Mend

These are all images of a small dish I mended to hold and keep safe. It was inspired by the Japanese style of mending broken ceramics. This is Kintsugi. Traditionally gold is used giving a colour and acknowledgment of the repair done. It is not meant to be hidden. It is respect to the old and worn, they are valued. So I have stitched the broken pieces of this small dish using a golden toned thread. The fabric is all either ecodyed or as in the case of the pale blue a dip in a very depleted indigo vat.

This wee plate was always part of my memory of my mother’s collected items. She bought it during her travels in Europe when she lived and worked in London in the 1950’s. It was never used but just there. I had it in my possession for only weeks when I did something without thinking and it smashed to the floor. All I could do was pick up the pieces and place them in a box then hidden away in a drawer. So now they are united again into something special, different but held in this altered way in my memories. 

So now they are a 9 patch . Two missing pieces leaving gaps. The gaps are important because without them it would be 7 not the strength and balance of 9, 

and this is ‘where the light gets in’. 

Sulphure Crested Cockatoo

Another bird. Same style as the magpie .

I am loving these birds so much that I will do another. A kookaburra. A trio of Australian birds on ecodyed silk.

Vase

Mixed media ,flowers in a vase. Looking at it now in a photograph I see the stems don’t continue into the vase and some leaves are simply popping out of the flowers. But does it matter. If there were stems it would be too much.
Flowers on vintage book page . I have really enjoyed this process of building up a surface then layer by layer adding to it.

Collage

l have been working on some background in preparation for collage. This will be cut up and used . Heavy brown and black with a touch of gold for the mountain plan.

Boxing Day

The red Christmas table cloth has not yet been cleared away, the tinsel that came out of the confetti filled bon- bons is still lying scattered but I have pulled out a magpie to continue on with.
He is sitting on a piece of ecodyed silk which may or may not be where he will eventually reside.

He has tiny bits of lace for texture and various scraps of different blacks. He is only tacked at the moment and I need to consider an eye . It will have to be on the black part,  so maybe a button sewn on with white thread. Will add more of a tree or branch, but I know the exact pieces needed but can’t find them among my boxes of fabrics.

‘Hello Mr Magpie , How’s Your Wife and Kids’

The first Christmas

Tonight I got caught out in a thunderstorm. Walking at night on a trip that is twenty minutes from home. The lightning was in the sky, thunder rolling , sky dark and cloudy. Then nearly got knocked over by wind before the rain hit with a vengeance. Before too long the footpath was crossed by streaming floodlets of water, the lightening flashed closer. We sheltered in a bus shed half way home. Cold an d soaking wet.

One conversation went like this
Emily “wouldn’t it be awful to be killed by lightening tonight”
Me “ well we wouldn’t know about it then “
Emily “ but for everyone else it would be really awful”

So sitting sheltering in the bus stop with all this wildness going on I was regretting the last drink when we could have left to walk home ahead of the storm. I wanted to be home , dry, with the Carols by Candlelight on Tv , the Christmas tree lit up, sitting comfortably on the lounge.
Then My thoughts went to the very first Christmas. And I was filled with calm and was grateful.

Elves

I am not sure how long these elves have sat waiting to be finished. Years. So now here they are sitting on the piano. All I need to do is draw in their wee faces and to write a letter on each cotton reel body. The kit showed Xmas but I cannot stand that abbreviation of the meaningful word Christmas. So maybe Merry or Peace .oops I have deleted the photo so will take it again in the morning. In the meantime here are some decorations I made several years ago. Made with copper, beads , fabric, thread, stitch, wire and embroidery.

Ocean Bubble

Today I made this little ‘snow globe’ using an old tiny , wooden angel , a scrap of vintage lace and an old wooden cotton reel. I had actually made the wee decoration last year but decided to put her in a bubble this year.  But of course in Australia as there is no snow at Christmas time it cannot possible be a snow globe. So it must be an Ocean Bubble, a Sea Bubble, the Crest of the wave globe. This is how many of my Christmas’ of the past were spent. At the beach. An early morning swim in the ocean followed by a large lunch a rest and possibly another swim or at least a walk along the shore before the sun set.
This is my homage to that time of My Christmas.

She is defiantly traditional in her blue dress, small crown, bell and star. She only has one wing which only adds to the Aussie adage of ‘she’ll be right mate’. So maybe I’ll call her Angel Sheila.

