Low Tide

I snapped these wonderful photos of seaweed and worm casts back in the summer.  I really love the way the lime green seaweed stands out against the muted browns and blacks



Stone, Flint, Slate and Bricks

Some of the materials used for walls and buildings that I have spotted in my wanderings out and about in Sussex-By-The-Sea

Black Pool

Not the famous seaside town on the North West coast but an amazing pond that we came across on a recent walk in the woods next door to the RSPB Nature Reserve in Pulborough.  It was so inky black and looked bottomless, which made for some fantastic reflections.

Project 1 - Work Review

I have now finished project 1.  I won't say it's been easy and I'm very glad it's finished!  I have learnt a great deal from working through it, and am now looking forward to doing some sewing in project 2!

The following questions were at the end of the project.....

Have you ever thought about drawing in this way before?

Before starting this course I had never considered drawing in any shape or form.  Because I had decided long ago that I couldn't draw I would never attempt to.  I have always expressed myself in words rather than drawings, so this part of the course has been a totally new experience for me and a difficult one to get into.  Once I realised that there's no wrong way of mark making I was able to relax and actually enjoyed it.

Were you able to be inventive about the range of marks you made?

After a bit of a shaky start I did get quite inventive.  While the ideas didn't exactly come thick and fast, I was most definitely thinking of ways to express different feelings, words and textures in ways that I'd never considered before.

Did you explore a wide range of media?

I used an assortment of every day items such as combs, sponges, cocktail sticks etc to make marks along with some techniques like wax resist, wet on wet and collage.

Are you pleased with what you have done?  Will it help you to approach drawing more confidently?

I am pleased with what I've done, considering my reservations at the start, and it will help me to approach drawing more confidently.  Just doing the first few exercises has really opened my eyes and I now see everything around me in terms of texture and colour instead of just shapes and objects.

Which exercise did you enjoy and why?

I enjoyed using marks to create surface textures as I was using real objects found around my house.  I found it easier working from an object I could see and touch rather than just looking at an image.

Which media did you most enjoy working with and why?

I enjoyed collage most, especially when used with other mediums.  I found it more expressive and texturally interesting to mix media in this way.

What other forms of mark making could you try?

I would like to try stencilling, lino cuts and print blocks.

How will these exercises enrich your textile work in the future?

They will make me much more inventive than I ever thought I could be.  I am now beginning to realise that there are many ways to make marks and textures which will help me to develop ideas and explore different ways of creating interesting textile work.

Project 1 - Using Marks to Create Surface Textures

In this exercise I had to make marks using photos or images from magazines or books and things around the house and garden.  Any medium could be used.



Ginger Snaps and Field in Summer



Cup Cake and Cheddar Gorge

Rain Stick

Rock Crystal and Peeling Paint

Workshop on the Web

On a recent rummage round t'interweb I found a gem of a website called Workshop on the Web.  It's a quarterly on-line magazine full of interesting textiley articles, interviews and fab PDFs to download.  I paid my subscription and am now all set to go!

Aren't Trees Brilliant! Part 2

Following on from yesterday's look at tree trunks, today's pictures concentrate on looking up into the canopy of leaves and branches.

A living willow seat at Wakehurst Place