Sketchbook Day 17 - second day of rest

Ashy surveys the scene of the recent week's work in preparation of work on the sketchbook project.

For the coming series of drawings, please take a look and see if you can find an old picture frame or card fame or any other type of frame you can use for your drawing  projects next week.

You might be able to lash four bamboo sticks or kebab sticks together with string or rubber bands for a 'make-shift' frame.

If the weather is good we can make the most of it and draw outside or if it is not good we can prop the frame up on a window sill to draw outside.

My plum was cut up to eat with my muesli this morning and I couldn't resist..............

Sketchbook Day 16 - ripping and sticking

I'm having a problem leaving messages on some of your blogs, so please don't feel neglected! [Blame it on 'blogger'.] I really am enjoying looking at all your wonderful drawings so please keep it up - you're forgiven if you have missed some of the tasks, but you can still refer back to them later if you wish.

TODAY'S TASK - Gather coloured materials (papers and/or fabrics) that relate to the colours you are currently working with based on your objects. These could be bits torn from magazines, colour washed newspaper print, decorated papers from previous design projects, old wrapping paper - anything in fact as long as it can be glued down fairly flat!

First task - Choose to work on one object first as this can be large enough to fit onto your sketchbook page.

Select a ground paper and cut or rip (depending on character of your object) a basic shape. Add further patches of coloured materials to record the general areas of colour. My plum is still around - but you'll notice it is a bit wrinkled. This might be its last 'portrait sitting'.

Second task - 'Colour-in' your last printed background. The individual shapes in this will be a lot smaller I expect, so use your paper shapes to suggest the general colouring and not the detail. Read the two stages below as I found this helped me to sort out my coloured papers and get the idea of using quite crudely ripped blocks of colour to achieve a good effect - see below.

Stage 1 - Place large pieces of coloured papers on the various areas to help you identify the colours that you'll need then add smaller bits to suggest detail.

                          

Stage 2 - Rip or cut these coloured papers up and position them to create each of the objects.

TODAY'S TIPS -Glue down your paper bits as you work and don't be tempted to just position them to see if they look OK. As you build them up, you'll never be able to glue them down where you want them at the end - I know! Glue them down as you go; if you decide it's wrong later, add a piece on top to hide it or partially obscure it.

Keep squinting at your collage to see if you are getting the colours and tones right. You can of course, just take your glasses off or look at it from far away.

Don't be over ambitious as this technique has its limitations but can give such exciting and unexpected results.Have a go.      

Sketchbook Day 15 - scribble away!

TODAY'S TASK - Use biros and felt tip pens to scribble away! Build up layers of vigorous coloured marks to record the surface of your object. Search around the house for all the different colours you might have 

TODAY'S TIPS - Find out if your biro or pen reacts in an interesting way when used on a wet surface; some of mine did so I wet the paper first. Others that didn't work on a wet surface, I had to wait until it dried to use them.
Your colour range will probably be limited and possibly a bit 'bright'. Layer your colours to create more subtle mixtures and in the process create fascinating effects.
These pens will also make very narrow lines so the pattern you make to 'colour in' larger areas will allow you to change direction to describe a rounded or textured surface. 

You can then 'colour-in' another of your prints. I challenged myself not to use a black in this drawing (although I did in the first plum study) but to make dark areas by building up layers - lucky the paper was thick or I might have scribbled right through! I had great fun adding scribbled colour to the background colour and seeping out over the edge.

Take a look at Daniela's lovely biro drawings on her blog - 'stitching in the sun', below. Would you like me to add a link to your blog?

Happy scribbling!

Sketchbook Day 14 - continue with colour

TODAY'S TASK - Today I am going to continue ideas for drawing with colour, using oil pastels and water soluble pencils. These are the chunky 'Stabilo' sort which are great for adding strong colour, either as a dry marker or with water.

Both these types of markers can be used to build up layers of colours to make just the right variations you need. They don't seem to mix together well as the pencil finds it difficult to stick to the oil pastel. You might find that different media behave differently so you could use your initiative when reading the tips below.

TODAY'S TIP -  You can use colouring 'markers' to make lines and also to build blocks of colour. Firstly, use the line to help you discover the different colour areas of your object, just to draft in the shapes.   Then start to make solid areas of colour, perhaps by building layers of different colours to get a good match with your observed object. NOTE: Making a colour in this way creates a very rich coloured surface which always seems more interesting than using just one 'correct' colour. You can see the wide range of different colours used to record the rather limited colouring of my plum, so I'm grateful that I didn't have a pencil called 'plum colour'! 

