Action points

Well my sketch books made the journey safely to the UK, were assessed and are now on their way back. Out of this I have received some action points. The first one is regarding health and safety. Well health and safety has been a huge part of my day job for years , so how did I manage to miss this element. Sadly I think for the reason that most accidents occur , people do no recognize the danger therefore don' t take any actions. I fell into this trap here. Painting , cutting and felting what could be the danger therefore ignore the HSE information. Shame on me.

I also had omitted to write anything on what I had got out of doing all the work.

This wasn't because I had not got anything out it , more that I overlooked the requirement to write it down.

So what have a got out of the first two months of C&G Level 3 Certificate in Design and Craft. 7716-23 Feltmaking.

Well I have a far better understanding of how to mix colours, and have applied it to paint and fibre. I think with this knowledge I will be able to apply it to dyes. I have pushed my painting skills to the limits and probably beyond, and I have enjoyed doing it.

I have tried to learn about colour values , but these are still I bit of a mystery to me. I just hope my instincts hold out and I continue to get this about right.

Mostly I have got out I feeling that my felt making is improving and as that is why I am doing it I am overall very pleased with the process.

So with my improved skills and extra time I have finshed the new bag.

Here it's is improved handles, two pockets, nice shape and flat bottom so it can stand up. I am also very pleased with this.

 

 

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More than a sketch book

Last weekend I sent off the sketch book I have made from the first two months of my course. This is the first sketch book I have ever made , and its got a lot more in it than sketches.

It's the first one of I don't know how many , maybe 5, so I thought it should have an over view. As my theme is river edges , my over view is a river , with photographs of all the inspirations I have used. This is of course only partly complete.

I have some leaves and ferns both painted and prefelted.

This is just one example as there are lots of other paintings and sketches and felt samples.

I had to research and here is a little snapshot into the work of the photographer Joe Cornish.

I have ended this book , with some of my process photographs, This is the part I find the hardest. Record every step sounds quite easy , but I always forget as I just get too carried away to remember to stop and photograph. Here are some of the steps in the making of my Mekong river banks felt

This is all winging its way to Kate in the UK , and I am very interested to see what she thinks of it.

 

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Felting Fridays

Well 2013 is here, and this has meant a new job for me. One of the really good things about my new job is that I will not work on Fridays. What a luxury to be able to do this. All this week , whilst trying to concentrate on my new job I have been dreaming about Friday 11th January 2013. My first felting Friday.

So what shall I do. Well I am going to start the day with a walk , it is particularly grey and miserable here in the Netherlands at the moment , and working I never see the light of day. So first a walk down to the polder, to get some air and get my creative thoughts flowing.

Then I am going to make a felted bag. Last year a made a prototype. I wanted , two good strong handles , so I incorporated cords. I wanted a spacey bag with some pockets and I wanted it zipped. I also wanted it to have a flat bottom so it would stand up.

 

Here it is hanging up, it does stand but the handles droop.

Mostly I am happy with my prototype, but I want to find an alternative way of attaching the cords securely.

 

 

This is a view inside the bag of how it is done now , which works , but is a bit clumsy. I am not sure how to improve this , maybe take the cords right to the base of the bag and secure under the removal base.

The base works well, using the principle of the large supermarket shopping bags you can buy here and even recycling part of oneq

I am not so happy with the zip. I think I should sew it in by hand to make it more invisibly attached and I also think during the felting process I need to make a more definitive top of the side of the bag by forcing the felt together with some stitches.

Finally I will make two pockets in the new bag.

I have some recycled sari silk that it going to from part of the decoration of the and I think I will make a black bag with purple insides and handles.

What I good day making this is going to be.

 

 

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