Delicate Stitches: origami

Showing posts with label origami. Show all posts

Sunday, 15 July 2018

Inventive Sketchbooks at Cloud 9

Set up ready for the workshop

If you've read this blog before you'll know that I love running workshops, I love that each time I run a workshop it's different and I learn something new, even when I've run the session many times before. Yesterday I ran my 'Inventive Books' workshop at the lovely Cloud 9 Studio Gallery in the centre of Dumfries. I had three great participants and we all had a productive, creative and enjoyable time. The gallery is a lovely place to visit, there are lots of lovely things to look at (and buy!) and Julie, the owner is really friendly.

Making pages for our folded books

It's unusual for me to have such a small group, hosting workshops can be expensive so generally places need a higher number of participants to make it work financially. It's a very different dynamic working with a small group and it was a nice change. The participants were all very creative people as well so that also changed the dynamic, throughout the day I had to remind myself that I was working as it was such a relaxed atmosphere it was more like a creative conversation than teaching.

Folding our books

I shared my processes for making my favourite folded sketchbook and envelope sketchbook and everyone had a chance to make one of each using a selection of papers that they felt inspired by or drawn to. One of the reasons I love making my own sketchbooks is that I can select the papers I use and make it personal to me. I like to draw on a range of different papers so making my own books means that I can pick out the papers I like and use them to create a sketchbook I know I'll want to work in.

Making covers

Beautifully finished folding book

We also discussed ways of working in sketchbooks. Like many things, I think that for most people getting started is often the hardest part. As a starting exercise I gave everyone a word or phrase to get them going, I kept these deliberately vague so that lots of different ideas could be generated, it doesn't matter if these ideas don't lead to a final piece the important thing is to get going and start the creative process both in terms of thinking and making. Over the years I've backed myself into a corner (creatively speaking) so many times by getting overly focused on finding the 'right' idea to work on. Over time I've learnt that it's better just to do something, anything as the thoughts and ideas will flow much more easily.

Starting to work in our sketchbooks

Sketchbooks are very personal things and I love that each one made on this workshop is so different and reflects the personality of its maker. I finished the workshop feeling inspired by the conversations we'd had and happy that I was able to share some of my favourite techniques and hopefully inspire my participants to carry on their creative journey.

Finished books

Finished book

Wednesday, 3 January 2018

Even more Sketchbook making shennanigans

Assorted books made by members of Myriad Studio group

One of the things I enjoy about running workshops is the challenge of adapting what I'm teaching to suit my audience. Back in November I got to run my Inventive Sketchbooks workshop twice in one week but for two quite different audiences. The first one was for Myriad Studio art group, led by artist Katarina Prior and based at Eden Arts in Penrith and the second was at Carlisle Youth Zone for the Junior club (ages 7-12.) Two quite different audiences...

Looking at samples

Choosing papers

The Myriad Studio session was a lot of fun but also really quite relaxed. Everyone was an adult and had come not just to learn something but for the social and therapeutic benefits of art making too. There were also a few people I knew who'd been on some of my other workshops which was lovely. It was a very friendly group and I was able to run the session in a very laid back, informal way, taking people through the process step by step and helping when needed but mostly just chatting! It's lovely working with groups like this, it hardly feels like work at all and I often get to have a bit of a play myself.

Creative chaos!

In contrast the session at the Youth Zone was what you might call action packed! I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun and I was lucky to have some fantastic staff supporting me but I was also very tired at the end of the session. We were busy all evening, the workshop was run on a drop in basis and we had so many children come and join in which was really good. There's often an interesting dynamic with workshops with energy going back and forth between leaders and participants; for this session it was high energy the whole evening and so by the end of the night I was ready to drop.

Finished books...

It's very different working with adults and children and I get a lot out of working with both groups, I like the differences and adapting what I'm doing and how I approach things for each different groups. One of the things that I love about working with people in general is being able to light that creative spark; whether it's showing someone who's already very competent a new way of doing something and sending them on new creative path or seeing a child genuinely proud of what they've been able to create with me. Sometimes I look at my schedule and think I must be insane but other times I look at what I actually do in that crazy schedule and realisle how much I love it how lucky I am to be able to do this.

Saturday, 28 October 2017

More Sketchbook Making shenanigans...

Stacked Folded Sketchbooks

Earlier in the year I had a lovely evening running my 'Embellishing Printed Fabric' workshop for Brampton Arts and Crafts Club. It was such a relaxed and pleasant evening with a really lovely group of people. They obviously enjoyed it too as they invited me back so in September I ran my 'Simple Sketchbooks' workshop for the group.

Folding, cutting and sticking

I had a bigger group to work with this time as none of the gentlemen of the group came to the previous workshops but they clearly felt happier with sketchbooks rather than stitch so had come along this time. Once again it was a lovely evening, very relaxed and lots of chatting! I demonstrated my techniques for making envelope sketchbooks and my favourite folded sketchbooks. I then let the group loose on my stash of papers. One of my favourite parts of this workshop is choosing the papers and I love seeing people having a good ratch through and selecting the bits they want to use.

Folding, cutting and sticking

It was really interesting seeing how differently people approached the workshop and the amazing range of sketchbooks created, each a reflection of the individual. I'm always intrigued by how even in a large group and working with the same materials everyone will produce something different. I'm sometimes asked why I'm so willing to share my techniques and 'secrets' and this is why; no one will do it quite how I do as each person has their own unique quirks and characteristics and this will come through in any creative work.

Folding, cutting and sticking

Playing with folding sketchbooks

In a similar vein I don't worry about sharing my techniques and tips as I believe that to create 'good' art you need to believe in what you're doing, it has to be authentic. The word authentic is bandied around a lot at the moment but I really believe that a piece of work that is truly authentic has a bit of the makers head, heart and hand in it and will always stand out over a copy or something. One of my tutors once asked me "if you don't believe in your work how can you expect other people to?" This really struck a chord with me and since then I've tried to always make work I believe in, that I am proud to claim as my own. So, the moral of this post is go and be creative and do it your own way proudly!

Finished sketchbooks

Sunday, 4 June 2017

Feather Sketchbook

Sample detail from Feather sketchbook

I recently posted about the folding sketchbooks I like to make and following on from this I thought I'd share one of my finished sketchbooks with you. I worked on this book early this year and it's an exploration of feathers.

Work in progress

Words associated with feathers

Paper cutting experiment

Like most of my sketchbooks there is a combination of drawing, sampling and writing, both about ideas and about feathers directly. The sketches are mixes of observational drawings and ideas of pieces of work I'd like to make or am thinking about making.

Partially opened up sketchbook

Front cover (cyanotype and stitch)

Front cover (detail)

Working in a sketchbook allows me to collect all my thoughts and ideas together and to try things out. A lot of the textile processes I use are very labour intensive and time consuming. Testing out ideas on a small scale in my sketchbook can often mean that I can work out whether an idea will work and whether it's likely to be worth investing the time and energy or not!

Page details

I'm not generally precious about my sketchbooks, this means that I tend to be willing to try things out and not worry too much. Working in this low pressure way can often mean that new ideas pop up which I then have the option to explore or record and come back to.

Sketchbook Pages