Life Drawing 17th May 2012

Pen drawing. I was really pleased with this drawing. There was another piece but I think it looks better with just this section.

Last week's life drawing session was a really good one. I had a couple of new people which was great and I really enjoyed the session. Martin was our model and came, as always, well prepared and with some excellent poses.

Warm down pose, pen

Quick sketch during a 15 minute pose

Overlapping sketches-a bit weird!

Quick charcoal sketch

Part of a larger drawing that works better on it's own

The larger drawing

All images © Helen Walsh

Appleby Craft Fair

A selection of crafts

I did my first Craft Fair of the year yesterday at Appleby Public Hall, organised by Masseuse Smooth of Penrith. I did one there last November which was really good and yesterday I had the same spot, right at the entrance which was great. It was pretty quiet yesterday and none of us took a lot of money but it was good to see the other crafters and compare notes and have a catch up. I think next time I may put less stuff out as I think my table is looking a little bit crowded, but I'd rather it was that way than not have enough stuff! Anyways, here are some pictures!

Owl Doorstop

Owl Family

Suffolk Puff and origami hair combs

Cards, purses and gadget cases

Brooches

Buttons

Cushions

All images © Helen Walsh 2012

New Cushions

Three Cushions, applique and hand stitch

Well, no posts for a while because I've been a very busy bee with one thing and another. Anyway, I'm off to do a craft fair in Appleby tomorrow (10-4, in the market hall just by tourist information if you're around!) and have just made these cushions which I'm really rather pleased with. I appliquéd lace and organza onto cushion covers with bondaweb and then added handstitch details to finish them off. I think the smaller bird works better than the bigger ones but I'm pleased with both designs. They definitely have potential!

The Map Project

Detail of my Palm Map

Sometimes work just doesn't work. You have a great idea, you know how you want to do it but for some reason it's just not right. I had this problem whilst working on my piece for the Art House Co-op's Map Project. I had, it's true, left it a little to the last minute as life generally seems to have been insanely hectic recently. However, I had a pretty clear idea what I was going to do and how I wanted it to look. But it just wasn't happening, whatever I did it just didn't work which was very frustrating. I tried changing media and technique but to no avail. So, I left it alone which is sometimes the only option (well, that or complete insanity.)

Had I still had plenty of time to work on the project I wouldn't have been so bothered but as it was I only had a very small window to complete it if I was going to meet the postage deadline. As sometimes happens in these situations I rattled off a piece of work and ended up being far more pleased with the results than with all the other failed experiments. So, here is my completed piece. I had originally intended to do a large drawn and stitched map 'of experience' incorporating images of my hands and various layers of text, image and stitch. This piece would then have folded down to 4x6 inches, as stipulated in the brief. However, things did not go according to plan but I still wanted to keep the basic idea the same; to make a personal map of experience and what is more personal than your hands?

My Map 

Detail

I began by photocopying my hand as I liked the correlation between fingerprints and map contours and the palm readers ideas about love lines and life lines and being able to tell a lot about a person from their hand. I then added washes of white paint and ink and when that was dry I began writing my experiences over where the lines in my hand would be. Some of the stuff I wrote was positive, these are the lighter areas, and some was negative, the darker, more densely written areas. I then added some stitching and cut it down to 4x6 and got it posted. Although it is not how I envisaged it I am pleased with it as it is personal and I think visually it is quite interesting.

Stitch Detail

Life Drawing April 26th

Pen Drawing

The first of this set of life drawing sessions. It was very quiet again but I really enjoyed the session. Our model gave us some excellent poses and it was good to be back after a break of a few weeks.

Graphite

Pen-2minute sketch

Pen 5 minute Sketch

Rag Rugging Creations

Standing Wool Creations

All in a days work

I've spent a lovely day today learning about rag rugging. For my Mum's birthday I bought her a workshop and obviously I couldn't let her go alone so today we've been busy creating wondrous things under the guidance of crafts-person Gill Curwen. It was a really good workshop which introduced us to several different techniques including proddy, hooking and standing wool. We were encouraged to try each technique and then spend some time developing a small piece of work or a sampler. I particularly liked that as well as introducing us to the basic techniques Gill showed us ways to take things further. She also showed us lots of examples of her own work which were really beautiful and inspiring. We came away keen to take things further and feeling full of enthusiasm. You can find out more about Gill and see some of her work on her website.

Proddy and Hooking Techniques

Detail of proddy work

Proddy work

Standing wool

Detail

Standing wool-first attempt

Standing wool and shirring

Detail

Life Drawing starts again!

My next life drawing session is this Thursday at Denton Holme Community Centre, all abilities welcome! If you would like any more details just get in touch!