February fish ,faces and crows.

Jenn had several things ‘on the go ‘

First was her sample from the Textile Artist free workshop with Susie Vickery .She chose a photo of Jeremy Bowen, the BBC correspondent, to work from .Jenn  isn’t satisfied with the mouth and certain proportions but a good introduction to portraits in stitch .One to come back to.

Following on from her crow ,she has begun another three dimensional one but he is still in pieces.She found some birds she had done on vintage quilts pieces after Mandy Patullo. Revisiting this idea she created a crow with hand stitch and appliqué .

She was given the book for Christmas which has some facts about Crows as well as illustrations.

Finally her take on last month’s challenge’ ticket /receipt’ 

She copied her library receipt and the borrowed library book onto cotton organdie ,then added some free machining.

 

Treats.

Sue saw this book and treated herself towards adding more skills to her watercolour painting.

She upgraded  her machine late last year to a Bernina 990 plus its software ,which is a state of the art embroidery model .She has been getting to grips with what it can do .Trying its various features like above,inputting a photo to make a birthday card for her Mum.

Above ,a detail of the bag in the photo below which is entirely stitched by machine ,

Some shallow dishes which have poppers so they can be laid flat to store 

Bookmark ,coaster  and key fobs .These are all included but Sue is keen to explore the capabilities in order to personalise what she is able to create.Much playing and experimenting is to follow.

She went back to her own creation with this ‘cut back ‘ appliqué .Each colour reveals one below.

Sally Tyrie’s course took a back seat with the festivities and playing with her machine but she showed us these collages we hadn’t seen. She has lots to keep her busy.

 

 

Daily stitch journaling.

Fumi’s little souvenir from her November visit to Japan ,some silk postcards.She also brought her 

‘Renew’ sample and some boxes she is working on ,but they were stashed away before they could be snapped!

She is continuing to add in to this long scroll ,putting her own stitching to a printed fabric.

 

Projects .

Kirsten is busy with her university course.Today she had to hand in her latest workbook.We had a sneak peek at what research went into her print we saw in December.The brief included making 15 prints for sale that went into an exhibition. 

The theme was Vision ,which she initially found challenging ,but gradually made her sense  of it .

Going out into Clevedon and collecting her ideas .Some ‘en plain’ air sketches in her signature style.She looked at maps and made one to create her own version of the areas of Clevedon .

We look forward to seeing what she has to do next .

Meanwhile her thoughts had turned to Hidden Gems .She had found this rather dilapidated but lovely writing slope in a local emporium for very little money.There were also some fabulous keys ,which she is hoping to cast in jesmonite resin ,and there was talk of maps.Intriguing……keep coming back to see how this develops.

Viv was present at the meeting and showed a piece in progress for Centrespace .She wanted to ‘keep it under wraps ‘ at the moment .It will be worth the wait .

 

Renew.

Jenn had used the prompt ‘Renew ‘,to create  a book made from a maritime chart she had been given .

Holding it open and below ,is a collage fodder almanac she purchased .Each page contains art work from fourteen contributors.www.collagefodder.com The tags we made at Christmas were inspired by a mini Collage fodder workshop.

While looking for something to watch on ‘catch -up’ she happened upon ‘Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing’. It is a series of unexpected warmth between two friends with health issues.The bonus is the beautiful places they visit to fish ,their humour and insightful conversations and the often beautiful fish.

‘Hidden Gems’is our working title for our exhibition in Centrespace in October ,could this be an idea to work on ?

Jenn has long been interested in Crows , and has dabbled in making ,drawing and trying to photograph them .She follows Ann Wood .annwoodhandmade.com   and noticed her pattern for a crow was on offer .She purchased it and using what she had made him .He isn’t perfect but it’s a start into exploring and developing ideas around crows.

 

Fresh …….Debby’s word of 2025 .

Debby likes to keep ideas ticking over and one way is to choose a word for the year .

This year she has chosen  FRESH which has already sparked some associations.She’s collected thoughts in a black paged journal and adds to it often , keeping up good intentions.Her word sparked associations with ‘green’ and she associated this with cactus and plants which pop up in her work .

She dislikes the blank page so utilises an idea picked up on a course last year……namely to use a wash of watercolour on a page and press bubble wrap or plastic wrap into it and allow to dry .This when dry gives an interesting layer to work over.

She received some special watercolours for Christmas but so far 

has resisted putting a wet brush into them as they are pristine!

 

New year

With a new year beginning we welcomed two prospective new members.

Janis is just beginning her journey into creative textiles .As with us all she has taken some classes and dipped her toe into techniques .We look forward to seeing her develop her ideas and style.

Penny established a successful practice several years ago creating surface designs.

These were turned into very saleable products which were exhibited internationally.

She is now ready to launch herself back into a regular practice.

We will be interested to see what direction this may take.