Mixed Media

As I mentioned I am part way through a five week evening class on Paper and Mixed Media Surfaces. The tutor is Louise Baldwin whose work I have admired for many years and some of you may have been lucky enough to see her exhibition at the Knit and Stitch Show this year. On the first week we were provided with some very tactile neutral coloured paper from Falkiners to just cut up and stitch as we liked; I feel sure that ordinarily I would have still been preserving these lovely paper and just getting them out of the drawer for the occasional stroke. On the second week I went to the British Museum before the course and happened across a shop full of rubber stamps,inks, magazines and just about everything one doesn't really need but can hardly do without. So I bought some spray inks and a handwriting stamp, which as you can see I then began to use on all my samples.

One of the things I like about the course is that there are lots of interesting samples which provide ideas for future experiments. Some people on the course had never used a sewing machine, and others had not free machined, and I must say that I think they were very brave. Some of the samples are folded and pleated to make them articulated; others are stitched shreds of paper with machining over the holes. One surface was made by crinkling up tissue and machining over the top to produce a new textured surface.

Don’t forget the giveaway is active until December 8th.
This is a link with free video demonstrations by textile artists which is interesting, and originally appeared on Sky TV(Talking Threads).