"Lichen ... exploring colour, texture and mark" by Maria Boyle

Our talk on Friday evening, 6th February, will be given by Maria Boyle, who was selected as Embroiderers’ Guild Graduate in 2014, and already has many achievements including Ambassador of Compton Verney.

Maria is driven by her passion for colour and texture particularly from observing nature and interesting surfaces or shapes. Colour psychology is important to her, so specific hues are carefully blended through dye and print. She integrates texture through stitch, knit, frayed edges and needle felting. Combining these techniques in various layers creates a tactile and organic cloth that is more of a 3D narrative, somewhere between representation and abstraction.

Lichen: this collection is inspired by her love of forests from a childhood spent visiting her maternal family in Northern Sweden.

Visitors are always welcome to come along to talks.  For details of times and venue, please see the column on the right under 'About our Branch ... How to find us'.

Embroidery Workshops at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

We have been sent details of the following courses at the Ashmolean, in case any members are interested in signing up:

OPUS ANGLICANUM 3 YEAR COURSE

Tutor: Tanya Bentham

Year 1 dates: Saturdays; 9 April, 30^th July and 17 September

Future dates to be arranged with the class once the course is running, 3 per year.

Time: 10.30-4pm

Venue: Education Studio, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street Oxford OX1 2PH

Cost: £250/£240 concessions per year for three taught classes and all materials required for the project.

This is a 3-year course to produce either a 12 inch square panel or a medieval purse.

You will be taught this ingenious stitch technique used in Medieval Europe to create beautifully nuanced images employing the natural lustre of silk. Participants will be taught all the techniques they need to create a complex embroidery of their own.

LAID AND COUCHED WORK COURSE

Tutor: Tanya Bentham

Dates: Sundays 10 April, 31 July and 18 September 2016

Time: 10.30-4pm

Venue: Education Studio, Ashmolean Museum Beaumont Street Oxford OX1 2PH

Cost £210/£200 concessions including all materials.

An in-depth look at this fun and easy technique most famous from the Bayeux Tapestry but used throughout Europe for centuries. Using naturally dyed wools you will create an embroidery panel with an image of your choice from a variety of medieval sources. Images will be provided for you to choose from to personalize your embroidery.

Booking information:

Book via Tickets Oxford:

Online www.oxfordplayhouse.com/ticketsoxford

By phone 01865 305305

In person at the Oxford Playhouse box office, Beaumont Street Oxford.

Further information is available from Jude Barrett, Ashmolean Education Officer

Jude.barrett@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

01865 288078 direct line.

Members' Day

Our January Members' Day was well attended, and there was plenty going on (including a groaning table of delicious goodies for our shared lunch).

We made good use of our store of lucky dip bags to create crazy patchwork panels, and it was great to have a choice of fabrics, threads and trimmings that we hadn't had to haul from home! 

 

There was also an opportunity to brush up on machine stitching techniques for those who wanted it.

The bring-and-buy stall was a surprising success, since at one point it looked as though the towering pile of items hadn't budged. It provided a welcome top-up to branch funds, and enabled some of us to do a bit of recycling or to bag a useful bargain.

We spent some time discussing the Guild’s consultation documents, and branch member, Ruth, talked about her experience on the Guild’s Level One Hand Stitch distance learning course and showed us the work she has been doing.  Ruth said she liked being able to work at her own pace and to fit the course around family life, and feels she has amassed a useful portfolio of samples, notes and research that will give her confidence and help her to structure the way she approaches projects.

We briefly discussed CB300 - the deadline for confirming what you plan to exhibit will be next Members' Day, 9th April.

Our next meeting will be on Friday 5th February, 

when Maria Boyle (2014 Guild Graduate) will talk about 

"Lichen ... exploring colour, texture and mark".

Branch Members' Day, Saturday 9th January

A quick reminder about our Branch Members' Day this Saturday, 9th January, which will be our first meeting of the New Year, and promises to be a full and stimulating day.

Starting at 10.00 am, the plan is to get straight on with making a 'crazy patchwork' panel, using the lucky dip packs that were left over from Regional Day. Please get in touch with Jenny or Janet if you have mislaid the instructions/ requirements list, or if you have any queries about it.

Alternatively, if you have opted to have a lesson in free machine embroidery, please bring your sewing machine, embroidery foot, threads and hoop.  You will also need these, of course, if you plan to create your crazy patchwork on the machine.

Please also bring:

• Your travelling books, and any pieces created at workshops
• Any CB300 (Charlecote) work that you've started (or finished)
• Items for the bring-and-buy table (stash surplus, unwanted gifts, etc.)
• A plate of food - sweet or savoury - for our shared lunch

West Midlands Regional Chairman, Stephanie Harper, will be joining us for lunch, and then ...

• We will discuss the proposed changes to the Guild constitution. It would be helpful if, in the meantime, you could read through the documents that were emailed recently, setting out the committee's suggested responses, and have a think about the implications for us as members and as a branch;
• Sue Cooke will update us on the CB300 project; and
• Ruth Humphreys will display her portfolios and tell us about the Distance Learning Course she is working on.

 That may leave us time to carry on with our crazy patchwork panels!