Workshops

Thank you to everyone who came to workshops on Sun 29 June.

Thank you to everyone who came to workshops Sat on 28 June.

This is what we made......

Thank you to everyone who came to workshops on Sat 21 June.

Free mixed media workshops inspired by the exhibition

‘UnMade in England’

At Bankley Studios Gallery Levenshulme

Image from exhibition

Workshops cater for a range of ages and sessions will run across the last two weekends of June:

Saturday 21 June

11.30 – 12.30pm Children’s workshop (under 12s must be accompanied by an adult)

2 – 3pm Young people over 12 year old and Adults

Sunday 22 June

11.30 – 13.00pm Adult workshop

Saturday 28 June

11.30 – 12.30pm Children’s workshop (under 12s must be accompanied by an adult)

Saturday 28 June

2 – 3pm Young people over 12 year old and Adults

Sunday 29 June

11.30 – 1pm Adults

Image from exhibition

WORKSHOP INFORMATION

My professional practice involves creating and delivering workshops for schools, community groups and arts and wellbeing projects. I am interested in working outside of the traditional art environment such as within museums, heritage sites, libraries, allotment societies etc., using these areas as inspiration and bringing art to people who would not necessarily visit an art gallery. 

The aim behind my workshops is to inspire creativity, look at things in a different way, teach textile skills as an art form but that can relate back to useful and practical tasks such as sewing on a button and mending a seam. I use pre-used textiles, mostly old clothes, which provide a wide range of exciting fabrics and trimmings to be un-made and re-made. 

Deconstructing the clothes gives an insight into the skills used and time taken to create them, and provides information about their previous life. The materials, techniques and skills sharing involved in the workshops also raises awareness of environmental, economic and social sustainability issues. 

The most important aspect is that the workshops are enjoyable, social and thought provoking and that the participants feel good and confident about what they have achieved and want to do more.

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Coming soon !
I found a tatty old education handbook in the library, published by the Crafts Council and entitled ‘Exploring Contemporary Quiltmaking’.


The sub-headings in chapter 2 read like a list of workshop ideas:


The history and tradition of quiltmaking
Establishing Tradition
Traditional reasons for making
Making to remember
Making to heal
Thrift quilts
Social and cultural significance
Cross-cultural exchange
Rites of passage and religion
Economic circumstances
Political aspects of quiltmaking
Fine art or craft?
Content and meaning
Practical skills
Hand or machine?
Devaluing skills
Division of skill by gender
Cognitive skills


The book contains a short paragraph on each topic which just made me want to know more. I realised that quiltmaking was something I wanted to do for myself as well as being the perfect project for group sessions, in actual fact many of my previous successful school workshops basically came down to quiltmaking of some kind or another.


I have always resisted the urge to quilt having been put off by the rigid rules and regulations of patchwork ladies and their desire to buy excessive amounts of brand new very expensive ‘specially for patchwork’ fabrics, much of which will never be used. I now realise the better way to fight against this is to prove how much more can be achieved by using what’s available or interesting pre-used purchases.