Blog – Monique Day-Wilde

Off the Beaten Track

16 May 2023

Walking shoes required for this workshop! I’m so looking forward to “Off the Beaten Track” on Saturday the 20th May in Pringle Bay, as its brand new and will include a gentle walk in the fynbos, some simple mark making inspired by what we see, a bespoke working surface, a little drawing (no drawing skills required!) and even some simple stitching if you like. We will make an abstract recording of our walk with fabric, paper, pencils, pens, paint, thread, etc.
This is a jam packed mixed media workshop so will run a little longer than most.
*If the weather doesn’t play ball, we’ll go for an imaginary walk!
Includes materials, refreshments and a light lunch.

to book please request a booking form

Read more “Off the Beaten Track” →

Workshops around the Country!

20 March 2023

I’ve just sent out my updated schedule of workshops.

Please subscribe if you’d like to be added to my mailing list or

Contact me if you’d like to book.

You can see the schedule here

Workshops

22 January 202322 January 2023

I’m very please to say that my printmaking workshops have been very well received and I will do a few more this year – my next one on Saturday 28th January.

“Wilde Impressions” – An Introduction to botanical Printmaking

In introduction to Botanical Printmaking on paper, I teach some of my printmaking techniques using physical plant specimens and a home-made gelatine plate. I share tips on inks and the recipe to make your own gelatine plate. Inks and paper will be supplied. If you’d like to print on fabric, please bring your own. Fine cotton suits these techniques best.

Includes materials (not fabric), and refreshments.

Please contact me if you’d like to join this or any other workshop that’s coming up. You can download a workshop schedule for the first quarter of the year here.

Anything is Possible

21 March 202221 March 2022

There’s a lot going on at the moment – both personally and in the rest of the world. This begs the question as an artist: do I mirror that in my work or do I look for a little diversion? A diversion almost seems like putting my head in the sand ‘ostrich style’, but on the other hand using all the external triggers may well tip me into the black hole. Personally, I feel like using colour, lots of it – not something I usually do, my general palette choices being fairly muted. It’s fortuitous then, that a slot given 18 months ago happens to be now and given me my answer. I have teamed up with a number of artist friends and we are exhibiting at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville until the end of March. The exhibition is entitled ‘Whimsy’ and is lots of fun, and frankly a breath of fresh air. Escapism for sure, but with an edge to it. We all need to escape every now and then, it’s good for the soul! See the Catalogue here

Read more “Anything is Possible” →

TextileArtist.org Stitchclub

14 January 2022

Early in 2021 I was delighted to receive an invitation from TextileArtist.org to do an online workshop for their online membership stitchclub. I happily agreed and was told I could do anything I wanted to. I had to get a proposal together to give them an idea as to what I wanted to do and there lay the difficulty! I am a serial experimenter and love to try all sorts of things so it was tricky to whittle it down. In the end, I had to ask myself what is at the core of everything I do and therein lay the answer – botanical printmaking. There are many, many ways to make prints, so I chose the simplest way I could think of with the least amount of equipment, which was easily accessible across the world. As most of the members work in stitch on fabric, I used fabric paint/fabric printing ink as the medium and my preferred substrate – paper. As a mixed media artist, I use collage in a lot of my work, so there was step two and then of course, nothing is complete without stitching! A workshop was born. Read more “TextileArtist.org Stitchclub” →

Artists Interview

10 January 202210 January 2022

My interview on Textileartist.org is up on their website – read more about my process and details of some of my work. I’m so excited to be presenting an online workshop for the members of the Stitchclub. Unfortunately membership is closed for the moment but subscribe to their really interesting newsletter which will give you a heads-up when membership is open again. There is a subscription box on the interview page. Leave a comment here or there and I’ll do my best to answer soon.

Portrait

30 December 202130 December 2021

Even taking the dreaded lurgy out of the picture, it’s been a tough year – the toughest. I’m not always sure how I manage to keep making work but somehow it’s what saves me, time and again. It’s a valuable lesson to keep creating, in spite of circumstances – it’s very definitely therapy. I may not be creative every day but there is generally something on the boil to keep me moving forward. I have found in the last couple of years that I am stitching into my work more than I ever have – perhaps an analogy for keeping things together.

The South African portrait award was held again this year, hosted by Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville, despite losing their major sponsor. All kudos to the team for keeping things going under very difficult circumstances. I took the plunge and entered my stitched self portrait with the title “Every Woman in me is Tired!” Read more “Portrait” →