Studio Saturday

Very little ceramics got done this week. I did visit the studio briefly but decided to have some time working at home on "new directions" - and later in the week, hot on the heels of starting the new woodblock printing course, I found myself in the grip of a Mokuhanga Moment, researching registration and - sock knitting in hand - watching a variety of printmaking videos (makes a change from watching  a variety of Gresham College lectures!). 

At the studio, I left well enough alone, apart from filling up the gaps in the display, caused by several pots going to new homes -

 ... and found this little artwork made up of the pins that held the cloths on the tables -

 At home, much of the day was spent grappling with various unhappinesses in the, hmm, shall we call it a storeroom at the moment? One was the sewing machine - the PQ1500, which just about has vintage status by now, with its manual settings (love them - just turn a knob, no tedious clicking/beeping through automatic settings) and straight stitch only.

The machine used to be at the "weekend studio", in those days-gone-by, and in the move back here had become separated from its bobbins. I'd been using a sewing machine so little that one bobbin sufficed for everything - all the others in the drawers of the machine table were for the Janome, which is put away.

Now I needed a variety of bobbin threads, so a big search ensued - with a successful result, including lots of pre-wound bobbins from Superior Threads, 10 or more years ago. The rummage in the drawers also drew my attention to the many variegated threads on hand ... when and how could I ever use them? (Their joy was in the purchasing.)

Another thing that need attention was the state of the room. Things have piled up and were - still are! - gathering dust. This is the organised part of the room -

Some shifting of items, including the essential "putting it where it belongs" in some cases, led to what felt at first like vast areas of clear surface -

 Once the materials came out, the surface quickly disappeared -

Here's a new shape, new size, and new subject matter - first try - oh and new technique, made on the machine not by hand-stitching -

 These are harder to see. On the left, each panel has squiggles of wire pushed through the sinamay.

On the right, a dress shape has been machined, using the "silver" thread on the bobbin; after stitching the dress, I hand-stitched the fabric into a cylinder - it's quite tall, compared to previous pots.

Now I need to find bigger containers for dipping. Another thing that's needed is metallic sewing machine thread (for the bobbin, probably) that actually contains metal, rather than shiny plastic. Hmm, there's this industrial stuff... and this...