creative block removed

Finally found the energy to make something which isn't thrown straight in the bin, though there are still failures, or rather ,learning experiences which really count as such.No pictures of finished items yet, but they are on the way! Meanwhile, this is the busy rolling machine area-it really helps with experiments because it is so much quicker and if a project is less than perfect, I feel that not so much time is 'wasted'

creative block

Most of what I'm doing at present is going in the bin!Lots of learning via mistakes but it's a bit frustrating.So, here are a couple of things which made me smile.Above is some guerilla knitting in Agen.

The cat was sitting under a car near this notice and I thought twice about stroking it after reading the notice.

This advert column was also in Agen.Maybe I'll have some work to show after today instead of all this displacement activity!

more experiments

 Paeony petals and poppy  petals on silk.

 Piper print experiments-combining monoprint and drypoint.

 A lace felt sample-what to do with it?

MY FELT JUBILEE T COSY

Last ,but not least a cushion for the rather vibrant directors chair, using fabric from the Miao people bought for me by my daughter for Christmas.Waited all this time for a suitable use!

This is my yardage

This is a close up of my yardage for a jacket, but it can't be completed until I can getto my sewingmachine, which is hemmed by the progress of the floor tiling !

 This is one piece, which is really much more black/grey than the bluish tones here.

 And this is what the wind did to my lovely, carefully nurtured wild flower bank last night-who would expect that in May in SW France?

English weather

Today,we have the same weather as we left behind in England, which is a bit annoying to say the very least.This has given me time to make felt yardage in preparation for a winter jacket to wear at home ,tho it feels as if I need it here really.

This is the machine sliding its way down from the top of the car,after a 14 hour journey.

Very scary watching it come towards me from this angle.We dreaded being asked to unwrap it, as it did look as if we were transporting a body in there but here it is and here it stays.Being put to good use too

Cyanotypes

I've been busily testing my last year's cyanotype chemicals ,which I thought might be past their best and have found that they do still work, tho don't seem to be washing out to white as they should.The sun has been as strong as it possibly could be so if there are any failures, it has to be the chemicals.Fortunately, I have a new supply. but here are some images using the old stuff-some on paper and some on fabric,some using digital negatives and some using plants.

I've promised myself that I'll blog more regularly now that I have a clean house after removing 6 months of mice droppings and spider webs, but for now, back to the rolling machine to finish another piece of yardage, this time using re cycled scarves in black and white.

Another long gap!

Time is flying by,not helped by ill health and a family crisis,plus preparing to travel to France for 6 months.There are piles of 'vital supplies' lying in every room and barely any time to do creative stuff.The IFA conference was a really excellent experience-time to talk to people I hadn't seen for ages and to do some very good workshops.We all had one full day class and two half days and all of mine made me think about my own work in a different way,which couldn't be better.
My full day was with Sue Bradley, using a needle felt machine and transfer printing press.This is some of the work Sue showed us.

I started to de construct a charity shop cardy, but haven't had time to finish it yet, so more of that in France,I hope.My aim is to wet felt the items using the rolling machine,rather than using an embellisher,becuase somehow, I don't seem to get on very well with them,but it was interesting to have a go.I'm also reading and sampling from Alabama Chanin's wonderful book ALABAMA STUDIO SEWING AND DESIGN,aiming to adapt some of the ideas for my felt.It really is a glorious book and very inspiring,plus it has patterns to use and adapt.
My half day workshops were equally as inspiring, with Chris Lines and Sheila Smith, both of whom added to my felting arsenal.