If you are using a water soluble marker

If you are using a water soluble marker, you can blend in the different coloured layers - although not too much as this negates the wonderful colouring you've just achieved.

Your final task - perhaps tomorrow - is to 'colour-in' one of your extra prints of your original composition. The shapes of each of your objects will be much smaller so try not to be too ambitious in the amount of detail you try to record - just the main colour patches.

Happy colouring!

Sketchbook Day 13 - shining your highlights

Yesterday, you coloured a background of a group of objects, ready for adding in the objects later. Scan this page and print out several copies of it so you can experiment with different ways of drawing the objects. I made four copies (but can only squeeze two in below) and can always print more if needed. I printed onto good quality cartridge paper and not the typical thin computer printer paper which is horrid to draw on. I inserted two images onto one A4 sheet so that each print would end up the same size as my opened sketchbook page.

TODAY'S TASK - Firstly, select one of your objects from your composition to look at in detail. I suggest you use a liquid medium for today's drawing; inks or water colour paints, to study just one of the objects.

Secondly, when you feel confident, colour-in the voided spaces in one of your backgrounds. The left image below shows mine 'in progress' with the hollyhock and plum completed and the aquilegia leaves and lettuce leaf just with added dabs of 'water'. See the video in 'tips'. The right image below shows all four objects completed. This painting was done onto a 'copy' - so you'll notice that I was happily able to work over the spirals with ease!

 

TODAY'S TIPS - Place dabs of water to the areas that indicate the shiny highlights. Before these dry, add your paint/ink to the surrounding areas and touch the water patches to allow the colour to merge into the edges of the wet patch. Dab more water to the patches if they are not allowing this gentle 'flooding' to happen around the edges of the wet patches. This short video shows this in action! It has also been added to the Summer Sketchbook Project Day 13 on the Distant Stitch website.

Sketchbook Day 12 - colouring-in

I've always liked to 'colour-in' as a child - in those books of cute outline pics and as a teenager in those 'painting by numbers' kits (yes, I did do those!).These days, it's a pleasure to draw my own shapes and make my own colours to match what I see. Today I've used my Koh-i-Noor paint box which has brilliantly strong colours so it's easy to get a rich colour. They all look a bit dark in this photograph as I've been dabbing at different colour blocks to get 'just the right' colour and not cleaned them up yet. The different colours are then mixed in the shallow sections on the lid with a wet brush.

Although I didn't use it here, as I'm working at home, I have to show you my little collapsable water pot which is wonderful when using my paints  on my travels. Yes, it works and is water-tight!

TODAY'S TASK - is to colour in the background areas of your group of objects. (Tomorrow we add colour to the objects.) Make this a similar colour to your objects, it could be flat paper or undulating fabric, but advise that it should be plain rather than patterned.

Start by arranging a collection of your similarly coloured objects onto the coloured ground. Place a frame around this arrangement that is the same size or in proportion to your sketchbook page. I've used a double page spread here as my sketchbook is only A6 as you will need more area for this task.

TODAY'S TIPS - Lightly draw the outline of these shapes.

Mix just the right colour for the ground colour, noting if there are any slight variations due to well lit areas and shaded areas where the objects cast a shadow or where there is an undulation of the surface. Your explorations yesterday will have shown you what colours you need to mix this colour and what media you'd like to choose.

Colour-in around the outline of your objects. If you are using a wet medium, dab a darker colour to denote the shadow areas.

Sketchbook Day 11 - mixing colours

Welcome to the colour week. Here are a few of the objects I collected that seemed to relate well to my original plum colours. I chose just a few - tea shirt, a hollyhock flower, gone-to-seed lettuce, grasses and leaves of a flower I can't name. 

I decided to limit the colours even further, choosing the hollyhock flower, the plum and tea shirt and gathered my favourite colouring media - chunky Stabilo pencils that are water soluble and a Koh-i-Noor paint set. I experimented to find the different colours that I needed to mix to get the correct colours so these could be kept ready to hand for the rest of this week.

The close-up image below shows the richer colours on one page and the lighter ones on the other. I built the colours up in layers, quite thickly to get the darker ones and found it tricky to get just the right range. I used a wet paint brush to blend the colours on the right page, but used the white crayon to blend in the lighter colours on the left. I also scratched back through the layers with a scalpel - idea seen at the Water Colour exhibition at Tate Britain last weekend.

