MAY fast approaches and PENNY BERENS will soon be arriving in KINGSTON - will you be here to greet her?

SHORELINE, Penny Berens

 

Does turning the beautiful photographs and sketches you have taken the time to amass into REAL fibre art present some serious  challenges for you? Well they do challenge me, and I know just the person to bring those art challenges into REAL TIME FUN... and that is our next Guest Instructor, PENNY BERENS from Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia!

 

 

Penny arrives in Kingston for a great evening Lecture at St. Lawrence College on Friday evening, May 16th and everyone should plan to be there. And yes, we know this is the start of the LONG May weekend, but how often to we have the privilege and benefit of welcoming one of the Country's master Textile Artists to our fair city. Hope you will postpone your weekend fun long enough to get into Room 12040 and join us for a fun filled evening with Penny! Her stories and art photos and her smile will bring you joy and start the celebration of this glorious spring we have all been longing for to a great start!!!

 

 

 

 

While the workshop weekend for DESIGNING FROM NATURE is filled, we have a few very focused and sought after seats in the two day workshop "MAKE IT YOUR OWN WITH DISCHARGE" scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, May 20 and 21st  and this is  one workshop that you will not want to miss. Art is all about experimentation, trying NEW things and creating the cloth that will bring the new work you are destined to create to fruition.

 

 

Thinking about the tools that we all need in our work basket for creating original art, there are few things that bring the mystery and awe to the eyes of the viewer better than the marks that can be made while using the products that allow you to remove colour from cloth. Penny is all about working safely and in a way that will guide you toward great success in the creative pursuit of all original cloth that only YOU can develop using the processes she will share as she guides you through the two days of this terrific workshop!

 

 

 

Gather some black or dark fabrics - natural linen, cotton, raime, rayon or yes, even some silk and make your way to the Odessa Fairgrounds Hall for the Discharge workshop adventure.  Details are under Workshop #5 on the sidebar here at the Blog....

Your friends will be there... come join in on the fun!

Contact Bethany at fibreworkskingston@gmail.com to reserve your seat, and bring a friend.

 

 



PENNY BERENS is coming to Kingston VERY SOON... don't miss this opportunity to study with a Canadian Stitch Icon!!!

Penny's "Fall Berries" nature design, beautifully dyed and stitched

 

 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR - Penny will deliver a Lecture/Slide Show and share some of her beautiful work at: 

St. Lawrence College, Portsmouth Ave at King Street

Kingston, ON

 Friday evening, May 16th

7-9 pm

Room 12040, Upper Level in the Link Corridor, Administrative Wing

Enter at Door E12 behind the Technology Building off Country Club Drive

Light refreshments and the chance to meet and talk with Penny

NOTE:

Penny's "DESIGNING FROM NATURE" WORKSHOP HAS ONE SEAT AVAILABLE...

Due to scheduling and family commitments, we have one seat available as a student needs to cancel and commit to the long May weekend with her family. Great opportunity for one lucky student to have this seat and share a design weekend with Penny.

If you can attend this wonderful workshop weekend and are interested in studying with our very talented PENNY BERENS for two lovely days at St. Lawrence College, please alert Bethany Garner at fibreworkskingston@gmail.com  right away.... the seat will go to the first respondent.

And:

A FEW SEATS ARE AVAILABLE for Penny's second workshop "MAKE IT YOUR OWN WITH DISCHARGE" scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, May 20 and 21st at the Odessa Fairgrounds Hall. Details of the workshop are available at the Workshop #5 listing on the right sidebar here at the Blog...

When we have the opportunity to share time with an artist of Penny's renown and have the chance to learn from the master that she is, why would anyone miss the chance??? Please contact Bethany at the Fibreworks email: fibreworkskingston@gmail.com or mail your printed registration form for Workshop #5 which is available here at the blog on the right sidebar.

Can't wait for Penny's arrival and having the opportunity to spend time with her and all of the participating students.

Hope to see you at Penny's Lecture!

CAROL SODERLUND visited Kingston March 21-23rd and her students had a great time, with many success stories to take away.....

Denise Leduc with her disperse printed collage

The weekend of March 21-23 found 18 enthusiastic students gathered at the Odessa Fairgrounds Hall to share in a three-day dye printing adventure with CAROL SODERLUND from Geneva, NY. Carol was in Kingston for a first visit to Eastern Ontario to share her TRANSFORMATIONS  workshop using Disperse Dyes as the colouring choice for cloth, and sponsored by our FIBREWORKS KINGSTON WEEKEND WORKSHOPS SERIES.

A huge amount of supply baggage was in Carol's car as she arrived at the workshop site, and Instructor host and very important FW team member DIANE HOGAN had made Carol very welcome in her lovely home for the weekend. Diane was a great sport carrying tote after tote and helping to set up all of Carol's supplies.

The workshop got underway with an almost three hour talk about the use of the disperse products and Carol's recommended PRO TRANSPERSE dyes for Synthetics from Pro Chemical and Dye in Massachusetts. Students received a nice overview of the many products Carol uses for her transfer dyeing processes and the tools required for the work. An "iron off" station set up was established in the hall, and much paper painting, design play and "ironing off"work got underway!

Carol in Kingston with a great group of her samples

The weekend included many tips along the way, and while every step was not a perfect experiment, the small lessons learned about the intensity and concentrations of the dyes and the amount of dye added to the papers before printing, using both thickened print paste and the dyes straight from the bottle after dilution was the foundation the students needed to make this type of print work an important part of their fibre work for the future. The students were "dye-hard" in their focus on printing, making marks in the dye painted papers, using stamps, Thermofax screens, and more as they prepared their work for the final reveal. Here are a few more photos:

Work underway... the fun begins

Ann Fales and Linda Coulter hard at work

Debra Krakow created awesome papers and prints

Ann and Linda comparing notes and some samples/ ready for print papers

What an array of work by Shoshana Teitleman

Diane Hogan "ironing off" - respirators required

Kit Vincent - a great sport and very successful Print Maker

All in all, a terrific weekend and so many thanks to the students, many who drove in from LONG distances to participate as Carol brought her skills and techniques to life in this third workshop of our 2013/14 Series of Weekend Workshops. Much commitment and understanding for the unpredictable variables in this type of work were demonstrated by the students. Thanks to Pat Caffery for all of her help she provided to Bethany over the weekend, and for the great job by all of the participants in keeping the torrent of papers and paints/dyes under control (almost all) for the weekend.

Carol shared her machine free motion skills and tips with a group of avid fans

On the third day, the printed pieces were sorted, pressed, selected for inclusion in a few small pieces to be layered and machine quilted as samples from this course with Carol. The intensive machine stitching demonstration was invaluable to the students who participated and the many tips and tricks that Carol uses in creating her own work will stay with her students for a long time.

THANKS CAROL for an inspiring and fun-filled workshop weekend. 

Please follow Carol and her Workshops Calendar at her website "LIVING COLOR" at:

 http://www.carolsoderlund.com/workshops-and-lectures/workshops/

Hope to see many of you at our next workshop series with PENNY BERENS 

 May 16-18 and May 20-21, 2014.

See the Workshops #4 and #5 listings on the sidebar to the right here at the blog.