Sarah Appleton - Textile Artist Blog

Last week I was invited to teach a craft session at Forest Arts Centre for some local schools on the theme of 'Ubuntu'. If you don't know (I didn't), then Ubuntu essentially means 'I am because we are'; feel free to investigate more after you've read this if that has activated your curiosity zone. There were a small group of lucky students chosen from each of 4 local primary schools and along with dance and drama teachers in other areas of the building, I was to deliver 3 x 20 minute art sessions with the children rotating around each class every half hour. Essentially like the artistic version of speed dating! There aren't many arts and crafts that you can satisfactorily complete with minimal mess in 20 minutes (in my opinion) whilst keeping within the theme of Ubuntu, so I chose a simple collage class.  Many of the children knew what collage was, some being experts and some being complete beginners. I had collected a range of old books and magazines fo...

Last week I took on a children's t-shirt printing workshop at the Forest Arts Centre in New Milton. I really wanted to give the workshop an eco-friendly angle, so I collected lots of found objects from discarded handles to single use plastics in various shapes and sizes and we used these dipped in specialist paint to create repeating and abstract patterns.  After giving minimal instructions I let the kids experiment on sheets of paper before printing their t-shirts and they came up with some wonderfully creative and colourful designs to wear on their Easter holidays. I'll let the shirts speak for themselves! A sample shirt created by me! A few experiments on paper... ...Before the real thing! I love how each t-shirt came out completely differently, with every one expressing something about the personality of its wearer. The children really seemed to enjoy it, they didn't get too messy and weren't phased by facing the blank white canvas of a t-shirt! A success all around...