2 Day Course – Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th November
Explore the process of using unfinished textile samples and/or drawing/paintings/photographic/ photocopied image as a resource developing new projects. The stimulus to be found in the landscape from the urban and natural world will be your primary resource as you look at different media and its application for textile and mixed media work. You are welcome and encouraged to develop their own themes, however Cas will have lots of reference and will help you develop your ideas.
The course is suitable for artists who enjoy taking time for experimental discovery, guided by Cas who enjoys introducing the serendipity of found materials into the art-making process. You will create mixed media collages using layering, folding and cutting techniques in combination with cloth, paper and stitch and consider edges, connections and methods of joining.
On the first day we will look at rubbing, staining and mark making,on paper and cloth using drawing/painting media. Reference will be made to layering of paper with found materials and fabric using techniques adapted from Japanese screen making and paper crafts. As you work you will reference the fragments and samples you have brought with for re-use including other materials, images and text you have collected. and consider how you may want to place them together.
On the second day we will at ways of working with the cloth, papers and samples produced to date focusing with over painting and drawing and the addition of other types of marks including stitch.
About the Artist
Cas Holmes trained in fine arts and works between the disciplines of painting, drawing and textiles. She refers to the wild spaces, the wasteland, roadside verges, waterways and the places where our gardens meet the greater landscape.These are the ‘common places’ which are not town or countryside, but rather ‘edgelands’, and have a strange beauty all of their own.
She produces artworks for public and private spaces and is represented in major collections including Arts Council England, Museum of Art and Design New York and the Embroiderer’s Guild. Working on collaborations with the community is an important part her practice and this is reflected in her publications which include Textile Landscape (2018) ‘Stitch Stories’ (2015) and the seminal ‘The Found Object in Textile Art’ (printed for the four times since publication in 2010.
For further information on current exhibitions and projects see:
What you will need to bring
Equipment: Basic sewing equipment (scissors, 5-6 sewing threads), Suggested – Waterproof fine drawing pen/small selection of preferred, drawing/marking media such as non-washable wax crayons, pencils, felt pens, Scalpel or craft knife/cutting mat
Your art materials are to fit into one bag.
Papers: Old paintings, drawings and prints you are happy to cut into and recycle and/ or a mix of papers including 90-140gsm watercolour paper or good quality cartridge/drawing paper.
Old maps, manuscripts, books and photocopies you are happy to cut and tear
Range of tissue/lightweight papers you may have in stock
Gathered ephemera: Suggestions are some pieces of unfinished textile you are happy to re-us from your own stash, lace, fabric scraps, old scraps of hand/machine stitched fabric, writing, some with land/flora/urban theme.
3-4 scraps of cotton/ linen/ silk fabrics in various sizes. A larger piece (half a metre) of cotton/calico/linen is useful as a base for finer paper and cloth.
Again, paper and gathered ephemera are to fit into one carrier bag! – please do not bring portfolios of materials to choose from – the point of the workshop is to use items from the everyday or personal to us. To quote Cas – ‘creating work with limited resources sometimes leads to unexpected outcomes’.
Be prepared to share your scraps!
A sewing machine(s) will be available and its use is optional, participants are welcome to hand stitch.
Sketch book/camera/apron/plastic gloves
Themes references:
Materials collected to relate to the following themes :
From the Land images connected to the urban/natural landscape.
Natural History: Images and text relating to plant, insects, birds. Think of how things may be recorded, presented in books of illustrations, science etc
Your own theme if you have a particular project you want to develop as well that relate to you your narrative.
Camera and notebook/sketchbook for recording progress