A new year, a new start and I am very pleased to be back posting here on my page again. This year is all about having fun and being happy. Creating beautiful things and exploring new ways of working and expression. Being thankful for the smallest of blessings every day, taking things slowly and achieving personal goals.
I have a brand new project that I will be working on with my sister Evelyn. We chose a collage project for this year. Fifty weeks of collage prompts from Randel Plowman's Collage Workbook. Each week we will be exploring composition, colour, new collage techniques and themes, some of which will be out of my comfort zone I'm sure! But that is a good thing. I must push myself.
Please note - I won't be sharing the techniques here just the finished collages and a note about what prompt I am following. If you wish, you can purchase the book or sign up for Randel Plowman's Online Collage Workshop which starts on 13th January 2018. Randel Plowman's Online Collage Workshop.
Week 1 - was all about gathering the required materials for collage, spreading out on my desk and pushing pieces around until they speak to me. I quickly sorted the pieces into piles of type of material, colour or theme ready to use. Then the challenge was to work quickly, creating five collages in less than five minutes each.
Once I started, I was very surprised to find how nostalgic I felt about the pieces. Random things came together to create new stories. A mix of childhood memories and future plans; places I have visited or would like to visit; older and current experiences; vintage and contemporary thoughts.
My collages this week have winter colours or a winter theme. I used some beautiful images and scraps of paper that my friend "Lawendula" sent me. Some of you may know her for hosting the paper swap collaborations. My dear friend FM sends me a winter parcel from Germany and I send her a spring/summer parcel from Cornwall. It was a joy to use some of these special pieces.
In observation, all of my collages have special meaning here. The first one "blissfully happy" has a snowy wrapper from some chocolate and ginger mince pies given to me by friend Sue, some of my own artwork on fabric and paper and a vintage tapestry wool wrapper.
The reindeers are special. They remind me of a small Bambi figurine I bought for my Mum when I was very small. I used my first pocket money to buy it and she still has it, bless her!
All of my collages are 5 x 5 inches worked on heavy sketchbook paper and professionally pressed.
I think I will build up a bit of a collection of them before finally deciding how best to present them.
Other things this year ... I will finish up the Surface Treatment Workshop but not to any deadline. I'm already on my third sketchbook with that project. In 2017, I filled five Seawhites sketchbooks, in all, with textiles, paintings, drawings, collages and samples.
I will slowly get back to my textile work and paintings. I have many projects on the go and, perhaps, this year will be more about picking up and working on a variety of projects, finishing off eventually but to no timescale or deadline. I want just to be happy in the moment, in the doing and creating. I expect there may be some new hearts this year too, as I have new ideas for them and they are calling.
Yes, a slow year, I think. Slow and productive. More slow stitching, small projects and whatever takes my fancy! Sending love x
