Non-stop activity

Or at least, that is what it feels like.

OK, so I did say that I would post a photo of the pearl bracelet. So, you could have one of a little pile of pearls beads and seed beads if you like.

The second day of the beading class was good as far as it went, nice chat, several more tips and tricks to pick up, whatever. All was going swimmingly until I came to fasten off the old thread and join in a new one - all of a sudden, the tension was lost at one place, and I had a lot of little beads all strung out (I knew just how they felt) with bare thread in between. The tutor had no idea how it happened or what to do about it - and that is not a criticism, neither did I and I can't imagine anyone would have. The only thing to do was to start all over again. With hindsight, I was wondering if I could have left a loop of thread which somehow freed up, and that could indeed be the case. But when I came to try again yesterday, the tension was threatening to go very loose on me again, so I'm not so sure. I am going to attempt it a third time, but try somehow to put in an extra step, a seed bead or a stitch to lock the tension every few pearls. If that doesn't work, maybe do a peyote band or tube and add the pearl beads over that. I really don't want to be beaten by this.

Anyhow, I digress. I did start one more project, a rather pretty peyote band necklace, with bronze and burgundy delicas, supposed to have just a few decorative touches joining the bands together. But working on it, I realised that I don't do delicate. It's going to change somehow. I have a rather nice oval focal bead that came, I think, from Jazzy Lily, with similar colours in it....watch this space.

So now we arrive at Tuesday, and I went to Backburn to visit a friend and go to a textile exhibition. I had fully expected not to like it, after the previous "modern" one at the Bankfield that I had been to.

The blurb: Viv Scott will be showing her new work in fibre and mixed media.
Over the past 25 years VivÂ’s work in textile art has evolved to include the incorporation of weaving, embroidery, print, paint, latex, and found objects and now to incorporate hard materials within her work. Textiles fibres came to be two and three dimensionally interlocked with solid clay and metals with influence from architecture. Forms take unexpected outlines, angles, curves, closed lines and open spaces; all combine to create a visual and sensual language which makes the sense of touch a new and important element.

I liked it. By and large. That was a nice surprise. Not all of it, but a lot was very interesting. I particularly liked work called the "Indigo series", smallish pieces of various fabrics that had been somehow treated with latex or clay, then rolled - it was interesting to see recognisable textile, but modified in this way, to be quite distinctly hard clay or flexible rubber. It somehow affected how cloth might endure, and rolling the pieces gave an echo of scrolls and thus the carrying information, which textile does, of course, but maybe most people don;t think of it like that.

I wish I had pictures, but although I have googled, I can't find anything on the web, the Museum had no leaflet or post cards, and I forgot to take my camera.

Oy oy, I have more I wouldn't mind saying, but it's bedtime and I'm tired. The DSM is away tonight on another work-related jolly, a leaving do, I think, and I don't usually sleep too well on these occasions, so I will hi me to my couch and perchance will slumber the night away with the sweet soothing sound of two cats snoring in my ear.

A fair night to you all, good gentles.

(And just WTF has got into her, then?)

gw