Hello, I teach structural possibilities rather than specific stitches with specific names - I use those for analysing laces that already exist. We begin with simple plaits and work up to more complex plaits with many threads, then to cloth stitch and variations with twists, half stitch and then families of ground stitches based on the direction of working. In any case all stitches are simply combinations of the two main movements and once one understands those, that it is possible to work in different directions and has the confidence to approach different types of crossings the possibilities are endless. How each student chooses to approach the structure of their first motif is up to them; it is a learning and problem solving exercise and it is most interesting to see how each individual goes about it. When they find themselves in difficulty we analyse the situation together and see what their options are. It's a course for a certain kind of person, I am finding more and more, even in the field of tertiary education, students expect to be spoon fed - something that I find intolerable. I want my students to learn to use their own brains and find their own creativity. I also feed their creativity on stunning historical examples and draw their attention to aspects of the evolution of lace making which serves as a parallel to their own development as lace makers. I teach this course intensively twice a year. Happy lacing, Angharad
2010/8/20 <[email protected]> > <<When I have groups of students at my school I begin with a sampler of > different stitches to analyse the structural qualities and visual effects of > each so that the students begin to build a vocabulary of stitches with which > they will express their own ideas. Then I pass immediately to an analysis of > how to construct individual moftifs and each student chooses a form and has > to use their "vocabulary" to fill it in, it is a very free exercise of > drawing with threads, from there I pass to techniques for joining such > pieces together and in the second half of the course we look at the more > complicated task of working the ground and motifs together. I have had very > good results with this approach and in the coming years I hope that my > students will begin to contribute to the various competitions that are > around.>> > > When you do your beginning sampler, do you go beyond half stitch, whole > stitch and linen stitch to include grounds such as Dieppe Ground, or Paris > Ground? > Are the individual motifs constructed in the way of a tape lace, worked > horizontally, or do you incorporate grounds, such as the Dieppe Ground, as > in, making a tape and filling it with a ground? > Where does plaiting come in? I find young people are very interested in > Russian lace grounds since you can get a very elaborate look with a minimum > of skills. > Your approach sounds fascinating. > > Devon > > -- Angharad Rixon Via Milazzo 191 27100 Pavia tel. 0382 300061 cell. 349 293 8972 - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
