Nicola and the girls  Happy New Year!! How are you all? Have you survived the Festive Season? I hope that you have great things to look forward to, something simple like starting to knit a new jumper or maybe a larger project? New Year saw me and the girls (my dogs) staying at Clasheen with my dear friend Nicola Brown for a few days. We go there every year. It's a great chance for us to catch up properly, talk about things that have gone well, and some things that have not gone so well. When you work for yourself you are always learning . .  It rained almost continuously, so we didn't get any long walks in, but it was very good to sit in Nicola's cosy lounge or kitchen and just chat about anything and everything. Plus my dogs generally get on well with Pip, Nicola's dog. A very different view from Nicola's house Those of you that have been following me for a while, will know my house has views along the west Clare coast. Pretty amazing. Nicola has a wonderful view

Bronnie and Larissa, what a team!   This is the last of 5 daily blog posts about The Geelong Fibre Forum 2023. It was important to me to record as much as I could about my students, their work and all the fun . . . and my dear friends. To see the first post and then the others - go to - Geelong Fibre Forum 2023 The organisation of an event the size of the Geelong Fibre Forum is mind blowing. It is all run by volunteers!! The main 2 being Bronnie and Larissa. How they manage to run The Geelong Fibre Forum every year, whilst working full time and running homes and families - I really don't know. Thank you so much lovely girls, this was a fantastic forum. This year was particularly special for several reasons. One being that Bronnie and Larissa had an exhibition of their own work. It was a real treat to see what they love creating. The opening party was fabulous, very much enjoyed by everyone. Bronnie & Larissa opening the exhibition Lots of happy talk and discussion about the wor

Nicola Brown and me in the sunshine in Geelong         The Geelong Fibre Forum 2023 was fabulous. Yes, Australia was a long way to go, but it was worth it. There are few opportunities to teach a live 5 day workshop. They can be a challenge, but so rewarding when everything you have planned works out. It is a good test to check you are still capable of developing and delivering quality teaching. Whilst I am a very experienced tutor, you can never take anything for granted. You are only as good as your previous workshop or course. It was also a great opportunity to catch up with my good friend Nicola Brown (who also lives in Ireland and was also teaching) and tutors Mary Hettmansperger (America) and Pam De Groot (Australia) who I hadn't seen for several years. It was so very, very good to see them again. Plus I finally got to actually meet Dawn Edwards, who I have been friends with on FB for several years. There will be at least 3 blog posts about the work my group created. The work

  I'm talking to Nicola live on on Sunday at 10am BST Here is the link to the livestream on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHH6ukhvlcQ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1702337703569486/?ref=newsfeed If you can't make the live interview, Nicola is recording it. Well this is going to be fun. Nicola Brown is a great friend. We first met in Australia 8 years ago when were both teaching at the Fibre Forum in Geelong. Since then we have become very good friends. Nicola lives on the east coast of Ireland, about 3.5 hours drive away from where I am on the west coast.  You wouldn't necessarily think Nicola and I would work friendship wise. We are very different and our textile practices are poles apart. Nicolas work and teaching is based on all things natural. Eco dyeing and printing and felt making. She is an authority on these wonderful processes, particularly eco printing without mordants. Nicola modelling 2 of her eco printed garments  We both love gardeni

Nicola and Pops I have just returned from a few days away staying at Clasheen in Carlow, Ireland with my great friend Nicola Brown. Nicola and I met when we were both teaching at Geelong TAFTA Forum in Australia in 2015 and have been good friends since. We tend to get together 2 or 3 times during the year depending on how busy we both are and if we are traveling a lot. Nicola is a brilliant eco printer, eco dyer and feltmaker. She works without traditional powdered mordants to create her beautiful eco printed and eco dyed fabrics. Nicola has a huge amount of information on her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@clasheen , you can follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nicolabrownclasheen/ With me being so interested in synthetic fabrics and distressing them with a heat gun and soldering iron, you might wonder why I would want to learn about eco printing . . Nicola told me I could eco print on nylon. My head exploded with ideas when she told me this! It's great at N