Colour+Print in Geelong

Garnet House at Geelong Grammar School - home away from home.

Straight from the GLINT residency to a residential workshop for TAFTA at Geelong, this has been one hectic month. This year at Textile Forum I taught 'Colour+Print' to ten students from all over Australia, at the Geelong Grammar School in Victoria. Most of the students were new to screen-printing and it was great to have two students in my class from last year's 'Printing with mordants and natural dyes' workshop, Rasa and Alison.

Anna hand-painting a beautiful floral piece with her test colours beside her

Pirjo building up delicately coloured and textured backgrounds for further work

During the week I shared my knowledge and demonstrated how to mix fabric paints to specific colours; how to develop an individual colour-palette for textile design; how to produce striking fabrics using low-tech methods and an introduction to printing with silk-screens. The ladies in the workshop had diverse textile backgrounds and experiences, and this course gave many of them the opportunity to get out of their comfort zone and learn new skills which could be incorporated into their work in the future.

Final display of work in a mini-exhibition this morning

Tea towels and textile samples from the workshop

Rasa

Libby

Vanessa

Marlene

Kate, Pirjo, Anna and Alison in front of class work.

I have to say it was one of the most productive and also enjoyable workshops I have taught, in part due to the fantastic students but also to the immediate nature of screen-printing which opens up all sorts of possibilities for extending the knowledge of design and colour. Thanks to Kate, Pirjo, Libby, Pam, Helen and Vanessa, Marlene, Rasa and Anna...well done!

Open Studio this Sunday

In between making work for 'Bespoke: Design for the People' (see below) and getting ready for Modern Market at Nishi this Saturday, I have been busy printing and dyeing up a storm to produce new stock for my first-ever Open Day at my studio in Pialligo.  Only a select few have managed to talk their way through my studio's huge purple doors and witness the creative chaos that reigns within.

Working away in my studio at Pialligo

I have a HUGE studio within 'The Hayshed' at Pialligo, as do well-known glass artists Kirstie Rea and Lisa Cahill.  We will be opening all three studios this coming Sunday, 23rd November as part of DESIGNCanberra. We will be open from 10-3pm, but will give some formal floor talks between 12.15 and 1.15pm.  Don't worry if you can't make those times, we're happy to talk to you anyway! All works will be for sale and there will be work available that is never seen outside our studios in retail, gallery or market venues.

When:     Sunday 23rd November 2014

Time:      10-3pm

Where:    7 Beltana Road, Pialligo.

Parking:   Please park out the front on Beltana Road and follow the signs in to the studios

Contact:   Julie: 0414738251 

Bus Depot Markets Turn 20!

Well, it has been a busy week for me, requiring the wearing of many different hats along the way.
I have been busy printing new stock at Megalo for the upcoming Old Bus Depot Markets on Sunday 14th September when they will be celebrating their 20th Birthday.  Congratulations! It will be a fun and vibrant day, with entertainment and a cutting of the cake at 2pm.

Busy printing new stock and dyeing merino socks for the upcoming OBDM

I have also been madly dyeing a whole new batch of super-fine merino socks as I have been inundated with requests from loyal customers who just love the funky patterns and colours but also the quality, fineness and softness of the wool. They are sure to be a sell-out on the day.

On Thursday night I put on my Craft ACT cap as a member of the Management Committee and opened three exhibitions - the APM annual exhibition on the theme of Awaken, The Arid Zone  by local ceramic artist Cathy Franzi, and Scantlings by SA ceramic artist Lesa Farant.  More information on these wonderful exhibitions can be read here.

AND I have been busy proto-typing new work for the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House for an upcoming exhibition I was selected for, responding to historic furniture in various rooms.....more updates on this later.

Connected Cloth

This fascinating book which was published last year presents an invaluable guide for textile artists who work collaboratively, either in formal situations, such as art residencies with institutions, or informally such as small community groups. It provides useful information on setting up groups, finding venues, establishing ground rules and working methods, and staging group exhibitions. It also gives plenty of practical advice on how to hang and display textiles, themes and inspirations, collage techniques and working towards an exhibition.

