Jane Davies' 'Big Fat Art' Workshop

I attended a Jane Davies' 'Big Fat Art Workshop, Jane's Blog.

We did many 'technique' exercises working quickly on large sheets of inexpensive paper.

It was all about layers using many different media and working quickly to stop over thinking it.

A sampler recording how to block out large shapes with different edges.

An exercise in breaking all the design rules. Every added element had to be different in shape, colour, placement etc.

I have never been shown how to work properly with acrylics but this didn't stop me.

I made some ugly pieces but learnt a lot doing each exercise.

We all worked hard and fast and it was very freeing.

Thanks Jane for a great workshop.

50 Shades of Grey - A Carol Soderlund Workshop at Pacific Northwest Art Centre, Washington

I was fortunate to be able to attend one of Carol Soderlund's workshops- Carol's website.

She taught us her dyeing techniques while guiding our explorations of the colour wheel's neutral territory. With Carol exploring neutrals is like going down a rabbit hole.

Carol applies the dye in her unique way to get an even distribution of colour on the sample.

We cut up all of our samples and shared them with everyone else in the class.

Carol has developed a system for filing samples with their recipes in a binder making it a valuable resource.

Carol is looking very pleased because this is an exciting day in the life of a die-hard dyer.

A package arrived from Rupert and Spider containing a pot of the very first neutral grey in a pure dye powder. Up until now all greys were a mix of other colours and they tended to separate when dyeing.

Carol gave us an exercise in gradation to test the new grey dye.

She gave each of us a pure colour and using her dyeing technique we made controlled samples from the pure colour through to grey.

The results were most pleasing.

Those who wanted to went outside to learn about different discharge methods and the effects on different colours.

We got some exciting results.

Carol is an excellent teacher and I learned so much from her over the 5 days.

I learnt a new dyeing technique and vastly expanded my understanding of where neutral colours come from. 

Every student came away with a binder full of samples and recipes for hundreds of neutral colours and the understanding of how to make even more.

I look forward to taking another class with Carol.

Dorothy Caldwell's Human Marks Workshop

"An individual stroke is an utterance of touch." Dorothy Caldwell

 Dorothy is demonstrating the next Stroke Painting exercise. 

We taped various types of brushes onto long sticks. We dipped them into pots of different dilutions of black ink. With a large sheet of paper on the ground in front of each of us, we were instructed to use our whole body to make the mark on the paper. After we had filled the paper we flipped it and continued making marks but this time very slowly and deliberately. An added bonus was soft rain started to fall adding texture to our marks.

We hung our marks in the breezeway of Gloria's studio. We studied the layers of marks when the papers were more transparent with the light showing through them.

We spent the rest of the day making marks by piercing with a large nail, burning holes with an incense stick, burning edges with a candle, and adding smoke and wax to paper.

Next morning we learned about the history of Kantha embroidery. We then began to make our own Kantha marks on fabric.

This is the result of a group exercise where we all stitched blindfolded, responding to words Dorothy gave us to meditate on.

All of these exercises have helped us to feel centred and focused on what we are doing.

Cardboard Weaving & Embellishment Workshop, Nanaimo

In conjunction with Vancouver Island SDA's exhibition, Current Threads 2014, in the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Margie Preninger will be running a fibre based, 2-day workshop.

'The workshop will be a hands-on approach to exploring colour, texture, and symbolism.'

'The simple weaving will produce a seamless vessel, which can become a purse or decorative item.
A focus will be on connecting to the heart, and exploring your relationship with the creative process'.

Margie has a BSC from the Fashion Institute of Technology New York so her class will be in good hands.
Tuesdays, January 21 & 28th, 6:30 - 9:30 pm, 2014

Marie-Therese Wisniowski

The 2nd week, after the SDA conference, I attended a 5-day workshop run by Marie-Therese Wisniowski, from Australia.

Marie-Therese is an excellent teacher. She opened up the whole world of diverse dyes and transfer for her students.

I had worked through the Double Trouble book 'Transfer to Transform' but wasn't able to take the technique into more developed work. 

Marie-Therese explained the chemistry of the process then took us through a series of carefully planned exercises that allowed us to build on our knowledge as the course progressed.

The poor images are of Marie-Therese's signature work. She has also curated textile exhibitions. This Artcloth one featured a number of the instructors and speakers at the SDA conference. Check out her blog to see more of what she gets up to www.artquill.blogspot.com 

Chlorophyll and Hemoglobin

In my degree studies I am exploring the connection between red cells in human blood and chlorophyll in plants.
I dyed many different household linens in greens and reds: pillow cases with embroidery, tea towels, bed sheets, napkins, table cloths.
I used a Val Campbell-Harding method to randomly strip-piece the different cloths.

After one cut and sewing the strips back together again.

After 2 cuts and sewing the strips back together again.

Now i am hand stitching the flow of blood and chlorophyll in running stitch (had to be that stitch)
You can barely see the stitching in this image because i have just started. I am playing a version of the PAC Man game - whenever I bump into the other colour i have to change direction and 'run' only on the same colour as the thread in the needle.
This image has funny looking labels in it because this was the work i took to the Martha Cole workshop in Gloria's studio. Martha gave us lots of different question sheets to answer while looking at our own work pinned up on the wall.
I had had a week with Martha while doing the artist residency with Articulation in Banff. We did similar exercises in a lot more depth and a lot more of them. That is when I learnt to recognise my 'style'.
It was most interesting to repeat some of the exercises several years later to see how my work has developed and changed. i noticed i feel differently about my work now too.
It was well worth taking the time out to just look at what i make.

Martha Cole Workshop

Last week the Vancouver Island Surface Design Association attended a professional development workshop facilitated by Martha Cole, fibre artist from Saskatchewan. The place and the day was significant because it was the inaugural workshop in Gloria Daly's new studio.
She welcomed us all into her new workspace after having worked very hard to get it finished on time for the eagerly anticipated workshop.

Susan Purney-Mark gave the new studio a blessing with salt and bread, which made most people a bit weepy it was so heartfelt.

Gloria started with a lick of salt and the sharing of a piece of bread.

Then the plate was handed around the group while sitting in a circle - Kristin Rohr, Gayle McIvor, Martha Cole.
Gloria then lightened the mood by offering champagne and orange juice as her way of christening her new studio.
It was a great start to a most productive day, thanks to Martha, Gloria and Gloria's new studio amongst the trees.

McMullen Gallery Workshops

Donna and I drove up to Edmonton yesterday for our 2nd workshop in the McMullen Gallery. We encouraged those who came into the gallery to sit down for a while to play with some design methods: doodling within a divided basic shape & notan (dark & light) - a Japanese based exercise where one uses the negative as well as the positive space in a design.

Donna is showing a simple but effective Notan design. Jane Dunnewold, a well known US textile surface designer, shared this exercise on her website, calling it 'The Expansion of the Square'.

This is ReBecca Paterson's 'Illusion of...' work in Articulation's Urban Textures body of work.

Vickie & I hung it in the gallery facing the busy walkway inside the hospital because it is such an eye-catcher to people on the move past the glass walls of the gallery.

After a 6:30 a.m. start to the day it turned out to be a long one because we had a tire blow out on the way back to Calgary so we didn't get home until 1:00 am!