And more layers of text!

I had a really productive two days of Summer School this week, particularly the second day.

I cut up some of the printed organdie and printed muslin and pieced them together.  I’m going to put wadding and a backing fabric to finish it. 

I had some pieces of calico that were fine as process samples but didn’t work as pieces. So I pieced them together to make a sketchbook cover.

The cover is a bit loose so that I can still add to the book.

I used some more of the organdie and muslin to make a strip hanging.  The idea is to hang the two narrow pieces slightly in front of the other 3 pieces and hang it so the light shines through. I might change my mind about doing that.  I’ll let you know what I happens.

Thanks for being here today.
Bernice

More layers of text

In my last post I showed you the fabrics I had printed.  I also dyed two other pieces of calico.

I dyed this piece to use for a different non-text related piece of work - a companion piece to my river hanging.

I used the same colours on another piece of fabric.  I wrote on it first with masking fluid - the sort used by watercolour painters.  This will be another piece in my series based on chains. I used my pantoum poem: Dancing in Fetters

Unfortunately the masking fluid doesn't peel off fabric like it does off paper but that's okay.  However the second problem was that the lettering doesn't show up with the ochre dye as it's too pale.  You can see it if the fabric is held up to the light but the hanging is going to have wadding and a back.

I drew round the letters with an Inktense pencil so that once the wadding and back is on I can see where to stitch.

Next job is to start on this piece of work and use the fabrics from my previous post.  I have two more days of Summer School this week in which to get going.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Layers of Text

I spent two days this week attending the Summer School at Littleheath Barn called Layers of Text.

Liske's aim was that we would print less metres of fabric but have several layers on the fabric we did print.

I had written Captivity, Freedom, Identity on one screen with flour paste and Dancing in Fetters on a second screen also with flour paste.

When the flour paste was dry I scraped thickened Procion dye through the screen which breaks down the flour paste.  A different take on breakdown printing.

The piece above was printed onto Organdie with a piece of muslin underneath.  The image went through the Organdie and coloured the muslin below. 

 

 

I scraped flour paste over a piece of calico and wrote into the flour paste.  When this was dry the calico was screwed up to make the flour paste crackle.  I scraped thickened dye over the fabric.  With the small piece at the bottom I tried using Masking Fluid to write with using a brush before putting the dye over it.

 

 

The top fabric is Organdie and the bottom piece is muslin.  I used a Thermofax screen and a mixture of two colours of thickened dye.

 

 

I wrote on this piece of calico with a Copic Wide pen with what I had hoped contained a permanent ink.  I used thickened dye to write the rust and ochre words and a Thermofax screen for the chains.  However when I washed the fabric the black ink leached out leaving blue writing.

Not that it's a problem!  I can make the piece again on non-soda soaked calico and use fabric paints with the Copic pen.  That's if I decide I need to do it again.

In the meantime, this last piece matches the other fabrics I printed rather well, so I will cut them up and piece them together.

Watch this space!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Rough-ish, Smooth-ish

This month's photography subject was rough/smooth.  Turned out to be not an easy theme!

My choices seem to be rough-ish or smooth-ish!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Accidents will happen!

This week's online poetry workshop was Theme Poetry and the theme was Accidents.

First though, we had a warm-up exercise to do inspire by a poem called This Poem Is Shy by John Foster.

Without Hope

This poem is forlorn
Tucked away at the back
Of the book, an afterthought!

This poem is woebegone
Regarded as worthless
By those who come before

This poem is dismayed
It wants to shout, to speak
Words of fulfillment

This poem is deemed faint-hearted,
Cowardly, as it trembles
Asking itself 'why?'

This poem wants to be brave
To shout, to speak, to entertain
To be remembered

As the reader
shuts
the book.

Sarah-Jane gave us various suggestions for thetype of poem we could write about accidents. I chose to write a poem personifying an item or object that had caused an accident. What would it say if it could speak, think, feel, dream like a human being?

