Lovely technology!

Sorry for no blog since Christmas! Due to various computer machinations, I haven't been able to access the account from which I send this blog since Christmas. (Don't ask....!)

Anyway, here we are in February, and the winter hasn't been too bad for us here in central England so far. Luckier by far than many other areas of the UK, and other countries - the blue sky we've seen loads of makes all the difference! 

So the classes are going pretty well this year so far - a good few new students here at my home studio, and I'm also teaching a pattern cutting class at the Mill Arts Centre in Banbury, which is great - the students are so motivated. 
This class concentrates on making personal blocks before learning pattern making techniques,  i.e. making a block to fit your own body shape, first off. I do show the students how dart manipulation works though, even before they make their own blocks, as it's good to have a visual image in your head of where you're going. I use a low tec model made from mounting board (!), as not every teaching room has a smart board to use. If you do have one, then a clever pattern making program called  Lectra, really comes into it's own. But these programs are expensive for smaller institutions, and need a lot of practice to get proficient (and that from a colleague who uses it all the time in the course of her job). 

But in the end, the learning is the objective, and  technology can be used wonderfully to speed things up, once the understanding is there. In any field of the arts, a computer and it's software are tools to be used in the process of creativity, and as a person who dislikes the tedium of mechanical processes once I know how to do them (!), technology that does the job is a relief! And then you can get on with the designing....

I'm not saying that the process of making is boring or unsatifying, but once you know you can do it, there has to be more of a challenge, and time saving technology can help you with the challenges!

Thanks are more than due to my resident tec expert, the wonderful Jon Seagroatt my husband, without whom I wouldn't be typing this! 

By the way, don't know if I ever mentioned here the latest Pattern Magic book on stretch pattern techniques by Tomoko Nakamichi - the stuff in that book is beautiful as ever -this is the third in the series....and if you're really into experimental shapes/ideas this book is fabulous. Have a look!