Tuesday 21st October

Tuesday saw the return of a very popular tutor - Frances Pickering - who was teaching a two day workshop entitled "Textured Treasures". As those of you who have been to a workshop with Frances previously - beautiful little stitched books are her speciality and these were no exception. This time the covers were made with calico, which were then embellished with lace and hand stitching, and the pages contained vintage haberdashery and other memorabilia, resulting in real treasures.

Frances was, as always, ably assisted by Jim. I'm not sure if he was responsible for the raucous laughter that kept coming from the workshop, but certainly everyone sounded as if they were having a great time!



Quite a few regulars in attendance - plus Cheryl who had come over from Australia especially for this workshop! (I think she may have called in to see relatives over here too)

Needless to say, we did have a member of staff on the workshop - Pam was back again (she's got a bit of a thing about books), but we managed to take the photos while she was out of the room.

Incidentally, we'd love to include examples of finished pieces of work from classes here, so if any of you do finish something (come on - it does happen sometimes!) we'd really like to see them. Bring them in next time you're passing, or email us a photo and we will include it on the blog - I'm sure others would love to see what you've done.

If you haven't got round to booking yet, there are still a couple of places on each of the following workshops :

Multifarious Muslin! - a two day workshop with Pauline Verrinder, Wed 29th & Thurs 30th Oct

Acrylics - Textures and Impastoes with Lupe Cunha on Friday 31st October

Taking Risks with Watercolours with Vanda Campbell on Wed 5th November

Give us a call for more information on 01438 814946

Another busy couple of weeks coming up - the van is off to Dublin next week for the Knitting and Stitching show over there, then back here to prepare for Harrogate.

See you soon

Friday 17th October 2008

Friday 17th October saw two of the Art Van Go staff, Shelagh and Pam, having a sneaky day off so that they could take part in the Ruth Smith workshop "Folded Secrets" (We can't seem to get rid of them, even when they're not working!) They (and the other workshop-ees) spent the morning folding papers into various boxes and envelopes, and then later assembling them to make beautiful books which opened out in all manner of ways, which will then be decorated. Can't wait to see the finished results girls!

Later that day, was the private view for Ashlie Green's exhibition 'Analogue Exposure' - intricate and abstract photographs created on film and polaroid using plastic of lo-fi cameras to produce unique results.

Ashlie has just completed her degree, and attained a 2.1 in Photography - we are all very impressed Ash, both with the degree, and the fantastic work in the exhibition. Well done!

K & S Alexandra Palace

Welcome to the very first post on Art Van Go's blogspot! We intend to use this to let you know about workshops, new products and events at Art Van Go, and to generally keep in touch. Please feel free to forward the link to anyone who you think may be interested in our goings-on. We'll welcome your comments (preferably nice ones!) and any suggestions for things that you'd like to see included.

Here's us at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace - this is just before the show opened -

Kevin - as usual in his subtle "exhibition" trousers and crocs - that's what happens when you get dressed in the dark Kev.
Shortly after opening -

Jane demonstrating various printing methods to the obvious delight of the crowd!

As you are probably aware if you have seen us at previous Shows, Ruth Issett is at regular at Art Van Go - leading inspirational workshops and demonstrating for us at the shows, but on this occasion we had to manage without her, as she had her own Exhibition at Alexandra Palace entitled "Connected with Colour". We were able to take a few quick photos before the show opened, and caught Ruth and Chas chatting to Maggie Grey.

The photos can't begin to do justice to the fabulous colours and vibrancy in Ruth's work, but everyone who saw the exhibition raved about it, and more than one has told me that it was their favourite exhibition at the show.


Well done and congratulations Ruth.

We had a really busy show as always, the numbers of visitors may have been slightly down on previous years, but certainly we were rushed off our feet for the whole four days. Just time to unpack, before reloading the van and heading off to K&S Dublin, followed by Harrogate.