Materials that change with Heat.

Workshops with Jane Bower

One of the many interesting qualities of Koloron Art Fabric is its reaction to heat. Like many materials it transforms in exciting ways, ways that can be creatively controlled, often with surprising results.

Heat and its effects on art materials is the subject of a workshop run by Jane Bower where she combines Art and Science and explores the results.

Intended for those teaching at KS1/2 the one-day workshop explains how to fire without a kiln, make objects by heating wax, wood and fabrics and the use of plant dyes. All classroom Health and Safety issues are fully covered, as is the importance of heat throughout history. Everybody will take away a wide range of examples and techniques. And will have had a brilliant day.
If you want to discuss details and availability of this and other courses please contact Jane direct; jane-bower@ntlworld.com all enquiries are welcome.

About Jane
The author of several books on practical art and drama she has thirty years experience of KS1/2 classroom advisory teaching in Art, Drama, Dance and Literacy in the UK. Her work includes trainee teachers at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Education. She also writes for Child Education and Junior Education and has a number of National Awards attributed to her.

Great Building

This brilliant Prep School came into view as I rounded a corner a week ago. I was so struck with the cleverness of the design that I had to stop and take a few pictures to share the experience.

It's called Colour Land and it's in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. And yes the bright sunshine does really help the colours to work on the imagination. Think what it must be like to be a kid who goes there. Fantastic.

I was blown away by the pencils that are in the walls, the relationship of the wonderfully bright colours that really go together so well and the irregular boxes that are the classes inside.

I don't know but may be you graduate from red to blue when your drawings get bigger and from green to orange when you've had another birthday.

It includes activity rooms for computer education, music, drama, television and a hall for physical activities. There is also a picnic area and an inner garden.

The school is offering education for children up to 6 both in English and Turkish and parents will be able to see their children at play and work via an Internet link.

That's creativity for you. Well done to whoever designed and built it and yes I wish I could go there. I wonder if they have supplies of Koloron?

Regards Mike

Block and Screen printing on Koloron Art Fabric

After many questions about using Koloron Art Fabric for textile studies we have a few examples. Colourful aren’t they?

“For sheer versatility Koloron Art Fabric is exceptional, responding well to woodblock and lino as well as screen printing.” Says designer Carole Miles, whose work we show here.

Most emulsion-based inks work well and when it comes to embellishments with pens, pencils, metallic pastels and wax crayons the results are clean bright and easy to apply.

Koloron is light and easy to handle making it really great for experimental work, free of many of the practical considerations associated with woven fabric.

Design sample pieces can be produced easily to support sketchbook work and can also be made up for the camera. Stunning results in a short time.

And don’t forget about using a heat gun, more details on the Koloron web site www.koloron.com

Koloron Distributor for Germany

Arnulf Betzold now serves the German market for Koloron Art Fabric and garments.

Based in Ellwangen, Betzold provide a fast mail order service across Northern Europe. Concentrating on supporting Education with an overnight delivery service they carry large stocks of over 10,000 product lines. Order lines are open from 7.30 – 18.00 Monday to Friday. Tel: 0800 90 80 90 80 Fax: 0800 70 80 70 80 Email: service@betzold.de

Their website is http://www.betzold.de/ search Koloron

Koloron at Pisces in Scotland

In answer to Ted's query about Koloron Art Fabric in Scotland we are happy to put you in touch with Pisces Art in Glasgow. North of the border ring 0141 882 6336 and when south, they have an office in Crewe, ring 01270 849 001. Here is their website www.piscesart.co.uk We hope this helps.

Whilst you can always get the full range of Koloron products from us mail order increasingly Art shops and Art Materials suppliers are carrying them. The latest is Ruddocks of Lincoln. They are in the High Street at the foot of Steep Hill and are always happy to help. http://www.ruddocksoflincoln.co.uk/

Koloron Stockist in France

We have had a request for the name of a Koloron stockist in France. Jennie you can buy Koloron from ColArt. They carry Koloron garments for Early Years under their Color & Co brand and Koloron Art Fabric by the roll, 1m x 5m roll and the larger 1.5m x 10m roll, under their famous Lefranc & Bourgeois label. So when you get there you'll still be able to paint those large images. Loved the cars by the way. Regards John

Creative Sari making

Jane from Walsall has asked about Saris (is that correct, or is Sari a plural?) Anyway the answer is yes, kids have made Saris from Koloron before. This picture is some years old and was, I think, taken in Wales during one of our workshops. So Jane, please let us see your pictures when they are ready.

