Workshop with Diana Syder

Diana's workshop which took place in Nottingham on 10th November was a very different approach to design than the 'norm' followed by many textile artists. Looking like rabbits caught in the headlights we gathered round and threw words at Diana, randomly, imaginatively, intuitively, following her instructions based around a poetry group exercise. We were given an imaginary box, a 'wonder-full' box and were asked what we would put in the box?
Those that were brave enough to offer up the first words were then sorry! Diana wanted more - if trees were suggested - what sort of trees? Ancient trees, organic, textured. When silk was suggested - give more detail: bright red silk, warm, luscious, manipulated. A bolt of luscious red silk
A diary followed - a family diary, early detailed family diaries x two.

We were encouraged to move on from the physical, this box is magic and can hold anything - the sound of the silver birch at the end of the garden; joinings, constructions of the books we had seen, torn edges, the holes where the mice had eaten.
Subtle shapes and tones of stones and shells - definately moving into poetry mode...
Beautiful illustrated books - the art of embroidery - close up images.

Diana pushed us to narrow things down, to be more specific - not dealing with abstract and generality. This excercise can move into design very easily - don't stop with your first ideas - they are just the starting point - push it further.

Threads cottons and silks appeared as we returned to the image of the stitch; ropes and glorious techniques, photographic history, ancestors, provide a context and evoke memory.
Love - where do you start with love? A place to start with love - a sense of humour, a baby's laugh that knows no bounds, infectious laughter.

Someone suggested the rhythm of the sea breaking, the slapping noise against the sand - to be preserved forever in the box. - Diana suggested we may find metaphors in our work  -The slap and break and ebb and flow of the sea.

Expand on a word image to make concrete - look for layers - double meanings. What alot of varied ideas we had come up with.

From here we went on to describe the box, and the travels it had done. The group then created a vocabulary of words related to textiles:
ripped, fine, shredded, sumptuous, embellished, tulle, chiffon, cotton, silk, lace, weave, knit, patterned, stiff, shear, selvedge, pleat, ragged, felt, cuff, flowing, ribbon, corded, tapestry, pattern, yarn and on and on...

From the multitude of ideas and writings created in a very short space of time we then swapped fabric samples we had taken along, and were asked to write down some words, working very quickly,  to describe the fabric we now had....mine was a piece of decorated net, old and torn, it made me think of a bit of wedding veil, faded and on the scrap heap, forgotten by family, spices and wedding cake, forgotten glory, one moment in time, veiled history, machinery silent, no longer made in Nottingham.

We returned to the theme of the sea, raised earlier looking for metaphors in our vocabulary of textile terms, and the ideas raised by our fabrics, using those to write about our imaginary sea scene....

A tapestry of colour weaves in and out of the waves
off-white roughened peaks crumple onto fine champagne sand
linear patterns left behind
a veil of net, abandoned, flows in, silent, forgotten
joyful laughter floats on the cool air, machines silent, church bells silent

Another had written ' a neat selvedge joining sand to sea...'  and  'trimmings added untidily, a rough sea wall as a stiffening...'

We then went on to write some of the words, then paint those layers over them using candle perhaps as a resist some of the words retained, some lost or misted....It was a very different approach and I will be very interested in seeing some of the results from this workshop - Diana took us places we would not have considered without her intervention - thank you Diana.

Workshops with Alison Samain

Alison ran two workshops for Kickstart recently ,both in Leicestershire, looking at illuminated letters.

Using the colours of the medieval period, Green (Malachite) - the nearest now is winsor green, Blue (Lapis Lazuli) replaced today by Ultramarine, and Red (Cinnabar) using Vermilllion or Scarlet lake; we worled in gouache as it is opaque - giving a solid flat colour.

Alison provided participants with archival quality hot press watercolour paper - medieval documents of quality would have been on vellum or parchment which is still available but very expensive. 

Starting with painting techniques used in medievaltimes, participants practised building up blocks of colour using thin layers of gouache mixed with water. Traditionally egg yolk would have been mixed with pigment.

The first thinlayer of paint is very watery - an underpaint to even out the paper - the liquid is 'teased' across the paper working quickly.

each following layer is a little thicker and added on top when the initial layer is dry. This technique was used to add folds in fabric, shadows etc to old paintings.

When working on a letter the gold leaf attaches to anything sticky which can include the paint - so the 'size' the glue, is worked first before adding colour.

We used Miniatum made by Kolner; it goes on pink and you add a drop to the paper and drag it across the space with a fine brush which leaves a little mound of fluid - once the space is filled leave it to set for around 10 minutes minimum. The size must be thoroughly dry before applying the leaf and it will remain open for gilding for up to the next 20 hours. Due to the long open time, overnight drying is advisable to assure the highest degree of lustre.

Once dry you re-invigorate the dried glue by 'huffing' (breathing warm air through a paper tube onto the glue). Put the sheet of gold leaf over the glue and brush over the sheet with a cotton wool pad once - in one direction. Lift the leaf sheet and pass the cotton wool back over the leaf to remove any loose gilding.

This letter D is in lombardic style (1462) and is a Versal - Capital - used at the beginning of verses.

After the gold leaf is completed you can filin the other areas using one or more of the three colours.

Areas can be highlighted in white; three dots would mean the Holy Trinity.

Rosalind Wyatt is one artist to look at who combines calligraphy and stitch.

Look at The St John's Bible for a recent illuminated bible production

A completed letter D from the first workshop