Carol Wilkes Workshop

A week ago I attended a weekend workshop with Carol Wilkes a well known textile artist here in Australia. It was a master class with a focus on the design process and exactly what I needed to give me the impetus to move on. Was it confronting, challenging, not always comfortable and at times very difficult? For me the answer would have to be yes. Has the workshop made me reflect on my approach to designing? Most definitely and my mind is still racing. I only wish it had been a 5 day workshop we were participating in!!
As it was quite demanding Carol had some interesting sample activities she used as lesson breaks which we all enjoyed making.


This one used scrim which was coated with a mix of 70% PVA-Bondcrete to 30% water. The scrim was then placed on a piece of card, positioned and allowed to dry before painting with acrylic paints. When totally dry some Treasure Gold (or the like) finished it off bringing out the lovely texture.
With this collage piece a selection of textured papers were glued to a piece of card with edges butting and a few extra bits were added including some heated tyvek and loose woven hemp. The PVA mixture was painted over the top and allowed to dry then painted and rubbed with metallic wax as with the previous sample.

A couple of tea bags were placed on perspex and painted with the glue mix before adding some pill bubbles, string, section of net and a tea bag tag. Another couple of tea bags were placed over the top and more glue mixture applied before once again allowing to dry and finishing the same as with the other samples.
The textures don't show up too well with these photos but they are just scrumptious and would make lovely cards and are so easy and quick to make.
Marj