Kath gave us a brief description of how she learnt needlework from her mother and grandmother then told us the story of how she came to enrol for City and Guilds Embroidery Part I instead of an A level course in Literature that she had been considering. We heard how the bowls, for which Kath is best known, came about and developed during her City and Guilds Parts I and II, and HNC in textiles. The numerous bowls that Kath had brought with her illustrated the talk beautifully.
While her love of embroidery comes from her mother, from her father Kath inherited a love of nature. This and her travels have clearly influenced her work. The colours in the silk cap used to produce her very first bowl reminded Kath of her trip on the Skyrail at Cairns in Australia and inspired her to make a series of bowls representing the rainforest, complete with bugs. A trip to the Great Barrier Reef during the same holiday was the inspiration for a fish bowl. More evidence of her travels can be seen in Venice I and II, and nearly all of the bowls are covered with flora and fauna.
We also saw a selection of bowls created for her book 'Beautiful Bowls and Colourful Creatures'. These included a set of bowls inspired by the four sessions, a bridal bowl and a series of Africa bowls created to satisfy the editor's request for "something orange".
"Africa Bowl" courtesy of Kath Danswan
To finish, Kath introduced us to some of her larger bugs and her newest creations, brooches.
"Bug Brooches" courtesy of Kath Danswan
Note: Click on the pictures for a larger view.
