Gerry gave a short talk on the work of several contemporary artists such as Sue Dove, Alice Kettle, Michael Brennan Wood and how we could develop our ideas for stitch from their work. She also suggested we could look around us for interesting patterns and to take our own photographs of things that appealed to us.
Gerry advocated keeping sketch books full of drawings, photographs and collages that could be referred to for inspiration and she brought samples of her own large array for us to browse through.
We were then shown how to use collage to recreate an image or part image working into it with oil pastels. These images or part of them could then be used as a starting point for fabrics and stitch.
It was a very interesting day and even if we don't ever use this technique directly again it all helps in the way we look at things and gain inspiration from the world around us. Thank you to Gerry for an enjoyable day.
At midday we also had a visit from Christine Poole, Chair Person of the Guild. She stayed about 3 hours and chatted to the members. Everyone was pleased to meet her and for her to be showing an interest at grass roots level was much appreciated.