An accidental discovery was made when the wet area on the right was closed down onto the left page, giving a pale 'print' - just perfect in this case.

TODAY'S TASK - Cover a couple of pages with colours that relate to your chosen objects. Use any media you like including fragments of fabrics and a few stitches perhaps? You can separate your colours onto the two pages by either placing all the dark, rich colours to one page and the lighter colours on another or placing all warm colours (reds, browns, oranges, together and all cold colours (blues, greens) together.

To get 'just the right colour' build up layers on the page rather than in a palette. This will enable you to 'scratch back' for texture and patterning.

TODAY'S TIPS -  Limit your chosen colours as you will find that there is a huge range even within something that looks very limited on close study.

Experiment with what order you stack your colours. Can one colour be used as a blender or can you do this with a wet paint brush?

Softer colours might be better added to a damp page.

Colour study based on the colours in poppies - now long disappeared from the garden of course, but still recorded in a previous sketchbook.

Sketchbook Day 10 - day of rest

No new tasks today except to tidy up your worktable and get ready for bursting into COLOUR tomorrow. I thought you might like to see the corner of my workroom where I've been working on my sketchbook. My sleeping 'apprentice' in her basket likes to feel close by.
My table is a lovely solid oak refectory table one of several discarded by Urchfont Manor a few years ago when they up-dated their dining room furniture. I love this table as it is so sturdy and big. Mike(Urchfont's night watchman) and Rosie brought it to Wind Whistle Cottage in the Urchfont minibus. We nearly didn't get it in through the sliding doors, but one final push from Mike and it was in.
It's very helpful if you can set up your own 'corner' even if it's just a large tray which can be moved away when you need the table for something else.

Put some covering onto your 'table' ready for the next sketchbook task and look out all your colouring media - dry and wet and find an old pot for water. Collect a few objects all in the same colour range. My plum is still around so I'm going to collect some reds and other 'plum' coloured objects.

See you tomorrow!

Sketchbook Day 9 - puzzling pattern

The previous day's exercise is quite challenging so I thought it would be a good idea to look at a simple pattern on a flat surface such as fabric and then to create 3D forms with it.

TODAY'S TASK - Choose a surface that has a very simple pattern such as stripes or large checks. It could be a piece of newspaper text, a piece of wall-paper or wrapping paper, a piece of fabric. I've chosen a tea towel in the first drawing and decided on repeating the exercise with an even simpler pattern - a  stripy fabric.
Manipulate your surface so that it undulates, perhaps gently pleat, scrunch - but not too much as you'll regret it! Note how the pattern is distorted by the way the surface undulates; you are now going to record this pattern - only the pattern.
Use any drawing medium you think would be appropriate to make the pattern. I've used my favourite fine pen to draw the narrow lines of the 'tea towel' and a card strip dipped in writing ink for the wider stripes of the second fabric.
A second idea was to paint the whole page with ink and when dry, to draw the white bands, leaving the darker bands as the lines on the tea towel. This didn't entirely work out as the bleach just kept spreading, making some areas too white. So I added some pen lines to define the undulating surface better.

Left - Fine pen, Centre - 'Framed' tea towel, Right - Bleach drawing with some pen lines

TODAY'S TIPS - Place a frame around your chosen area of crumple that reflects the size/proportion of your page.
Lightly draw the edges of the main manipulated shapes dividing up your page into simple sections. Look at the rhythm of the pattern within each section and notice how it changes as it crosses into the next section. You could either follow one line of pattern across your page OR complete each section one at a time.- I found this the easier option but see what works for you.
Lastly, if you have used a soluble medium use a wet paint brush to sweep along the 'dips' to smudge the inks a bit to add some shade to imply depth. If you have used a dry medium perhaps you can smudge with your finger instead or drag the crayon lightly along the 'dip'.

Sketchbook Day 8 - 'drawing between the lines' Tracey Emin

I've taken another quote from Tracey Emin 'drawing between the lines' for today's task. Not entirely sure what her reference was but perhaps the idea of looking at things with a different 'eye' might relate to this idea - of drawing of an object without drawing the actual form of the object but just recording its surface details to suggest its form.
You will need to choose an object that has surface pattern. My smooth plum has started to develop some wrinkles but not quite enough, although I did try the top area around the stalk as you can see in the centre top, straddling the spiral binding!
Other objects I looked at had more obvious pattern - the pine cone and cockle shell. I realised that I was drawing the individual segments of the pine cone with lines along the edges, where I should have been looking at the fine ripples along each segment.Too obvious for words so please ignore this as a good example of this task. I was probably too eager to place this onto a page to use the perfectly shaped collaged newsprint - firmly glued down (note Jenn's tip). I also discarded the oyster shell as this was too flat.
Then I looked at an interesting piece of stone with subtle lines along each surface. I don't think the photo shows this up so you have to believe me!

