... if you're in need of cheering up.....

With challenging news coming to us from all directions at the moment, thank goodness for our ability to sit back quietly and recharge our batteries with the various gentle arts that textiles offer us.

It's never easy juggling dates with workshop leaders and we have had to make a couple of changes to our 2017 calendar.  We are delighted to confirm that Celia Pym - whose event Mending, Darning and Knitting was such a success here this year - will be returning in late September 2017 to run a unique combination workshop with fellow artist and stitcher, Richard McVetis (you can read a fascinating interview with Richard at TextileArtist.com).  It will be a week long, hands-on exploration of both traditional hand embroidery techniques and textile repair, with an ongoing discussion about why these skills are more important and relevant than ever.  If you were lucky enough to have attended Celia's previous workshop here and we would love you to return and take your mending a stitch further, so we're offering a 15% discount if booked before the end of 2016.

Apologies if you're now be a tad confused about our dates for next year, but please note that Åsa Tricosa's workshop, Knitting Im-Mercerie, has been brought forward to 6-12 September.  This means that it is no longer overlapping the Shetland Wool Week, so enthusiasts have no excuse for missing what we guarantee will be a wonderful event with a superlative knitting teacher.  

I recently returned from a visit to Basel, Switzerland where I went to meet with Deanna Bogart and Silvan Zingg who will be performing, alongside another young pianist, Luca Sestak, at our biennial fund-raising Blues & Boogie Weekend, July 2017 (more of that later).  And what I discovered was a charming, friendly city full of wonderful museums and art!!  Such a well-kept secret, and if you are looking for a cultural break from it all I cannot recommend highly enough.

One of the must-see museums was the Tinguely;  dedicated entirely to the artist.  Jean Tinguely grew up in Basel but moved to France in 1952 with his first wife, Swiss artist, Eva Aeppli, to pursue a career in art.  He belonged to the Parisan avantgarde movement in the mid C20th and was one of the artists who signed the New Realist's manifesto.  It's hard not to smile watching his deliberately noisy and noisy andsometimes huge moving sculptures made almost entirely from recycled materials, and his work will no doubt fuel ideas for our Motion Impossible project in May 2017 to be led by Robert Race, automata master-in-chief.  We can only accommodate 8 participants on this workshop so don't delay if you - or someone you know - would like to join us.

Tinguely's  SCHRECKENSKARRETTE - Viva Ferrari  1985

If you're in or around Wolverhampton from 18th February you might be interested in A Curious Turn; Moving, Mechanical Sculpture, a Crafts Council exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, UK.  it looks to be a treat!

Paul Spooner's 1983 FIVE ARTISTS REFLECT ON THEIR WANING POWERS

Finally, by popular participant demand we have opened a Recipe Page on this website and we will try our best to upload one of our much-complimented recipes every month.  Do pay it a visit from time to time (they won't stay up for more than a month), along with our Inspiration page, and do let us have your feedback - we really love to hear from you.