Weekend work!

Lots of photographs to share tonight - none of it my work but all shown with the kind permission of my Missenden students. It has been an intensive and tiring weekend. We work on Friday evening and all day Saturday from 9.30 am until 9.30 pm and then until after lunch on Sunday but as always it has been a productive and rewarding weekend. I love teaching and especially love teaching adults and what is especially rewarding is when you realise that you have inspired students to go away and work on their own projects. Nickie had been on the first Machined Textures weekend. Not only did she sell the piece she made then but she has gone on to produce this second landscape which is stunning. (Colours much better in real life!)

And not only that but she made this beautiful little bag too!

Kim was also on the first weekend and she was inspired to make a stunning present for her parents' Golden Wedding... all the more special because before she came on the first weekend she was a relative beginner in Machine Embroidery. She made this beautiful envelope...

Which opened up...

and inside was the most exquisite album of photographs of the wedding - all done with image transfer and stitch. Absolutely stunning!

But onto this weekend... the ladies started by painting bondaweb which they ironed onto calico to produce a background for their stitching. Most are still works in progress (so please ignore any pins!) but all are absolutely lovely and as always all so different.

Chris made this beautiful and very precise piece which has the feel of a Chinese painting.

and was already starting on a second piece!

(photo does not do this justice!)

Judith made this lovely glowing landscape with sunset.

Another beautiful landscape below from Gill.


Sharne plans to make this into a bag which will be stunning - if she sends me photos of the finished item I will share them!

Nickie started this landscape - I love the colours in this - misty highlands with a hint of sun!

The picture below was Kim's - yet another beautiful landscape with so much depth!

Audrey made this very evocative landscape below. I think it has a wonderful mysterious feel and I especially like the poppies.

And last but not least, Marion made this lovely landscape - can you tell Marion comes from Scotland with all those fabulous heathery colours.

A wonderful weekend for me so if you are reading ladies, I hope you have enjoyed it too! And if you are reading and think you would like to try this, I'm running similar courses at Missenden Abbey in the next academic year. You can email me for information or I hope to update my website with details of courses very soon. (After assessment day... still stitching plastic bags!)

***

Thank you to everyone who gave their virtual vote to Sam - he got a very respectable 12% of the votes (more than the national average for Green candidates) against a Conservative candidate (who only gained twice as many as him) and the Independent candidate who stayed in office and has actually been our councillor for many years. In Sam's words "I was still the hairest candidate!"... can't argue with that and he is still my no. 1.