Unless stated otherwise my courses all take place at The Hearth in Horsley, Northumberland. This small rural arts centre has studios for 9 resident artists and I hire a nice big room to teach in with plenty of space for you to work and me to lay out materials. At lunch time we can take advantage of the café on site which serves delicious light lunches ,snacks and cakes and I usually open up my personal studio for a short while so you can see what I am currently working on.
You may be disappointed to find all my courses are FULL so if you really want to get on a course you need to sign up for my newsletter as it is definitely worth being on the waiting list. Students sometimes pull out for one reason out another.
Arctic Sun 5th December 10-4 at The Hearth Horsley Northumberland £60 incl all materials FULL
As the winter solstice approaches our days shorten and become cold. Some animals and birds hibernate or migrate but there are some magnificent white creatures such as the polar bear, snowy owl, arctic fox, wolf and hare who survive the harsher conditions of the north and who effectively camouflage themselves against the winter snowy landscape. You will build up a portrait of one of these using only white fabrics, vintage hankies, linen and lace on to a dark blue piece of quilt . Your hand stitching will help to define the feathers or fur.
To be put on the reserve list for this course contact meHERE stating the name of the course.
To be put on the reserve list for this course contact meHERE stating the name of the course.
Winter Windowsill Saturday March 5th 2022 at The Hearth 10-4 £60 including all materials FULL
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In winter a palette of muddy brown, beiges, grey and white persist with a touch of blue in there on good days. Green and Spring is yet to come. This course is based on a body of work I have made where I mix research into Ben Nicholson’s paintings of pots, jugs and windowsills with drawings I have made of the bare silhouettes of plants and a subdued soft winter palette of colours that I love. I will demonstrate how I paint up fabrics to achieve painterly cloth ( I will have done it for you as there is not time in a day to do everything) and you will get a chance to overprint if you wish and use a discharge technique to make marks on your pots. You will make one small collage which can be embellished with simple surface stitching. To be put on reserve list for this course please contact me HERE.
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Alfred Sunday March 6th 2022 at The Hearth 10-4 £60 including all materials FULL
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I have for a long time loved Alfred Wallis’s naïve paintings of little ships, houses and seascapes and a visit to Kettles Yard where many of his works are held rekindled my interest. For this course I will supply a muddy palette of fabrics ( some hand painted) which fit in with his aesthetic and we will use these to build up a collage based on his paintings. I will provide ideas in terms of drawings and the idea is to capture the “spirit” of this fisherman painter. We will also refer to the work of John Craske who came from my home county of Norfolk and painted in stitch. If you have been on any of my courses based on the work of Winifred Nicholson then I think you will love this course too!
To reserve a place on this course please contact me HERE |
Handkerchief Art Sat April 2nd 2022 at The Hearth 10-4. £60 including all materials
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In this course you will create a stitched portrait of someone you love or a house that has been significant to you. In these examples I have worked from a photo of my Mum when she was a toddler and a painting of the farm where I was born.We will work on to a base of an old hankie or small piece of domestic linen. This is an exercise in drawing with stitch but you can add some little filling stitches or even bits of appliqué if you like. You will need to provide a photocopy from an original photo and then I will show you how to transfer enough detail on the hankie to get you going and what stitches to use to create a unique and meaningful piece of art. I have plenty of hankies but if you want to bring one that is personal to your story then please do. To book on to this course please contact me HERE stating the name of the course.
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Frida Sun April 3rd 2022 at The Hearth 10-4 £60 including all materials
I didn’t think I would ever repeat this course but many of you have persuaded me to revive it! Her self portraits and the photos of her by Nicholas Murray have made Frida a fashion icon and a celebrity and in this course you can have a go at making a doll based on her colourful and unusual style. I will have part made the doll for you and will provide colourful materials, jewelry, hair etc. I will demonstrate the techniques I used to make my own doll, referring to the Mexican dress of which Frida was so fond, but you will be encouraged to experiment and play with fabrics and create your own unique homage to this fabulous, inspiring and brave artist.
To book on to this course please contact me HERE
To book on to this course please contact me HERE
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Infant Sun May 8th 10-4 at The Hearth. £60 not including garment.
