Each July we run a Summer School led by a rotating trio of tutors from our membership.
This year our Summer School theme was ‘Travelling Lines’ with tutors Jane McKeating , Polly Pollock and Janet Edmonds .
We’ve gathered together some reflections from our tutors on this year’s event.
Janet tells us:
“I was pleased to be able to stand in for Dorothy at short notice. The students were all very accommodating and understood that life happens and changes have to be made.
I planned a course that fitted as well as possible with Dot’s requirements list.
We made zig zag books and filled them with a range of different marks bearing in mind the overarching theme of ‘Travelling Lines’: Lines of communication between people, railway lines, phone lines, Ley lines; lots to choose from. Many students chose pathways through countryside and referenced their own neighbourhoods.
We used a variety of tools to draw lines that extended across the paper. Students made their own brushes and tried drawing with spaghetti in addition to the more usual pens and crayons. Small areas were selected through a view finder to interpret into stitch.
There was a good atmosphere amongst all participants and everyone intermingled with other groups during breaks and at meal times too.”
Polly explains:
“It was exciting, but also a venture into the uncertainty of teaching a basketry course to students who usually enrol on textile courses. The group I worked with were so open to exploring something new, learning fresh skills and working with unfamiliar materials. We spent the first two days working in a fairly structured way, while thinking and talking about how each student felt they wanted to take this forwards.
It was so interesting and inspiring to see how each person brought something of themselves and their interests to what they chose to work on over the remaining two days in a way in which was most relevant for them.
Not everyone completed what they started during the summer school, but since going home these students completed their work and sent me photos, which is so rewarding that they were enthusiastic enough about what they’d started to go home and finish it. Several students have emailed to say what they want to do next, and sent photos of what they went home and made after the course.”
Jane’s thoughts:
“My group of 16 were looking at how we narrated journeys through drawing and textiles. All came prepared with an idea of a journey they wanted to explore, and these ranged from exciting international trips, inspiring walks down their own gardens, and personal family journeys. We explored these through both observation and imagination, using collage, simple print and hand stitch and each of the participants created a series of small works – supported by myself and the group to explore their own ideas.
We had a wonderful mix of first-time participants and two members who had been attending Summer School for 34 and 38 years. We also had several international members. This mix gave the group a really special quality, so great discussions and support was felt by all of us. The room was busy with activity from early in the morning till late at night and the range and quality of work produced was very creative and innovative. Everyone arrived a very personal solution to capturing their journey while contributing to a great group dynamic.”
Thank you to our three tutors and all our enthusiastic students.
Details and booking for our 2025 summer school will soon be available on our website.