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05 April 2022
Another lively gathering with members enjoying the ‘sew-cial' morning. Lots of beautiful work going on in every form of textile art – and lots of chat of course. More items were handed in for our fund raising stall at the Great Comberton summer fair in August and Christine presided over a very successful “Bring & Buy”, raising almost £90.
We settled down around work tables for our afternoon, eager to learn from our local hero, teacher and artist Jacky Shail for her talk on “Starting a Sketchbook”. So many of us love our pristine “pink pig” sketchbooks but, unless you're a City& Guilds graduate, it can be hard to broach that blank first page.
But first, a chance to kick-start our creative processes. With a sheet of paper folded into 6 sections, concertina style, we were invited to draw lines on each ‘page’, the lines connected but unseen between sections. This simple exercise is a proven method of firing up the imagination, but still we hesitated! A few minutes’ concentration resulted in a long sheet with lines. We then began working/playing with the lines, enhancing and highlighting with a single colour, revelling in some grown-up doodling. Of course, the variety of designs in these proto sketchbooks was infinite, proof that we are all creative, and that we need to allow ourselves “playtime”.
Jacky led us through the evolution of a version of the same exercise that resulted, via iterations in her sketchbook, to a completed textile piece for her husband’s workshop, representing stylised circuit boards. The individual sections of the ‘concertina’ exercise can be worked on, cut up, re-arranged and assembled in the trusty sketchbook. From here the possibilities are endless – glue pens for texture, rubbing, painting, printing, cutting adding in text or images, extra folded sheets, layers and hidden treasures – the sketchbook is your oyster.
Jacky shared her myriad sketchbooks, on themes and travels, each loaded with ideas and jumping-off points for future textile pieces, but also works of art in their own right.
As ever, when faced with work based on years of study, hard work and sheer talent, it can be daunting to begin, but Jacky gave us the confidence to begin or develop our sketchbook as drawing board, a record of work, a treasury of ideas and inspiration, stepping stones to works of art.
Her simple recommendation for all of us still hesitating before starting a pristine sketchbook, afraid to sully that first page? START IN THE MIDDLE! Then it doesn’t matter if you’re not happy with that page, go to another.
Now which of those pristine books in your stash is going to become your next sketchbook?
EG
Our April 2022 gallery
