More studio work.

It,s been hot today so only worked in bursts,but I've cold mordanted some fibre-i say cold but the temp of the water has been far from cold because of the heat outside.Also dyed some fibre with a bucket of fermenting Buckthorn bark-also outside, then modified it with wood ash to get a lovely pink.Finished a little book made fro banana paper i made earlier and printed a series of bird cards-maybe for Christmas because i shall be in Aus for that and not able to do anything much in the way of printing etc.All in all,a productive day!

Peter,Paul  and somebody else!

The banana book cover,with cow parsley and more handmade paper.This book is very small but was a pleasure to make.

Altered books weekend

Altered books bonanza-look everyone, it's your work!!

The images above show a glorious book, all creams and white, which is very personal and family related, so names are being mentioned, but you know who you are!

Much work and thought went into this, and once again,it is joy to see how lovely white and cream can be, and how texture alone makes for a good page.When colour is eliminated, it also helps many people create very special work.Colour does give a problem for many students.

The two pictures below show more pages, one with a pop-up in the centre.It is amazing that so much was achieved over a weekend, even though there is more to do on this book.Our greatest difficulty was drying the pages, as it was very humid in the classroom, and we were using wallpaper paste to bond the layers.

This is what happens when students are hooked on the process!Just returned from a busy and happy residential weekend at Farncombe Estate with a lovely group of people.The work they did exceeded all my expectations.I always feel that with such a group, I learn new things too, which is why I never want to give up teaching totally.More pictures now.

Picture above shows Lyn's gorgeous book made for her grandaughter-all white and very beautiful.The extended 'skirt' will be used to wrap the book as a gift.

This shows the technique invented by Helen-weaving photographs with coloured paper.The end result is still recognizable to those who know, but changed enough to be secret.Lovely for an altered page.

There will be more pictures posted later, when I have time-haven't even unpacked yet.

In my other studio!

Something very strange is happening to my picture uploading skills today, but I have run out of patience so I'm leaving them as they are anyway.As you can see, there is a lot going on in my studio at present and as it is smaller than the French one, it does look even busier.Below right is a close up of an altered book I'm preparing for the weekend course at Farncombe,using a children's board book and the theme of trees.I'm using some of my not so successful prints on the pages.Plenty of those!

Above is a studio over view,showing the felt pieces I'm working on, some for a Climate Change exhibition(hoping they will be accepted!) and some are throws I'm assembling from my naturally dyed and stitched pieces-a slow process.

This corner has all my thermofax screens and some inspirational pictures, along with a few samples I made for the Climate change pieces.

Finally,more felt waiting to be finished.Lots of work to do and the weather is getting a bit cool, so I need my Ugg boots, bought by my daughter in Oz.It's a bit like an expedition, going down the garden to work, but still a lovely space.