Weekend at Wanaka

I spent a weekend at the Otago Embroiderers Guild Wanaka School. It is a great weekend of embroidery classes - lots to see! I did a class on Personal Sketchbooks with Jan Wilson. My theme for the sketchbook was bird nests. We tried different techniques and mediums to create pages on our subject.

I love bird nests and want to create one in 3D and this was not the place to do any sketching or get ideas - unfortunately. There didn't seem much direction that I could take a bird nest in or so it seemed to me but I did have a lot of fun creating lots of ideas and trying a lot of different techniques.

These four sketches show just one idea.

Firstly just charcoal pencil on newsprint.



Then I did collage on black paper with a photocopy of lace!



Another pencil sketch but this time I put in some colour.



And lastly a stencil print - kinda looks like a stylised rose (well I thought so).



We were shown a neat idea to bind all our pages together which I want to do at a later stage. It would be a great way to create a sketch book of different types of paper to print/draw on and save pictures/scraps. It would make a great present for an artist. When I get around to doing the book I will do a step by step process of how it is done.

I definitely want to try this idea again - I just have to find an object that inspires me !!

We've Been Adopted

Look what turned up one night ! One minute seen racing across the driveway and later that night it had discovered the cat door and was inside eating cat biscuits. Who could say no to this sweet little face? It is amazing that there are people around that would take a little kitten like this for a drive in the country side and throw it out of the car - well partly true and because of a limp I am presuming the thrown out of the car bit.



Well he has settled in, the other three cats are coping a bit better and not hissing so much. They don't come to sleep in bed as much as they used to because young Harry is already in bed purring loudly !! Yes, we have called him Harry, I am not sure if it is (Horrible) Harry or (Dirty) Harry. He seemed not to know about dirt boxes but he knew all about newspaper on the floor and was also attracted to Ken's shoes. Needless to say the shoes are since tidied away. Harry is also a bit of a slippery customer, he doesn't want to be picked up and so isn't easy to grap and chuck outside at those important moments but sit down for any length of time and he is all over you wanting to have a cuddle, that and he loves having a snuggle with you in bed too. Thank goodness there have been no incidents on the bed.

Anyhow we are smitten with the kitten.