'Embroidery in the Round' - talk by Leigh McCallister - Puppetry!!

 Today we got to indulge our inner child with Leigh's wonderful handmade puppets, and great fun it was too.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Leigh did her degrees in art and embroidery in England, before ending up in Edinburgh, where she met her husband and fellow puppeteer partner Steve. They started their own business 35 years ago making their own puppets and putting on shows all over the UK, including a visit to China to perform. They have a range of shows that they perform to children's schools, nurseries and theatres on various themes according to age, and she entertained us with incidents from the shows. She had brought along Red Riding Hood and her granny, plus a rather splendid wolf. Mary Anning the Victorian palaeontologist from a show about dinosaurs. The fox and the gingerbread man. The shoe marker and the elves. Vikings! Captivating bears. A life size Una, the wife of Finn McCool. And a sinister Macbeth and Lady MacBeth made from handbags. A large glove puppet crocodile (my favourite!).

Always on the look out for unusual and interesting fabrics, many of the puppets were made from ingenious adaptations of materials and techniques. The faces are made with papier mache, with one shoemaker puppet head and feet made from shoe lasts - brilliant! Leigh took us through how they were made, with wooden rods and various attachments to move them. 

It was something out of the ordinary for us, and very inspiring. The shows of her company can be found on the website www.clydebuiltpuppet.co.uk, it would make a great treat this Christmas.

The Lost Teddy

Una, Finn

McCool's wife

Mary Anning

MacBeth

Lady MacBeth

Stitching with Dye - Dyeing to Stitch! - day school with Morag Gray

 Members enjoyed the first day school of the season with Morag Gray, learning how to dye fabrics and manipulate them for stitching.

Sketchbooks - What Use Are They to You - talk by Gillian Cooper

 Invaluable, as it happens! 

Gillian had started her working life as an accountant, having not been encouraged to go into an art career, as happens to so many of us. But the spark was not to be denied, and she eventually was able to take a degree in art as a mature student, and went on to develop her textile skills along the lines of quilting. Gillian had brought along a large quantity of sketchbooks, and was enthusiastic about how essential these are to working out the creation of a piece of art. Sketchbooks don't have to be pretty, they are tools for trying out ideas, to see what works and what doesn't. Drawing skills are not necessary, though these improve with practice, and one can use collages, fabric bits, photos, anything to aid the process. They certainly save wasting a piece of fabric by rushing into a creation without forethought, and then wishing you hadn't wasted hours of work by doing part of it differently. Been there, done that!Gillian had brought along a number of samples that had been matted as small works of art, along with a selection of larger quilts that resulted from the sketchbooks. She explained how themes had developed in her work, such as a love of 'ancienty things' which grew as shown in the numbers of drawings of old pots, standing stones,earth  goddesses and old architecture.in fact, she is now  taking an MA in Art and  Archaeology. 

It was a very interesting talk, and we are looking forward to her day school in February. Gillian works from her studio in Balfron, where she also teaches various courses, both in the studio and online, and more info can be found at her website www.gilliancooperstudio.com and on Facebook.

Members Summer Work

 It was lovely to see all our friends again after the summer break, to enjoy the talk by Debbie, to catch up and indulge in a lovely spread of homemade cakes. People have been busy over the summer and we had a great display of varied and gorgeous textile art, such an inspiration.