In amongst other art tasks, I've been preparing for a workshop and building pots/vessels/containers with a variety of techniques and styles, experimenting to see how fabric, paper and stitch can be constructed into different shapes.
The premise for the workshop is "Clay? No Way! Explore a different way of dimensional “pot-making” with fabric, paper, stitch and embellishments and create a selection of little pinch pots with needle and thread!"
I had started last year with much larger pieces and enjoyed the process of giving a voice to some ideas....the one on the right is about 36" high!
And, as you might remember, I made many vessels during my residency in Greece this past spring. They were mostly experiments that might work into larger pieces....explorations and ideas brought out. Some were successful, others not so much!
For now, I've been working smaller, as I want the students to be able to build (and perhaps complete) several pieces. So my plan has been to keep the sizes manageable and have the options to embellish or add details to the different shapes. I've used old quilts, hand dyed threads and fabric as well as buttons and assorted "ephemera"!
My plan...there's always a plan, right? Is to continue with these and learning more about the internal structure needed for the shapes (I've found that the plastic craft canvas works well as its a bit flexible and has lots of holes to hold stitches) cardboard works well for the base and usually thats the final step to finishing - I wrap fabric around the bottom and use a glue stick on the other side....then stitch in place.
I am hoping to develop thiese into an online workshop, probably next winter - in the meantime I'll make some short videos to share.
I would love to take that class!!