Monday, May 24, 2010

Fab students!


Dear Friends,
Students on the weekend. Two ladies, Pauline and Andrea. Fab gals - they both worked so hard and barely took any time off for lunch they were so keen!
We started with one plan and then decided to completely change our minds and do some scarves. After much colour consideration choices were finally made and we plunged right on in!
Above is Andrea unrolling and rolling...............................


This is Pauline, possibly wondering when on earth Elzabeth is going to say "STOP ROLLING!"


Towards the end of the day we started work on some flowers.


New proud felters. They did such an outstanding job I am so delighted for them both.





Pauline's ruby reds looked so gorgeous her decorating on either end was so weeny and delicately applied - I was encouraging her to add more but Pauline had it just right. As you can see the results are just lovely.


Above are Andrea's efforts for the day and once again a beautiful set of work that really hits the target. Each colour is just off set so beautifully against the other and the flowers very nearly stayed with me!

How lucky is my life? I get to teach people who want to learn my pet subject!
Never do I forget how very lucky I am.
My every best wish to you all
Elizabeth
XXX

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Poppy Patchwork


Hi dear friends,
My good intentions to post every week are sadly falling down short! I will aim to do better.
Here is an order that was delivered this week. I really enjoy creating other types of work that include varying techniques.
This one contains felt (of course!) hand painted fabric, linens, cotton, silk, silk paper, cheesecloth as well as some hand and machine embroidery.

Why is it do you think that poppies are such an eternal favourite? Is it their emotional connection to Rememberance day for all Australians? Not sure. At any rate they are a comforting flower somehow.



These poppies are painted using the glorious Caran d'arche watercolour crayons - they lie beautifully in a Walkers shortbread tin and sometimes I just open the lid and just gaze at them.
Free motion embroidered to the linen base.


Felt additions stitched by hand and machine.



Metal buttons - I just LOVE them!
Not sure why - these ones are so uncluttered and don't distract from the colours and textures of the fabrics.
I hope everyone is having a great week and finding pockets of time to do lovely things.
Hugs and love
Elizabeth
XXXX

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Fleece, my daily bread


Hi dear friends,
Sorry for my delay in writing. I can only say I have been BUSY!! Lots of new luscious fleeces ready to be made into heaven knows what! There was a time when I used to have plans for all the new shades that hung on the racks but now I have faith that a good idea will arrive on the day I am ready to create. This train of thought that has pervaded my week has allowed me to arrive at the conclusion that too much over planning can spoil the end result.

Certainly there are projects that require experimentation and I firmly feel that if you have decided on a particular medium as your discipline, then regular experimenting is ABSOLUTELY
vital if your work is to remain fresh and exciting.

I would encourage any artist to stretch and stretch and even if you never use half of the techniques in your expermenting sessions then at least you can cross them off the "what if I tried this" list and march on down the road - or wander or dawdle or skip - depending on the day.








Hoping everyone has some time to experiment this coming weekend
Lots of love,
Elizabeth
XXX