Nodule

Karin Millson, Nodule #1

This is not a finished piece. In fact it is a set-up so that I can put it up on the blog.

It reveals the geologist in me.
My current work is most certainly fed by the visuals associated with having my roots firmly planted in the Earth's rocky past.
And yet….
I am experimenting with a technique that reveals patterns and shapes that also take me back to beauties seen in New Zealand - photographed knowing that one day they would be a wonderful design source.

I do find it quite disturbing;  the shock is in seeing one's thoughts made real. - to see what is in my quietened mind, drawn out by my creativity.
It is all working at the subconscious level as I am not calling for this to happen, it just arrives like a gift before my eyes as I work.
Memories are reawakened.
Question: What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Answer: In this case, most definitely the Nodule.

Class with Judith Dios Almost Full

The response to the call for registration for the workshop 789 March, has been swift (overwhelming being such an over-used word).

Please contact me directly if you are interested in one of the last places on the workshop  with Judith Dios in Calgary, or to have your name added to the waiting list.
See previous blog post for more details.
Thanks

Kreative Momentum brings Judith Dios to Calgary

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have pleasure in sending this invitation on to  you.

I know I really should change the layout of my blog to fit larger images… but I haven't done it yet.

So please click on this image to enlarge it in another screen.

I was fortunate enough to meet Judith during the first Canadian Felt:Feutre conference earlier this year and saw her glorious work exhibited at the show there and knew she would be a wonderful teacher for a Kreative Momentum Workshops.

I hope you will take advantage of her visiting us in Calgary.

Do get in touch if you have questions or want more information.

This is a great opportunity for beginner and advanced felters to learn more about Nuno felting, acid dyes, creating felted, sculptural clothing or other beautifully decorated surfaces.  Also her method opens up the technique of felting to those with back and upper body aches - get in touch for more information, but I don't want to give the game away to everyone!

Judith says “The workshop will work for all levels of experience though some knowledge of the materials and basic method of felting is required for more complex clothing projects."

(I can arrange for a one day felt play class to get you started if you wish.  Get in touch if you want to take advantage of this.)

Happy Xmas Everyone

If the shops are full of Seasonal Greetings then why can't I be one of the first to fill my blog entry with seasonal colours.
Looks like I have inadvertently - or is that advently - created a Xmas card for my fibre friends.

Karin Millson 2013, Mithril

Metal, silk organza, monofilament, felt








Of course there are two sides to every story

Don't think I ever uploaded these images, which were gifted to me by The Invisible Man…

Thanks Matt, but where are you?

I enjoyed making this and more in the same vein. And see that this sort of thing is being sold at a very fashionable department store in Canada these days.

 Working on another… Narcissus ran away and fell in love with his reflection… Hmmm… is there a message?

Hey everyone, don't forget the next SDA meeting

Wednesday 20th November, at Atlantis to listen again to a Reith Lecture (courtesy of BBC) :-

Grayson Perry on "What makes good art"

See you there at 7pm.

$5 members of SDA, $10 non-members, refreshments will be served.

The award-winning artist Grayson Perry asks whether it is really true that anything can be art. We live in an age when many contemporary artists follow the example of Marcel Duchamp, who famously declared that a urinal was a work of art. It sometimes seems that anything qualifies, from a pile of sweets on a gallery floor to an Oscar-winning actress asleep in a box. How does the ordinary art lover decide?

Tie and Felt

My first tie… Indigo…
Thanks Matt for pushing me to make something I haven't made before.
I do hope  you like it.

It does have a symmetrically pointed end!
And the pocket square is 12" x 12"

With my signature shibori or tie -die patterns, very other-worldly, like something from out of a petri-dish.

And at last I am moving forward with felting in my own way… after taking a leaf out of Marjolein's book which has taken me to using felt in a different and more exciting way than I had previously experienced -  I am now making samples and experimenting.  Photographing them along the way…. do I upload here or not?
Probably not ready to yet.  But I am having fun breaking the rules.
More on this another time.

Proud as Punch of River Valley School - Friday Special : Legal Graffiti

Here it is - 
21 students  created a stunning piece of urban art.
Not sure where it is going but it certainly goes.

 RVS Students, 2013

Legal Graffiti

or

The Dove, the Spider and the udders

(apt mis-spelling of 'others')

Thanks to Dean Stanton for getting us started with his patchwork-panel style for group pieces.
Dean, I hope you like the direction the students took it.
And thanks for not-telling me how my hands would ache after using the glue gun for 3 hours to stick the panels down ;-)

What I would like to see is this piece hung on a Wall-For-All.
My students didn't have any problems letting go of ownership of their original panels such that, as a group, they could work over the entire panel and create a much more dynamic whole.
What would happen if we gave the work over to the entire school, hmmmm?

Stickers are allowed.

Thanks Mrs Corbett for having faith and putting your students in my hands.
Next week, Matchstick men, and then the all-important debate: -
 "This house believes Graffiti is a social activity." ((…and - Yes, 'graffiti' is a verb too)).

This is going to be terrific. Save the date, Wednesday 20th November, 2013

SDA: Alberta meeting in Calgary

Full details below.
All are welcome, $5 members, $10 non-members.

Grayson Perry is an artist: renowned potter and certainly a surface designer.  His tapestries based on the Rake's Progress were shown in the Royal Academy this summer (they took my breath away and stimulated a good 2 hours worth of attention and more time on discussion - even though I wanted to go and see the Summer Exhibition too….).
Grayson has been selected to give this year's Reith Lectures on the BBC and we will be listening in to one of them at our next Surface Design Association meeting in Calgary.

You are welcome to bring or wear a piece of clothing that  is "subtle with bright colours" in the style of…. Grayson.

Beating the Bounds

Grayson Perry : Playing to the Gallery 2013 

The award-winning artist Grayson Perry asks whether it is really true that anything can be art. We live in an age when many contemporary artists follow the example of Marcel Duchamp, who famously declared that a urinal was a work of art. It sometimes seems that anything qualifies, from a pile of sweets on a gallery floor to an Oscar-winning actress asleep in a box. How does the ordinary art lover decide?
In a lecture delivered amidst the Victorian splendour of St. George's Hall in Liverpool, Perry analyses with characteristic wit the common tests - from commercial worth to public popularity to aesthetic value. He admits the inadequacies of such yardsticks, especially when applied to much conceptual and performance art. And he concludes that in his opinion, the quality most valued in the art world is seriousness.

Click on the image below to enlarge.
RSVP me to ensure a seat.