....cool winter light.....

When you can stop shivering for a moment, this cold weather definitely has it's charms.  Here are some photographs to lift your spirits and few suggestions on how to fill your time indoors.

Spend time tucked away sewing beautiful paper clothes.  These were made by 

Micheline of Betty and Bing.  And here is what she says.....

"I grew up loving paper, antiques and pretty things. I love paper because it carries ideas. Ideas about anything and everything shared through pictures or words or, in the best case scenario, both. Antiques because they hold stories. Without uttering a single word they talk of different times and different ways of thinking. And pretty things because I believe life is lived in the details. Surrounding yourself with things that appeal to your senses seems to be the easiest way to bring joy into your everyday life."

Paper and textiles, combined with stitched calligraphy, are also an integral part of our Rosalind Wyatt's, magic.    "My recent work is exploring ‘writing with a needle’ copying the handwriting of a letter into stitch onto a garment; handwritten letters reveal the personality of the letter writer in a most immediate manner, and often that document reveals part of a more complex ‘story’ of that person. By combining the lettering, stitch and garment, that story can be brought to life."  

We have a few places left on Rosalind's September Workshop with us which offers an opportunity to work intensively alongside this award-winning artist, sharing her unique creativity and learning how to combine the written and printed word using a playful approach whilst you progress from ideas towards stitch.  You'' be encouraged to think outside the box, developing a greater depth of individuality that will open up new creative opportunities.

  

Of course, it's never too cold to read a good book......   Our favourite writer at the moment is Ron Carlson.  Well, he would be wouldn't he as we've read everything he has in print and invited him to lead a workshop, The Inside Story, here at the end of July.  Carlson was born in Logan, Utah, and grew up in Salt Lake City. He received a masters degree in English from the University of Utah  and became professor of English at Arizona State University, and then director of its Creative Writing Programme. Carlson currently teaches at the University of California, Irvine. His last two novels, Five Skies and TheSignal have won international praise and we greatly look forward to hosting the first European workshop of this gentle artist of the written word.  

 You could go for a bicycle ride (not for the faint-hearted)....

Or simply have forty winks somewhere warm.

And talking of warmth, I personally like to snuggle up in front of a roaring fire and knit. I've just finished one of these shawls in a beautiful grey cashmere - I cannot for the life of me remember where I found the pattern, but it's incredibly simple to knit, had oodles of compliments since completion and if anyone is interested I would be happy to send them a pdf of the instructions (or maybe you know where the pattern is from??).

Katie

...things to look forward to, summer 2013....

A few places left on the following workshops:

Patricia Roberts - Colourful Compositions

Ron Carlson - The Inside Story

Jone Hallmark - Sketchbook Thrillers

Julieann Worral Hood - Serendipitous Sculptures

Jessie Chorley - Stitched Narratives

Rosalind Wyatt - Text and Textiles

Marion Foale - Knitting - Chapter and Verse

... and then the page turner....

Lots of entries to Friday's question, "In what year did Julie Arkell lead her first workshop for Les Soeurs Anglaises?" but only three people got it right!  The answer was 2008.  

 So let's get a little literary.......  In July of next year we have a supremely gifted novelist visiting from the United States to lead our very first writing workshop, The Inside Story.  Ron Carlson has been likened to "Hemingway without the misogyny and self-parody"  by the Washington Post.    

He has fine-tuned his writing method over 30 years of pursuing his art and practicing his craft;  three decades that have led to literary accolades such as books landing regularly on the best-of-the-year lists in the US and honors such as the Aspen Prize for Literature. His latest novel, The Signal, seems poised to take advantage of the acclaim the previous book, Five Skies, received.  As associate professor of English at UCI he is in great demand in his native America as a workshop leader but his visit to Les Soeurs Anglaises will be his first teaching event in Europe and would be the perfect gift for someone who writes (or would like to learn how to).

To win a copy of both Five Skies and The Signal, as well as a 10% discount if your choose to join us for Ron Carlson's workshop you simply need to be the first person to answer correctly today's question.  Every correct entry will be given a £20 discount on any workshop place still available:

What the title and in which year was Ron Carlson's first novel published in the United States?

answer:   katie@lessoeursanglaises.com

last of the summer wine....

As summer finally draws to a close here, I had the great privilege last week of meeting Ron Carlson, the celebrated American author/teacher who will be leading a workshop for us next July - our first foray into the world of top notch writing.

His novel, Five Skies, (Cinq Ciels)has just been translated and published in French and he is currently on on a pan France book signing tour.  As luck would have it his first port of call was Bordeaux at a beautiful vaulted bookshop in the heart of the old city called Machine a Lire.  

  

Just love this photographs of a traveling bookseller in Ghana.  Everyone, everywhere wanting books!  It warms the heart

And here is a brilliant idea, easy to make, for any of you who are planning to join Les  Soeurs Anglaises for one of our literary themed workshops next year:  An elasticated pencil pouch, with velcro clasp, to hold all your writing and drawing tools, in the most useful place ever.