 

 

TODAY'S TASK - Using only line and any medium or combination of media, describe a 3D form using only its internal patterning.The undulations of your lines will allow the eye to be able to see the 3D form. The shell below was drawn using a dryish paint brush, producing bands of multiple lines. I wish I'd placed this drawing so the the spiral binding was part of the drawing.

TODAY'S TIP - Use different markers to suggest different width of line. Press harder to suggest a surface that is in shade.


I thought you might like to see this example of a scraper-board method by my father. This shows how he used lines, dots to describe the 3D forms of the landscape and of course the shell.
Anyone guess the famous Welsh landmark?

Visit other blogs listed at the bottom of this one to see the interesting sketchbooks by others. Let me know if you'd like yours added too.

Sketchbook Day 7 - getting bigger

You might need to spread over two pages for this; I was irritated initally by the spiral binding in my sketchbook that stopped the sweep of the marker, but managed to manoevre it around and onto the next page. The pink 'wash' from my Tracey Emin' page has seeped through, giving an extra bit of interest to the left page. My plum is getting a bit wrinkled which will make for added detail from now on.

TODAY'S TASK -  Choose a wide marker so that you can make a narrow and wide line. I choose the side of a short length of charcoal in the drawing above. Make a much larger drawing to fill as much og a double page span as you can and do your best over the hinge.

TODAY'S TIP - Experiment with your medium to find out how you can handle it first - see marks on the right. Remember not to use too many lines - just enough to suggest the form and not too many to make it look 'dirty'. You might like to do more than one drawing to get the hang of this - but it is quick!
Leave me a comment or email to add your blog list to those below.

Sketchbook Day 6 - If only there was sunshine!

I was hoping for strong sunlight for today's task but it was not to be in Somerset. If you're lucky enough to find a ray of sun to cast over your object you won't need to place a lamp to cast shadows for you! A reminder that if you'd like a link to your blog at the bottom of this one, please let me know you're doing the sketchbook project.

TODAYS' TASK - Take a look at the shadows your objects casts and also any internal changes of tone as each bump or undulation will react to the direction of light. We're not looking at light and dark colouring here so if your object has a range of colours - ignore these. A shadow is not a reflection so look carefully at the shape it makes. Is the edge soft or sharp?
You can choose to use a soft marker, such as a soft pencil or pastel and use small finger or rubber to smudge it lightly. Or you can use a fine pen like the right hand drawing, building up groups of straght lines to create the darker tones. This is called 'cross-hatching' and used a lot in pen and ink drawings to suggest a 3D surface, depth and shadow.
For the adventurous - place more than one object together to create extra shadow where one object effects another by casting a shadow over it. Note how interesting a shadow over an undulating surface is as it taes the form of the surface.

TODAY'S TIP - In fact it's much easier to do this on a one-colour object and also note that slight shading within the object's surface is more noticable in a light coloured object. (FASHION TIP - Dark clothes make us look trim because you can't see the 'undulations'!)
Choose to work on a smooth page rather than one with texture - note the page below - I made the mistake so you don't need to!
Try out a simple tonal column to practice how you can build up tone with your chosen marker.
Easy on the smudging - as too much can make your object look dirty. Make a note that it's important to always keep an area that does not have any marker on it to avoid this

Sketchbook Day 5 - 'learning your lines'

My plums are getting riper! I couldn't resist putting two together after looking at Tracey Emin's work on Sunday. Ripped pieces of ticket to the exhibition made a collaged ground which was then stained with coloured inks - which turned out a bit too vividly but possibly, in context, OK? She called her gran, 'Plum' which made a connection for me with one of  my chosen objects. "You call me Plum and I'll call you 'Pudding". Her stitched upholstered chair was called 'Plum'. It was good to see evidence of real love and affection in her life.