Keys

Smashed! Not our fault
Cut off!  Really not our fault
SHe held us in her fist
Clenched tight across her body.

She tripped!   Not our fault
Her fist clenched tight
Hindering our escape.
Not our fault.

She landed on us, squeezing us
Into her hand, smashing
The fragile bones of the little
And the ring finger.

The swollen damage tightening
The ring's grip.  Cut off.
Repaired year's later to be worn
On a different finger.

We ride in dark pockets now
Only seeing light
When she reaches her car
Or her front door.

You may remember the piece of work I made based on the keys incident (see photos). It's called Hidden Support.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

The Vyne

For those of you who like armchair travelling!

Last week I travelled to Surrey as I had been invited to teach my Hanging Book workshop at Wey Valley Workshop.  I travelled down the day before and stopped off at The Vyne near Basingstoke.

I walked up to the house via the walled garden.  I love walled gardens.  There's something about red brick walls.

I wish I could have captured the aroma of the sweet peas.

The poppy heads were gorgeous. And I love the little narrow doorway.

And this was the Summer House!!!!

I eventually reached the house. This was the side where you exit the house after walking round.

Outbuildings

The magnificence of the front of the house.

I found some lovely patterns.

I really enjoyed wandering around the house.  The room stewards were friendly and really knowledgeable.  Probably the best room stewards I have met in any National Trust property.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Paper Play

Yesterday I spent the day at Littleheath Barn Studio doing a workshop called Paper Patchwork, Pockets & Pleats taught by Jennifer Collier.

We started by making paper versions of the Cathedral Windows patchwork/origami folded shape.

The centres were stitched down and the paper was scored and turned back on itself.  And finished with a button.

 

I machined stitched two papers together.

 

I also tried pleating with the sewing machine which I added to the papers above, with an added piece of wallpaper.  I had made a brown paper square and added another square to the 3 I had already joined together.

I may do some more hand stitching and possible cover up the green with paper that matches the wallpaper better.  I'll show it you if I do!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Voices

The thread of the latest Write Poetry was exploring voices in poetry.

The first exercise was to write a poem that featured descriptions of a voice or voices.  This was inspired by the poem Voice by Ann Sansom.

Don’t 

Don’t use that whine-y
twist-me-round-your-little-finger voice.
It won’t get you anywhere. 

Don’t use that sulky
brattish tone with me.
It will get you nowhere. 

Don’t roll your eyes at me
uttering ‘mother’ in that uppity tone.
It will get you nothing.

Don’t bat your eyelashes at him
hoping your father will give in
to your pleading tones. 

What happened to please and thank you,
to pleasant speech and loving words?
They can get you everything. 

I didn't do the second exercise about writing in someone else's voice because I couldn't think of anything.

The third exercise was based on Answer to a Child’s Question by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  In this poem we were to imagine what a bird, animal or plant might say.  I'm not sure I hit the brief but I'm happy with what I wrote.  And that's all that matters in the end.

Underground

It’s sunless here, below the surface
moving the earth to form
a passageway. Eyes blind in the darkness.

Senses on high alert
in case an earthworm or a slug
falls into my earthwork trap.

The soil, aerated by my efforts
as I live my subterranean life,
lies unappreciated by those above.

The thuds and gasses show
their displeasure as I pursue
my dark journey underground. 

I hope you enjoyed today's words.  Thanks for being here
Bernice

Maps & More update

This year's Textile Explorations at Littleheath Barn Studio has come to an end.  Over the past 9 months I have shared various aspects of Maps & More.  Today I have put most of it together.

Firstly, there's the cover to my sketchbook.

8" square sketchbook

Sketchbook cover using one of the samples I made on the back

Some pages from my sketchbook

Colour mixing dyes

I've included photos of my finished pieces.

And here they are so you can see them

 

The square books aren't finished.  The peach one needs some stitches. The blue one will have small fabric collages and some stitches.

I am going to leave the rectangular book as it is and use it as a sample for a workshop I'm teaching next month.

Thanks for being here today.
Bernice