"Within The Forest Of Threads"

Here are some new pieces which I am working on directly from my sketch book.
I still have many paintings of landscapes which are crying out to me to be stitched but I felt compelled to work with these new ideas.
I have been asked if I could run a few one hour workshops for Maderia threads at The Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show in March, when I get more details I will share them here.

Michala x

Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show

I am in a state of chaos, organising and sorting a whole range of work which I will be exhibiting next week at the Fashion , Embroidery, Stitch show at the NEC.
You will find me on the Madeira threads stand with my sewing machine and sketch books amongst piles of threads.

Hope to see you there!

My Sketch Book and Threads

This is the sketch book I took to Italy with me, it's filled with sketches of the mountains, which I hope to share over the next few weeks.
I had this on display at The Herbert Art Gallery with a few other smaller works and threads.
It is a constant source of inspiration, I will use these for my next paintings, developing along side my stitched textile works, plenty of work to keep me busy this half term week.

I'm pleased to announce that I will be demonstrating my work at the NEC in Birmingham Fashion ,Embroidery, Stitch show at the end of March on the Madeira Threads stand.
So if your planning to come please do pop over and say hello, as this is the first time I have participated in a textile show.
Once I get more information I will post it here.
Have a great week.

Michala

Workshop At The Herbert

A Winter Landscape

 My Favourite Subject Talking About Threads & Art!

Engrossed in our landscapes

Last week I had my first workshop at The Herbert Art Gallery entitled Landscape In Threads.

The Herbert have fantastic facilities, the room is spacious, full of light, I would love it as a studio, it inspires you to be creative!

It was rewarding to share my interest in fine art, talking about artist's in history who used landscape to interpret the world around them and my own passion for exploring my art through textiles.

Our first day was spent looking at methods of developing our work in the sketch book, talking about how those ideas could be translated with threads and fibres, luckily I had a wonderful range from Madeira.
It didn't take long for us to start to play with the varied materials, wool, silk, rayon, combining stitching with needle felting.

The course is over two days, the next will be a week on Saturday, plenty of time for everyone to be creative in their sketchbooks!
Thank you to everyone who came, it was lovely to meet you and I look forward to seeing all your work next week.

Christmas Threads & Wishes

This is just a quick post to wish you a merry Christmas and to say thank you for your visits or comments on my blog.
It has been a very busy, exciting, challenging year and I have been stitching more than I have been blogging!
Next year I have workshops at The Herbert which will be exciting as I have a huge array of beautiful threads from Madeira to experiment with. 
I will share my workshops here on my blog in the New Year
Enjoy your festivities.

Michala x

Thread Heaven

This week I was relieved to find another sponsor for my exhibition at the The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
I have to say thank you to Dylon who will sponsor me with dyes for my exhibition.
I say relief, because as some of you may know, my husband has been out of work and the cost of materials and framing has been a concern.
Luckily my husband has picked up some contract work recently,  so I'm hoping we will be able to cover the framing costs or perhaps get some form of sponsorship or grant to go towards it.

I also received a large box of  amazingly colourful threads from  Madeira.
How excited was I and compelled to use them in my art straight away...thread heaven!

Today I have been working on a brooch for a friend, it's for a relative who moved to America and this was a tree from the view of their former home.
Earlier, despite the grey clouds, I took the dog and camera for a walk.
It's elating to find beautiful views so close to home that you have never discovered before and I am eager to translate these into paintings and then stitch.

I hope you have a nice week ahead, we break up for the summer...yipee!

More Stitching

I have been stitching this week on a new larger textile piece.
Again, I have referred to my sketch book as my starting point, where I recorded how the light and shadows played between the olive trees in Cimiez, Nice.

I felt in awe of the landscapes magical beauty, as the light streamed in, reminding me of a colourful stained glass window in a church.
I have many hours of stitching ahead of me, hand and machine.

Madeira threads  contacted me this week and offered to sponsor me in threads for my exhibition at The Herbert Art Gallery.
To say I'm excited by this prospect is an understatement, when you know my obsession with threads!!