Workshop Overview

Workshop Overview

Welcome to The Thread That Weaves 

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this online workshop.  I now have a chance to work with artists like yourselves, who I may not have been able to work with in a real life workshop setting.

I want this course to be everything that you hope it will be!  Please let me know if you have any questions throughout the week.  Your thoughts and suggestions are very welcome.  

Here is a video where I share my thoughts behind my workshops...
"The Thread That Weaves"

(click the title)
Woven Threads

(this video is public)

Workshop Schedule:

Week 1

This is our beginning.  During this week we will construct our books. I will give you choices on how to fold your books and then I will teach you how to make them sturdy and strong.   

Next,  I will demonstrate how to use materials such as gesso, matte medium and cotton or silk for added texture and strength.  Finally, I will show you how to tint the edges of your books that will give depth and compliment your themes.

Collecting and Writing:

Some of us in this workshop are just beginning the cold winter month of January, but on the other side of the world the warm days of summer are starting.  Collect colors that remind you of this season... These could be scraps of your artwork, fabrics, papers or found objects from nature.  Pile them, tie them with twine or string.  On scrap piece of paper write words to describe what this season means to you. Lay this on the top of your pile, underneath your string. 

If you like, you can use this prompt:

-three words that describe the sky or the skyline

-the name of the season

-two words that describe the smells or the weather 

-one descriptive phrase describing how this season makes you feel

-the name of the season

* you could also look up this season in different languages and choose your favorites to add here.

Week 2 

During our second week we will explore gesso and matte medium in more detail and use different papers and fabrics to make backgrounds for our collages.  

I will demonstrate making a mini-book, and covering it's pages with a loose, spontaneous collage of textures and patterns.

Collecting and Writing:

Take a walk outside, near your home or to a nearby park.  Collect five different leaves, twigs, buds or seed pods or whatever else captures your imagination.  

Bring them home to your worktable.  Arrange them or pile them on a piece of your own art, writing or fabric.  Try different arrangements and groupings, large to small, smallest in the center, grouped in a mandala. Make a list of what you have collected including a brief description. Photograph them. Photograph them with your list.  Cut up the list and "label" each object.

Week 3

Our third week will be spent adding collages on to our background pages.  This is the week that your themes will come to life.  We will learn about design and composition so that our images flow from one to the other, with the focal point in the center panels of the back and the front.

Collecting and Writing:

As you wake up for your morning coffee or tea, let your eyes wander around your kitchen or dining room.  Pick up three small objects that catch your eye, each should fit into the palm of your hand.  Write what the objects mean to you on three different scraps of paper.  Tear or cut the paper and place it near the objects.  
Photograph your objects and words near a window, but not in the direct sunlight.

Week 4

This is our week of putting it all together.  You have built pages that are meaningful and interesting, filled with your own ideas and dreams, your textures and your colour pallet.  Now it is time to decide which pages to use, and which to keep for a later project.  I will teach you how to attach your pages using threads, wire and glue,  different ways to have your pages open up to reveal something else and different ways to embellish them.  Finally you will choose some of your own threads to "weave" across the pages of your book

Collecting and Writing:

Gather scraps that were torn or cut off art work in your book, but did not get included.  Roll them separately or together and tie them with wire.  Add a few beads or buttons or other embellishments.  Write down your thoughts on making your "Thread That Weaves" book.  Randomly pile your scrolls on the top of your writing, so that only some of your words are visible.  Photograph  from different angles.