Meet the Artist Live Demos!

As part of the Bucks Open Studios event, there were Meet the Artist and Demonstrations held at the Central Library during the MK Fanfare Exhibition.

On Thursday 28th May I demonstrated how I make my textile animal silhouettes. I then returned on Saturday 30th May to demonstrate the needle felting technique I use to make my latest collection of felt flowers.

It was lovely to meet fellow BOS artists and thank you to the visitors who came along to
MK Central Library and got involved.

Demonstrating my hand-cut animal silhouette technique

Pictured left to right:  Artists Alan Chown, Jill Varone & Clare Tebboth

Fanfare Exhibition Launch - with... a real fanfare!

Today I attended the official launch of the The Bucks Open Studios Fanfare Exhibition in Aylesbury, opened by the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Francesca Skelton.

A superb display of prints, paintings, ceramics, sculpture and jewellery by over 130 artists and makers taking part in the Bucks Open Studios event this coming June.

A real trumpet fanfare and string quartet performed at the event.

The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Francesca Skelton

Exotic Echo displayed with felloe feathered frinds,
Night Owl and Harland Hawk to keep him company

 The exhibition continues until 4th July and is open 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday. 

Hope you get the chance to see the work.

Use up those scraps!

Sample side 1 - Heart shapes strung around the edging

The final week of the machine embroidery course. This session we learnt how to use dissolving fabrics. I was surprised to find that dissolving fabric is much like plastic in both look and feel. Once you've gathered up a bundle of old cotton and fabric scraps - it is the perfect way to make use of the bits you'd normally thrown away. I love this idea as it's recycling at it's best: making something beautiful from something you would normally throw away.

Sample side 2 - can you spot the central heart?

I practised embroidery flowing shapes on the machine, in the form of circles with a heart centre. Once dissolved, the heart centre was without something to bind to, so next time I'll remember to cover the whole surface with embroidery.

I'm going to use this to decorate my studio clock so this is very much work in progress!

Exotic Echo ready to fly!

Today I finished my latest painting, 'Exotic Echo', in time for displaying at the Fanfare Exhibition at Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury. 

Exotic Echo displays the beautiful colours and distinct chirpy character of the Red-Lored Amazon Parrot, discovered during a wonderful trip to the tropical country of Costa Rica. These exotic parrots tend to gather in flocks and are truly an amazing sight as flashes of their green plumage fill the sky.

The Fanfare Exhibition runs from 23rd May until 4th July, entry is free.

Bucks County Museum, Church Street, Aylesbury HP20 2QP

See www.buckscountymuseum.org for details

Tel 01296 331441

Machine embroidery over foils, velvets and organza

Working with velvets and foils this week was definitely a first. A totally new technique which has steps you should follow in the right order, otherwise you foil the base of your iron - big oops!

Foiled butterfly 'eyes'

I decided to foil the 'eyes' on my butterfly wings, which once drawn out onto Bondaweb looked rather like easter eggs! Each set of foiled eyes followed a different colour scheme and once the foil had been applied, we added a top layer of organza and embroidered patterns over the top. 

I used these to test out my pretty variegated embroidery thread, and also practice flowing patterns from the previous week.

40 GIANT hands ready!

The giant hands are now complete and ready for their journey down to Wiltshire! The next stage of their journey will see the Barons all decorated by community groups and schools ready for the celebration marking 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta. 

The GIANT parade will be taking place in Salisbury on 15th June. 

See festiveroad.org for details

Doodle Embroidery

The idea of doodling with the machine sounds easy, although practising on paper first was worth doing first, to plan the route the machine should take. 

Unlike when you draw a picture, the needle would not be lifted during creation of a pattern, so all lines are joined up and all patterns flow. 

After some practice on paper, I  created circular patterns and plant shapes using the machine. Some look more like scribbles than doodles, so I'll definitely need more practice to master the art of machine doodling!

Test sample using coloured embroidery thread