Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Exhibition: Jennifer Collier  During a recent stay in Manchester ( England ), I visited some “arty places. I was pleasantly surprised to find a small exhibit of the amazing work of textile artist, Jennifer Collier in the Museum of Science and Industry. Jennifer, who worked at the museum for two years under the Setting Up Scheme run by the Arts Council England North West, describes her technique “I create innovative textiles from natural and found materials such as leaves, petals fruit and tea bags …. The main technique I have developed is the fusing of fruit between layers of organza. This can be done with apples, strawberries, figs, pears, kiwis and cherry tomatoes.” Of course there were other really interesting and engaging displays at this museum, including having your photo taken and becoming part of the electronic installation . Museum of Science and Industry    The Manchester Craft and Design Centre, in the Victorian market buildings, was such a vib

While our holidays have provided me with many blog posts yet to come, this week's "arty place" is at home, literally. Yesterday, once again our family room was transformed into a workshop area  for a Precious Metal Clay workshop for beginners . The photo shows some of the work, beautiful pendants - really fantastic, I think for beginners! Recently most of the workshops here have been art dolls and this year many creations have been born here, during Wise Women workshops ....  and Message Stick art doll workshops ...  Even at family gatherings, there is always time for a workshop or two at Empress Wu Designs . Today we made polymer clay power rings and learnt to make swirl beads with scraps of polymer clay.  If you are interested in any of these workshops please check the workshop page or contact me directly. 

Charles James and Florence Beatrice Simmons  My husband’s grandparents were both English politicians.  Jim’s grandfather, Charles James Simmons represented various constituencies in the Birmingham area, and his grandmother  Florence Beatrice Simmons was an alderman in Birmingham City Council  in the 1940’s to 1950’s.( they were known as Jim and Beatrice). Their individual stories take more than a blog entry to cover – in fact, Jim’s (Charles James)  autobiography, The Soap Box Evangelist , tells his story while  he was a member of the  House of Commons  and a conscientious objector in khaki during World War 1. So, this blog post focuses on the fascinating story of their house at 20 Slack Lane ( corner of Slack Lane and College Road , Handsworth)  which we visited recently. 20 Slack Lane ( corner of Slack Lane and College Road, Handsworth, Birmingham    Known as the Handsworth Town Hall , the former  home of the Simmons family  is now a museum operated by the Handsworth