Marta Brysha
​hand embroidery artist
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SILK AND COLOUR
this artist's perspective on living a creative life in a chaotic world

Caroline Amos Workshop

24/11/2012

2 Comments

 
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of participating in a "mark making on paper" workshop run by Caroline Amos on behalf of Stitching and Beyond members.  Caroline's artworks are divine and she proved also to be a wonderful teacher.
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On day 1 we began by exploring making a variety of marks with ink and with graphite.  We then explored making rubbings with graphite, using resists and creating drawings using highly textured photographic images for inspiration.  On day 2 we used the materials developed on day 1 to create a collage piece.
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On the morning of day 2 I looked at what I had in my stash from day 1 and, frankly, it was rubbish!  I had nothing of interest at all!  Not to be defeated, I set about in a frenzy of activity to transform my wealth of nothing into something usable.  Pictured above you see what I had at the end of my efforts.  
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On day 1 we did an exercise where we painted a sheet of paper in a single colour with tonal values varying from very light to dark.  My pieces were not graduated enough and looked pretty boring.  I took this black one and scraped some blue and yellow acrylic paint across it.  After drying I then took some wood blocks and made graphite rubbings over the top.
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This is a piece of my own handmade paper.  The rubbings I had done on day 1 just made it look dirty.  I discovered that with a hard graphite stick, some chalk pastel and some wood blocks I could get some more defined marks.
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Another piece of paper painted on day 1 with rust coloured acrylic, overlaid with blue and yellow acrylic paint and graphite rubbings.
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This was the drawing I did on day one using inktense pencils, Koh-i-noor progresso pencils, lumigraph pencil and Shiva oil sticks after I reworked it and overlaid it with some graphite rubbings.
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Chinese Joss paper rubbings made with wood blocks and graphite and chalk pastel.
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...more hand made paper
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Graphite rubbings onto newsprint, using both graphite powder and graphite sticks of varying hardness, and then lacquered with a water based clear estapol.  The lacquer makes the paper quite leathery and seals the graphite.  It gives the paper a really interesting quality that decreases its fragility and allows you to tear it, glue it, or even stitch into it without damaging it.
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By the end of day 2 I had 2 collaged pieces with the potential for further development (pictured above and below).
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When I got back to my studio I reworked over the collage with black progresso pencil to make the collage more cohesive and less "raw" looking.  On this one you can see that I have already punched holes for stitching into.
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The second piece reworked.
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Variegated silk threads .....
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After stitching I felt that the large squares in the centre were not bold enough..... (you need to click on the photo for a larger image to see the stitching better).
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.....so I whipped over the double running stitch twice to make them bolder.  


I got so much out of this workshop.  If you have a chance to do one of Caroline's classes I highly recommend that you jump at it.  Not only was it great on its own, but this workshop really complemented the Tony Dyer Workshop I did the following weekend (blogged previously here).
2 Comments
Billy daniels
25/2/2014 19:35:57

Hello Caroline. This is gonna sound a little strange but I actually am looking into my grandmother's past and your name came up well its probably not you maybe your great grandmother but a she was one of my grandmother's maids in the 1940 I think.

Reply
Marta Brysha
26/2/2014 02:43:29

Hi Billy, I don't know if you realise this but this is not Caroline's blog. I was just posting about a workshop I did with her. I have passed your comment on to Caroline. If she wishes to make contact I can put the 2 of you in touch.

Reply



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    I am a hand embroidery artist living and working in the rugged and wild Central HIghlands of Tasmania.

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  • Home
  • Galleries
    • ORIGINS
    • Flow Series
    • Crop Circles >
      • It Starts and Ends at the Beginning
    • Heaven and Earth Series >
      • New World Order
    • Who Watches the Child
  • About
  • Artist's Statement
  • Blog - Silk and Colour
  • Contact