Wishing Everyone a Happy Christmas

If you haven't had snow yet or aren't even expecting to see any this Christmas, I'll share a view of my garden at sunrise this morning; viewed as if through a shiny sphere or even a Christmas tree bauble, the snow making a magical scene in the British mid-winter.

I hope you will all enjoy your mid-winter break, or maybe your mid-summer break in the southern hemisphere! I look forward to hearing from you in the New Year and to welcoming new students on the Machine Embroidery and Creative Sketchbooks Courses we are now offering at Distant Stitch. Tell your friends to look at www.distantstitch.co.uk

Email restored

If you have sent me an email in the last few days and not received a reply, please email again. My sian@distantstitch.co.uk address is now fully restored. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Colour in the snow

A sprinkling of snow over Urchfont Manor.

The 'Stitched Textiles' Masterclass had a colourful experience at Urchfont Manor recently despite the fall of snow which covered the grounds and trees with a blanket of white. We warmed ourselves with the strong colours of this still life and used different aspects as a basis for design work during the weekend. Thank you to Carol Griffin for the lovely photos.

Life Line

At last, a new piece of work from my own hands rather than passively enjoying all the wonderful things my students produce! This piece is a development of my 'assemblage' theme of threading small shapes together. The inspiration for 'Life Line' is drawn from watching and reading about the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners from their entrapment deep in the earth. The central hole in all the shapes denotes the long tunnel that was drilled to bring them to the surface. Please scroll down for detailed close-ups. It is 200 cms long, although the curled area at the bottom makes it an installation of about 130 cms high. Each square is 6 cms and are made of perforated vellum and collected newspapers recording the event.
See this and other textile pieces by members of the 62 Group at Gallery Oldham, Oldham, www.galleryoldham.org.uk from 22nd January to 10th April 2011.

'AVEC OU SANS L'EAU' in Quebec

Images for my Canadian friends of my entry for the Mini-Textiles' - 'Secheresse' (translated as 'Drought' - I hope!).
This exhibition is in Gatineau, Quebec during September and finishes on 10th October 2010.

Contact details: Maison du Citoyen, Gatineau, Quebec, J8X, 3Y9, 819 595/7488 galeriemontcalm1@gatineau.ca

Help To Save the Arts!

To everyone involved in the arts, please consider signing this petition.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-arts.html

Enjoy this little video.

http://savethearts-uk.blogspot.com/

Thank you.

Happy Memories!

Holiday this year was floating down a gentle Canal du Midi in the south of France, away from not only the computer but any electrical supply! Just enough time between locks to throw some Koh-i-noor paint from my new little paint box onto long, narrow sheets of paper that now comprises my sketchbook for this holiday.

This piece of folded card was used as a 'drawing board' for all my paintings done on separate sheets of folded papers.

Sketchbook pages placed side by side which will be folded and tied into the folded card cover.

Still time to see 'Face to Face'

This exhibition finishes next Sunday at 16.00, so you still have a few days to see it at Walcot Chapel, Walcott Street, Bath.

An exhibition invitation in Bath

Hope to see you on 'Meet the Artist Day' 21st August between 11.00 and 16.00.

Work and Fun at Summer School

Thank you to all summer School students for allowing me to use these photos of themselves and their work on my blog.

A 3D construction by Viv Estill

Betty generously serves out the delicious dessert for her table.

Distant Stitch Summer School 2010

"WORKING TOGETHER"
This years Summer School involved nearly 30 Distant Stitch students in a superb workshop run by Ruth Issett, supported by Lizzy Lewis. We missed Bobby Britnell as planned co-tutor with Ruth and hope all is improving for you now Bobby. Sending you all our good wishes and our smiley faces below. We're crowded onto the main stairs in the Manor - hope you can identify all those at the back.

Sian, front centre with workshop tutor, Ruth straight above her and Lizzy with the lovely pink fringe.

We all made 'ATCs' (Artists Trading Cards) to swap on the first evening. Finding your unknown swap partner by looking for a clue on that person created lots of hilarious questions and laughter. An excellent way of getting to know a lot of people at the beginning of the Summer School. (Thank you Hazel for your suggeston). So we each possess a little embroidered gem to treasure made by someone else.

One was inadvertantly left after borrowing them back for this 'group' photograph. So if anyone has missed the second one from the left on the bottom row, please let me know so I can send it on to them.

For Val

Four images for you Val - I hope these are irises! In the comment below, Jenn says she thinks these are 'canna'. Sorry Val.

A little bit of red goes a long way

A recent workshop led by Cas Holmes at Hawkwood College allowed me time and space to think about my own textile work.

Traces of a journey, marks to record my path, following a line - with red.

Edges, lines, continuing pattern - and red.

Papers, printed imagery, stitched holes and red paint.

Batsford are publishing a book by Cas Holmes in September called 'The Found Object in Textile Art' ISBN 97819 06388461.

For Anne: 'How to Make a Tomato Dress'

A mock-up of the actual item as most were given away during the exhibition to children who entered a quiz to guess the 'ingredients'. The beads ceratinly weren't added to the originals! See more images of the exhibition on the TSG website -
http://www.practicalstudygroup.co.uk/gallery/ironbridge/index.php

A large old iron cauldron was an inspiration for this installation. Tomato 'ingredients' were 'cooked' together in the cauldron to create these 'tomato' dresses made of shibori'd silk organza.

Shown in 'Material Works - off the wall' with the PSG (now the TSG) in 2003 at Enginuity, The Museum of Iron, Ironbridge.

Rows of tiny tomato trees were arranged on the pallets made of the up-turned lids of the tomato puree tubes as flower pots with a painted cocktail and fabric tomato as the 'tree'.