Introduction - Sandy in the UK

Just a first post to introduce myself:Sandy Snowden. I work mostly with textiles - anything from textile art to Wearable Art and Bespoke Garments. A lot of my work is inspired by Tudors or Middle Ages. Up to recently I have been teaching City and Guilds Fashion, but have had to stop for now due to my health.

I came across ALAW 2012 after a friend sent me a link. I have never done calligraphy, but do love words and letters. I have been playing with letters a bit using damaged or discarded books. I really loved the work I saw, so came over to the new blog. When I heard about the theme of peace, I had an idea and realised this would be a great way to present something I had been thinking about alot lately. (I will go into that more when I post my first letters. I am hoping to print onto fabric and then stitch into it. But I had to get more ink for the printer, first.) Anyway, I emailed Fiona and here I am!

This is a project I am currently working on - off and on. I am cutting medieval letters from a book called 'How to Write a Good Letter.' copyright 1954. Seemed made for it really!

The letters are intertwined with leaves. I am planning to colour them using gouache - referencing Illuminated Manuscripts. The paper used for the book is really soft. So,I had to use clear gesso on the pages in order for them to cut cleanly.

The other letter project I just completed was my entry for The Sketchbook Project. I used another Medieval letter set, traced them onto blue pages from a foreign language dictionary, coloured them in with gold pen. These were stitched with black crochet thread and stuck onto pages covered with red tissue. on the reverse of the page is a silver version of the letter directly onto the page.

And finally, here is a photo of one of my textile pieces using a letter. It was awarded 3rd place in Wall Hangings at the National Quilt Championships a couple years ago.

Anyway! That is me. I am really impressed at the work that is already showing up here! My blog gives an idea of the various projects I'm doing. It was fun to see Kathy is here. I know her from a few other places. I also follow Olga's blog.
Edit: I just got a comment on my blog that I misread the size. I was thinking 7in. sqare. But it is 7cm! Thanks for the heads up before I got too far.