Hi I'm back; I haven't been away physically but have been working on ideas, plans and samples for an exhibition I am participating in next year so have not done any experimental work for a while. I have now started taking part in a workshop at Pepper Street, with basketry and netting. This first week we made string from plant material; this is a traditional skill world wide. It is very simple; tie two strips together at the top; bend the right strip back up to the right, then return it to the straight position and bring over the left strip; repeat endlessly. It is quick and easy, but I found after a while my fingers started to hurt, because I get arthritis in them, so it is something to do in between other tasks that don't affect the fingers so much. Also you do get to find the natural way to hold and fold the plant material.
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| This is the coil of string I made, taking about half an hour. | ©Christine Linton |
You probably can work a lot quicker once you get into the swing of it.
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| Close up of the string | ©Christine Linton |
We also did some coiling which I will show in my next post. The workshop is run by
Lizzie Emery.
