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	2012 Talks and Workshops
	This year we are offering a wonderful selection of talks and workshops to tempt you into trying something new or to develop existing skills. The workshops are very good value, offering expert tuition, at greatly reduced fees. We have some wonderful talks from nationally renowned speakers who will inspire and broaden our knowledge. This year we are delighted to include our own guild members in the programme: Karen Graham and Sarah Williams kick start the series with a talk on their experience at National Summer School. Later on in the year Pat Hird will show us how to make Temari Balls - a workshop born from Pat’s impressive display during a “member’s work” session last year.
	February 10 th SUMMER SCHOOL & CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT - SPINNING Karen and Sarah will talk about their experiences at the National Summer School 2011. They signed up for the “Beginners and Improvers Wheel Spinning” course. They will give us demonstrations in using Wool combs and show us how to use a Blending Hackle. Joining Karen and Sarah will be Ruth Winterbottom, who last year was awarded the Certificate of Achievement in Spinning by the association. She will bring along the work that was assessed and give us an insight of what was involved to receive this coveted accolade.
	March 3rd - WORKSHOP ANNE MENARY – EXPERIMENTS IN DESIGN An experienced artist and teacher, Anne says of herself; “I work by hand creating textile collage hangings, pictures and printed greetings cards which illustrate an 'other worldly' take on life.
	My inspiration comes from everywhere. I keep volumes of sketchbooks full of observations about art and science.” It is Anne’s belief that sketchbooks are an invaluable part of a creative journey which may lead you down many paths - join her to discover how you can add the basic skills of artist’s sketchbooks to help you achieve creative excellence.
	March 10 th KATIE CHAPLIN - KIMONO, COSTUME OF JAPAN Katie is a textile artist specialising in Japanese arts, crafts and culture. She produces paintings on silk in the style of Japanese woodblock prints, but with a unique, modern twist. She also produces jewellery using vintage and modern kimono fabrics to a traditional Japanese design, and hand dyes silk scarves.
	Her talk will teach us the history of the Kimono, the different kinds of Kimono and their place in Japanese culture. We will learn what makes the complete garment and the ceremony of dress – it’s not as simple as you think!
	May 12 th - MARY FRITH LECTURE DIANE WOOD: “LINEN - FROM INSPIRATION TO FINISHED CLOTH” Diane just loves flax! Understanding this fibre is at the heart of her work, spinning, dyeing and weaving this very special fibre.
	She presents an illustrated talk starting with the inspiration for her work and ending with a look at finished pieces. On the way Diane talks about the many processes involved in the transformation from flax to linen. Diane will delight us with samples of the various stages throughout the talk and give a demonstration of flax spinning. We will learn how different ways of harvesting flax affects the finished product and we will find out what beetling and burnishing mean!
	September 8 th JIM & DIANE GAFFNEY: “THE FUTURE OF HANDMADE TEXTILES” Making beautiful hand made textiles is extremely labour intensive, so do we take them for granted? And how long can these traditions continue? What are the prospects for the makers, and the traditional way of life represented by such wonderful textiles?
	Jim and Diane will look at the past and possible future solutions in this thought provoking talk illustrated with some of their very best textiles from around the world. Visit Jim and Diane’s fascinating website: www.textiletechniques.co.uk
	November 10 th MAUREEN TAYLOR: “AN ELIZABETHAN WARDROBE REVEALED” Maureen and her talk come highly recommended - we are assured of an entertaining and informative afternoon!
	If you ever wondered how a rich lady of the time would get dressed, how many layers she wore, and how difficult it was, then this is the talk for you. Margaret will bring several outfits to show us, including one for a member of the audience to dress up in, and she will consider make-up, male fashion, social habits (and some not so social!), footwear, hairstyles and hats so there will be plenty to see.
	Workshop – Date to be confirmed PAT HIRD - TEMARI BALLS Temari balls are a folk art form that originated in China and were introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. The balls were originally made by mothers and grandmothers for the children to play with (they were used in kickball and handball games similar to the hackeysack games played around the world today).
	Historically they were constructed from the remnants of old kimonos. Pieces of silk fabric would be wadded up to form a ball, then the wad wrapped with strips of fabric. Pat will show us how to construct and embellish these beautiful decorations.
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