I know - long absence .. big catch up coming - starting with my last lot of talented studnts - oh ... and a book ...

Lovely long title - much needed after such an absence. So much to tell .. and where to start. Well just let me quickly mention the NEW BOOK .. which will be launched on Art van Go's stand at Ally Pally next week, and is the main reason for my enforced silence .. the deadline was tight as ever ( I may never now be able to write a book in a normal timespan) Hopefully it will be worth it - here's the cover ..

It grew in production - so many ways to play with our gelli plates ... so is actually now 132 happy pages. I will be at Ally Paly - teaching Thursday and Friday, then demonstrating with Art van Go on Saturday and Sunday. I think it is safe bet the gelli will appear- so do come and say hello and join in my playtime (sorry - work). As Stephen is not at Ally Pally, he can deal with any online sales whilst I'm away - so I will get it into the online shop on Monday/Tuesday ... so if you can't make the show, you can still get your paws on a copy. I'm biased (very) - but I think it is nice ...

Now - away from me, and onto more talented students. I have one or two workshops to catch up with, but I'll start with the most recent and work backwards I think. Earlier this week, I ran a three day summer school (the second one) at Redditch Needle Museum in Redditch. We were blessed with the best ever weather and if the students enjoyed it as much as me, then we had a good time. We were mono-printing using gelli plates and then mounting the prints onto canvas, which the girls had pre-textured using modelling paste.  A very talented group, despite a few early nerves (quite right - I am scary) .. and they produced a wonderful variety of work. So I'll shut up and show you that now...

These are coming in alphabetical order I think ... photo album must have done that - we all know I haven't!
So starting with Denise  - four beautiful and very varied canvas, using some leaf prints, some fruit prints, some stencil and stamp prints and some mono prints made using masks .. very thorough job Denise!!

 

These next three are by Helen - gorgeous curvy pears (and beautifully controlled fine appliglue application), some gorgeous ferns and some prints form  what remained in the bottom of my box of last years hogweed head ...

 

The next two are by Jacqui, - gorgeous colour interpretations of some leaf prints ...

 

Once she got the hang of where she was going, there was no stopping Jane - who made these next four beautifully graphic canvases

 

Jenny came all the way from the north of Scotland and now has a new group of friends to visit workshops with. They were all staying in the same place and went out on the town every night .. lovely when it just works out like that. I love theses dynamic swirls that Jenny worked with - the energy in this canvas is palpable

 

 

This gorgeous canvas featuring some leaf prints, is another of Jennys

 

 

We did quite a lot of mark making and drawing with the appliglue this session and Loretta shows complete mastery with these wonderful 'scribbles' over her textured and gelli papered canvas  

 

 This is another of Lorettas - a fabulous Japanese style canvas using leaf prints and some stencil based gelli prints - just so different ..

 

And different again are these beautiful and dynamic pieces by Olga - on canvas and in her sketchbook 

 

 

The next two vibrant canvas are by Sarah - glorious colour combinations and a mixture of leaf prints with some mono-printed patterns

 

Lovely Val (who took some merciless teasing about her love of black) proved her choice perfectly, with these two stunning canvas (both on black, of course)

 

Viv made some wonderfully fine prints using fruit, stamps and stencils, which she combined in these lovely canvas with some needle lace and trimmings from her own stash

 

And last, but absolutely not least - her are three quiet beautiful canvas from Yvonne - using lace and old needlework , some interesting wax made papers and some beautiful hosta prints - I just love these

 

 

I never fail to be impressed by students willingness to feel a bit of fear and still do it and produce such good results. I hope each time by the end of a class, I have gone at least a little way to convincing them that art is not scary, and is not about judgments. It's about tapping into the heart of who you are - and my girls did me proud on that front - well done all.

 

And I think we have at least one class ready for next year too!! - Hilary xx