Cas Holmes – ZOOM Workshop – Paper and Stitch
January 15, 2026 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
£10.00 – £35.00
An experimental workshop to explore the character and qualities of paper and other found material as a surface for working. A focus on machine and/or hand stitching as an extension of mark-making, and various means of manipulating, attaching and joining. Some of the methods are adapted from Japanese paper techniques such as Momigami, rub-crinkled paper techniques. The pieces resulting from this creative exploration could be used as a starting point for collage, stitching, 3-D or sculptural work. Include a simple adaptation of methods used in Indian Kantha and Japanese Sashiko’ (Japanese rice grain stitch)
Methods are adapted from Japanese textile and paper-based techniques combined with ideas evolving from my personal practice. Most techniques can be equally applied to textiles as to paper.
A typical workshop starts with a practical session to experimenting mark-making and other colour application techniques I use in conjunction with my found surfaces. This is followed by an exploration of methods used to join pieces together with adhesive mediums and stitch. As we progress participants will incorporate their own ideas and look at aspects of the design process including use of digital media and photography, as well as creating sketches, samples and notes for further reference. Students will leave the course with a sound basis of processes and working samplers, or foundation pieces which they can continue to build on and develop.
Students are provided with a basic workshop list specific to the course which is largely centred on the creative re-use of the materials you may have available. Old domestic (not valuable) fabrics or scraps that can be recycled as well as copies of paper items, maps, photos and items gathered on your day to day journeys are useful things to collect..and they should all fit in one bag. This can reflect your theme, a place special to you, be colour inspired and/or poems or words that express the feeling of your ideas. A fragment of textile, a handkerchief, napkin a piece of embroidery can be used as both a base and a starting point.
Materials Required – To be confirmed
About Cas
| Fine arts degree at Maidstone College of Art (UCA) further studies in textile and paper arts in Japan (funded by the Churchill Fellowship and The Japan Foundation) followed by research in India, have led to her adaptation of techniques and distinctive layering of found paper and cloth as a means to process her ideas. Issues surrounding the environment, sustainability and migration is often reflected in her work and publications for Batsford Books which include Soulful Stitch, co-authored with Deena Beverley (2024), Embroidering the Everyday (2021) and Textile Landscape (2018) |