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.