Workshop Fun in Ballarat

Ballarat Embroiderers Guild hold an Autumn Leaves Seminar each year and this year I was invited to teach a class called Fabric Collage and Design.

The 6 students enjoyed dyeing silk, creating several print blocks and different surfaces on their paper and fabric before putting it all together to create a collaged piece.

All in 2 days!

I will give you a peek at the kind of work they did.

First some photos of the luscious silk dyed using Instant Dyes from Beautiful Silks, these silks are THE BEST dyes. I love them and have been using them for some years now. They are literally Instant! You either put the silk into the dye bath and take it out or you brush it on and then it is done! Quick rinse - barely any dye washes out and dry. Very colour fast.

The class started with looking at cooking utensils as I gave a general theme of Preparing a Feast - from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The students used the items to draw from to create print blocks, then did rubbings on various things like the egg lifter, sieve, lace doilies. layer upon layer using paper and fabric they went on to produce these works seen below.  

Lois                                                                                                     

Dianne S

Maria

Suzanne

Dianne 

Jan

Workshop preparation

In 10 days time I am heading up the highway to Ballarat to spend 2 days teaching at the Ballarat Embroiderers Guild conference- Autumn Leaves. 

I am looking forward to it and I have been getting put the materials to take and working out how I will present the class. 

 So far my plan is to focus the class with a theme of 

 " Preparing a Feast : when the ordinary becomes extraordinary." 

I am excited as this will give the participants plenty of scope but hopefully give those who find it difficult to know where to begin, a starting point. 

We will be doing heaps of fun stuff, like printing, dyeing and collaging. 

Printing Fun

Final day of workshop fun in Roxby Downs. Image making exercises followed by print block cutting then a frenzy of printing began.
Participants produced heaps of fantastic prints on fabric and paper. The closer it came to the end of the day the faster some worked!

Well ,what a fabulous time I have had here, great hospitality provided by Rachel and her family, good laughs, great chats, amazing landscape, great community. 

Farewell Roxby- hopefully be back one day soonish!

Adults have a turn to Play

After a lovely dinner and talk/ slide show of my art to some of the lovely people of Roxby Downs, today was the first of 2 days of adult workshops.

The participants today had a great day colouring  fabric and paper.  They rusted paper and fabric with the rusting baths of tannin, caustic soda and ferrous sulphate, then we dyed cotton with procion dyes and finally dyed silk with instant dyes.  That was only the morning! 

Rachel, my host, took me for a little drive to see the nearby town of Andamooka. Big difference between the 2 towns

then a magnificent sunset to finish the day

full moon rising

Amazing work by kids

Heaps of art was created today with fabulous printing done by all participating children.

Children's Workshops

What a great day we all had today with 2 different groups of children colouring fabric and creating print blocks.
Fabric was dyed beautiful colours and calico bags transformed with pastel rubbings and over painted with fabric paint.

Print blocks from soft cut, compressed sponge rubber and polystyrene were created, with some being printed on paper today. 

It was a mere 37 degrees C today with a north wind blowing, so naturally the fabric dried very quickly and I certainly didn't need a jumper!

Teaching in the Desert

Today I flew up to Roxby Downs in South Australia. It is a copper ( and uranium ) mining town not far from Lake Eyre,  surrounded by red desert. Having driven up this way a couple of time previously it was fabulous to fly in this time, to see the lines of the dunes and dry water courses from the air.

I am up here to run a series of workshops for both adults and children.  We will be dyeing cotton and silk as well as creating print blocks to over print the fabric.  So all is set up ready to go in the morning.

Fokker 50 to Olympic Dam

Baggage Collection