My arts residency and collaboration with Dr Christine Cargill at the Australian National Botanic Gardens,  and my 2010 residency in Hill End is featured in the book (p96-97). Also included are many other well-known textile artists such as Els Van Barle, Alice Kettle, Glenys Mann and Machiko Agano.

Connected Cloth is written by well-known UK textile artists Cas Holmes and Anne Kelly.  Cas is no stranger to Australia as she often teaches in residential workshops for Fibre Arts Australia in Australia and NZ each year.

Mordant Printing

I have just written an article for the latest 'Embellish' magazine (Issue 18) on the early history of mordant printing in conjunction with natural dyes. It was fascinating to discover that the Egyptians used mordants from the 12th Dynasty (2055-1650 BC) and that alum was used in India around 2000 BC. The advantages of applying mordants and resists to a cloth before dyeing enables a polychrome palette to exist alongside areas of undyed cloth with only one or two dyebaths. I will be teaching this process at the Geelong Fibre Forum in September-October this year. I believe there are only one or two places left in my workshop, so if you are interested, get in quick!

Winter has arrived!

After a week of glorious Autumn weather, Winter arrived this morning in Canberra and we woke to heavy grey skies, intermittent rain and a definite drop in the temperature.  I have spent most of today sitting in front of a crackling fire and stitching some textiles for exhibition later in the year. So cosy listening to some classical music and watching the flickering flames warm up our home.
I am also getting stock together for the Belconnen Art Centre Mid-Winter Market which will take place in the BAC foyer on Saturday 28th June from 12 noon to 5pm. I will be launching a new series of silk/cotton scarves as well as the ever-popular tea towels, merino socks and hankies.....hope to see you there!

Come and visit me at the BAC Mid-Winter Market

Experiments in Printing with Mordants

Just a heads-up on the workshop I will be running at this year's TAFTA Geelong Forum from September 28 - October 4th. My class will definitely be going ahead, and is almost full, so if you are interested now is the time to register.

Combination of resist, dye and mordant printing on cotton.

Discover the magic of printing with mordants in conjunction with natural dyes. Mordant printing is a centuries old process whereby different colours can be obtained on your cloth from just one natural dyebath. This class will focus on several mordants and dyes as well as different printing and stamping processes. It is suitable for those wishing to extend beyond immersion dyeing to printing. It can also be understood as suitable for relative beginners to the very experienced as participants can determine how to incorporate the Mordant Printing methods in their own practice.

Naturally dyed silk wool and cotton with mordant printing

Hope to see you there!http://tafta.org.au/geelong-forum-tutor-julie-ryder/

Colour+Print!

At the Sturt Summer School this year I taught a "Colour+Print" workshop that focused on the basics of mixing colour for printing onto textiles. 

One happy class!

Most of the participants were beginners although some had related experience in the areas of weaving, sewing, dyeing, graphic design and teaching art. Student learnt to mix their own colours from scratch, learning about colour theory and the technical aspects of the chemicals involved, including exploring the many different binders that could be used onto textiles to create different effects.  Once we got a hang of that, we had fun playing with carving blocks and using traditional blocks for block-printing as well as cutting stencils for screen-printing.

Kate's green hydrangea block-print

Elizabeth's vibrant block-printed cotton

Exploring both traditional and hand carved blocks

This was a fabulous collaboration with a professional outcome!

The cushions seen above are an example of how much work and effort the students put into a 5-day workshop.  The Japanese Maple block was carved by Jen, the design and construction was executed by Lee, and Marylou acted as colourist and stylist. Lee and Marylou also made matching aprons from their colour swatch experiments (seen in the background), tote bags, napkins, tea-towels and much, much more.  It was awesome to come into class each day and see what they had achieved.  In fact, the whole class was so enthusiastic that we received many many comments about the work produced during the public Saturday Open Studio.  Well done ladies! 

Oh....they also presented me with this fab tote bag, screen-printed and signed by each one of them, then sewn up in the dead of night by Lee...and filled with bottles of wine of course! One of the most enjoyable workshops I have taught.

My next workshop will be at the TAFTA Geelong Fibre Forum in late September - Experiments in Printing with Mordants. Great for those of you who have an interest in natural dyeing and want to expand into printing with mordants and natural dyes.