Breakdown printing screens at Region 16 Summer School

….. since I last wrote a post. I could blame being busy because, well, I have been. But when am I not busy? I have lots I could tell you. I taught a class of 20 how to screen print at the Quilters Guild Region 16 Summer School a few weekends ago. I survived and the students loved it despite the limited space and the only source of water being in the ladies loos (magenta coloured sinks anyone??!!!). I could tell you about the fab week I had with six students in my Breakdown Your Palette workshop. Great ladies and amazing work.

But I keep on finding excuses not to post. And I think it is because my head is in a very funny place. It is still attached to my body but I think you know what I mean. It’s the move to Scotland. I won’t be able to physically get on with sorting the studio and the house until after the last workshop in the studio which is in October. And the house won’t go on the market until next spring and we probably won’t be settled until the autumn of next year. Which is all such a long long time away. My head is already in ‘move mode’ but with nothing to actually do yet I feel like I’m in limbo.

I am thoroughly enjoying teaching but distracted by questions about how and where I will teach moving forward. Questions that can’t really be answered until we move but that doesn’t stop them stampeding through my head as I try to get to sleep. I’m busy getting ready for Festival of Quilts but honestly, although I will probably take a stand next year, I have no idea what will happen after that. Let’s just agree that as a super organised, plan driven person I am way outside my comfort zone!

However, there is an upside. My head has been spinning so much that I have had to carve out time in the studio just to lose myself in print and stitch. Wasn’t planning any ‘art’ time this summer but the joy of process is my drug of choice right now. It does however mean that I might not get as many wonky print packs made for Festival. Sorry about that x

Festival of Quilts at Birmingham NEC is just over eight weeks away and I can’t believe that it has come round so quickly!

You’ll find me on stand E22 this year which is in the main hall. It is a corner stand facing the Quilt in Action area. I’ll be demonstrating lots of different screen printing techniques on my stand and have already started to print and dye fabric for my Wonky Print Inspiration Packs and Absolutely Hand Dyed Packs. Last year I managed to make 112 Wonky packs and 34 Absolutely packs. Not sure that I’ll manage to print and dye as many this year but who knows! My son Joe will be on the stand with me and will be doing his best to make sure I take breaks and don’t fall over from exhaustion …… (Good luck with that son!)

Along with Hazel and Terry from InStitches, I’m also oraganising The Creative Textiles Studio at the show. The Studio will be near the VIP area and workshop bookings desk in Hall 9. You can see the timetable and read a little about our wonderful artists here. I hope you get the chance to visit as there will be demonstrations on a wide range of textile and mixed media techniques as well as a few goodies for sale.

If you haven’t booked your tickets yet I have 3 tickets to giveaway to the first 3 people to email me at admin@leahhiggins.co.uk. (T&Cs: These are for Standard Single Day Adult tickets and are valid on any day. Not valid on VIP, Two-Day or group tickets. Codes expire 11:59pm 28th July 2024).

I also have a discount code LEAHHIGGINS that can be used to save £2 on adult and concession tickets. (T&Cs: Save £2.00 on adult and concession tickets. Not valid on Thursday 1st August, VIP, Two-Day or group tickets. To purchase tickets visit www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk. £3.50 transaction fee applies per e-ticket order. T&Cs apply. Discount expires 11:59pm 28th July 2024). This discount code is unlimited so please feel free to share with your friends.

Do stop by the stand and say hello!

I don’t usually leave it this long between posts but I’m still recovering from spending too much time on holiday!

I took my husband and my father-in-law on a 17 day road trip. We had a couple of nights in Glasgow (to see daughter Jess) then took the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast (husband and father-in-law taking full advantage of the free food and wine in the Premium Lounge). Five nights in Belfast. The Titanic Museum (very good and very good food in the restaurant). The city bus tour (me and father-in-law on the open top deck got rather cold and wet). Drives up and down the coast. The Bushmills whisky tour (husband and father-in-law taking full advantage of the fact that I was driving). Then across to Derry for one night (enjoyed The Tower Museum and eating ice cream in the sun). Then on to Donegal town via Giants Causeway which ticked a box but I was expecting the individual rocks to be bigger so was a little underwhelmed. Two nights in Donegal (fabulous Indian meal, boat cruise of the bay on a lovely day and time spent in pubs). Then on to Salthill on the outskirts of Galway for three nights (lovely walks along the prom, great meal at Blackrock House on the front, a day trip into Galway city plus drives out along the coast west of Salthill). Then across to Bray which is south of Dublin for three nights (met up with family, took the city bus tour in Dublin and another wonderful Indian meal). Then back home via the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead (husband and father-in-law were a bit to knackered to take full advantage of the free wine!).

