Open Day at Royal Holloway College

I planned this a good 6 weeks ago and was so looking forward to going.  This was a wonderful opportunity to take zillions of photos for my photo library as well as soak up the fascinating history of the college.  You can never have enough photos in your photo library and I was out to photograph every texture, every statue and every vista that I could find.  I managed to take 212 pictures before my camera groaned and the battery ran out but I had thankfully got the majority of what I wanted.

I took the tour of the wonderful collection of paintings and of the college itself.  Here are just a few:

Drawing at the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden

Last week I went to the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden to do some more drawing for my online course. The gardens are open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays and groups can go on other days by appointment only. 

It was a lovely day weatherwise and the gardens were so tranquil and peaceful.  I was so sorry that I didn't take my binoculars because sitting quietly on my little stool drawing amongst the sculptures, I saw and heard many birds.

What I like about the sculptures is that they are very varied and there are over a 100 of them so there's a fair amount to see.  Also, strolling around these beautiful gardens is such a lovely way to see art - it really shows them off at their best.  On this day I was particularly taken with many of the sculptures which were masks or faces maybe because you can interpret what you think the emotion is of the face.  I found the sculptures by Rick Kirby particularly haunting.

Our drawing assignment for this week was to draw straight away with a water soluble pen which you then wet with a brush to create shading.  I decided to draw Rick Kirby's Fallen Angel:

Here are some more sculptures from the gardens. Below are sculptures by Pat Volk:

and a sculpture by Jilly Sutton:

Ah, I was really sorry that I could only spend half a day there.

Felt Making in Dorking

Where did last week go?!

Oh well, I had a great day out yesterday.  I went to another one of my favourite towns, Dorking, for a felt bag making course.  Such fun!  I was quite surprised at how much hard work wet felt making is.  If you want toned up arms believe me this is the way to go.

Dorking is a lovely town in Surrey which is well known for it's antique shops but it also has many little boutiquey shops.  I didn't have time to do any looking around this time but two of my usual haunts (apart from the fab clothes shops) are the Wow! Gallery which has a lot of superb British craftwork as well as international and the Quilt Room, a quilting shop which is probably too traditional for me but still worth a visit.  There is also the vineyard, Denbies, just outside the town which has many good art and craft exhibitions which I will probably blog about in the future.

Back to the course.  The felting course is given by Gillian Harris who has a wonderful shop called the Fluff-a-Torium and she gives the courses in the room upstairs.  As well as felt bag making courses she also gives many other felt courses such as hats, jewellery and shoes.

This is the bag I made which you can see is totally reversible (I made felt handles which haven't been attached yet).  Unfortunately I made it a bit thick so it is too heavy but I might do a bit of sewing magic on it and see what I can do with it because I really like the colours that I used.  It might have to be just one sided though.

Here are examples of the types of shoes you can make on Gillian's shoe making course. Aren't they fun.

Gillian used to be a graphic designer and you can see that in the design and presentation of her shop and all her felting kits and goodies and her fun website.

Oh dear, not another skill I want to add to my ever growing list of crafty endeavours!

Fabric Design and Doodling

I've been busy again designing fabric with doodles. Here are my latest creations.

Trip to Bookham Village

I need to get out of the house today so decided to go to Bookham (Surrey) because there is a delightful little clothes boutique there called the Sweet Pea.  What I didn't know was that it is closed on Wednesdays (sigh).  However, they also have the Patchwork Cabin which is a must visit and a another charming little sewing shop called Granary Crafts which is in a little cottage covered in ivy (picture from phone):

Then it was on to Mimi's Teas and Gifts and a wonderful piece of cake and tea.  I settled in here for a while to do another sketch for my online course.  One of the signs to buy on the wall was 'Scatter Kindness' and I thought that was lovely so I added it to my drawing.

Oh and I stopped by a shoe shop which I thought would be too conservative for me but they stock some great German make shoes that are so comfy and I ended up buying a little off-white pair.  Also stopped in at the little charity shop and bought a large format puzzle for Mom - £1 - a real find.  Finally I bought a little fabric bag for my drawing/watercolour bits and bobs from The Grange shop which supports people with disabilities to become independent.

All-in-all, a very successful morning!

Drawing in Ripley

Our latest drawing assignment was to find a little cafe somewhere and draw our plates/cups/surroundings and I had the perfect place in mind....

Ripley Village in Surrey is one of my favourite places and especially now that a little cafe/shop has opened called the Nest which, if heaven was to open one, this would be it.  The attention to detail is wonderful - down to the little house door stopper and the fabulous array of eclectic teapots that they serve you tea in.  I really didn't take enough photographs and have not done it justice.  You will just have to go along yourself to feel the tranquility and delicacy of the place.