trip to Oxford

We went to look at the Egyptian mummies and were fascinated by the method of wrapping with linen cloth-couldn't find any detailed info about it,so this will need a long trawl on Google.It's like Log Cabin patchwork and has many exciting possibilities for felt, I think.

Close up of the pattern.Must have taken ages to do this and a great deal of skill.

This is a carved pattern on a stone statue,which I intend to do some work on this afternoon, so should have samples on the site later ,allowing for other distractions!Another technique which will be part of my PURE WHITE course.

Pasta machine for printing

Finally managed to get into my shed and take some pictures-not good ones ,but enough to give the general idea.The results are nowhere near as good as from my press, but good enough to try things out and also to show students who come on my courses that adequate results can be gained at home with determination and no expensive press.

 This picture shows(as well as a lot of clutter!) the standard pasta machine with the base plate unscrewed and mounted on a piece of board.This is so that the print and the plate don't hit the base before they are wound through It's clamped to the table of course.The machine has several settings and a good starting point for a small collograph plate is number 3, but for a plastic drypoint, a higher number is needed.This is where the experimenting comes in.

Obviously,the print/plate goes through the machine between the rollers,where the brown card is in this picture.The drawback,of course,is that only A5 or smaller prints can be made, but it does work well and is worth experimenting,for those without a press.

Best Christmas present ever!

Amazing news! My present this year is a felt rolling machine from Feltcrafts in Colorado.Having already used one of these in Finland,I can't wait to get to grips with my very own machine,which should have been shipped yesterday.It will ultimately have a permanent place in France and will be used for all the courses this year.Pictures later!
Meanwhile I've been experimenting with using a pasta machine to print small drypoint plates.Pictures of that later too .Christmas is over so should be time to do some work and make some progress.

Felt and fibre

I have been experimenting today with some new pre felt and silk combined which I bought from Rainbow silks-only a small sample so far, but the feel of it is really good and the recycled scarves felted to the surface really well.Trouble is ,my local charity shops all seem to have stopped selling nice fine scarves in deference to the winter,which is here with a vengeance today-sleet and slush!

The bottom sample has Habotai silk,silk Georgette,a scarf of unidentified content and some indigo dyed chiffon,and the first sample has more of the same with some cyanotyped satin at top left.Cyanotype will be part of my summer classes in France and is a technique which I really like,partly because it is an old method of photography and partly because it is so easy to do in a sunny place.

Doesn't time fly?

Can't believe it is so long since I blogged,but I have been busy,honestly! I visited the Ashmolean collection of John Piper works on paper-wonderful to see them in the flesh,so to speak,and to be able to draw there.My sketchbook is filling up,tho I miss being able to use my press to experiment with what I have done so far.Sadly,it is sitting in the French studio,but I can prepare plates here and will be starting on felt versions of my drawings after Christmas.
Then I went to a wonderful lace exhibition at Birmingham museum and Art Gallery,called LOST IN LACE.Very inspiring indeed and well worth a visit.
Hope to have pictures to add to my next blog as I'm about to launch into some felt experiments.

John Piper and other things

Visited the National museum of Wales in Cardiff, to see all the Piper works-all three of them on display!I went without my glasses, having dropped them outside a friends house, so all my drawings were a touch on the abstract side, but I am rapidly filling a sketch book with ideas for more work and courses based on the work, so feel a little less annoyed with myself than I did last week.Piper really did make an amazing range of work which makes him a very good artist to study, from a mixed media point of view.

Rather poor scan,but the camera is in the shed at the bottom of the garden and it is dark and cold outside!

This is the coast of Pembrokeshire,asking to be a piece of felt.

 This is Piper, not me.What about a monoprint?

This came after my visit to Blenheim, where ,joy of joys,we discovered that there will be an exhibition of Pipers work and -even better- a printmaking course in the new year.Couldn't be better! Next stop the Ashmolean.

Still no shed!

Since I still have no shed space,though its almost there,I'm confined creatively to the kitchen,so I have been playing with papier mache and created this alien rabbit (named by my daughter ) I'm considering changing his sex and adding a tutu,so he can sit on top of the Xmas tree instead of guarding my back-up drive.
On a more serious not,I'm doing some research on the prints of John Piper,which is very enjoyable.Hoping he may send me in a new direction, both with felt and prints,and there may even be a course to be had from all the reading.Watch this space!