Three days at home (mostly spent doing the washing!) before husband and I headed back up to Scotland, this time spending a week in Largs which is on the Ayrshire coast west of Glasgow. Although we won’t be moving until next year we used this week to start ‘fine tuning’ locations for house hunting. Absolutely fell in love with Largs but I’m trying to keep an open mind. Had some lovely walks along the prom which earnt me an ice cream sundae most days at the famous Nardinis. Daughter suggested that we shouldn’t be basing a very big life decision on the availability of good ice cream but I beg to differ! Got the ferry across to Cumbrae and brought a couple of bottles of gin from Isle of Cambrae Distillers which is run by five genius women. Needless to say the boys had brought rather a lot of whisky back with them from Ireland so I was feeling left out!

2035 miles of driving later it was a relief to get back home properly. Own bed, own shower and most importantly - my studio. I really missed it and a little bit of me wishes that I could have split myself in half and spent the time making art as well as enjoying good company and new places. Ho hum.

So I had a couple of days to recover from being on holiday before I taught my five day Breakdown Your Palette workshop last week. I loved every minute that I spent in the company of five brilliant women printing wonderful fabric but the last few weeks have reinforced our decision to relocate and downsize. I desperately want to have more time to make art, I want to walk by the sea every day and to enjoy a leisurely ice cream sundae.

Before then though I am still running workshop in my studio this year. Most of the summer classes are full but I do have two places left on Luscious Layers (3rd to 7th June) which would be nice to fill.

My new online workshop is now fully uploaded and includes 29 hours of videos along with detailed notes. I printed a lot of fabric whilst creating the workshop and have put most of them into a gallery which you can find here. Some pieces were printed multiple times to create layers of line, shape and colour. There are some rather lovely pieces but I might be a bit biased!

As well as videos and notes I run monthly Zoom meetings and provide further support via a private Facebook group and email. You can find out more about the workshop (and sign up anytime) here.

I started my 2024 ‘teaching season’ at the beginning of April by teaching my 2 day Simply Screen Printing workshop followed by my 5 day extended Simply Screen Printing workshop. It was really nice having students back in the studio and seeing how differently they all worked. Different inspirations, different colours, some seeking strong pattern and shape, others exploring techniques that create more texture and fine mark. And yes, we did some breakdown printing! I’m on an extended family holiday for the next few weeks then it is all steam ahead …. teaching, printing fabrics for Festival of Quilts, more teaching, admin, more teaching until the season ends in mid-October. And I have a little lie down!

In case you haven’t seen it yet my solo exhibition Beneath Our Feet runs until Sunday 5th May at Salford Museum and Art Gallery. I gave my final talk there last Saturday. It was a remembering session based on my coal mining panels and it was wonderful to hear from an ex-miner and mine engineer as well as from people who had personal links to mining. The response to the exhibition has been overwhelming, humbling and, at the same time, empowering. An honour.

This week I heard that Ruins 9 Cottonopolis Revisited will be going to a new home after my solo exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery ends on 5th May. Which is wonderful news although I will miss it. I make art for a couple of reasons; to get ideas and feelings out of my head and into a physical form and for the results to be seen, and hopefully appreciated, by others. Selling my art is a lovely bonus. An affirmation. That I am an Artist with a capital A. It banishes the doubts, the imposter syndrome moments. And makes me more determined than ever to reorganise my life so that I can make more art!

So, despite having a very long list of stuff that needs doing before my teaching season begins next weekend, I decided to treat myself. Initially I treated myself to a rather delicious custard slice. And then I gave myself the precious gift of time. Three days focused on making. Which doesn’t sound a lot but I hadn’t scheduled any ‘art time’ until mid-October. Too early to share images but I had a deeply satisfying time printing fabric and thinking about new constructions.

And now it is back to that schedule …. screens to varnish, fabric to soda soak, notes to be checked and distributed, requirements lists to be written, studio to be cleaned. This will be the last year that I will teach here in my studio in Manchester before we relocate and downsize (thus enabling me to spend more time making art!). Its shaping up to be a wonderfully busy one with the majority of classes either full or close to full.

The next four workshops each have one place left on them. I’m teaching my two-day Simply Screen Printing workshop (6th and 7th April) next weekend immediately followed by my, more comprehensive five-day Simply Screen Printing (8th to 12th April). There is then a break due to an extended holiday in Ireland before my five day Breakdown Your Palette workshop (13th to 17th May). And finally there is one place left on Clare Bullock’s Versatility of Felt workshop (20th to 24th May).

The year is going to fly by!

…… which is, obviously, my preferred pace of life! A big thank you to everyone that came to see me at The Scottish Quilt Show a couple of weeks ago. Especially all those ladies who have signed up for my Colour Play class at Region 13 (Quilters Guild) Summer School in June and just stopped by to say hello. I’m going to be teaching a class of 20 how to screen print with limited access to water, it’s going to be fun if a bit chaotic!

Thank you also to Bolton Textile and Stitch Group for inviting me to talk to them this week. It’s always nice to visit a large and thriving textile group and I enjoyed all the questions and chats after the presentation.

