Steph Redfern workshop

I recently attended another workshop by Steph Redfern at the RBSA.  I did a couple of workshops there with Steph last summer.  This one was called Fabulous Forests.  The inspiration was trees obviously.  I was really taken with an example of Steph's work.

Collage on Khadi paper by Steph Redfern

We had been asked to take fabrics and a variety of papers with us.  Steph provided some bark and some other bits and pieces including a canvas each.  I started by choosing the 12x12" canvas and some rust dyed fabric that I had bought.

Then I began to make up little collages to go onto the background.

I sewed a few straight stitches on each small collage to ensure they were adhered to the background.

And left the workshop with the whole piece at this point.  We had decided that it would be best to put the piece onto calico before attaching it to the canvas.

At home I painted the white canvas a calico colour and found some suitable beads.  When I came to attach the finished piece to the canvas with the calico behind it I ran into all sorts of problems.  The rust dyed background isn't square.  The calico wasn't square.  The frame is square!  So I gave up on the calico and stuck the piece directly to the canvas.

Done is better than perfect!   If you have any tips on how to get square pieces of fabric when you want to be able to fray the edges please comment below.

Thanks for joining me today. 
Bernice

Steph Redfern: Personal Pages

Following on from the one day workshop I did a separate 2 day workshop with Steph Redfern, again at the RBSA in Birmingham.  And I remembered to take photos!

The theme for the 2 days was Artists Books which is a vast subject.  If you're interested Google and you will find over 14,000 articles on the internet!

Steph brought several examples of her work for us to look at and you can see them on her website.

Photo from Steph's website used with permission

I had already decided before I went that I would use Venice as my inspiration - continuing with the work I have shown on the blog here over several posts.

I took some of the same fabrics from the previous workshop plus lots of the gelli prints that I had done.

I started on the first day with some A4 sheets of Khadi paper and learning from the Floating Patterns workshop I isolated a few elements from the pile.

I didn't plan what I wanted to do and just glued different things to different pages.  At the end of the day I had these:

But I wasn't thrilled with them and half way through had discovered the papers weren't all the same thickness or colour.  I went home for a rethink.

Next day I started on a zigzag book and this time laid it out before sticking. I also managed to make the space I was working in just as untidy as at home!  And this photo was taken after I had tidied up a bit.

I left this and returned to the original A4 sheets.  Steph found she had some of the thicker paper and I was able to buy that which really helped.

I dismantled some of what I had done the day before and removed some of the pages which may appear as another book!  I then went on to make these pages, with the first photo showing the cover.

There are several more pages to make and some additions to make to those pictured here plus some stitching but by now I was running out of steam.

I went back to the zigzag book and started some stitching and adding the odd bead!

I'm pleased with where this work is going.  I hope it all gets finished.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Steph Redfern: Floating Patterns

Last weekend I went to the RBSA in Birmingham to take a day's workshop with Steph Redfern.  The great thing for students (but maybe not the tutors) about the workshops at RBSA is that that the tutor has to provide course aims and a list of skills and knowledge to be taught as well as the course description.  This means you know exactly what you are signing up for.

That said I signed up for Steph's workshop because it was Steph!

And it was local and I could get there on the train for free!  [In the Centro area of the West Midlands the standard English bus pass works on the trains and the tram as well.]

No really, I signed up because I love Steph's work.  It isn't at all my style so I thought it would be great to try something that would stretch me.

The skills & knowledge to be taught included:
How to choose, simplify and use elements from personal visual resources to explore and
experiment with the use of pattern and space.
How to choose and develop motifs, and their eventual arrangement and role in your work.

I've done mixed media collage classes before and learned the 'rules'.  I did a great class with Seth Apter.

The great thing about Steph's work is that she has her own way of working that bears no resemblance to the 'rules'.

Photo from Steph's website used with permission

I took with me some of my photos from Florida and some of the fabrics I had dyed and printed on either at Hilary Beattie's Sanctuary workshop or when I've been at Littleheath Barn.

I forgot to take photos as I went along so I only have this photo.

The background fabric is a piece of dyed fabric which I had used thermofax screens to print with.  It needs to be stitched and then I need to decide what to put it on.  Or I could use it as a book cover.  I'll let you know what I decide.

I'm not sure whether I will embrace this method of working but I did learn how to choose, simplify and use elements from personal visual resources and that will be really useful.  It takes me away from somehow trying to use photgraphic representation in my work and enable me to narrow down the subject.

Coming up next: Two days with Steph Redfern - Artists' Pages.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

A grand day out

Make that two!

Last Saturday I went to the Festival of Quilts. I actually spent nearly 5 hours there.  That beats my record for staying at a show by 3 hours!  Anyway, I thought I would share some of the quilts that caught my eye.

Sea Wall Redux by Rosie Epton-Peter

Stone Wall Journal by Linda Turner

Texture & Tiles by Ursual Bowen

Landscape by Grietje van der Veen

Fragments by Judith Barker

Surface III by Isabelle Wiessler

Reflections Reflecting by Peggy Brown

There were a few map related ones as well.   Can you see the recurring themes in the quilts I chose to photograph?
Colours - the use of a limited palette
Geometry - the use of squares and rectangles without being traditional patchwork

So on to my second day out.  It was my birthday and I got to choose where we went.  I chose Winterbourne House and Garden which is quite local but we have never been.

 

It's hard to believe that this is so very close to the centre of the city.  It was so beautiful.

There was a print room with old printing presses and lots of printing blocks.  This is only ever open on a Friday but our visit was on Wednesday.  And it was open! 

And then to top it all off there was an art exhibition which featured amongst others - Steph Redfern.

Two really lovely days out.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

April Sketchbook Challenge

You may remember that in February I took part in a Sketchbook challenge.  The group were challenged again for April.

Steph Redfern kindly gave me this sketchbook.

It's made up of lots of different types and sizes of paper.

I decided I would only use my Inktense pencils in it.

The theme for this month is Renewal and I decided to use the NEW of reNEWal and make my own colouring book using stencils that are new to me.   I also decided that I would investigate colour theory in the colouring.

Day 1
For this page I used all the yellow and orange Inktense pencils and parts of four different stencils.

Day 2
I used the same crayons and two fo the stencils from day 1.

I added water to the colours and it makes quite a difference.

Day 3

This page has reds and oranges and only one stencil.

I used a wet brush on the Inktense pencils and covere the pencil lines with a red pen.

I am using the colours in the order that Inktense have them rather than the colour wheel.  However they are still analogous colours on the colour wheel.  Later in the month I will use the colour wheel to order the colours I'm using.

Day 4
I used only 7 Inktense pencils on this one with only one stencil.  Some of the pencils I own are very close in colour to each other.  These are shades of red moving into the purples.  And behind you can part of the day 2 page.

I'll give you an update on the sktechbook later in the month.

For now, thanks for stopping by.
Bernice