Skip to main content

Sherrill Kahn in Townsville

I am ashamed to say that It's been  a month since I returned from Townsville where I thoroughly enjoyed a week's workshop with Sherrill Kahn, celebrated artist and author, and I am just getting around to reviewing my photos.  The  sample of Sherrill's work pictured above is a good example of the art techniques and composition and design principles we learnt.   Having been inspired by Sherrill's  books prior to the workshop,  I had doubts about whether I had chosen the right class.as I have had very little experience with paint. However, I soon found myself experimenting with so many different techniques both on paper and fabric. Sherrill gave us many demonstrations over the five days, and we had plenty of time to try each technique ourselves. I have a pile of great samples!
One of  my favourite techniques was to use inexpensive hair gel with paint .... this is still a work in progress, but I am working on this for the ArchiTextiles Exhibition next month.
And I am still amazed at these results on black fabric ...  extraordinary outcomes from the  ordinary- a  foam tray as a print block, a ball point pen to create the designs and some acrylic paint.
 I was delighted to make some little dolls during the workshop. Sherrill's method of stitching and cutting painted/ coloured fabric images is also simple with stunning results. Besides the ones I made in class, I have been experimenting and using the technique to create pin dolls with commercially printed fabrics and with stamps I already had.


One of the really great " asides" of the workshop was the exercise to " see" our surroundings. Sherrill asked us to take 20 photos each day, and I have been doing that most days since taking the class. At first, I thought, what could be interesting in school grounds ( after all, I spent most of my working life in schools and their surroundings). Mistaken again! I now have hundreds of really inspiring images... here are four I took on the first day of the workshop in Townsville in the grounds of the Cathedral School.




Thanks to the sensational Sherrill and to my wonderful class mates for a really creative, sharing, inspiring and fantastic week.

For more photos, please go this blog's page entitled Sherrill Kahn's Townsville Class, or at flickr
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 23, 2011 at 8:37 AM

    Very inspiring! Glad you had a great time in the class Wilma!I have not heard of Sherrill.i'll have to do some research..Like the idea of taking 20 photos per day!
    Life, and our surrounds is full of wonder.Sometimes we forget to look!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday's Child /2

Work in Progress - 3 of the 193 for "Stitched Up"- Wilma Simmons   The work for the "Stitched Up " Project  continues. See the previous "Wednesday Child" post for the background to this art project celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Newcastle Industrial School. I have been documenting the progress of my work, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the early stages of the "stick dolls" ... Here are some of the beginning steps.. Sticks collected while walking the bushland in my neighbourhood  Drying and getting rid of any insects - oven heat 75 degreesC for approx 1-2 hours.  Trimmed and cut if necessary  Ends sealed with matte sealing solution.  Drying  - solution goes on white but dries clear.  First wrapping - foil to create a body shape  Second wrapping - stretch fabric.  Third wrapping - fabric strips  Some stitching - more stitching and embellishment to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lilly Pilly

Today is Australia Day. I chose a photo of some Lilly Pilly berries as a celebratory image for this national day. Lilly Pilly is  a common name for a plant, Syzygium smithii which grows mostly in Eastern Australia, from the northern  rain forests of Queensland, throughout NSW to the southern Wilson's Promontory in Victoria. In New Zealand it is called "monkey apple, but other names used in Australia, besides lilly pilly, are Eungella Gum and Coast Satinash. The largest Lilly Pilly recorded was found in Dingo Creek Flora Reserve, near Tenterfield where I once lived.  The tree now growing in my garden was once a small seedling which I was gifted when I left Woolgoolga, a small coastal town in northern NSW. Its name  is said to come from the Aboriginal word 'weelgoolga' describing the lilly pilly which grows in profusion there. It is probably no surprise that the lilly pilly berries are edible as bush tucker, and make a beautiful jam or jelly. I have even seen re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stitched Faces

I   've always enjoyed that imperfect line of  "not quite in control' free motion machine stitching....  I think it really suits creating portraits , giving them some character and even a quirkiness that hints of personality plus.  These ones below are from my " Red Cheeks" series from a couple of years ago, and are amongst my favourite stitched portraits.  The current Stitch Club ( textileartist.org) workshop, by  Batool Showghi has inspired me to stitch more this week. Batool , of course, is in complete control of her machine stitching and her works are exquisite and they tell a moving story.  ... " Working with paper, print, paint and stitch, her textile art bears witness to displacement, silenced women and the damage that authoritarian regimes impose on ordinary lives. Batool’s mixed media wall pieces are incredibly striking, but her artist books truly set her apart. Printed imagery of family photographs, birth certificate documents and her o...
Post a Comment
Read more