Saturday 23 June 2012

Castles Made Of Sand

Bit belatedly, but here's the post I intended about my trip to Shropshire, including a brilliant weekend course  with Bobby Britnell and Ruth Issett on their collaborative "Working Together" workshops.  This particular workshop was called Grids and Meshes.
We started off with some mark making, using various sizes of canvas to draw through and to make rubbings 

Then we were allowed to use colour - but only two!  Instead of using my usual pinks/purples, having been inspired by the landscape
I went for acid yellow and a turquoise-y green
We printed from the canvas, made roller prints, and generally played around with colour and marks.
Then we cut up and stiched the canvas to make little 'griddy elements'
And then progressed towards finished pieces.
Well, not exactly finished, obviously, but several pieces definitely on the way.

Here is some work of the other students
It was a great weekend, throughly recommended, and although it was only on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I decided to make a week of it.
I stayed in apartment which was part of the Porch House at Bishops Castle
The apartment was lovely, with a little kitchen, a cosy lounge and a massive bedroom.  The bathroom even had a feature 'wattle and daub wall'
Bishops Castle was a lovely town, with a really good community feeling, 
and some delightfully painted cottages
I visited nearby Stokesay Castle

Ironbridge, walking over and under the bridge

and I crossed just over the border into Wales to visit the Colinette Yarns warehouse - the words 'kid' and 'sweetshop' come to mind.
A truly lovely holiday
And for those people who know Ruth, and are aware that whilst being aware she is a great textile artist and stitcher, have never ACTUALLY seen her with a needle in her hand - here's the proof
Sorry Bobby - no photo of you I'm afraid.  You'll just have to let me come back next year!

Castles Made Of Sand - Jimi Hendrix (ok, so my castles weren't made of sand, but it was the best I could come up with)

4 comments:

  1. What a lovely week, a great course and beautiful houses.

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  2. What a beautiful part of the country to do a great course in, sounds like the best of all worlds.

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  3. It looks wonderful... can I come with you next year?

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  4. Your finished piece definitely has the feel of a landscape. I would like my gridy pieces to have a more 'landscapey' feel - I'll have to get some tips from you.

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