Frances Pickering
FrannyP.co.uk
May 11 - 17, 2008
Handmade Artist's Journals
Mixed Media, Watercolor
Level All
Studio Class

Frances loves experimenting and she uses many unorthodox methods to construct and decorate the books she make. Frances recycles as many things as possible and starts with very unpromising materials and strive to turn them into something of worth.

Though Frances does use machine embroidery, mostly for practical reasons, to stitch background layers together or to work on outlines, it is hand stitching she loves the most. Feeling the fabric and thread as she stitches connects her with her work more than any other process.

Frances finds, no matter how much she experiments, her work always ends up being a book and each book is a journey – who knows where her next book will take her.

In this workshop, fabric, stitch, paper, paint, gesso, inks, crayons, dyes and acrylic wax are many of the mediums you use to create unique handmade stitched books which can be a personal journals or a record of a particular event or holiday.

Frances shows you how to construct books from scratch with decorative and unique covers. You also learn how to make wonderfully rich, organic pages and decorate them with stitch, incorporate windows, flaps, found objects, material, threads, beads and embroidery to create a richly embellished book.

If you have an idea for a book, bring items you may want to put in your book/journal to use as inspiration - photos, dried flowers, leaves, tickets, letters, post cards, interesting poetry or prose, or any other kind of printed memorabilia.