England travels

We moved from Yorkshire county to the Midlands last Tuesday in preparation for the three day master class I taught to a talented group in Barton Under Needwood.  It is a plan we conceived on my last visit 18 months ago so it was a long wait, but in the end worth it.  We had a grand time, well I had a grand time and reports were that the beaders did too.

Three days of playing with the master class playground of components, finding arrangements and beading up new designs.  It was 'brilliant' as the saying goes here.  Here are just a few of the pieces that were in progress

Before we got started though, Stephney and Tim, host and hostess extradonaire, took us on outings to Birmingham and then Bletchley Park.  In Birmingham we visited the museum for the special exhibit of Andy Warhol and William Morris.  The curator had drawn similarities between their beliefs and their artwork, although I would say, the connection seemed loose, I did appreciate the body of work from both artists.  Seeing the hand drawings of William Morris later turned into intricate design was wonderful.  

Also in Birmingham Art Museum I enjoyed the Room of Dreams by artist Wendy Ramshaw.  

I also managed a wee bit of shopping and have a new pair of blue Doc Martin's which Tim fondly referred to as my Fairy Boots.

Bletchley Park was of course the real life setting for the movie the Imitation Game.  We saw a replica of the Bombe machine which was invented to decode the German Enigma coded messages.  The women who described it did an excellent job and you got a real understanding of the magnitude of the invention and it's importance in the war.  This piece of history was almost lost so thankfully there were people who cared enough to restore it and open it to the public.

Here is a wonderful flower from Tim's garden.

Monday's travels brought us to Worcester where we again staying with lovely hosts who are looking after our comfort.  The venue here is a large meeting room in a garden center.  There is a lovely cafe and a large garden store to peruse during lunch.  Yesterday class was Quattro Cupole and today we tackle Sprockets.