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!

More Workshops Planned!

If you are interested in translating your paintings, drawings or photograph's into textiles I am running the following additional workshops, encouraged by filling my first machine embroidery one!



The first one will be on Saturday 14th of April 2012, 10am until 3.30 pm  Sketchbook, Needle felting & Embroidery
You will learn how to develop your landscape ideas in your sketchbook using mixed media techniques, paint, ink, tissue paper, pastels etc..
From these sketches you will experiment with needle felting and hand stitching.
Cost £45.00 materials  £5
You will need to bring a sketchbook, needles and scissors and some images to work from.

Saturday 28th of April I will be running Freehand Machining with Needle Felting
This workshop will focus on needle felting and free hand machine embroidery to create a landscape.
You will play with beautiful fibres and threads!
Please bring your own images to work from.
Cost £45.00 materials £5.00
You will need to bring a working sewing machine which will adapt to freehand machine stitching, also scissors, needles & spare bobbins
The great news is that if you don't have a sewing machine, there will be the option to hire one for £5 a day. (please let me know as there is a limited number of machines available)

The workshops include tea and coffee.
We will take a half an hour break for lunch ( please bring your own lunch  )

Spaces are limited to 6 to 8 people per course
If you are interested in booking a workshop or require anymore details please email me.

I'm still busy stitching away as I'm trying to get work organised for the Fashion, Embroidery Stich show at the NEC which opens on the 22nd of March.
I hope to see you there if you can make it!
M x

From Stitching To Painting

I thought I would get back to some painting this week, again working from studies I made around Kenilworth in my sketch book.
This is quite large, A1 size, so I used a big brush with plenty of inks and water colour.

Back To Stitching Landscapes

This week it's back to the sewing machine, combining it with hand stitching.
I love the range of marks I can make with just a needle and thread, the repetitive hand stitching is addictive, whilst being absorbing.
Again I'm referring to my sketch book, this is from a range of sketches I made last year.

Fine Art Textile Workshops!

 At last I have managed to sort out a few dates to run some fine art textile workshops.
I will be running these in Kenilworth in Warwickshire above a new shop called SewArty which will be opening on the 5th of April.
If you would like to find out more details do email me through my website here

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

A Closer View

My exhibition finished last week and I feel I have now come to a cross roads in my life, what should I do now?
I think it will be important for me to continue with offering workshops and talks, bringing together my knowledge of fine art with textiles.
Also I have much work to continue with, taking time to paint,stitching my large scale pieces which are developing into an interesting sculptural surface.

I read an article in the Guardian about David Hockneys latest exhibition" A Bigger Picture"
I found this extract thought provoking
 Asked what advice he'd give to today's students: "Follow your instincts," he said. "Don't believe that painting's dead, it's photography that's dying or changing anyway, because of technology, just as painting changes because of technology.