Where Solid meets Void

I did a wonderful 2 day weaving course with Joan Baxter. I did not realise what a gift this was until I saw some of her work. Joan worked for seven years on the Henry Moore tapestries. We wove a sample piece where we mixed threads which Joan had dyed. We had to choose two colours and mix those until we got the colour we were thinking of. I learnt  a lot about adding colours and dropping them from the mix. Up until now I have only woven lines so it was great to try rectangles and slopes. My seas will now be able to go up and down.

My sample

Frances at work. You can see more of her work at  www.francescrowe.com 

Joan's samples

Heather weaving her sample based on the colours of a lake out on The Sheeps Head

Joan's work

Joan used twigs in this snowscape

We worked in Pascales' gorgeous studio and the company of other weavers was very welcome. It was great to see the work that people had done. Thank you to Kathryn for the yummy chocolate cake.    

A New Toy

Justine kindly lent me her table loom. It looked far too complicated for me so I asked my technical expert to take a look. He read the books, had a good look and said it would take us years to learn. This is from a man whose ancestors were weavers so I think I will stick with my tapestry loom for now.  

Purple for Pascale

Pascale loves purple too so I made her a necklace. The large beads are striped agate and the smaller ones are dragon vein agate. I had enough large beads to make another necklace and this time I used small amethyst beads. These were paler and created a more summery necklace.  

A Study in Purple

Jenny, Julie and I did a half day workshop with Phil O'Grady. We used oils and a very fine palette knife to do a flower study. It was good to use the knife in different ways and to learn how to create texture. I also learned how to use highlight colours like orange to make it sing. Would you know that we started with an oval shape for the flowers?     

Inspiration at Liss Ard

Our art group had a wonderful private tour of the house and estate at Liss Ard. Great scones too. There was so much inspiration there for our Spring exhibition that I do not know where to start. I will leave it to settle for now.

 I loved

• the simple shapes of the doors and windows in the house
• the details on things like the fireside tiles
• the absence of sound in the Sky Garden and the feeling of peace
• the beautiful autumn tones
• the FUNGI, what amazing colours and shapes  

The dust is piling up

I am in a creative mood so I am ignoring the dust. I have taken over the house as you can see. Knitting being done in the living room - I have four babies due between next week and May. My big oil painting is drying in the dining room then I have to do a strip of weaving for it. Lots of necklaces to make in the conservatory and then I have to master my new spinning wheel. I can either do the footwork or the finger work but at the moment I can't do both together. Thank God for a lovely husband who ignores it all and admires the latest efforts.    

Willow China

The colours in these beads remind me of willow pattern china. Katie loves this colour so this one is for her.

Gobstoppers

I bought a necklace in England because I liked the colours in the acrylic beads. It was too chunky round the back of the neck so I used 8mm black onyx agate beads and had enough to make two necklaces. One for me and one for my Sis.  

Sea Greens

I loved the colour of this jade. It is so perfect that I only had to use tiny amazonite beads in between to make this necklace.  

Treasure from Tynemouth

Joan arrived in Somerset with some gorgeous new beads for me. She is getting so good at choosing. Thank you Joan x x.