Little Angels

During the last few days I found these two little angels. They each are only about 1.5 cms high. The glass one came into the dustpan after sweeping under a kitchen hutch. I think it is the tiny tip of a little glass Christmas tree that broke last year. Oops don’t clean under my furniture often. The wooden one is from I don’t know, where. It must have broken off something maybe a decoration ,but not sure.

So now keeping a look out for a third one. Things come in threes. Triple, trios.
What do you call a group of angels, the collective noun . A choir ? A herald? A flock?

Little Cat

I made this little cat using a pattern from @annwood. Then today added some pants for him to wear.k

He is only about 6 inches and feels comfortable held in one hand. The cats Pablo and Sampson were not very impressed with him being posed next to them for photos. They were enjoying the back yard after some heavy and much needed and prayed for rain. So there was a lot for them to sniff at. This sniffing the freshness in the yard did not include a perky little cloth friend. 

Just enjoying the making as I go along. I made the little cat entirely by hand , slowly.

Quiet

Something happened last week that really got me reflecting. In a group setting each of us was saying one adjective to describe another. Someone said to me ‘Elle est calme’ , She is quiet.  This is something not new to me. All my life from young adult I have heard  ‘you are quiet’ or those trying to be funny have said ‘you talk too much’ or other such statements that made the rest of a group chuckle.  These words I came to dread, I felt less than others, somewhat different and not quite up to scratch. I would watch others in group settings and see them butt in, not hold the thoughts or message the other had said, make witty asides, speak louder to be the dominant voice, not be able to actually comment on each other’s words. It’s not better than it’s just different.
So now to last week I realised after that it didn’t bother me. It has been a long time since I’ve heard these words. I am content with quiet because I know the power and strength it holds. I know it’s value and mine and now in this fast paced world of busy -ness people are turning to mindfulness, to meditation, to slow cooking ,slow living and slow stitching.
I stitched my ‘quiet’ onto a piece of the mint dyed cotton that waited quietly for all those months as the fabric took hold of the colour. It will be stitched to the inside of my Alchemists Apron so only I can see it to remind me of the value of quiet.

Mint dye

I opened a solar dye jar recently that had fabric, cotton threads and linen doileys sitting outside for about 10 months. Into this jar was water ands heaps of fresh mint.

This was an old used ball of white cotton crochet thread. The dark stain is where a mass of mint leaves sat during this time and the pale colour is the mint dye liquid.

This picture does not show the lovely soft warm yellow that these fabrics turned out.The dark marks again are where the mint leaves sat during the time brewing quietly in the jar. One will be used as a background for another Little Red and I will stitch with the thread on another. Watch this space.....ha haI have so many plans and ideas that this may just have to wait.

Moon boat

I made this paper lantern today in a fabulous workshop with ATASDA Qld under the tutelage of Therese Flynn- Clarke. 

I will hang it outside with some little lights going up the mast.

‘The owl and the pussy cat went to sea’

It was a fun workshop,with not measuring or patterns we had to think it out and work on design problems as we went along. 

Spirit Warrior

Finally I finished my Spirit Warrior. She is standing upright in her kantha stitched cloak, she has a serene face and she is sagely sending me good vibes .  I want to add more beads to her headdress and add more stitching to her cloak .

Her ‘ hair’ is a short section of vintage braid I found in a box that I got in a garage sale . Her face is stitched with a long warrior bugle bead nose. Makes her proud. All beads and fabrics are what I found while rummaging through my treasure trove of thrifted , found or donated old and vintage pieces of lace, fibre , fabric and paraphernalia as in beads and trinkets. She needs a name now I am thinking 💭

Cards

When you need a wedding card but have no inclination to go to the shops. First look on Pinterest. Made with what I had already .

Masterclass workshop

I have only now completed an intensive four days with Ruth Hadlow. Talking, listening, discussing , reflecting, making briefs, thinking , improvising, listing , all in the direction of guiding my creative practise. My head is spinning.
There is some photos I will put up soon.
Met up with an old friend, an acquaintance who is now a friend and made some new friends in creativity.

 Collecting

The Smile of Home

 I have finished my postcard for June .I have done the colour maroon as I didn’t want to do the prescribed grey for my birthday month so it’s  Maroon for June which is Queensland, mulled wine and rhubarb crumble. My quote as I couldn’t find and artist quote about Maroon.

