Leigh Square residency week 7

 This was a bit of a different week for me. We are having a show and sale this weekend at the pottery studio. Instead of weaving, I decided to spend some time making things to sell there. Since most of the other people in the show are potters, I decided to do something different.

I stitched some glass beads onto the felt beads that I made as samples for the mini workshop i did a few weeks ago and turned them into necklaces. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

I also made some necklaces from some bamboo tiles that I painted ages ago and then promptly did nothing with them. I added some beads and sari silk bits to dress them up a bit.

I'm also going to take some of the felt cuffs that I've had on display at Leigh Square, and I've done a few mixed media paintings of labyrinths and standing stones.

This whole making stuff to sell is new to me. I have no idea what people might want to buy. I keep thinking back to an overheard quote that I wrote in one of my sketchbooks: "it's an experiment, it doesn't need to be fixed". Thinking that way is making it easier for me to finish some things without getting all bound up

I had two weaving workshops on Thursday. A full day affair in Poco, and then the first of a series of evening workshops in Burnaby. Not the best planning for sure, but they went well. A couple of the students brought along  their own rigid heddle looms. The one on the left is an Ashford and the one on the right is a Schact Cricket loom. It's nice for me to see these other looms in action. Although they are made by different companies they share some features that are quite different from the Beka model that I use. There are things that I like about them, and there are things that I prefer about my Beka looms. Both the students said that they would rather have a Beka loom - mainly because it is less bulky. I have to admit that is my favourite feature as well - especially when I have to carry several of them to workshops, or put one in my suitcase when I'm travelling. (I carried a warped loom in my suitcase when I went to Europe last summer and gave a talk about freestyle weaving in Finland).

Here's some of the fun weaving that people did today. Lots of exploration of "pick and pick" patterns made by weaving with two shuttles with different colours of yarn.

The Thursday evening series will continue on November 24 and December 1. There is still space to join us for one or both nights. Send me a message if you are interested.