Heartfelt by Liz: Exciting new artists doing workshops at Dalmally

Heartfelt by Liz: Exciting new artists doing workshops at Dalmally: Everyone is getting excited about Christmas  ( o.k. so everyone under the age of say 12 ) I am getting excited about the New Artists booked...

Exciting new artists doing workshops at Dalmally

Everyone is getting excited about Christmas  ( o.k. so everyone under the age of say 12 )
I am getting excited about the New Artists booked to teach some great new skills here at Dalmally Station.

Geoff Forrest is a living legend in Willow work see his website on  http://www.willowcraftdesigns.co.uk/
Geoff will be running a living willow workshop here on Saturday March 16th and there is already great interest

Ann Ross who is the backbone of feltmaking in Scotland will run a workshop on Natural Dying of wool with native plants in April on Saturday 13th. Fungi and Lichens will make an appearance too.

Jenny McKay whose skill in fine feltmaking will run a one day workshop in May. Jenny regularly works with the Botanical gardens in Edinburgh and has many wonderful techniques on how to embed dried flowers and plants into felted wool. we have yet to confirm the date Jenny will run this exciting workshop.

Dalmally Station is buzzing with the possibilities of art and craft and yurts and magnificent landscapes all coming together in one delightful easily accessed location.

This is just the start. Remember that the gift voucher scheme will work for all these days too.

The Dalmally Station Cat

Bobby the ginger tom has really settled into rural Argyll life.
His coat is thickening fast and he has an adorable ginger kitten who idolises him and trails around after him.

He is the top dog...apart from the chocolate lab who gives him a good run for the safety of the trailer but then he does torment the dog.
Usually it is your children that help you introduce yourself to a new community, here however it is Bobby the cat. I was greeted by a neighbour and told how he likes his sausages and black pudding cooked and not raw. Sure enough this morning after been fed here at the station we went on a long walk and Bobby joined us , when we returned he popped in the back way to our lovely local B&B to see if he could get his second breakfast.

                                                       Opps do I trust that tree to stay there?

Mouse or bird, sure I heard something.

                                   He has even trained Graham to scratch in just the right places...

Workshops at Dalmally Station

The last of the 8 week workshop was yesterday and some sadness about not having the lovely friends together on our Tuesday sessions. It has been a lovely time to get to know the people and the place here and some great friendships have been forged.

                                                         Gluppy soap mixture on 'the ball'

                                                                 Laying out the fibre

                                            A hat perhaps...this will be a Christmas tree...

                                                      Resist method of creating a vessel

                                               Bouncy ball technique of making vessels...such fun

                             A beautiful vessel with that lovely soft textured lip of combed wool

Having done several workshops and building up the skills and sharing the experiences of making some very different treasures the pieces made were wonderful.

New photos and web upgrade...wonderful

There may be many of you out there with the same problem...technology moves forward so quickly that the tools to upgrade your website become outdated. In fact I have realised that my whole website structure has become ancient and curtailing to todays demands. A dilemma, spend time and money to do a total upgrade or struggle on?

                                                        The garden moves too

 

                                          The platform...other wise spoken of  as the veranda

                         The Yurt was up for a little while but we discovered this is rather a windy corner

                                                   Defiantly my favourite viewpoint

                                                      Picnic at the station anyone?

                                               Impish face at the window

                                 It doesn't take much to engage me in a conversation if it has wool in it

                       Autumn Equinox gives the building a great mood ( as well as clever lighting )

Thankfully I have a great support team at my web provider Webage ...the team have been great helping me to resolve the latest difficulty uploading the fantastic new photos taken by the very talented Glasgow based photographer Graham. I am sure you will agree that he has captured the mood of the building with a certain wistfulness. Now all I need to do is get cracking with the new range of work and I can see the setting here will be perfect for Graham Campbell's talented camera. Thanks guys you have made me very happy with the support you have given me.

A great day for dying

The sun shone and although the day was cold it was perfect for a mix of indoor and outdoor dying.
The double gas boiler was set up outside with natural dye materials and our own pre mordant wool.
The tea urn chugged away nicely with a perfect blend of hydrangea shades of purples through to soft pinks and inside cosy and warm we microwave dyed with steam bags and fun experiments.

A great day was had and all the left overs were reused until exhausted of the dye and my workshop is filled with colourful delights to whet the appetite.

The Dalmally Railway station clock

The lovely Dalmally Station clock . A piece of heritage has been stuck on 4pm for many many years.
There was great excitement yesterday when a team came to fix the clock from via Scotrail.
Sadly they were not told a team had been there last week with the plan to do the same. No one seemed to realise British Rail sold of the mechanism as it did to many station clocks . How can such a  valuable asset be repaired now! The time now reads differently but no heart to the clock in the form of workings will never make it run. Please can we have the old one back to make the life tick again to count the history that is truly important to perverse in the last standing station house on the Callander Oban line

picnic time...before school is out

Unlike some of the schools, Oban finishes today for 2 weeks.
In the midst of a whole heap of jobs the glimmer of sunshine and the gift of Mum and Dad Whaites picnic basket was all the excuse we needed.

 Perhaps this is a bear!!!!

Nice Fungi

As usual the stunning scenery didn't fail us and I am now energised to start back into the work load.
We met no bears in the woods today...

Early rise

The morning promise of a good day sitting on the hills of Dalmally as I loaded the van for the two sets of workshops in Glasgow and delighted in the clear road and rosey hillsides and lochs of the drive.
The village storytelling centre in Pollock is a place for a great variety of activities for all ages.

http://www.thevillageonline.org.uk/
This weeks workshop built up on the skills learned over the last 5 weeks and the possibilities that felt making can offer the students for making a whole range of things with wool and recycled items.

The lovely ladies of Glasgow

The Village Storytelling Centre in Pollock does an amazing job of providing a wide range of activities for the community. I am lucky to be involved with this great group teaching felt making and a big fundraising success has allowed me to work with two groups teaching a range of felt making skills over 8 weeks. This is a perfect way to learn a very usable skill in a very sociable environment and making new friends is a big part of the experience.
These are a few photos to show the development of the work done. I'll post more ongoing with these delightful groups.

I do love what I do!