos show work in progress as well as finished pieces.

Summer Workshops

Here's a selection of the fantastic felt jewellery, accessories and flower corsages made by workshop participants so far this summer.

The Big Workshop

In March 2009 I ran a felting workshop for 21 members of the Outlook florist group, learning how to make different shapes of felt for incorporating into floristry displays. Lots of creativity and an amazing variety of shapes and colours. Thanks to Mai-Britt for the photos!

With a little help from my friends...

...photos of the first workshop I ran, in September 2008, to make embellished sparkle felt for Xmas decorations.

Bloggy Aspirations...

After many months of prevaricating (there just aren't enough hours in the day are there?), I've finally got around to setting up a blog. 'Why?', I hear you ask (when there are already so many people out there sharing their innermost thoughts). Well, I've had a flickr site for over a year now, which is great for using as a photo gallery for my textile creations - I try and post photos there of everything I make - but I also wanted a bit more space to share what else I've been doing. Commissions I'm working on or events I'm working towards, but particularly felting workshops, which I've started running this year - I thought you might be interested in learning more about these and seeing the fantastic things people create in just a day. You might also be inspired to come and learn feltmaking yourself. So that's why, do let me know what you think!