Coral critters, Greek cyanotypes and more...

felted crochet coral fragments
Originally uploaded by MadeleineS.

Well it's been ages since I posted anything here and I don't really know why or where to begin. I had my second hip operation in October 2009 and been recovering slowly since then. I've been far from idle over the months but not in a blogging mood. I think mostly due to post op fatigue and physiotherapy. Facebook is also partly to blame - it's been easy to keep in touch with friends and family that way but it's also a huge thief of time. Now that I'm back at the "day job" full time things are a bit more disciplined.

So what of the arty work?

I'm finally finishing off the coral critters brooches that I started in the spring. That's one in the photo. There should be a couple of dozen when I'm done. I've also made some nudibranchs and starfish and plan to send them off to the Irish Hyperbolic Coral Reef project in Dublin.

42 Mobius Mufflers! There's a bit of end weaving and label sewing to go and this will be a done deal too. I'll write a new post about it when they're completely done.

Cyanotypes of my Greek photographs are planned for summer, when the sun is high. I intend to print them on fabric and incorporate them in larger felt wall hangings with stones collected from the beaches at Marathon and Porto Rafti trapped under silk chiffon. The research continues...

My studio mates elected me their webmaster or whatever earlier in 2009. I've been slowly working towards a new website for them and it should see the light of day by the weekend.

Teaching craft courses is a new thing. I'm joining in Coburg House's programme of courses with a couple of half-day workshops on "Mobius Mufflers" and "Alternatives to Yarn". In the planning stages for May events.

Learing new skills too! Photogravure was mentioned to me a couple of times as possibly suiting the work that I make. I finally feel like I have the time to learn this and the images to suit it so I've signed up for an intensive weekend at Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop in about 6 weeks from now. Also booked in for a week of felt making with Jeanette Sendler at Edinburgh College of Art in August. I've wanted to work with her for ages and signed up for a course last year but had to cancel because of the operations. Hopefully it should work out this time.

There was also an open weekend at Coburg House which was a real boost for my confidence with lots of nice comments about my textile and my photography projects. Still not clear about which comes first for me. Wearable textiles are much more commercial but the photography is really satisfying too.

More later but not as much later as this post turned out to be!