TODAY'S TASK - Create a personalised ground that relates to the object you wish to draw. This allows you to put your object within a context, either related or alien. Use, humour, wit, irony or perhaps make a point of view.You can ignore the background surface when drawing or perhaps place your object within it as if it becomes part of the surface. For instance you might choose to draw an egg onto a newspaper article about battery hens or a recipe for an eggy dish (Urchfont's cheesy egg for instance)

TODAY'S TIP - 'Learning your lines'. If you have chosen a new object today - draw it several times on a plainish sketchbook page to get to know it - 'learn your lines'. Drawing onto a 'busy' background needs you to concentrate on drawing your object. If you have been drawing your object for the last few days, you can skip this preliminary exercise.

I shall add blog addresses to this blog site if you'd like to share your own sketchbook pages on your blog. I like your banana Jane!

Sketchbook Day 4

Further drawing ideas after seeing the Tracey Emin exhibition (and the Watercolour exhibition - again) yesterday, including adding text and drawing on patterned grounds. I also loved the way she used monoprinting as a method of drawing so more about these idea later. I loved her enormous stitched applique blankets and noticed that close up, the tiny regular stitching  around the edges of the applied shapes did not reflect the 'spontaneous' way in which the shapes were cut, the rather flamboyant fabrics chosen and and the sentiments expressed. I wonder if this indicates a gentler, more meditative mood when she actually stitches - her own therapy. Perhaps we all might identify with that.

In the meantime, I hope you are all making progress with drawing some simple objects - just one a day will give you a gradual sense of progress. If you can manage more than that would be wonderful, so don't just stop at one.

TODAY'S TASK - Continue using lines to suggest the form of your shapes. Be sensitive to the type of line you need to convey. Notice the difference between the sharp broken edges of the egg shell and the lines which are needed to suggest the outside curve of the form which is no line at all really, just the 'horizon' of the curve. When you have lightly drafted the overall shape onto your page (see yesterdays 'tip') draw your lines with more attention to the character of the lines. Keep your eye going back and fore between the object and the sketchbook page to note all the little 'hiccups' that make this a line which is specific to this part of the object. Some lines I've recorded today are wide, soft lines as they denote shadows that extend from the edge I was drawing.

TODAY'S TIP - To help you record these differences to the lines, you could change the way in which you make your mark or change the type of marker. If lazily using the same pen, as I have here, try holding it in different ways as you draw to suggest the craggy line compared with the smooth, almost invisible line. Consider drawing onto a wet surface if your marker reacts to it. I discovered a new 'toy' at Urchfont's Open Day - a paint brush that holds its own water - you just squeeze it to release a drop of water - such fun. There are different sized brush heads and of course I had to have them all. This one below (yellow) is a fine point and has been used to smudge some of the pen lines and to make a damp line on which to draw with the pen.

I have continued drawing my egg shell and love the simplicity of the sparse lines that suggest its form. It's interesting to note that you think you are being objective about the drawing when you start to find it suggests associated thoughts. Write these thoughts down and perhaps make them part of your drawing. My favourite quote from Tracey Emin which is so appropriate to this stage of the Sketchbook project - 'just where do you draw the line?' Perhaps she wasn't actually referring to the activity of drawing at the time!

Sketchbook Day 3

TODAY'S TASK - Make another drawing either of the same object using a different marker or a different object with the same marker. Or maybe change both object and marker. Keep the shapes simple ones for this first set of drawings. I've chosen to draw an egg shell and am using a fine black pen. I'll finish the drawing tomorrow as I'm off to London today to see the Tracey Ermin exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. I'm determined to discover what makes this woman so fascinating to the art world! I'm taking my sketchbook with me so you might see more than an egg tomorrow.

TODAY'S TIP - To help you gauge the accurate shape of your object, place it on a sheet of paper the same size as your sketchbook page or a sheet that is larger but the same proportion. Mark points on your sketchbook page to give you an idea of its outline and main edges and you're off!

Left: Egg placed on paper same size as sketchbook page. Right: Mug of tea placed on larger paper but same proportions as sketchbook page which this photo doesn't show, but the length and width are one and a half times larger.

Sketchbook Day 2

It's great to see so many of you have committed yourselves and joined the Summer Sketchbook Project with apologies for those of you in the southern hemisphere who might like to rename it the Winter Sketchbook Project! I enjoyed reading all your extra ideas in your comments. How did the coffee stain Anne? Thanks for the idea of using a 'wash' of Brusho Jenn. Hope you'll do the exercise as well as drawing every day Daniela.

