Oh Help its time to start my next degree module! Assessment came and went and I await the results sometime in the future , you never can be sure when they will turn up. Today I received a phone call from my new tutor, Kate Green, who seems very nice but it was a bit of a rude awakening that we are off and running again so soon esp. as my daughter is mid GCSEs and stress levels are off the Richter scale chez mois. This module is all about figure drawing which I am dreading! I hate drawing people with a vengeance and I must admit if I had realised that a whole 3 months -180hrs!!!- was going to be spent on this I wouldn't have taken on the degree course.
On a slightly lighter note I have actually finished Kirsty's clutch bag for her prom (the brown one above). It's embellished fabric with silk threads, Angelina and a LOT of beading on the front and back and lined in shot silk. I also manged to knock up a blue one as well as a trial run for the construction. I'm afraid the photography isn't great but I hope it gives an impression.

I've finally finished my 6th Degree module and have visited my tutor Mary Cozens Walker at her studio located in a charming cottage in a lane lined with cow parsley and Hawthorne. I think she was pleased with my work and now there is just the final assessment hurdle in London on Saturday (2 years down, 4 to go). A Marquette of my final textile solution to the module which addressed the ambiguity of GM crops - are they saints or sinners? - is pictured above. The final pods/seeds would be at least 3 times the size as would the accompanying 'webs' . I have constructed them both from very fine needlefelt I made using a mix of wool, silk and Angelina fibres.
The other pictures are of my work combining the embellisher machine with stitch and again using a mix of fibres but predominantly silk. They are abstracts taken from own photographs of rock pools - one still and floaty and one swirling and containing anemones. This is a technique I am continuing to explore as I find it extremely satisfying and a break from the degree stuff.

This week saw the first of the Material Girls displays for 2008 at the Thames Chase Forest Centre. Somewhat disappointing I felt as the facilities were mediocre to say the least resulting in what I thought was a lacklustre display far below our usual standards. Still it was mounted as a PR measure as the Forest Centre is trying to promote local arts and crafts and I felt we needed to support anyone with this aim. However, it further highlights the lack of decent display/gallery space to be found in the suburbs of London.

On a brighter note our local 'dogwalking woods' are looking particularly beautiful this year and the scent of the bluebells this weekend was amazing. I took loads of photos and am feeling inspired to produce a piece of work to try and capture the wood's essence.