Transfer Painting Workshop

Following her Friday evening talk, in which Mary Gamester took us through a whistle-stop tour of her textile travels in India (and which left us exhausted!), Mary led a workshop that was packed with activity.

We were divided into two groups on arrival.  One group was set to paint and stamp as many papers as possible with transfer dyes ...

... while the other group painted detailed pictures provided by Mary:

After an hour or so, the groups swapped over.  The level of concentration needed was reflected in the fact that it was a very quiet morning - there was just no time to waste!

In the afternoon, Mary showed us some of her many beautiful samples and explained how different effects were achieved.  This was a real eye-opener.  We were let loose then to iron our designs onto fabric, which gave us lots of samples to take home for further play, experimentation and stitching:

By the end of the day we were exhausted, but happy to have spent a very productive and inspiring few hours.  Besides our samples, we took away a wealth of ideas for new techniques.