The last course in L'Atelier

One of the students 'wine page'Found materials(bread wrappers and labels) collaged and then overprinted with a thermofax screen based on a wrought iron balcony nearby.

A collage page drying in the sun, ready to be added to a sketchbook.Stones to prevent the breeze flapping it up.

A book in progress, using the stiff collage technique-can't think of a better name!

Some of these techniques will be used in my next set of courses in France, in 2009.

October 23rd

Laminated and waiting for ideas

Another fabric based on the theme of lines which will be part of the collection for my Summer school in France.

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October 22nd

Laminated fabric escapades

Yesterday I spent a very large quantity of time I didn't really have to spare, cretaing a piece of work using newspaper, silk and gel medium, plus one of my thermofax screens.I'm trying to add layers to a fabric I have already created, by layering photos from the Guardian newspaper, silk chiffon and printed gel medium on the surface.These layers are then ironed to set them and the paper finally soaked off in water.Trying to be clever, I thought I would add another dimension by putting more layers of the same in some of the gaps I had in the original.At presnet it looks as if I may have failed-a bit like I have with this blog, I suspect!
When it is all dry, there will be a photo.In the meantime, it may be back to the drawing board.





Posted by lyn 22/10/08

Felting with my dyed fabric/fibre

At least I know what I'm doing with the dyeing, which is more than can be said for the blogging, but persevering anyway.

I took several pieces of dyed silk and some laminated fabric and laid it all down on the surface of a piece of needle felt.The sander helped to attach it all, and now, all I need to do is do the final printing with natural dyes and a thermofax screen, to unite the different areas.Then I have to pleat the felt, because I am preparing for a course which I will teach in SW France in my studio, based on lines in the landscape.

All around my studio, there are fields full of plough lines at present, and the environment seems to naturally divide itself into linear shapes, though according to Manet, there are no lines in nature, only areas of colour ,one against the other.

October 13th 2008

Using my dyeing-finally.

Hectic few days so have finally experimented with some of the dyed fabric etc.The onion skins were overdyed with Hollyhock petals, over soya milk mordant and the red onion was modified with iron which is from a wonderfully festering bottle in my boiler cupboard.I'm making small samples for a felt scarf and wrap course I'm teaching at Farncombe Estate, near Broadway, in a lovely residential centre where the views are fabulous and very inspiring for creative work.More of that later.

October 6th 2008

Onion/Golden rod episode 2.

I tied the silk around two wooden blocks with knitting cotton and immersed the lot in the red onion dye, so that I would have some large blank areas to work on later, with the actual onion skins.My kitchen smells quite badly because Golden rod seems very stinky, but the silk sample is beginning to look quite good, though it does need more work to be useful for my next piece of felt.

October 5th,2008

Dyeing with Golden rod

Currently have two slow cookers simmering away in the kitchen, one for Golden Rod and one for red onion.I'm hoping the layering of red onion on top of the Golden Rod will act as a mordant, because my current experiments are all without the use of chemical mordants, but just additives which are edible or harmless.The kitchen smells!Hopefully, glorious pictures tomorrow.In the meantime, a picture of a madder dyed silk scarf, done using the cold dyeing methos.

More about sketchbooks

One of the techniques used in the books is stiff collage, which is my name for a layering techniques involving both thin fabric, handmade paper and finally,a surface layer of thermofax print with natural dye pigments.This can be used for book covers or inside pages, also for art pieces which can be framed or hung as they are.

OCTOBER ALREADY

First post ever and am sure this isn't working but hear goes anyway.

Just back from three lovely sunny weeks teaching at my studio in S W France-this time Creative sketchbooks, where students made the books and then filled it with mixed media techniques.We were able to make paper outside, sketch in the sun and get all our work dry very easily.

Then, back to England in the rain.

OCTOBER 1ST ALREADY

Having returned from beautiful sunshine in SW France, teaching a creative sketchbook course in my studio, it is now raining again in the Cotswolds.This is my first post ever and so may be going very wrong, but I'm trying my best.

We have printed in the books, made them all to begin with and had a thouroughly enjoyable time together.Roll on next time!