In Print

I seem to be always apologising:  Once again the apology is for severe  lack of posts over the last few weeks, and of course the usual excuse still applies -I have been very very busy recently.  However, I do want to tell you that the Oooze and Aahhs class I ran at Husqvarna in Nottingham at the end of April went down well, and I think one or two folk got the FP bug as a result.  Unfortunately I completely forgot to take my camera so I have no pictures to show you.  The next class “Get Stuck In”  is on May 22nd when we will be exploring how to use Friendly Plastic with all sorts of other things such as wire, watch parts, charms, yarns, sequins and found objects. For a better description, click on the Classes tab at the top of the page.

By way of compensation I can tell you that if you take a look at Making Jewellery Magazine this month you will find a double page spread that I wrote all about making beads with Friendly Plastic.

The article is aimed at introducing Friendly Plastic to those that already make jewellery but are unfamiliar with FP, in an attempt to reach a wider audience than FP currently receives.  I hope to write some more articles for the magazine soon.

I have also just written something for Make Jewellery Magazine (similar titles but very different style) for the July issue which is again a double page spread and has a small Ooozey project using Angelina fibres to make a heart pendant.  It is not proper for me to show you the project right now, but when the magazine is published I will  give you a glimpse!

I think I mentioned in a previous post about a 6.5 m “textile” piece I have been creating for the next Nolitex exhibition TideLine at Sam Scorer Gallery in Lincoln from 13th –  25th July, well I have had a number of unsuccessful attempts to photograph it and my photographer friend and I planned to go to the coast near Skegness to create the right setting for the work.  The weather had thwarted us, but with more optimism than was sensible we struck out for Skeggy on Sunday with the dog and a huge box containing my piece, leaving just enough room for my niece to fit in the car too.  After tramping through swathes of dry soft sand  with a gale blowing in our faces, we eventually found a great spot for Sarah to work her magic.  Having  just maneuvered the piece into position and taken out the cameras, we got about 2 shots before the driving rain began.

It is not easy to beat a hasty retreat with all the gear, a huge box, and a dog covered in sand through the really soft and shifting dunes.  But after a cup of  tea and a very hot and fresh bowl of chips (fries to all of you across the Pond), the sky looked clear enough to chance another attempt at some photography.

 This time we had more success, and even enjoyed 30 second bursts of sunshine. I hasten to add that it does not mean that the weather was warm, far from it; the wind was icy, but we managed to get some photos and by way of a sneak preview I show them to you now.

The piece is called “On The Strand”  and measures 6.5m in length

It is in essence a very large necklace made up with “beads” of hardened cotton cord, Friendly Plastic, wire and recycled beads from a charity shop. In a previous post I showed you the picture below and asked what you thought they were made of.

Of course the answer was Friendly Plastic, but the scale was difficult to judge; now you can get a better idea of the scale, particularly when I tell you that the largest bead in the necklace is almost 1ft (30cm) across.

Sarah is a professional photographer at Derek Whitehouse Photography an she has been asked to photograph some very weird things in her time. She is also not a fan of sand (huge understatement), so I can only say a huge thank you to you Sarah for spending your precious Sunday with me on the sand in the rain in Skegness!  And just in case you are wondering, these photos are from my camera and not Sarah’s, hers will be really fabulous.    

She has also photographed my other major piece for the exhibition and I hope to be able to give you a sneak preview soon. This one is only 2m high though. Working big used to terrify me, but now it seems to be the only way to express myself.  However, in the Autumn, I will be exhibiting with DOT (Designs On Textiles) which is a computer design group and the only piece I have completed for that is less than 8” square – maybe I am having an identity crisis!

Category : Bead Making, Classes, Workshops and Demos, Computer as a Design Tool, fibre art, In The Press, Just Stuff, liz welch, Nolitex, Teaching and Talks, Textiles
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