A Thousand Sheep

New Workshop dates; “A Thousand Sheep” workshops; 9 July ; Adult workshop ; Natural Plant dyeing 10am to 4pm. Cost £55 Inc material Student discount £45(limited spaces) 5 August; Children make paper with plants; 10 to 3pm. £20 6 August; Adult make paper with plants; 10 to 4pm. £50 9 August; Children make a temporary sculpture in nature (Explore space, time and nature and get creative) 10am to 3pm cost of each day £20 (Ask for siblings discounts) Book at the farm; 01722 330 667 I am also unfortunatly due to move out of my West Dean Studio next week. If anyone knows of an artist studio for rent, please pass on my details or call me ASAP. The following fleece washing dates have been cancelled as I will be exhibiting in London next week at the Parallax AF show, in the Royal Opera Gallery. Do feel free to visit the show if you are in London. If you are not in London, then you should go; the show will be presenting the work of many artists from uk and a...

Come and join in the project ; It is now time to really get stuck in and get on with the work; I have been given quite a lot of fleece over the past two weeks and am planning a serie of fleece sorting and washing days. If you wish to help. please contact me so I can organise a rota. You can come for as long as you can spare during the day. Dates are as follow; June Dates; Thursday 16th June from 9.00 to 3.00 Monday 20th June from 12.30 to 3.00 Tuesday 21st June from 9.00 to 4.00 Thursday 23rd June from 9.00 to 3.00 Friday 24th June from 9.00 to 3.00 Tuesday 28th June from 9.00 to 3.00 July dates; Monday 4th July 9.00 to 3.00 Tuesday 5th July 9.00 to 2.00 Monday 11th July 9.00 to 3.00 Tuesday 12th July 9.00 to 3.00 Please keep an eye on this blog before you come in case of changes . I will be publishing more dates for dyeing and shaping the sculpture so watch out. Alternatively, you can also offer to do some fleece washing at home if I show you the method, this sh...

Here it is! Time for the biggest day of the year for the farm and we all have been working flat out to get everything ready! I will have a drop in workshop, prints and postcards for sale, a planner for workshops and hands on days, and more infromation and updates on the progres. If you wish to volunteer to take part in the project, This is the time now! Help is now coming my way and I am feeling a lot more positive about the project; From doing my Free Cycle request for me to assisting during workshops and prep, people are starting to show interest. I will publish a planner of hands on days on this blog from next week onwards so we can start getting some proper work done. Watch this space for new dates to come and wash some fleece , plant madder and dye with madder , and a lot more workshops to brush up your skills or entertain your kids for the summer. Don't forget to post your comments here or on facebook, email, text... Look forward to to see you all on Sunday. Soon o...

Many Thanks to Teresinha from Wild Colours!

I love the way a research guides you from an encounter to another. This is when the making sets out to be a social experinece as much as a physical relationship with material. Passing on knowledge seems to be part of human nature; I met Sarah Waters this week, a felt maker from Woodgreen, New Forest, a grerat wool specialist who started from breeding the sheep before she got into felting. I discovered new types of wool to use and tips as to which one felts or dyes best, how to wash it... Then, she put me on to Judy Hardiman, expert in natural dyes, living near Romsey, who gave me two young madder plants and a weld. She also gave me precious historical information about madder and army coat dyeing. However, the more I seem to learn about madder, the more the task I set to do seems impossible; The scale I wish to work in makes the technique irrelevant; natural plant dyeing is such a lengthy and random process that It will not respond to my expectations of finding a specific colour for a ...

I have just set-up a base for experimental work at m,y studio in West Dean. Over there, I can heat up water much quicker and try all sorts in a small scale.I am working on getting the right colour RED and the search for it is a quest filled with encounters, a mix of witch craft, and scientific experiments, recepes traced online, tips from here and there and water PH testing. For the latest, I have collecting water from River Bourne, River Avon in the New Forest, where it is rich in iron, rain water, tap water, and even stale water... Each water type will change the shade of red I will get. In the past two weeks, I have had the company of a group of young carers asp part of a project for the Salisbury International Arts Festival. We have had two magical afternoons playing in the space, lighting and maintaining fires through the day, washing fleece and experimenting with colours. It is great to see the shed filed with life and energy. I am looking forward to a hands-on day, 1st of June 1...