On the 10 and 11 May I ran some workshops in Painswick as part of the Stroud International Textiles events. There were two events scheduled at the Painswick Centre, my papermaking workshop and a one day workshop with Sian Martin. The studio for the first day’s event was a little overcrowded but on the second day we moved to a bigger room and had a brilliant time. I always enjoy meeting the people who sign up to my papermaking workshops. Often they have an interest in textiles and related fibre / art things so there is a great deal of common ground. Quite often I feel that we are exchanging information; it isn’t just a one way street. Many of the participants were using the workshop to think over things that would feed into their other art work rather than just using the papermaking as a stand alone project. Anyway, if any of you are reading this, it was lovely to meet you and I found your ability to pick up and run with a new technique really encouraging.

Paper drying during the workshop

Painswick itself is a beautiful town with the most extraordinary churchyard filled with yew trees carved into looming shapes. I was asked if I know the story of the yews. Apparently there are 99 of them and whenever anyone tries to even the number up by planting another to make a round 100, one of the older trees dies. I didn’t count them to check up on the facts but it is definitely the kind of place that grows stories as well as trees.

Some small pieces of handmade cotton rag paper after drying

Venue: The Painswick Centre, Bisley Street, Painswick, Stroud GL6 6QQ