Arabesque workshop with Jenny Bowker 2
days
This
workshop will teach you to play with a selection of patterns to produce designs
suitable for quilts made with blocks – but your blocks will be appliquéd like
Islamic blocks.
It
is really curious that quilters make hundreds of wonderful block designs with
geometric piecing, but the moment they think about appliqué they use a cream
square and put something in the centre that does not touch the sides. We will
work with ways to create stunning tile patterns for appliqué.
Pattern
is defined in the Concise Oxford dictionary as "a regular form or order …
or design." We will look at the way pattern appears in nature - while
there is usually an underlying structure there is often a lot of variation
within the basic design. We can play with patterns that nature produces for us
or produce patterns of our own using several different systems.
It
is a design based workshop where you will not produce a finished quilt, but
will work with many small sample design ideas in paper. Most of your time will
be used in working up designs
Skill level: A willingness to work in new ways
is necessary for this class. Some experience is useful but not essential.
Jenny
Bowker
Jenny
has been working in Textiles since 1997 - from the time she finished a Bachelor
of Arts Degree (Visual) and decided to make just one quilt.
Her
background - life before quilts - was in science. She is moving towards a
melding of her fine art work and her textile work. She is interested in the way
pattern comes into many parts of our lives and often include some geometrical
piecing in her work as she thinks it keeps her technically on her toes and
provides a key for traditional quilters to link to her work.
She
has four children and a very supportive husband who worked as a diplomat for
the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. While following him she lived a
total of fifteen years in Arab and Islamic countries. This might seem
irrelevant to quilting, but has influenced her subject matter and much of her
work reflects her love of the Middle East. She has lived in Syria, Western
Samoa, Malaysia, Jordan, Jerusalem and Egypt.
She
teaches and really enjoys it. There is no greater delight than to offer tools
to a quilter who wants to make original work but doesn't know how to access her
own ideas.
For
more details about her background and experience in quilting go to her website
at www.jennybowker.com.