Hedgerows

A collection of fruits from the hedgerows near my home. I'm in the process of drawing them to use in my 'Journey' themed work. The journeys that I make most often are along the country lanes when I'm out sketching the changing landscapes.

Leaf prints

Went to a workshop this morning where Fiona showed us all the pieces she'd stitched using crewel wools over the summer. One of them had a background of leaf sun prints which I liked so I rushed home to try it. Fiona said that you needed sunshine to make these prints using leaves and silk paints. After a morning of fog the sun had come out hazily lazily. Worth a try. I left the leaves on for an hour. The piece on the right was neat silk paint which gives rich dark tones. The piece on the left I wetted the fabric first and diluted the silk paints - it gives more contrasty effect. The sun kept going behind clouds which made me think - do you need the sun at all for this process? Will try indoors later but first off for a walk and draw.

Suitcases for the journey

Each suitcase was filled with a selection of materials for the students to use. First they used the zig-zag books and sketching materials to make sketches round the town. Later they worked from their sketches and produced stitched pieces from the different fabrics and threads.

Suitcase

I painted my version of the little suitcases and stuck some bits cut from a pack of travel themed papers onto it. The paint was neat brown acrylic which was dry brushed with paynes grey paint.

Journeys

These are the little suitcases that I've made for the first session of Art Textiles at Brewery Arts. We have a theme of Journeys this term. Inside each suitcase are some pieces of fabric, a selection of threads, some needles, pencils and crayons and a little zig-zag book to fill with sketches out and about in Cirencester tomorrow. The sketches will be used as inspiration for stitched pieces later in the class.