Teaching Philosophy

I feel successful when I teach people:

- to see what they look at!

- that it is ok to be different!

- to open a whole new world of creativity for them....

- that there is a solution for every problem (mostly with a quick-unpick!)

- that it is a joy to be creative......


The Creative Mind Plays with the Object it Loves -
Carl Jung














Sunday 22 March 2015

Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition

Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition is currently on show at the Theresa Hardman Art and Design Studio in Port Elizabeth.   29 exhibits created by eleven fibre artists living and working in the Eastern Cape Province, are on show.   We believe this is the first fibre art exhibition in Port Elizabeth and well worth a visit, whether you can do so personally or on the Facebook page.



Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition 
Theresa Hardman Art and Design Studio, 59 Main Road, Walmer, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
17 March - 17 April 2015
The image above was taken at the end of the opening night and shows a few of the exhibits. Personally I have three new pieces on this exhibition which I will share in due course.

Please visit the Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition page on Facebook and "like" the page.     Click on "photo's" to view images of all the exhibits.  All work is for sale.

It will be great to receive feedback.

xxMarilyn

Sunday 15 March 2015

Playing with Mandalas

Creatively I've had a very busy year so far and I will soon spill the beans...

I started playing with Mandalas last year and decided to make two cushions for our living room which can also be used as teaching samples.   I'm scheduled to teach another Design a Mandala workshop in May in Port Elizabeth and really need samples.

I love the pencil and paper aspect of mandalas, somehow I find it comforting to see how a design develops on paper before I actually start cutting and stitching.  Maybe it is a control thing as I can navigate balance, scale and proportions better...!

I made the two cushions to lie on the seats of two cane chairs to add some colour in the room.   As the rest of the furniture is upholstered in beige, it screamed for colour, so I used the colours in the floral curtains as my palette.

Untitled Mandala Cushion #1 - 2015

I taught a Design a Mandala workshop at the 2014 Dias Quilters's Guild Spring Show and while the students were merrily busy designing, I got this overwhelming urge to join in the fun and started this design.   As I was so busy with other obligations, it was put on the back burner for later...!   The interesting thing was that I used the size of the seat of the chair as the size of the cushion. However, once I finished the cushion and put the inner in, the cushion was too small!  Never thought of that!   So I added a small border around the cushions which actually added to the design.   These cushions amount to a lot of work and one cannot really put a price tag to it.

The second mandala cushion...

Untitled Mandala Cushion #2 - 2015

Every small motif was fused into position and stitched using the raw edge applique technique. Some raw edges were sealed with cords made from cotton yarns.   Additional detail was stitched into the designs.

Next time I'll share En-twine-d...