During my project on movement and motion I did some workshops that related to the way I was working in 3d.   One of the earliest ones I attended was the casting workshop. This proved to be a vital and important one for me because it solved problems I was having with the 3d piece I was working on at the time.   I was looking at how stitches linked and connected.   When working with malable materials they linked and joined together very easily, but once they became solid the story was very different.   I discovered after trying various different methods that in their solid form they needed to be arched.    This is where the casting workshop helped, I was able to make an arched single stitch and then I could cast it exactly the same way time and time again.   The result was perfect every time.    I decided to use wax as it set faster than casting powder and while solid when cast, there was a little window where the wax could be manipulated without breaking.
Below are some examples.   

Because I was knitting I decided that I would go to the workshop on textiles.  I thought I might use some of the felting methods in the way I was working.   This workshop was very exciting and full of colour, the sky was the limit, as far as textiles were concerned, they could be used in studio practises crossing all of the disciplines I was interested in.    I learnt that felting has wonderful potential and that almost anything can be felted.   We looked at techniques and materials that built textures, that provided structural elements, that draped, fused and pleated.   We learnt about a technique called shaborie and how when employed the fabric took on the shape of the object that was used in the process.     Around this time I went to the 'Twisted Threads' exhibition in the RDS in Dublin and saw the work of artists using felt, stitches and knitting.   Among them were the following

'Scavengers' Caroline Schofield

Sheila Jordan

'Leaving Dublin Bay', Tara Ni Nuallainn

This work shop also showed how to knit with circular needles, providing tubular shapes, how to do finger knitting and how to knit on a very large scale with a basic handmade knitting machine made out of 2 X 2 and dowel.
In the next textile workshop we learnt the art of felting, and below are some of the images of the process involved.

Somewhere along the workshop journey I ventured in to ceramics and I had a ball, I loved the tactile nature of the clay.   Again I was interested to see how I could knit using clay.    Surprise, surprise  it worked and I have a swatch or perhaps I should say clay piece that survived firing and came out without breaking or cracking in the firing process.

Once I had this piece out of my system, I got cracking and experimented with the clay looking at other stitch formations.   I started to make little structures that seemed to have a life of their own.

Contextually I was looking at the ceramic sculptures of Laurie Spencer.   These huge dome  structures built and fired on site reminded me of the little ones I had made.   Connections! I see them everywhere.

'Ceramic Domes' by Laurie Spencer

The work of Phyllis K Sullivan, another ceramic artist interested me also.   This was because the body of work 'Vortex' and 'Penelope'  had captured me hook, line and sinker.  Looking below, I'm sure its very clear why I felt like this about these pieces.  I'm sorry to say in my ignorance I never imagined anything like  this could be achieved in clay. 

 

Later I made some coil pots and two little pieces that were woven together with coils of clay.    They were then fired, glazed and fired again.

The other workshops I attended were Print and Life drawing, but I 'll blogg about these at another time as its getting late and my fingers are tripping over themselves.   I'm sure its natures way of telling me I need sleep.