Teaching - A Wonderful Way to Learn!

A couple of weekends ago, I had the great privilege of teaching a workshop to members of BAVA (Biloela Area Visual Artists). They explored making fabric paper and handmade beads.



Here's Gwen - I couldn't resist snapping a shot of her in that delicious light beside the window! She's busy making the coolest bead from nylon lace - wrapped a round a satay stick and zapped with the heat gun to melt and dissolve it into one organic, funky lump! Gwen was once a dental assistant for the dentist I used to see - it was so much nicer to be in her company as an artist!! No drills and suckers...only heat guns and satay sticks!



Meredith and Michelle were cooking up unique ideas for procuring a heat gun of their own! The unanimous decision was that every girl should have her very own heat gun - they are way too much fun to live without! I think there was one going on each of these girls Mother's day lists!



Glenda added the finishing touch of a light rub of gilding wax to her fabric paper...such a beautiful colour!

Come day's end, none of us wanted to go home - there's such a marvellous energy when a room full of people get together to explore, discover and create! And, as always, I found I learned so much from these great women - teaching is a most inspiring way to learn!

Journal for Mandy

My "Cousin in Law" and friend, Mandy, lost her lovely Mum a couple of weeks ago. I set about covering a journal for her...to write her reminiscences, or whatever she pleases, as she experiences life without her Mum.

The cover is "fabric paper" - a technique Beryl Taylor has written about in her book "Mixed Media Explorations". I have layered some very old sheet music (Norma loved to sing), aged card and a transparency image; as well as adding some paper punched daisies, with coloured brads for centres. Across the top run the words:

reminisce (rem'.e.nis) to think, talk, or write about remembered events, usually with fondness

Seemed totally appropriate!

I've been hard at work on the Altered Book. I have actually managed to construct a real book from the covers of an old book; made pages from watercolour paper, printed with maps and the edges burned; which I tied together with painted satay sticks all lashed to the spines of the pages...It's not quite ready for it's glamour photo session, but is getting quite close. Lots and lots of fun!