A glass painting morning ...

 

I love taking courses & regularly sign up for various ones I am interested in. I think it is being a life long teacher with an inquiring mind & a willingness to learn new things. 

My friend Ellie & I have done several courses together; hand sewing 'Gentlework' day, a wet felting day, goldwork embroidery & she spied this glass painting one locally in our county town of Shrewsbury. 

It is a new one for me as I do not have any experience in this but I am always up for a challenge. 

Floral Glass Painting Workshop

Join us for a relaxed, morning of glass painting. You’ll use gold outliner and jewel-like paints to create a floral design with a beautiful stained-glass effect. At the end, you’ll take home your own framed piece – a perfect handmade gift or something special to keep for yourself.

No experience needed, just come along and enjoy a creative couple of hours in good company. All materials are provided.

I love info that says 'all materials provided' because you really do not know what is needed. 

✨ Artist Bio – Emma Williams

Local artist Emma Williams is well renowned for her award-winning creative window displays and murals, which bring colour and imagination to Shrewsbury and beyond. Alongside her public artwork, Emma enjoys teaching in small group settings, where she shares some of the artistic techniques she uses in her own practice. Her workshops are designed to promote mindfulness, creativity, and positive mental wellbeing, offering a welcoming space for people of all abilities to explore their creativity.

I had never even visited the library in Shrewsbury even though I take visitors to the statue of Charles Darwin just by the door. 

It is a hidden gem opposite the castle. 

The tutor Emma was very welcoming & we were soon all deciding on our floral pattern choice that was dictated by the size of the glass frame - 6x4. 

I had checked out the details the night before & decided  to trace a protea design as I am rather partial to proteas. 

We had the choice of gold or black outlining & I went with gold & had to modify my design to fit in, Outlining done & dried off with a blow drier then it was time to decide on colours & if they were to be matt, natural or pearlised too. Emma mixed up paints in tiny holders as we needed colours. 

Being the first time I have done it,  I needed to go over some of my gold lines as they contain the coloured paint  & I then used 2-3 pinks for the proteas, mixing the lighter & darker as I worked with it. 

The green is a little patchy to my mind & the gold stands out against it but I am pleased to have completed something I am happy with. 

Ellie & I both decided that it is something we will try again as it was very calming & enjoyable, with lots of potential. 

Ellie opted to do a rose as a gift & hers was soon taking shape in shades of yellow. 

Each floral painting was very different, depending on the flower chosen & the paints used. 

I am always fascinated how we start off with the same choices then end up with individual items. 

The end products of the small group of 8 of us was all very different & beautiful. 

Life long learning means doing things out of your comfort zone & leaning in to the new.  

I have already eyed up a few other courses there so who knows ... 

I spied this photo on a local facebook group - we were captured at our course in the library. The images on the glass are done by the course tutor. 

I asked for permission to share it here & Eddie sent it on to me. What a coincidence to be captured at our morning. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is appreciated. 

Dee 🖌️🎨🫟🧑‍🎨

Gold work embroidery

 I love courses & learning new things - the educator in me believes in life long learning. 

When I saw a Goldwork Landscapes course at our county museum I signed up immediately, glad it was when I could fit it in. To be honest, I would have probably shuffled things around to fit it in. 

 I admit that goldwork is not something I have much knowledge of as a form of embroidery & yet I always admire the intricate gold embroidery work on garments & decorative items. 

The details said - everything included - which meant there was no planning or buying things that may or may not be applicable. My friend Ellie signed up too; it has been over a decade since we did a Gentlework course together, again in our county town, &  more recently we did a felting course together. It is a good way to share experiences. 

The course details for the goldwork was vague saying landscape goldwork with this description 

Goldwork couching is a beautiful needlework technique, steeped in history. This workshop will introduce this ancient craft, once known as “Opus Anglicanum” or “Work of the English” into our local landscape. Combining the playful intersection of lines within a map and the slow-stitch approach to embroidery, to produce a unique and individual artwork.

However, with all materials provided there is no preparation with was good because I didn't really know what was required.  Our places were ready with an embroidery hoop, some needles in a felt fabric, tracing paper & the background sheet on goldwork. 

After an introduction & some background, we selected maps from the good selection & had to find something to trace. The suggesting was the main lines & how they intersected each other as that would give opportunities to use the lines in different ways. 

I selected a Shropshire bit that I had a family connection to but with hindsight, I should have selected something with a river etc for contrast. I might just add one anyhow as it does not have to be correct.

We selected a background fabric for our embroidered piece, hooped it ready for the tracing stage. 

      

After tracing the lines we wanted on the tracing paper, holes were pricked in the tracing paper with a toothpick then pouncing powder & a pad was brushed over in circular motions for the powder to come through the holes & give an outline.  This had mixed results for some of us, but enough to pencil in the lines anyhow. 

However, the technique was to couch gold, silver or bronze threads on our lines or use with the large selection of embroidery thread. 

I wanted to get an understanding of how the threads worked when manipulated, bent or couched over each other so loosely following the map part I had selected, I used single or double over threads to follow the lines. 

Couching is an easy technique which lays threads on top of the fabric & soon everyone settled in to a comfortable rhythm of chatting & stitching, with regular trips to the table to get threads etc. 

Time passed really quickly with tea & a short lunch break & soon it was time to wrap it all up. 

A really interesting few hours because we all started with the same items on the table (map, threads, hoop etc) and each one was unique in the details & interpretation. That is the fascinating part of these workshops for me - how individual it all is. That is my experience with all the courses I attend ... 

I had researched goldwork online & I will order in some of the threads & try another one in my own time, especially as I have a better understanding of the technique. Goldwork is a specialist technique & there is a lot to learn to become proficient, but  this introduction has been interesting & unusual, just how life long learning should be. 

We had time for some shopping in our buzzing county town where several events were on & the sunshine brought people out in their droves. Wonderful seeing it all busy & vibrant. Our county town is not short of beautiful buildings or spires from the many churches. How lovely they looked in the spring sunshine. 

     

I hope you have enjoyed this post, thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee