A Little Bit of Red - Week Fifty

....but mostly black and white.

White on white might have been more appropriate

for we are living in a snow globe again.

One day I am going to make a huge black and white piece

with a tiny but important red mark.

That has been brewing for a coupe of years now

but too many ideas

too few hours in the day!

Small stitches and finer thread melding two layers of cloth

together....

such a different feel to last week's

huge stitches with thick, thick thread.

There is no rhyme or reason

no planning ahead.

Rummaging around in a basket full of scraps

is enough.

This time a small piece of kantha caught my eye.

Stitched in a Dorothy Caldwell class years ago.

Stitched on two layers of Kona cotton...

not easy for my ageing hands!

If I embarked on a larger piece 

it would have to be on turban cotton or harem cotton

or perhaps an old worn damask tablecloth.

A Special Gathering of Kindred Spirits

After a year of planning and organizing
Diane and I were able to welcome
A creative group of people
to ARCAC

for a week with Dorothy Cadwell
making Human Marks

What a great week we had.
Even the Carol Mahtab show
in the gallery downstairs
fit our workshop perfectly.

The weather was perfect
Diane created lunches for us to munch on outside

We made marks of every kind

some we hung in the garden to dry

then made them into books.

Dorothy was able to give each student a lot of individual attention

We were kept busy for five glorious days
and most evenings too.

Wish my battery hadn't run flat
I could have shown you photos of our last
evening with Dorothy
digging up earth at Red Head
and grinding it to a dust.
Then the perfect finish of Harold's fresh cooked
scallops and haddock.

With many thanks to
Diane who cooked and played house mother for the week
both at the art centre and my home;
Andi and Jocelyn who made us some lunches;
Handy Hubby who helped me host; 
and Rusty Pups who behaved quite well!

What a privilege it has been.
Now I am pooped!

The Tactile Notebook

Twelve of us gathered in ARCAC's beautiful new room

to a classroom filled to the brim with inspiration.

Inspiration on clotheslines

inspiration in piles on tables.

It had taken Sandra many hours to arrange the room

and all her materials.

She is a generous and caring teacher.

So many wise words

were dotted about the room

to inspire us in our personal journeys with words

Diane and Chris mixing paint for all of us.

Anything can make the word

 Linda, Karen, Diane, Celeste, Ilga, Sandra 

and Val with her back to us

sharing pages from her notebook.

Jamie showing

Val, Karen and Kathryn her handmade notebook.

I think we all have magical memories of our three days with Sandra.

As I said

Sandra is a warm and inspirational teacher.

Just two things Sandra reminded me of...

the importance of 

ritual in our creative lives

and

the equally important daily recording

of our very personal reaction to the words

and experiences of our daily lives. 

Wish it had been much longer.

Though we are complete novices at this

Diane and I hope to continue bringing inspirational

teachers to our region.

In fact the next one is 

Dorothy Caldwell in September.

Can't wait!