IMAGINARY FRIENDS are Coming to America

I have been working on researching and documenting imaginary friends for an exhibition in Rockville, MD this September. Here is a little taster with more to follow.

Three Smoking Baby Automata

Come to the Cheltenham Open Studios and you can play with these very naughty toddlers!

Smoking Baby Automaton

I am getting on with making work for the Cheltenham Open Studios in June.

Just gluing on finishing touches.

Automaton Cat Mechanism Succeeds!!

It worked! The prototype cat and birds mechanism will move a puppet.
The little bird wing/hand things move up and down and lift and drop the strings.

And the puppet girl starts flying. 

New Automaton Experiment

A prototype frame in the form of a cat with birds sitting on his lap. This is the support for the crank shaft and followers that will be the mechanism that moves a puppet, that is if it works!

More Gum Arabic Transfer onto Fabric

Further Gum Arabic Transfer printing using photocopies of Biro sketches.

If you are interested in learning this technique I bought a fabulous leaflet explaining the process from Sue Brown. She also runs courses check them out here.

Mr Punch and a Cat.

New Knitting Girls

New knitters are on the way! Making hair today.

Makers' Play Day

My wonderful pal Sue Brown held a Makers' Play Day at her the yard: ART space in Cheltenham this past Monday. A fantastic gathering of artist/makers coming together to play, experiment and swap skills. I took some scrap fabric and a unsuccessful painting and after an intense few hours of sewing came home with.........

An Old Soldier

With a cat on his reverse.

I am going to resist cutting up more paintings but plan to try further experiments using my play day discoveries.

Gum Arabic Transfer Printing on Velvet and more!!

Mr Cat and Mr Rabbit both began life as flat prints on fabric that I have stitched and stuffed.

I learned the technique of Gum Arabic Transfer Printing from Sue Brown on a Makers Play Day at the Yard Artspace in Cheltenham. A fabulous technique for printing quickly onto fabric using photo copies of my drawings and that doesn't change the feel of the fabric. So many possibilities!!