week 25 - another successfull Making Day

A few weeks ago I wrote about the volunteer work that I do for Kirkgate Studios & Workshops and the fundraising that we are doing. We have had two more 'Making Days' in June so I thought it was time to report on them!

Knitting
KS&W has a group of absolutely enthusiastic knitters who can whip out a pair of fingerless glove in a few hours. One of our users Gill Smith has brought in a fabulous array of knitting patterns. That combined with the reams of yarn that have been donated = some very nice items for the craft sale!



Fingerless mittens - I am so buying a pair for myself!!


Leaf Bowls
Our second making day focused on 'Leaf bowls' which are always a crowd pleaser. The sun had been shining and the leaves were out, a group of about 10 of us made over 20 bowls. The leaves are rolled into the clay with the back side down so the veins leave an imprint, then you carefully cut around the edge of the clay and leave to harden in a plaster mold so they curve upwards.



Raw materials and pieces drying in clay moulds

Finishing touches as the clay dries for biscuit firing.






Egyptian Paste
Egyptian paste is a new material for most of us but it is an old technique because it was developed and first used by the egyptians. It is a self glazing clay - which means that you only fire it once. You can achieve different colours by mixing different metal oxides into the base mix. Blue, torquise, green and purple.

Gill has used this material before and brought in these examples. Very pretty and tactile!



Here we all are making the beads. The oxides are strong chemicals, so it is best to wear gloves when working with the paste.


Putting hundreds of beads on the racks...




In addition to the beads we made these pendants - a mixture of scarab pendants and other shapes.