What a surprise!

I have been following along with Hilary Beattie and her Saturday Sketchbooks classes.  I desperately want to call it Sketchbook Saturday!  But either way on two Saturdays each month Hilary generously shares copious amounts of information about working in sketchbooks.

In January she suggested we recycled our Christmas cards into a concertina sketchbook.  I put gesso over the cards and some acrylic paint.  I also stamped on the background with wooden blocks.

Hilary decided to make an imaginary village but I decided to make a version of Venice.  Surprise! Surprise!  

I cut out the shapes of buildings and bridges.  I also made some trees.

There are a surprising number of trees and green spaces in Venice.  Did you watch the opening episode of Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens?

I used my gelli plate to print the buildings and trees.  I had made the shapes from textured wallpaper which made fabulous designs on the prints.

I glued the various prints using both the cut out buildings and trees and the pieces of paper they were cut from.

I gessoed and painted the reverse of the zigzag book. I used different stamps

I used the left over prints and the wallpaper masks to make a different version of Venice.

Here are some closeups.

The second side definitely still needs work.  And the above end piece needs some additional pieces.

But for now I'm happy with what I have.  Colouring in windows and trees can be a pleasant activity in between other larger bits of work.

Of course, a zigzag book like this doesn't have to be about buildings and trees.  It could be jugs, vases, dancers etc.

What theme would you choose?

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Online and In-person 2022

If you are a regular reader you will know that I frequently write about how many courses and workshops I've signed up to.  Most of which I don't complete.

So, what am I up to in 2022?

I currently have two online courses that started in 2021.

Notice What you Notice with Christine Chester started in September 2021 and ends in August this year.

There's also Saturday Sketchbooks with Hilary Beattie.  This started in October last year. There are livestreams once a month and pre-recorded videos once a month. Apart from starting to make a book pf patterns and making a few collages I haven't really done much with this yet.

The in person workshop that started last September is Textile Explorations, where I'm making small fabric collages.

You may be wondering by now what I have lined up for 2022.

Not as much as usual really!

At the beginning of 2020 I had a discussion with Leslie Morgan about my continually booking workshops.  I came to the conclusion that I should book less workshops.  And then I had to go cold turkey!  Covid-19 brought about the cancellation of most workshops through 2020 and I made better choices from those that were available in 2021.

So back to the question of what is lined up for this year.

Three days with Christine Chester doing Paper Lamination and four days with Liske Johnson doing Art Cloth: Maps and More.  Both of these are in July at Littleheath Barn Studio.

Plus an online course with Hilary Beattie called Inspired by.  The first class being Inspired by Tulips.  

I was clearing out a cupboard over the weekend and found this tulip stencil I made in 1996!!!!!

Strange the things you hold on to.   Mind you I also found some work from my college finals in 1970.

What creative things are you planning this year?

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice