November Meeting (Part 2)

Saturday Afternoon

After lunch we are welcomed to the Hall by Moira and Colleen

smiling whilst taking our money!

 - this is a very busy three quarters of an hour,

Some members paying their subs at the Treasurer's table

Some members are choosing Library books or perhaps returning them.

I tried to photograph members choosing books from the extensive Library but could get nothing but backs and bums and therefore did not dare publish!!!!!!!!! 

Some members are checking out the Programme Secretary's desk for upcoming workshops.

This month we had a cake stall to help raise funds - well done to all who either baked or bought or both!

This turned out to be a magic table  - each time I walked past the contents had magically changed as cakes were bought and members brought more in to replace them.  FANTASTIC!

At  2 o'clock we were brought to order by the Chairperson (Shirls) and after the business meeting - of which more in a later post -  we came to the main event.

Our speaker this month was a delightful young textile artist called Serena Partridge - she has lots of talent and a wry sense of humour which was evident in both her talk and her work.

The official title of this  talk is Follies of Fashion but she began with a little background information about herself which included the beginnings of her work in miniature ie miniature gardens in Horticultural Shows and also her Art College course which encouraged problem solving both of which skills have served her well in her work.

She took her inspiration originally from a junk shop which sounded like a real old fashioned emporium which had potential to supply inspiration for her lifetime - sadly it burned to the ground and so she turned to a pair of long kid evening gloves as a starting point and the rest as they say is history.

Her minature gloves are characterised by exaggerated long fingers and extremely small exquisite stitches and this exaggeration and quality of stitch is a thread (excuse the pun!) which runs throughout her work.

She has also used  wigs,  dresses,  boots, cakes, stockings  and umberellas as starting points: she zips about from century to century but always the finished article makes you either smile or wonder at the detail.

Serena likes to recycle wherever possible, using old materials, lace and trims in her work:  her re-use of materials is most evident in her choice of framing materials which are ecelectic but always surprisingly appropriate and usually made by herself - this is where the problem solving comes in most useful.

She completed her talk by showing us some of her residency work done with school children and explained that her current work has returned to gloves but she is investigating the stories behind the gloves and their owners.

I have got to say that this was an excellent talk - a good way to spend Saturday afternoon!!!!!!

Questions were asked of Serena  and answered - then we all needed a cup of tea.





Moira and Colleen working hard dispensing tea, coffee and biscuits.

We enjoyed our drink, had an opportunity to talk to anyone we had missed earlier and had chance to talk to Serena about her work.





This brings me to the end of the meeting and I think a good time was had by all.

Please watch out for Part 3 which will include Notices, Blow Your Own Trumpet, Name Badges, Scarves for Breast Cancer and how Shirley thinks she is in charge!