Those of you who have visited my studio know that I love to embellish children’s clothes and over the last year I have been collecting tiny clothes for you to use in this workshop. I will have a selection of lovely old flannel baby night dresses to sell on the day ( about £10 each) or bring your own special little garment to embellish . This course is all about surface decoration so you will learn some patchwork techniques, applique and decorative stitches and I will have many inspiring garments for you to look at and materials for you to embellish with.
To book please contact me HERE
To book please contact me HERE
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Borrowed from Boro Sat May 28th 10-4 at The Hearth £60 including all materials
Traditional Boro textiles from Japan provide the inspiration for this course where the palette will be the blues. The Boro aesthetic patchworks rags and old fabrics together and then holds them in place with lines of obvious running stitching which remind us of the lines and marks of painters and has rightly elevated these beautiful textiles, which emerged from poverty ,into what is now regarded as art pieces..In this course we will not be copying Boro as we will be mixing the cultures up a bit as I will have sourced blue worn quilts from Cumbria for you to use in conjunction with indigo and woad dyed cloth, block printed Indian and ikat fabrics. This is very much free style patchwork which is harder than you think but I shall show you how!
To book on to this course contact me HERE
To book on to this course contact me HERE
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Bloom Sunday May 29th 10-4 at The Hearth £60 including all materials
At the beginning of the summer it seems appropriate to use flowers as inspiration for stitch. They have long been a motif used by embroiderers across all cultures and we are familiar with the careful embroidered flowers found in the domestic embroidered linens found in our own pasts. In this course you will work on to an interesting dark utilitarian patchwork of old suiting samples or a piece of blanket and you will be stitching with wool rather than embroidery thread. You might add a little applique but the point is to stretch your stitch knowledge and develop your personal style to create a suggestion of the floral across the surface. I will show you lots of examples of different styles you can work in. There will be the option to turn your piece into a small bag. I will show you how!
To book on to this course please contact me HERE
To book on to this course please contact me HERE
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Fish Sat 16 July 10-4 at The Hearth £60 including all materials
For a long time I have been looking for an excuse to use my beautiful metallic and lustred fabric and threads and fish have swum into view! Have a go at building up a textile collage of a warm golden cod, a pretty speckled trout, the common herring or another of our British fishes. We will work by hand on to a background of a damask table cloth building up the layers and then putting in the details and the sparkle with hand stitching.
Contact me HERE to book
Contact me HERE to book
Sea and Estuary Birds Sun 17 July 10-4 at The Hearth £60 incl all materials
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At this time of the year when we are heading to the beach more we can not fail to notice the birds that live near the sea and in our estuaries. I come from Norfolk where the bird life is particularly rich and now the Northumberland coast provides the same inspiration. In this course you will build up a simple background context for your bird and then I will provide templates so you can have a go at the textile collage technique I use myself for building up my bird portraits. I will provide the palette of materials you need to do the job, suggest stitches and give you some ideas for making more of the background with the addition perhaps of some real sea weed and shells! Once you know this technique you can use it to develop portraits of all your own favourite birds and animals.
To book on this course please contact me HERE |
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Further afield in 2022
Sat January 22 and Sunday 23rd January Red Hen Stitchery online workshop with French General HERE
May 14 Hope and Elvis Red Work HERE
May 15 Hope and Elvis Vintage Textile Collage ( bag) HERE
23-30 June Stitch Retreat at Le Manoir aux Ecureuils France. Information HERE
3-10 September Stitch Retreat at Studio Preniac, France HERE
9-14 October Textile Retreat Goodnestone Park, Kent HERE
Further afield in 2022
Sat January 22 and Sunday 23rd January Red Hen Stitchery online workshop with French General HERE
May 14 Hope and Elvis Red Work HERE
May 15 Hope and Elvis Vintage Textile Collage ( bag) HERE
23-30 June Stitch Retreat at Le Manoir aux Ecureuils France. Information HERE
3-10 September Stitch Retreat at Studio Preniac, France HERE
9-14 October Textile Retreat Goodnestone Park, Kent HERE
