A few days ago I received this very lovely message from Betty .. a participant from my last Stencilling and Bookbinding workshop in Glasgow ! ... “Thanks to you and Cass, for such a wonderful inspiring day… To come away with my own stencilled bound book was amazing… ” What best reward can you get than knowing that not only you have got the job well done but also that you have made someone ‘s day better …
Cassandra Barron and I will be running this workshop a second time on the 25th of May @ Mandors the Fabric store … Stencil, fold and Stitch, Stencilling and Bookbinding
2018 is the Mackintosh Year… So Cassandra Barron and I decided to run some collaborative workshops based on the work of Charles rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow. I would stencil Roses and she would bookbind… our usual routine, we would share that with a few participants and it would run in Mandors the Fabric shop. So we advertised the first workshop and… it fully booked. Some lovely ladies who like Mackintosh roses to bits and wanted to have a great day off doing a “wee bit of craft”.
Little did they know that both Cass and I work to a high standard and they would come out with a very beautiful hand bound book full of stencilled roses… Little did I know Betty would join my own workshop … and that she would love it 🙂 … some of the work we did below and what beautiful standard …
There is something satisfying in stencilling… even if you cant draw to save your life you can create beautiful patterns just by rubbing the right amount of paint through the cut out patterns of a template. Off course it helps to have an eye for colour ! Mackintosh loved the technique and used it in many of his interiors… Today we know him for his stencilled roses but I do know that he used the techniques well into the 1920’s and with very geometrical designs. Indeed I was in Northampton last year recreating some Art Deco schemes he designed for a local industrialist.
So on last week’s workshop after a warm cup of coffee and a brief introduction I demonstrated how to stencil a rose … highlighting the “less paint is more beautiful result !” highlighting the beautiful result of a dry brushed technique… and then I handed the brush to the participants for them to have a go onto paper, fabric and more paper…
And off they went stencilling away, roses, letters, small and large motifs on paper for their insert and on fabric for the coptic binding they would tackle in the afternoon. So much inspiration… So many colours 🙂
We could have stopped for lunch but there was no time… “we better crack on” said Cass… and she took over showing how to fold the 6 signatures that would form the inside of the book… and then how to use the recently stencilled fabric to cover the hard sides of the book… The whole project taking shape. And a hard curve needle in her hand demonstrating the stitch we would use for the back … Coptic it’s called … so effective !
From time to time a customer would pop their head to see if everything was ok and they could just have a quick look at the class in project.
And before you knew it… Ta Dahhh ! that was one, two, three,…. books ready. Even I made a little book so lovely pretty thing.
4 o’clock arrived before we knew it ! and everyone left book in their hand… ready to go home and show off 🙂
Then the lovely message came in… Betty’s one … and I was so touched that she was so happy with her day ! Her beautiful day spent with us …
All the Betty of this world together to do “Mackintosh workshop thing…
But I am thinking already about the next very stunning workshop… it will be on the 25th May… details are above see you there ?
Best wishes.
Betty x
THE LANSDOWNE HOUSE 