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Pauline Chidlaw

Disciplines

Textiles – Felt making, fabric printing and colouring, embroidery.
Any aspects of primary Art&Design curriculum.

Workshops for Ages

Most experience with Primary range and adults(including those with learning difficulties). Willing to work with any other ages.

Workshops Offered

Feltmaking:

• Learning to make hand rolled felt, making individual pieces. For young children these are simply decorated with colours and shapes in a very free way. Endless possibilities of themes for older children and adults eg the seasons or other aspects of the natural world, Matisse cutouts, the planets
• Group felt-making project, linked to a specific theme eg the Rainforest, Under the Sea. The outcome is a large wall hanging.

Fabric printing and colouring:

• This could include making printing blocks, dyeing techniques, transfer paints and crayons, fabric painting.
• Could be linked to pattern or multi-cultural art from India, Africa or South America.
• Or a natural theme – Australian creatures, animal tracks, leaves, or work of a particular artist.
• Individual pieces or group/class hanging.

Any of these techniques can be enhanced by addition of embroidery.

Artist Statement

Until July 2005 I was a Primary School teacher. I taught at my last school for nine years and was the subject manager for Art & Design and Design & Technology.

Teaching Art & Design has always been my great love and the subject received a ‘very good’ in the last Ofsted Inspection, followed by a complimentary report from the HMI who visited us as a result. I also led the application for Artsmark and was thrilled when we were awarded Artsmark Gold in 2004.

I left my post to follow my personal interests in Creative textiles – particularly felt-making and machine embroidery, to develop them on a professional basis.

I love the richness and texture that working with fibres and threads creates. My inspiration comes mainly from the natural world, but I am also very drawn to the diversity of patterns and techniques found in textiles across the world. I enjoy combining felt-making and machine embroidery particularly to make functional items such as scarves, bags and cushions. But I also create decorative work in machine embroidery.

Teaching is still an important part of my life, and I now have a part-time job teaching Art & Design in a primary school. The creative subjects are a vital part of the curriculum and it is a great pleasure to help other schools provide new experiences and skills to enrich their children’s education.

It has also been a wonderful experience and revelation teaching adults on the workshops I have run. Their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the creative process has been great to share. Creativity is life enhancing for people of all ages and abilities.