Thursday 12 January 2012

St Ives again and Erosion Bundles

You don't need to panic, I'm not going to post yet more pictures to turn you green with Cornish envy ;-)  At the last minute before Christmas I decided that I should make my good friend a St Ives based wall hanging, partly because she is a very special friend and partly because she is about to move away from just around the corner to the other side of the Pennines.  Why is it we always have these good ideas at the very last minute when we have had weeks or months to think of it?  Must be the creative mind (that's my excuse anyway).

Despite the pressures of working at full tilt and fighting with my machine I managed to complete my self imposed challenge.


You have probably seen a smaller version of this before in a workshop I did with Gina Ferrari down at Art & Stitch some time ago but this piece is about A3 size.  I used many of the processes we used with Gina to make the various textures in this piece and I'm happy to say my friend was delighted with it.  She has it hanging above her bed.  You can read more about the process from the original workshop here.

While we were down in St Ives we met up with the very lovely and talented Carolyn Saxby for a lunch of toasted cheese crumpets (my DH's speciality when in St Ives) and cream cakes supplied very naughtily by Carolyn.  Carolyn and I always like to have a beach ramble when we get together but this time our ramble was cut very short by a great deal of liquid sunshine, otherwise known as pouring rain.  As a result we decided to meet up another day and have a look round some galleries and try for another beachcomb.  In the event it was too cold for a beachcomb and the light was fading by the time we left the Millenium Gallery (sadly their website seems to be down at the moment) but we did agree to start a joint project with the items we had collected previously.

A couple of years ago we both took part in the Erosion Bundle project run by Seth Apter and Carolyn made another Erosion Bundle last year which she opened when we were in St Ives in April.  This year as there is no longer an official Erosion Bundle Project (last year's was run from this blog) Carolyn and I are making our own bundles and opening them on 1 April.  I prepared part of the bundle while I was in St Ives using seaweed and various papers and since I've been home I'veadded to it and made 3 more.


I've used an assortment of papers including failed computer printouts,


fabrics of all types and paper marked with watersoluble wax crayons,


photographs, rusty nails, cutoffs including hand made papers from old projects and various painted papers and fabrics.


All 4 bundles are now sitting in various positions in the garden with great hopes for their disintegration over the coming months but hopefully not for too many creepy crawlies!  Since I've made the bundles I've thought of lots more things I could have put in them so there could well be another one going out there soon.  At least they won't need weeding!  Or maybe they will!

14 comments:

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh Julie if you only knew how inspired I feel when I read your blog! I just feel so empowered to do stuff yet do not know where to start! A needle and thread seem so inadequate - probably in the wrong hands!!!! We must meet up. Dxxx

DIAN said...

Lovely wall hanging. I am green with envy anyway.

The erosion bundles look really interesting.

Angela said...

Your hanging is lovely and will make a beautiful gift. I'm looking forward to seeing the resulting erosion bundles.

Heather said...

Your St.Ives hanging is beautiful - one very lucky friend!
I must have a go with an erosion bundle. Thanks for the ideas of what to include. You have inspired me.

pam said...

Oh wow that is a fabulous present - lucky lady. The erosion bundles look interesting looking forward to hearing further on them

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Beautiful hanging and your bundles look great!!! Will show mine soon as well as gallery photos ... bfn xx

Linda Vincent said...

What a good friend you are to make gifts like that...its lovely.
And I bet you can't wait to open those bundles...you can't beat unpredictable art!!
X
PS Go on...show us more photos. They may make me envious, but I love to see them ;-)

Maggi said...

What a lovely gift, your friend will be thrilled. Your erosion bundles are looking so pristine at the moment, look forward to seeing them when the elements have done their work.

Su said...

I love your wall hanging - what a lucky friend. Erosion bundles fascinate me, I think I'll ahve to investigate further. I look forward to seeing your swhen you unwrap it.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see what the seaweed does to your bundle. ..this will be a great experiment. Glad to see you are creating again. Happiness is in your voice. xox Corrine

Jackie said...

Julie...I'm a new reader and follower of yours. I've seen your work (via your DH's blog) and I wanted to join you here. What a talented lady you are!!
Hugs and love,
Jackie

sharon young said...

Beautiful hanging, Julie, what a lucky friend.
Great idea with your erosion bundle, hope you get a good result.
We now live with a shared garden, wonder what our neighbours would make of the idea :-)

Anonymous said...

Such gorgeous Cornish blues in that hanging. Looking forward to seeing what happens to your bundle!

Gina said...

Your hanging is stunning Julie. What a fabulous gift.