I stained several pages, careful not to burst the bag (thank you Meg) with tea and bits of added texture - enjoyed these doing this - unchallenging! So now to add drawings to each page.

OUR TASK FOR WEEK ONE - Choose a smallish object that has a simple form - not too many complex lines as the plant I chose initially on the left hand page. (I'll save that for later when I'm 'warmed up'). The plum, ripening on the kitchen window sill seemed to fit the bill, although perhaps it seemed to have too few lines - until I started looking at it of course: all those reflected patches, the slight indents - the more I looked the more I found.

ADVICE FOR THE COMPLETE BEGINNER - Choose something organic rather than man-made as its easier to make it look good if you're slightly inaccurate.

Draw,  using only lines in any dry media. I used a graphite stick (like a soft pencil). I like this because you can vary the pressure, sharpen the point, smudge the line.

Use your marker to make lines on your page (ignoring any added textural fragments already on the page) to record the outline form and any other major edges. These lines might be external (outline) or internal (surface detail).

Do not be tempted to rub out or remove any lines, just let your marker move across the paper to describe your object as best you can, making adjustments and improving the shapes as you look hard at your object. It feels a bit like caressing the shape using just your eyes and the marker.

When you feel the lines you make are more accurate, press a bit harder to make these lines show more clearly.

HAPPY DRAWING - do more than one page if you like!! TIP- Leave your sketchbook and drawing stuff out on a table if that is possible as this makes it much easier to settle to it next time.

Summer Sketchbook Project - stages 1, 2 and 3

Join in the Distant Stitch Summer Sketchbook Project and get into the habit of enjoying drawing to record interesting things for our designing. Most people find this difficult, as I do, as it's difficult to establish a habit of something you feel you're not good at. But you know what they say.........the reason you're not good at it is that you don't do it........! So join the club and get started this weekend. Melanie and I are already committed.

First stage - find a small sketchbook - about A6 (postcard size or less) so its not too intimidating a size.
Second stage - make yourself a strong cup of tea and save the tea bag. Walk around house, garden, street to find a few objects you'd like to draw - a small stone, a leaf, a piece of 'litter', a flower, a cup, a stick, a shell, a bottle.
Third stage - Squeeze tea bag out and use it to add a stained colour to the first few of your pages. This takes the blankness off the page and adds interest in an easy, incidental sort of way. You can sponge smoothly or with texture; you could add a bit of surface interest too by adding this before your dab the tea bag over -  small scraps of tissue paper, ripped strips of masking tape, dabs of white emulsion paint, dabs of glue. Let these surfaces dry while you're drinking your tea and then sponge with tea bag. Have another cup of tea and admire your work. Drawing starts tomorrow when your pages are dry.

The Joy of Ice and Rust

Please take a look at the details of the book by Sally Sparks - 'The Joy of Ice and Rust' in the 'pages' section of my blog - on the right here. You can now buy this super book directly from Sally's website www.sallysparks.co.uk

Distant Stitch Summer School 2011

A special posting for Maggie B and all who missed this year's Summer School.

Sunshine and clouds over Urchfont Manor but all was bright inside the studios and dining room for the 2012 Distant Stitch Summer School, where tutors, Jan Evans and Mary Sleigh lead the participants through two wonderful workshops that kept everyone inspired and productive between the meals.

Urchfont Manor, viewed from the rear of the main house.

Jane, Alison R and Alison G, from UK, studying Mary Sleigh's extensive collection of African textiles.

Daniela, from Italy,working with hand stitching and beads inspired by African textiles.

Jan's busy studio in the coach house: Eila from NZ, left, Margaret from USA, right, Kaye from UK, standing

Carrie,  left, and Sheila, both from UK, enjoy adding stitching to their pieces of work.

Workshop tutor, Jan Evans, right, chats to Evelyne, from France, about progress on her super work.

Breakfast sunshine in the dining room.

 

As usual, we were so well looked after by the staff at Urchfont. Lunches were a delight for us all, including Betty, from UK, with this colourful array of lunchtime salads decorated with edible flowers.  

Part of the walled gardens at Urchfont, where a lot of the veg, fruit and herbs are grown.

Sian, centre right, tutors Mary Sleigh, Jan Evans and Lizzy Lewis seated right.

A gathering of Distant Stitch students from many countries, outside the main door of Urchfont Manor.

Please right click on this if you'd like to save it onto your own computer.

Visit the Distant Stitch website for more photos and please 'post' your own Summer School work on your own blogs.