Looking ahead, I will be giving another talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 13th April at 1pm. This one will focus on the coal mining pieces in my solo exhibition and I’ll be inviting people to share their memories of the mines in Salford and the surrounding area. You can find more details here. The event is free and no booking is required. The Museum is well worth a visit and you can usually park right outside at the weekend.

And looking further ahead I have just received confirmation that I will be teaching two 5-day workshops in Colorado, US in September 2025. I will also have a solo exhibition at the same venue. Super excited about this. More details to follow later in the year.

And the cherry on the icing on the cake - Storm 1 (Jagged), above, will be going to its new home in a few days.

Happy days, x

Detail from fabric printed using a reusable drawn and distressed washable PVA glue resist screen.

I’m dancing a happy dance here in the studio as my new online workshop ‘Simply Screen Printing’ is now ready. Based on the book and the in-person 5 day workshop of the same name, the online workshop contains approx. 25 hours of video plus detailed notes and support from me via monthly Zoom meetings, a private Facebook group and email. The notes are an edited version of my book so contain different examples to those featured on the videos. The cost is £300 for 12 months access. If you go to the preview page you can watch a ‘Welcome’ video in which I share an outline of the workshop. You can also watch a sample lesson to get a sense of what the videos look like and how I teach.

I am offering an EARLY BIRD SPECIAL with up to 2 months extra access. If you sign up in March or April your membership will run until the end of April 2025. Why …. well because I’m a nice person and well, I still have some videos to edit and upload. 80% of the content is available today and the rest will be in place by the end of March. I’ll notify you as the final units are ready.

I have also added two new items to my shop for those of you who will be setting up for screen printing for the first time. The Basic Kit contains a 12 x 14inch screen, a 9inch Speedball squeegee, 300g Soda Ash, 400g Urea, 150g Manutex RS and four 50g Procion MX dyes (in acid lemon, magenta, turquoise and dark brown) at a 10% discount on the usual price. I also throw in a free tile grouter! The Deluxe Kit contains two screens, one Speedball squeegee, 2 x soda, 2 x urea, 2 x Manutex RS and ten 50g dyes (acid lemon, golden yellow, magenta, scarlet, turquoise, royal blue, black, dark brown, petrol green and rust brown). Again at a 10% discount with 2 free tile grouters.

I am blessed to be able to earn my living working in my studio doing the things I love doing. It is a good life. But not everyone has things so easy. And so I will be donating £10 for each workshop sold in March and April to The Trussell Trust, an organisation that supports food banks across the UK and campaigns for an end to food poverty.

Phew! I might go have a little lie down now! x

I’ve just arrived home from my annual artists retreat with twelve textile artists and friends in Grasmere. As always the company was funny, supportive and all round wonderful and the location, in the Lake District, beautiful. And as usual it did me the power of good and recharged my creative batteries.

We all work on our own projects and I took three pieces of printed fabric to add stitch to. Despite an emergency dash home to collect my spare machine when I managed to jam a needle in my sewing machine, I completed all three pieces.

The pieces are from my upcoming online workshop Simply Screen Printing and needed stitch that enhanced the printed marks and lines rather than distracted from them so I kept it simple. The photo above (detail) shows simply curvy lines added fabric that had been printed with a loose paper resist intially then over printed using a breakdown screen. The photo below (detail) shows simple straight lines added to a piece that had been printed using a loose net resist. I also sewed around the circles which really helps them ‘pop’.

And finally, the photo below (detail) shows a simple grid of blue and light brown lines added to a densely patterned piece of breakdown printed fabric. If I have time to add facings and finish these little quilts I will take them to The Scottish Quilt Show in Glasgow on 7th to 9th March.

Simply Screen Printing will be available from this Friday 1st March. Featuring 25 hours of video and detailed notes , it will cost £300 for 12 months access which means that students can work at their own pace knowing that they have support from me via monthly Zoom meetings, a private Facebook group and email. More details to follow, so watch this space!!

A little bit of Hollywood is visiting Urban Studio North! Filming for IMAX 70, in Dolby surround sound, with an Oscar nominated screenplay, audacious multi-million $ action stunts (eat your heart out Tom Cruise) and a cast of thousands ……

OK, so it’s a cast on one. Screenplay, what screenplay? And the most audacious action sequence was me dropping my screen part way through printing some fabric. Although the not-quite-Dolby sound system did do a pretty good job of capturing my swearing. Hmmm………..

Yes I am busy filming Simply Screen Printing. Just me, two static cameras and some reasonable priced editing software. I was originally going to include a dance sequence with Ryan Gosling but he didn’t turn up for rehearsals. Instead there will be a feast of beautifully screen printed fabrics and hours of detailed instruction on how to screen print at home. The workshop will be available from 1st March but, for now I thought I’d share what I think is my favourite piece of fabric printed in the workshop. Can you guess how I printed it?