11 January 2025
A wonderful turn out of over 30 members for our first meeting of 2025. Sharon and Deborah led a session on printing on paper and fabric with Gelli plates. Some of us had tried this before; many of us had brand new Gelli plates languishing in cupboards that we were keen to christen. Instructions on how to make your own Gelli plate had been provided beforehand and several members very successfully made their own in original shapes.
Sharon demonstrated the basic principles: applying acrylic paint to the plate and using a variety of tools and everyday objects to mark or create texture in the paint before placing paper or fabric on top to produce a monoprint.
Several happy hours of playing followed and everyone had satisfying results and a diverse range of favourite pieces to share at the end of the day. These included: several layers of printing of different colours, printing with leaves and foliage, using nets from fruit and vegetables, drawing with credit cards and using watercolour paints rather than acrylics. One table experimented with image transfer from magazine pages: their tip for success to use the shiniest and most expensive magazine you can find!
We had time for a general show and tell and Yvonne and Rosemary shared two stunning quilts they had made for Farfield Mill’s “wool” challenge. Both were largely made from recycled wool and woollen fabrics and featured sheep! If successful they will be on show at the Farfield Mill gallery (Sedbergh) in March 2025. We wish them both luck.
Finally, we bid farewell to founder member and committee stalwart Janine. It was very sad to say goodbye as Janine has done a huge amount over the last two years to help establish CQ Surrey as such a thriving, friendly and active group. But we wish her and her family all the very best for their move north and we will definitely be keeping in touch. Good luck with the move, Janine.
Alison Livesley
