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2023 – A year completing a change
What with selling up in France and moving everything across to Leeds finding workspace for the business and becoming part of a significant new EU funded project I think 2023 can class as an interesting one. Let’s start with discussing – or not discussing the research. I am absolutely loving my time at Leeds, for years I have wanted to really know what happens with the mordanting process and at last I am being allowed to delve into it in depth. Part funded by the Cotton Industry War Memorial Trust (to whom I express my undying gratitude) I am obviously looking at cotton and cellulose in particular but started this…
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Roubaix – a textile town
As lock down is gradually being relaxed we are allowing ourselves 1 day a week to go out and visit “somewhere”. We take a picnic and are avoiding mixing with people, but this week museums have been allowed to open, so we thought it would be a good time to see some we have wanted to go to for quite some time! So we headed for Roubaix – now a kind of suburb of Lille, this town is known for it’s textiles. In the 18th and 19th C they were big linen and wool producers, now it’s the super high technical fabrics. The first visit was to La Piscine –…
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Workshops
2 New workshops for 2020 at a special introductory price being held at the Home of Dyeing – The Society of Dyers and Colourists, Perkin House, Bradford. Blue is the Colour : Monday 17th Feb 2020 at Perkin House, Bradford. £95 Magical, mystical, moody how many words conjure up the amazing blue colours that come from “Indigo”? Images of the sky and the sea in all their moods, so many shades of blue – come and create as many as you can! Learn the true name of this beautiful dyestuff, how to make up the vat. Dye solid shades and then try your hand at patterning using different techniques like…
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Ending the year on a HIGH!
I am thrilled to be able to tell you that I can now add the letters ASDC after my name. These stand for Associate of the Society of Dyers and Colourists and mean that I now have the equivalent of an Honours Degree in Natural Dyeing. The next stage will be to go for “CCol” or Chartered Colourist. ” The Associateship of the Society of Dyers and Colourists (ASDC) is the only professional qualification for colourists worldwide. Benchmarked by NARIC as equivalent to a UK Bachelor Honours Degree. Gaining this qualification allows the student to apply to be a Chartered Colourist. ” (taken from the SDC website.) Whilst there are many…
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Things that can happen!
When you work for yourself you can think you are invincible. There isn’t time to take a break or go and have that rest you really need! Later, or you’ll give yourself a holiday at some point, but NOT NOW! You take on bookings because you don’t know when you’ll get the next one, think you’ve got it all covered. So John is three score years and ten in a few days … a year ago we planned a holiday with the family. We would go to Pembrokeshire, where he used to have childhood holidays – we’d all go and reminisce with him and see how the place had changed!…
