Sabbatical

I have decided to take a Sabbatical from C&G this year. I have learned so much on the C&G Certificate in Stitched Textiles and Embroidery that I think my brain is full! It was an exciting 2 years, learning so many new techniques, and very full on. Now I want to play around with some of the things I have learned and re-visit the things I particularly liked.

Before I did the C&G course, I did a year-long Access Course in Art, Craft and Design at Thames Valley University in Reading. This was an exciting and action-packed course covering many different disciplines. We studied drawing. painting and colour theory, contextual studies, photography, printing, sculpture, jewellery-making, ceramics and Photoshop.

Just reading this makes me realise why my brain feels full! This is because I had never done any practical art before, although I had taken a minor in Art History at University, and had spent years looking at works of art. I had always done craft, but suddenly I wanted to learn all these new things! First I did a class in stained glass with David Wasley, who studied under John Piper, which lead me onto the Access Course.

Now I want to assimilate what I have learned. I don't want to go on and on learning new things, but to refine my techniques in the things I have already studied. There is so much I want to do and practise.

At the moment I am taking art classes at our local education centre, New Directions. The classes I am doing are Art in the Morning, and Art Journaling. The first covers basic techniques in different media, and is very disciplined. The other is about letting go and covering pages with paint and paper. I expect to gain a lot of experience from these 2 different disciplines. In addition I have plenty of textiles and mixed media books that I would like to work from, the only problem is where to start?!