The results above are wonderful; the kids spent the day painting Koloron as part of a fabric design workshop. At the end, a number of pieces were worn as Saris. These two are quite tame compared to some of the designs. Painting the Koloron Art Fabric was the easy bit -wearing it is more difficult. I understand YouTube has demonstrations so we none of us have the excuse not to try Sari making.

It requires somewhere between four and nine metres of unstitched fabric to be a Sari and we recommend that you use the large 10 metre roll of Koloron. It will give you a single piece of Art Fabric - plenty large enough for an adult Sari or possibly enough for two child-sized Saris.

Having got the practical bit organised you can enjoy the creativity. Brush paint, rollers and even spray paint will cover the largest areas quickly leaving the details to be drawn on or printed. There are literally hundreds of ways of decorating Koloron, just make sure you use colour that will be flexible when dry. If you are using powder or ready mixed poster colour it is a good idea to add a little PVA to the mix as it will ensure you don't get dry colour flaking off.

Also you can apply the design to the Fabric with gel paints or glue and glitter. Most things stick to Koloron and of course it is easy to cut with scissors and there is no need to hem. Koloron doesn't fray.

If however you want to be traditional the following link will take you to the Diwali page of the Koloron website and has a number of images that will help you design your own fabric for the festival. http://www.koloron.com/pages/actmenu-index.html

Have a go.

Gill

Our thanks to Berol for the picture

Really loud Art Fabric

Jonathan from outside Leicester said he had seen Koloron 'Flats' used in a demo against the building of an ECO TOWN close to where he teaches. Close to me too Jonathan. Anyway we were not aware of them being used to fight the proposed new town but I have pulled out a picture that has appeared in a Koloron leaflet we created for BEROL. It was a couple of years ago and shows school kids demonstrating. Perhaps not the most creative use of Art Fabric but effective nonetheless. I thought it was worth sharing.

The 'Flat' is particularly useful when demonstrating because it really gives a big area to write on and don't forget, it has two sides, a front and a back. And a Flat will also make a sandwich board. Simple wooden frames under each side and you have a lightweight and rigid pair of signs to get your message across.

One final thought on this subject worth passing on was the clever use of Flats as a background for a stage review I was invited to last summer. Six kids standing in a row became the backdrop. They had a pastoral scene painted on their backs and a seascape painted on their fronts. Stood with their backs to the audience when the curtain opened they spun around together to reveal the blue ocean. It got more than a round of applause.

All this said if you want to make a point paint a 'Top' with your message and put it over whatever you're wearing and get out there. Not enough of us say enough about our world.

Tabards take to the Catwalk

Nice idea this and really affordable. This uses readymade Tabards. They cost £1.60 each. Ten of these, a little paint and a lot of creativity and you're in the Fashion Business. Really quickly too.

We see some wonderful examples of students working with Koloron, often they put in hours of work and our web site has plenty of examples to show. However time is not always a resource readily available, sometimes overnight results are required. Well here's an answer for young fashion wannabes.

An instant Collection.
A pack of Tabards is all it takes and in a few hours you have a catwalk parade to stun the audience. Models wear a black body and black leggings and a tabard painted with creative artwork. Strong bright colours, sharp vibrant shapes, textures and finishes. And it's out in front of your audience with your first Original Collection. Beat that for a red-letter day.

Dolce & Gabbana 2008 Fashion Week Collection

included a lot of hand painted fabrics, inspiration

enough for anybody who feels for paint, colour and life.

We went to London to visit the Queen

Following on from the note about the Wall (see below) Steve sent this picture after a trip to London prompted the design of a mural. Penny is filling in with a big marker adding her contribution to the work 'What we saw in London'.

The kids were encouraged to sketch whilst there and to communicate their day to the rest of the school by producing a 60ft frieze that was taped along a corridor at school.

Steve from north London took a large roll of Art Fabric and split it down the centre, joined the ends together to arrive at a 60ft frieze. Starting with the begining of the day the children recreated the things they saw, with I suspect, Steve's guiding hand with the highlights.

Exciting stuff can we have more please, Mike