And now with yellow for September completed I am caught up to date with these postcards. I have stitched the 9 together for display at the 2QAQ stand at the Brisbane Quilt and Craft show in October. I will now get on with Purple for October, Grey for November and Black for December.

‘The vast ocean of life’

Not sure who it was that said this ‘ the vast ocean of life’ it was on the page from Pride and Prejudice, but not the novel part, the forward by who I don’t know as the book is falling apart and many pages used in various projects. But the resounds with me. So as I have been finishing off a small piece of work each day of these September holidays I didn’t have any thing for Thursday 26 . So this hand I drew awhile back has the quote ‘the vast ocean of life’ and as I was at Moolooabah beach swimming in the ocean has meaning.

Sketched my hand. Embroidered a flower held delicately.

Attacking the U F O’s

During these school holidays I decided to finish a project started each day. So far so good. 5 days and five pieces are done, even though they were very near to completion. Will keep going and as I am the one to set the rules it may not continue as One a day as some I completed works could take extra time if I want to ensure they are not rushed.
So this is day 5 . Josephine by the river getting ready for the apple picking season and all the activity that involves such as apple crushing for cider, canning and apple sauce. Josephine is a small feve that I purchased in France. These little feves were put into the 12 th day cake for partakers to find. Sort of like thripence in the Christmas Pudding. The 12 th day cake was eaten 12 days after Christmas.

July’s blue

Blue for July in the 2QAQ 2019 challenge . The artist quote is from Louise Bourgois. ‘The colour blue- that is my colour. 

I have used embroideries from vintage linens. Some hand dyed cotton crochet and an old Suffolk puff.

Margaret Olley Exhibition

 

My pieces in the Warwick Art Gallery in Broadstrokes exhibition Conversations with Margaret Olley. 

In spired by Margarets love of  buying old houses and renovating. 

New ideas

Eco dying with Wendy Trulson at ATASDA last week . These are some of  the results ,on paper. Eucalyptus, ferns, small snippets of sari ribbon.

Then these small squares were drawn into with pens, coloured in with aquarelles. I love this processes it involves so of my favourite concepts in my art. First I am always animating my pieces needing to have some living creature, person or object in fabric. Then I love to have a story . So her I have The Fairy Prince, Old Goat Face, Going walking - with a duck with his feet dancing backwards, Phoenix Rising and Moon face and wee Dot.

Painting papers

I have spent some time painting pages as the base for a Slow Stitched Journal. Some collage to follow  , adding images, tissue, fabric scraps before the stitching begins.

 Have a good supply of craft acrylics but couldn’t find them at the time I needed them . So I have only used three very old and fairly dried up colours, violet , turquoise and pink. Also some white gesso.  But they work well together. Will add different  colour with the collage and now that I have found the paints I was looking for will add touches  from these as well. Online class with @kelliemaykrenz

Holding

A piece of wood layered with a torn strip of vintage lace from old tablecloth. Held together lightly with a weave of linen thread. Placed on recycled denim from a pair of jeans. All small pieces that in their own right may have been discarded but by bringing them together something new evolves .

Pink for April

Pink challenge finished for 2qaq ‘s colour challenge for 2019.Found the Margaret Olley quote 

‘I like to paint the gallery walls a particular pink’

Vintage linens and embroideries.

SotA2019

My conceptual art quilt was juried into the SotA 2019 exhibition. It is now hanging in the Gympie Art Gallery alongside the 43 other art quilts acepted into the SotA 2019.

It is entirely hand stitched from reclaimed and vintage fabric. The base  nine patch is made from French hemp teatowels that have been ecodyed in Coreopsis , black beans and avocado pits. Three sisters flying away leaving the nest heading to new dwellings to forge a continuation of the story. It hasn’t stopped it has just changed. The edges and corners have been included into the story, they are hand stitched hems from the original owner or maker of the hand woven tea towels . 

Sketchbook cover

This is the results of a group collaborative art  activity at 2QAQ last year. A large piece of white cotton fabric was laid on a table with the artist’s gathered around each clutching a felt marking pen. We wrote , words favourite sayings, drew symbols lines and marks. Then a second group of artists came and did the same thing. We then came back to the work an applied paint. We wrote in paint, put lines around the previous images and words or covered them. After drying each artist was given a small piece. Mine was enough to make a small journal cover with a piece of orange added to the long edges.

The sketchbook is one I drew in during a trip to Spain and Morocco several years ago. The first image shows one of the pages of a statue of Mary in a small church in Madrid.