Monday 27 March 2017

Sarah Campbell Fabric Painting Day

A grey start to the day....  I was unfortunately going to be a bit late for my class at The Fashion and Textile Museum and had already made my apologies in advance but there was a further delay at Moorgate tube and I had to walk down to London Bridge. Not a bad walk but I was then lost at Monument and Pudding Lane … I then realised I was also on the wrong side of The Thames!


Doubling back on myself, I found a stairway to the top of a bridge and was able to head towards The Shard at Bermondsey where I knew the Museum was located. 

I made my apologies at reception and was then able to join Sarah Campbell’s class who were just about to have a lunch break.  I took the opportunity to photograph everything and anything I could in the Josef Frank exhibition.  What impressed me was a riot of colour and blooms on lengths of fabric suspended from the ceiling.  




There was also a beautiful room set up with painted furniture, prints and glassware, where you could see the fabric in context.  




The Museum shop had Sarah Campbell scarves and cushions printed in mouthwatering colours ...  













Some from the past and newer designs such as this hand painted birds and nest.

I enjoyed browsing through the books and cards, particularly a Zandra Rhodes cut out and colour paper doll complete with outfits!  



I also came away with a Fashionary book – like a dictionary of fashion styles and faint templates of figures for drawing over.

It was a pleasure to meet Sarah Campbell, who I’ve blogged about before: Start to Finish - The Collier Campbell/Sarah Campbell Story UPDATED , when I saw her exhibition in 2014, again at The Fashion and Textile Museum.  



Although I was late, she made me feel at ease and I went straight into painting on calico.  I was inspired by the sunflowers I’d seen in the Frank exhibition.  I learned about auto-fade pens and lightly sketched out my pattern on the fabric. 



Auto fade pens are like felt pens but the outline disappears after a short length of time and doesn't spoil a painted design.  It’s been a while since I handled paint but I took to it again immediately and loved the way the fabric paints blended and bled on the cloth.  



I only had a couple of hours to do anything in and made the most of it while I could.  




The end of the class came round too quickly and I felt I should head off home in good time considering the journey I had in.  Delays on the way home too!  I didn’t arrive home until 9 in the evening which meant for an exhausting day.  Enjoyable though and of course, I met a heroine of mine  ....  A grey day ended up full of colour ...

I've since bought a set of fabric paints of my own and I'm now looking forward to finishing my design.  So glad to be back painting again! 

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