Busy, Busy
A critical deadline approaches – the day when Nolitex (the group I exhibit my textile work with) selects the work that will go into our next exhibition called TideLine. I have been beavering away to get my pieces finished in time. However they are a little on the large side – one of them measures 6m long, another is almost 2m tall, consequently they have taken a long time to create, and are a logistic nightmare to pack up! As yet I have not been able to take any half decent photographs, but I am going to enlist the help of Sarah, a good friend of mine who is a professional photographer at Derek Whitehouse Photography in Melton Mowbray. Until that is done, you will have to wait for a sneek preview
The exhibition is conceptual textile art on the theme of the coast, which we have titled TideLine and will open at Sam Scorer Gallery in Lincoln in July. Watch this space.
All this frenetic activity has meant that I have not paid attention to the blog for a while and I should have at least told you all about the classes last week at Husqvarna Studio in Nottingham. I ran two 2 hour classes to introduce people to Friendly Plastic, I think a good time was had by all, judging by the happy faces at the end of each session. What a lovely bunch of ladies, all keen to try out something new, thank you for being such wonderful students, it was great fun spending the day with you.
In the morning we were making buttons of all sorts of shapes and sizes using a number of different techniques. We tried impressing patterns, layering up, swirling scraps and inlaying them, making holes and eyelets, and different ways of making button shanks.
We sealed some of them with Magic Glos to give them a high shine and make them durable. I have a sneaky feeling that some of these will be turned into jewellery rather than adorn garments.
As I forgot to get my camera out inthe morning I missed taking photos of some of the buttons this image shows some items made in moulds in the afternoon.
In the afternoon we explored using and making moulds for Friendly Plastic using EasyMold, a two part silicone moulding medium. Everyone had a go at making a mould, and using it with FP sticks and pellets as well.
FP Pellets in a hand made mould
FP stick in a resin mould
Colouring the pellets was a messy but fun task and I think there were more than a few people who went home with brightly coloured fingertips! Alcohol inks and pigment powders give fantastic colour but they can be a bit messy to work with in this way. If you want to avoid colouring your hands rainbow colours then try painting on the inks instead.
Experiments using my hand made moulds, the mould that the student made and a Krafty Lady mould
On the 24th April I am offering another class (only 5 places left) called Oooze and Aahhs. This is a fun day of experimentation oozing Friendly Plastic through all sorts of things with holes in. The textural effects are fabulous, and totally unique. The technique is very versatile and works brilliantly if you want to turn your hand to jewellery, it is ideally suited to textile nuts, and it is so quick, easy and light that paper crafters love it too. We can make a note book cover as I have done here, or all the samples and experiments can be used for whatever end you wish. This is one of my favourite techniques and it all came about because I was making impressions with some thick lace and got it stuck in to my plastic and could not remove it. From there on, I experimented with more laces, nets and other materials, and graduated to anything at all that I could find with holes in.
For the list of classes coming up in the next few months, see the crafts page on the tab at the top of this page.
