For our February meeting, we had a talk by Sandra Wallace, who as well as being a successful artist, tutor and author, is a member of our Branch! We are so lucky to have such talented members to inspire the rest of us! Sandra surprisingly started off as a teacher of maths and science, however it soon became clear that her interests lay in more artistic subjects.
Her work is inspired by topics that have interested her - Sea and waterfalls, Native Americans, and all aspects of the natural world, all feature heavily in Sandra's work.
Although her main interest is in felt making, along the way she has specialised in beadwork and her use of colour led to her being asked to write a book on this subject.
Sandra also likes to work in mixed media and has incorporated more contemporary textures into her felted work, such as Tyvek and Expandaprint.
Here are some photographs of the beautiful work that Sandra brought to show us.
The works above and below are on the theme of "Fire and Ice"
These two pieces depict lichen and tree bark,
using silk cocoons and beads along side felted backgrounds
This piece depicts the stunning show of lupins which can be seen in Iceland in springtime. They were planted to try to stop soil erosion but
have started to take over, as you can see from the below photo.
You can practically hear the water rushing over the stones in this piece
(which is actually a waterfall, but I can't turn the photo round!)
A vessel made by using wire alongside beading thread on the loom
Beautiful beaded bracelets
A stunning peacock feather, again made on a beading loom.
As well as Sandra's lovely work, another highlight of the meeting was our colour-themed raffle, which really seems to have caught the imagination of members. Big thanks to Elizabeth who organises us every month, and also special thanks to Judy who brought in lots of turned wood pieces that she'd made - they weren't all black (this month's scheme) but we were very happy to have them!
Finally, *someone* had finished their lovely little house from last month but I can't remember who it was!
Please let me know if it was you and I'll make sure you receive the due credit!
(If any other members have finished theirs, please send me a photo!)
PS - You can still get hold of Sandra's book on Amazon!
