Our May Day was actually 'Jane Hadfield Day' with a talk from Jane in the morning followed by an extended part-day workshop.
Jane's inspirational and well-illustrated talk took us from her family history of textiles and making through to her current work which has developed into 3-D forms.
Using natural, found, vintage and re-cycled materials, Jane uses a combination of painting and stitching to make 'something out of nothing'. Everyone greatly admired, - and were jealous of - her collections of items displayed in her workshop photgraphs.
Jane has exhibited widely with Threadmill Textile Artists but is now taking time out in retirement to more fully concentrate on her own practice. Since a Textile Study Group summer school with Polly Pollock, some of this time has focussed on creating vessel-like forms using free-weaving. Which takes us into the follow-up workshop.........
.........where we were taught how to make formers using rice in plastic bags around which we then wound and wove paper string, with the judicious addition of masking tape where required. Jane came extremely well-prepared with everything we needed and a very, VERY extensive collection of paper string. The most difficult part of any workshop is making choices!
By the end of the session most members had (nearly) completed their weaving.
Jane briefly told us how to complete the vessel to make it sturdy enough to remove the rice and plastic bag and the possibilities of adding embroidery.
Thank you, Jane for an excellent, enjoyable and fun workshop where we were all pleased with our achievements.
