This week of workshops has certainly been a week of contrasts. I had a group of 6 year olds making pop-up cards on Monday afternoon, 10 year olds making Egyptian projects all day Wednesday and a group of ladies making felt on Thursday.
The felt making took place at Dimbola Lodge as part of their season of taster workshops. I do wonder what Julia Margaret Cameron would have thought about these 'goings on' in her home. Our group of beginners were quite a snug fit in the upstairs room that used to be Julia's study, next door to her bedroom. I'm sure all the laughter and creative energy roused her spirit and she would have greatly approved. Dimbola has such a wonderful atmosphere and we're made so very welcome there, with great hospitality & home-made cakes! And such a lovely group of ladies, which made the day. All were experienced craft workers, just new to felting. Enthusiastic, amusing and really good company. All worked hard to produce lots of brilliant pieces of felt and there's more photos on my Flickr pages...
On Wednesday I was back in school with a class of 10 year olds. Several years ago I'd written a craft series called 'Art from the Past' and the Cat Mummys was a favourite project from the Egyptians book. This was a good opportunity to see how these children got on with making them… And they loved it, especially the boys, transforming cardboard tubes and newspaper into cat mummy shapes. They left the glue to dry over lunch, then bandaged and painted them in the afternoon (probably a bit like the ancient Egyptians..?)
I don't know whether I might be driving my 6 year olds a bit hard on Monday afternoons, I did have tears from one little girl last week, but I thought I'd press on with pop-ups this week. Ben did complain that his Tiger didn't look much like mine… I tried to explain that I did have a slight 50 year advantage, but he wasn't convinced!
The common thread with all the workshops, whatever the age range, is the passing on of practical knowledge. I have always 'made things' - I've been very fortunate - it's been part of my upbringing and way of life, and it was my occupation as a writer & illustrator of children's craft books. Now these workshops are a new departure for me, putting knowledge into practice...
They're proving to be a great challenge, a little bit scary, but good fun!
They're proving to be a great challenge, a little bit scary, but good fun!