Back to Work!

I am coming back to work at the shed on Monday 1st August from 9 onwards.

I will be there this week on Monday 1st, Tuesday 2nd, for sure and maybe more; if you can help on other days, I can be flexible.

I have just had a week in France and the sun and the sea has brought me back to life.

The project, in the past 3 months has had ups and downs. The ups are definitly the moments spent at the sheep shed and in the field, working with people, experimenting on colours and welcoming the public to view the progress.

The downs are more computer times searching for futher funding to carry on with the project.

I know too well that this is part of the job and one does not happen without the other.

I already feel extremely lucky to have received the Arts Council grant in this time of recession. Thanks to it, I feel that I have the responsability to carry out the task I set to do; not only make the work but engage a great deal of people with it.

The making is a very slow process; I still am unsure about the final shape of each piece and I must continue to experiment. At present, I am looking for ways to reuse the lanolin extracted from the fleece during washing and am making this my next challenge.

I have run my first adult workshop, learning to dye fibres with plants. The day was most successful; we all had a great time and the colours came together beautifully. There was also space for trial and error and some of our mixes did not produce anything. The participants enjoyed the unformal, experimental and playful aspect of the day, ponctuated by plenty of tea, cakes and a picnic in the farm yard(see pictures for results)

Next workshop coming is a children day of creative sculptures in the field, where we will create installations in the landscape, using various natural materials and extra materials recycled from other work or the rest of the farm. We will take pictures of the work and the children will be able to take some home.We still have a few spaces left so book now at the farm, 01722 330667.

August 9th from 10.00am to 3.00pm,cost;£20

bring a picnic lunch, drinks and sun cream and hats(or rain coats and wellies).

see you at the shed!