College has been over for quite some time now, so I can’t use that as an excuse any more. For anyone who doesn’t already know, I pulled a Distinction out of the bag, despite a very poor last year. I’m still not entirely sure what happened in that last year, except that I never really did find a direction. In fact, when I looked back at everything I’d done for my final year in September, I still haven’t found it now.
But anyway, I’ve put last year away, and finally started looking at something new. I’ve got a few things rolling around in my mind, but there’s one piece in particular that I’ve just finished that I wanted to share.
Due to college commitments over the last few years, I’ve not managed to get myself to any Embroiderer’s Guild workshops for far too long. October’s workshop was being run by Pat Ashton-Smith, and I’ve always enjoyed her workshops so I went along to do some Layered Landscapes.
No, I’m not going to show you the finished article from the workshop, mainly because it’s NOT finished. I loved the technique but I don’t like the piece, so it’s in the UFO box now and will probably stay there for a while! However, I know that Pat runs workshops for two people in Allendale, and it seemed like the perfect Christmas present for Helen… So I arranged with Pat for the two of us to go to Allendale for the day to make a mermaid doll.
We managed to get the majority of the work done in the day, with only decoration (hair and such) to finish afterwards. Pat usually runs the mermaid workshop as a two day course, but with a little tweaking (such as painted faces instead of sculpting) we managed to do it in one.
So, say “Hi” to Shani the Mermaid. (The pictures aren’t great, but I’ve had no decent sunlight to work with since she was finished)
For anyone interested in any of Pat’s workshops, please see her website – www.patashton-smith.co.uk. It’s always a wonderful day, and anyone enjoying crafty fun will have just that. And she also provides tea and biscuits!
