Work swap with Meg Held

It is always interesting to meet someone who makes work of a similar nature to yourself, but who approaches it from a completely different angle.

Like me, Textile Designer Meg Held has an interest in colour, texture and patterns. After doing the fabric printing workshop with her a few weeks ago, we reminded each other that we had agreed to do a work swap, and so today I visited her studio to choose the piece of her work I would like, and she came to my studio to choose the piece of my work that she would like. Work swaps are a great way to build up a collection of artwork without the exchange of any money!

This hand-coloured drawing is the piece of Meg's work that I chose as a swap:

 

Meg and I have agreed to do a skills share whereby we teach each other a skill for free. Meg would like me to show her how to cast, and I am going to be shown how to print on fabric by Meg. 

Meg was telling me about a group she has just joined to promote and sell her work. Check out www.roommagazine.co.uk for more information

Making Explorations at South Block - Meg Held workshop - block printing

Making Explorations is a new project, set up to encourage cross-cultural craft technique and research. The  first exhibition and workshop series focuses on skills from across the Commonwealth, utilised by Glasgow-based makers.

The exhibition is at South Block, and a number of free workshops are running this weekend to coincide with the Merchant City Festival. 

I took part in the Block Printing workshop with Meg Held.

Meg uses the traditional practice of block printing to design and create vibrant hand printed, ethically considered fabrics.The blocks are made from reclaimed wood found both rurally and in the city.The surfaces of some blocks are hand carved and some are left solid creating a variety of textures and marks when printed. The fabrics produced are used to update existing pieces of furniture creating sustainable and unique pieces of design which offer a hand crafted alternative to products found on the high street.



I thoroughly enjoyed using block printing to create bright, lively and unique designs, which, after sample printing on paper, I printed onto a canvas tote bag.