Green Garden Project-session 8

The workshops for the Green Garden Project has come to an end with some great sculptures and some amazing comments from the participants.

Check out some of these comments:

Jane “The class is brilliant……very therapeutic as you can loose yourself in the weaving….fantastic course and an honour and a privilege to be part of the project.”

Tricia “I feel very lucky to have been invited to join this course, I’ve learnt a new skill which I have thoroughly enjoyed, Rachel is a wonderful person who has helped us all to achieve something special.”

Sandra “I will miss it….it has been a good class”

Pat “I found the course weaving with willow really relaxing and very interesting”

Chris “The course went very well and we all got on well……..willow weaving is a useful skill”

Will “Handling the willow is very relaxing and watching the sculptures grow each week is very satisfying”

Kate “I’ve enjoyed learning new skills and working with the rest of the group. It’s been fun and interesting and I’d like to do more willow work. Also looking forward to seeing the finished project at the residential home and a lovely garden party! Thank you very much Rachel for teaching us to willow weave.”

Tom “I have enjoyed the class…..this is something I would like to do again”

Finger news!

Stitches are out and a new dressing, only 3 more weeks of wearing a cast, so just in time for meeting the Queen.

Today’s visit to the hospital was extremely painful, they needed to remove the eight stitches that held my finger together, but 3 out of the 8 were embedded under a scab. After much teasing I told the nurse to just pull them out!

After being told by the nurse that it was much like having your eyebrows tweezed, I think she now knows it isn’t and I definitely know it isn’t ouch!

But that is all done with now, I’ve been discharged and can get back to my one handed weaving whilst my broken bone heals. Phew!

Thanks again for all the well wishes x

Finger update.

The swelling is reducing, the pain is lessening and starting to get some movement back in my hand. I have returned back to work and all is moving in the right direction,

It was a huge risk going back to work after injuring my finger, but with so little time left and so much to do I felt like my dream was slipping away from me. So I decided to jump in with two feet and one hand and try my best to accomplish something no matter how slow the progress was.

The raised beds that were made at the local fabricators needed willow weaving onto them, so I decided to start with those. Using fresh willow withies that required no soaking were used so that I could keep my hands dry and reduce the risk of contaminating my wound. They are very supple when fresh and this helped, I have been finding many new ways of holding withies with my body parts whilst my right hand weaves, trapping the withie between my elbow and waste proved the most effective as it allowed me to keep my hand raised to help keep my finger out of the way and to aid in the reduction of the swelling.

So what did I accomplish? Two circular raised beds are now complete.

Only 2 circular raised beds and 1 large 4m raised bed to weave and 12 sculptures to finish off!

Disaster Strikes Finger!

With only 3 weeks left until Chelsea I go and crush my finger and can not weave a thing!!

I am at home trying to type with one finger whilst my other hand is strapped in a sling trying not to disturb my poor broken swollen finger.

It all happened yesterday whilst altering a piece of metal working machinery when it landed on my finger, it split open the skin and bled everywhere. After spending the whole day in hospital they managed to sew up my finger with 8 stitch’s, but it was too swollen to fix the broken bone.

Wednesday I will be seeing the specialist who will determine how to fix my bones back together. 

So it’s stop everything, no weaving, no workshop sessions, no studio just sit at home and rest keeping my hand elevated to reduce the swelling. I am trying very hard to be optimistic, everyone has offered help in any way they can, all determined to help get me to Chelsea. But what a time to do it, my dream is so close but now it feels a long way away. 

Will keep you all posted, and keep your fingers crossed! (pardon the pun)

Green Garden Project-session 7

The project is nearing an end now with only 2 more sessions to go, and this week was the competition for free tickets to Chelsea Flower Show.

After 7 sessions of sculpture making the project participants are getting quite good at creating their willow sculptures and incorporating a range of surface patterns and swirls.

After competition they are taken back to the studio for a trim and left to dry for a week before they are preserved with boiled linseed oil and turps, the traditional method of preserving willow.

At the beginning of the project everyone was told about the chance to win one of four tickets to go to the Chelsea flower show to see the sculptures in situ. All the names were put in a hat and Tom, Trish, Kate and Jane were the lucky winners. Well done! you all deserve them and have worked really hard on your sculptures over the last few weeks.

Green Garden Project-session 6

After a break for Easter it was action stations for the next session of the green garden project with the continuation of the sculpture making ready for Chelsea.

The willow weaving is really taking shape now with many of the participants becoming really confident with the willow withies, the shapes forming on the sculptures are very fluid and creating some beautiful surface patterns.

There are a few that are still struggling a little but they are a really determined group and each week brings great results.

The excitement is really starting to show with Chelsea just round the corner, next week is the competition to give away some free tickets, to the project participants, to allow them to come and visit the Chelsea Flower Show in May.

So it will be names in a hat and lots of fingers crossed. 

Inspiration and weird dreams

Having time off for Easter break with the children has resulted in a sudden surge of inspiration and some very strange dreams.

Juggling the many aspects of life can be difficult sometimes and perhaps more so when you have children, as a rule I have all school holidays off work so I can spend time with my girls, do lots of activities and generally try to relax. Most of the time I can usually manage to keep on top of things by working in the evening, but with Chelsea fast approaching and my list ever growing, I have had to squeeze more than usual into half term.

In between swimming, baking and play dates I have crossed many items from my list snatching an hour here and there, but this has resulted in some very strange happenings at night. Last night I dreamt that I was baking cakes with my youngest daughter and when we were ready to ice them, I got out my mig welder!  

Although I have not managed to separate my work and home life successfully this half term, it does feel like I have accomplished a lot, teaching children to swim and emailing, making cakes and designing exhibition boards on Photoshop, having play dates and liaising with curators.

In the bit of down time in the evening after checking for any last minute emails, I have been watching a lot of biographies and documentries about writers and artists like Henry Moore and Van Gogh, and their enthusiasm and drive has spured me on and now I can’t wait to get back into the studio and make lots. 

Sometimes it pays to take a little break even when your busy, it helps to refocus and refuel.

So in all, it’s not been a bad Easter.

Green Garden Project-Workshop 5

Another successful day in the life of the Green Garden Project and some lovely sculptures being made.

There was a real buzz in the room as people were becoming  little more comfortable with each other and the confidence working the willow had risen. As I went around the room to each participant, the difference from the last week was evident straight away, the shapes and forms on the sculptures becoming more fluid with tighter weaves of willow.

The second sculpture making session is now complete and the work is looking great, everyone that attended this week enjoyed themselves and the comments, well see for your self:

“Really lovely class. Brilliant chance to work with willow. Haven’t tried this before but wonderful opportunity. Have loved it.” Jane

“Really enjoyed today, seeing the structure take shape and the patterns form. Learning all the time, so hopefully the next one will be better! Willow much easier to handle today with the extra soaking” Kate – volunteer

“Very enjoyable and satisfying and have learnt a new skill.” Tricia

“I think they are fantastic” Sandra 

“Working with willow is very enjoyable, a bit of a struggle with one hand but it was most enjoyable. Hopefully when the project finished it will look brilliant” Tom

“I feel good” Malcolm

“I found it very relaxing, I didn’t think I would be able to do it today with my arthritis, but it has really worked well, I have found it relaxing and helpful and an interesting subject. They look marvelous. Thank you for inviting me to the class.” Pat

“I thought everyone got really involved, it’s good to attempt it and a good skill to learn. I’ve taken lots of photos, and enjoyed taking the images.” “It’s amazing how each one is different.” Chris

“It’s very therapeutic, it relaxes you, you come here and feel a bit down when you’ve done this you feel high up again” Pat