Small steps

 The cleaning up of the driftwood is progressing slowly, there are some lovely colours which will be brought out when I reach the waxing stage.

The beginning of my weaving for The Quilt Show at the NEC next year where I am taking part in a joint exhibition. The piece uses nettle and plant dyed british wool yarn. Certain similarities in shaping to the driftwood perhaps.

Sad

Still life now has a background and is waiting
to be framed.

I have been feeling very sad today after our Brexit vote and have not been able to concentrate on much. I have been wandering around in and out of the garden between showers and just doing some finishing off on framing some of the pieces for our Shoreline exhibition of which I have taken some pictures. Some finished and nearly finished work

Finished piece

Well what to say about this, it is in a state of disarray
while I work out what to do with it. Its supposed to be
one of those tangles of seaweed seen on the strand line.

Another strand line piece forgot the photo until I had put the glass on

A small piece for a driftwood looking frame.

I've got my weaving mojo back

 Ok there might not seem like a lot of growth between photos no 1 and 2 but thats four hours work, a lot in one day for me. This piece has been struggling for a while and now its turning out differently from what I was expecting mainly due to me coming across a weaver whose work I had never seen. Juliet Martin http://tsgnyblog.org/index.php/2013/12/juliet-martin/ Her work is based on Saori weaving in which I have been interested in for a while but never thought of it in any other way than as another way of producing cloth in a more messy(free form) way. I could relate it to some of my own work but it didn't really click until I saw her work. I feel I am getting somewhere now, my work is moving on from tapestry weaving. I probably shouldn't call myself a tapestry weaver any more in fact I think freeform weaver covers a multitude of sins anyway and I quite like it. So now I am a freeform weaver with a background in tapestry weaving, sounds ok for statements etc. to go with my work, or maybe just a maker which I also like. Anyway I am rambling on a bit, just so pleased to have finally got back to weaving.

Detail

Rusted silk and stitch

Here are two more works to do with the exhibition 'Shoreline' in which I am taking part at Weston Quarry in July, along with Lizzie Matthews and Liz and Dominic Hewitt.
Lots more work in the pipeline, will keep you posted.

Eastbourne Beach

Alice Fox last day

Today was a day of unbundling and collating our work, printed and rusted papers were collected together and made into books. I forgot to take photos of a lot of work before it ended up in a book but I have some photos of some of the fabric pieces.

Rusted papers

Pamphlet book with plan paper and waxes rusted paper cover

Practise book with no sew binding

Pamphlets ready to be stitched

Spines

Rusted fabric

The pamphlets have now been stitched and the cover waxed.
This was a great course, if any of you in the UK get a chance to do it I would highly recommend it.

Alice Fox workshop day 2

On the beach again in the morning up at the end where the fishing boats are kept, lots of interesting finds, in the afternoon printing, something I haven't done before. There was a printing press available which I didn't use but I had lots of fun printing using rollers. Something I can do easily at home.

More rusty bits

Sea weed and rusty nails

Prints from sea weed and pampas grass

Prints from bits of found metal

Prints from a drinking straw and rubbings from shells

Alice Fox workshop day 1

Close up of Groyne (sea defences)

I have just got back from a four day workshop with Alice Fox,  http://www.alicefox.co.uk/ She was amazingly patient and calm with us all, we learnt loads about lots of different process and had a great if exhausting time.
Our day started with coffee and tea and then a walk on the beach collecting rusty metal and other flotsam and jetsam.

Rusty bracket on Groyne

I

Eastbourne beach

Collecting Day One

Rusty bits

More collecting day one

Wrapping and dyeing rusty bits

more rusty bits

and even more

In the afternoon we wrapped fabric and made marks on paper with the rusty bits we had collected which were thoroughy wetted with tea.
I had driven down the previous day and visited Charleston House near Lewes. I have been wanting to see this for years but somehow never managed it, it is a fascinating house where Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant lived. They were members of the Bloomsbury Group, Vanessa being Virginia Woolf's sister. The house is full of paintings by members of the group, even the walls and fireplaces are painted. I stayed with my good friend Liz (also taking part in the workshop)and her husband in a house we had rented on the marina, so great accomadation and company as well.