Thursday, September 10, 2009

September 9 - Kath Danswan, "Bowled Over"

Our first speaker from the 2009/2010 program was Kath Danswan.

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.

Monday, September 7, 2009

2009 - 2010 Programme

9 September 2009
Kath Danswan - "Bowled Over"

25-27 September 2009 Weekend Workshop
Frances Pickering - "Elizabethan Splendour"

14 October 2009
AGM and Jo Dixon - "Working with mixed media"

11 November 2009
Janet Phillips - "Designing woven fabrics"

9 December 2009
Christmas Social

13 January 2010
Alex and Karen - "Our life with Cherrilyn"

10 February 2010
Vikki Lafford - "Enchanting Embroidery"

13 February 2010 Satuday Workshop
Kath Danswan - "Beautiful Silk Bowls"

10 March 2010
Jane Mollison - "Textiles and Painting from Peru to China"

13-14 March 2010 Weekend Workshop
Ruth Issett - "Colour on Cloth"

14 April 2010
Joanna O’Neill - "Books, Batting and Beeswax"

24 April 2010 Saturday Workshop
Maggie Grey - to be confirmed

12 May 2010
Judith Lovatt - "What if ...?"

5 June 2010 Saturday Workshop
Judith Lovatt - "Compose and Distort"

9 June 2010
Linda Rudkin - "Colours from Nature"

14 July 2010 - Summer Social

August 2010 - no meeting

8 September 2010
Jennifer Hughes - "China - Protected Heads and Bound Feet"

18 September 2010 Satuday Workshop
Linda Rudkin - "Flower Pounding"

13 October 2010
AGM (and entertainment to be decided)

10 November 2010
Anne Sillifant - "An obsession with trees"

8 December 2010
Christmas Social