Year in Review

 I haven’t been here for most of the year. I could use the cliché and say that life got in the way but it really was a choice I made . Who is reading ? Who is watching ? Who is listening ? But does it matter . I use this as a record of what I’ve done . Now coming to write my year in review I had to look back on an activity I did earlier in the year. Sending five pieces of fabric out side in to the elements to see the marks the environment could make. Well I have nearly finished stitching on that piece and need to post it here. To finalise the circle of this creation. 

The white background was as I found it amongst my stash. Joined at the back with vintage lace

Books

 I have just listened to a random Live with Austin Kleon and Sam Anderson . It popped up on Instagram and so I listened in. Fascinating hearing two writers and artists chat. One thing Austin said was , it’s a creative act to buy a book. That puts a lot into perspective. I don’t need to feel guilty about buying books. He didn’t mention anything about reading them. 

Online workshops

 I seem to get carried away with online workshops or the abundance of wonderful artists and techniques. Some finished many not. The thought is that when I retire I will have plenty to keep me busy and learning. But they keep coming and it can’t resist. So I tell myself no more until I finish some or all. But when a free workshop with Ema Shin put on by a gallery in the Dandenongs I couldn’t miss it. I love Ema’s anatomical hearts, her embroidery and the surface design in her pieces. So tonight it was on and I grabbed the material ´s needed and really jumped in. No second guessing no procrastination no self doubt. And I am loving the piece I started on

Still going

 I can’t seem to focus on anything else but getting these scrap pieces made. Finding inspiration everywhere including books and Instagram. 

The last image here of a basket made by adding strips and small pieces to an upturned plastic cup. Then stitching in big visible stitching with 6 strands of embroidery thread. The thread was also not purchased new by me. From others destash or op shops.  This was inspired by Judith Scott a neuro diverse artist who wrapped items known and unknown with whatever threads she could source. She spent many years in an institution and her art may have been a response to that dreadful living environment. I relate to the wrapped and hidden . What lies within ? Is it being kept safe from others, protected so no one can get near , close ? I love hidden secret meanings and even though my basket is not hiding something it may be hiding perfection or removing the need for perfection, flaunting my need to be wonky , imperfect , and wabi sabiness of it. Removing the adherence to straight edges , neat edges. A sign of the hand of the maker.

Scraps

 At the last ATASDA meeting there were some piles of linen scraps for the taking. So I obliged to clear the piles. They are lovely soft linen fabric from a dress maker with a small business. She prefers no waste being involved in her production. So of course I took too many to use until I stopped and thought deeper into what was in the bag. I decided to do a small challenge to use up in small projects , as a daily practice. I have now done 5 days and I am really enjoying the process. By limiting myself to supplies I find I can be creative with just these scraps and some thread. 

I will continue with this process until either the scraps are used up or I get tired of the doing or can’t come up with something different . Not wanting to repeat. Not wanting to add to much other fabric

Weathered

 For a January challenge with @artfromyourheart the word weather and the letter W were to inspire creativity for the month in some way. I instantly thought of weathered as in eroded, sunfaded , wind blown. So I cut five pieces of cotton, wrapped them up with eucalyptus leaves and rusty nails around copper pipes. Then I placed each on carefully in my yard. In an old watering can, hanging in a tree to be exposed to wind, on the top grate of the water tank , in the wilds and amongst the weeds. 

I left them for about 4 weeks and when opened I was really surprised that they all look fairly similar. There is no way to really distinguish them. They were all sprayed with water to start with.

Collaboration

 This is one of two pieces I am working on for an exhibition for ATASDA Qld. It is a segment of a painting that I was given and participants have to recreate their section in any surface embellishment / techniques they choose. This is 10 x 12 inches. Each piece will be backed and combined jigsaw style into the larger piece. Collaboration. 

I have had this for awhile but was slow in getting started but once I did it was really enjoyable working out dimensions and colours to get it as near as possible to the tiny image I was given. Looking forward to seeing them all together and how my wee pieces fit in their assigned spot

Fabric Vessels

 This morning I spent a lovely few hours @artfromtheurbanwilderness with Paper Artist Sandra Pearce. Wee bowls made from paper and fabric. The paper was thin such as the tissue from paper dressmaking pattern and cotton scrim. I will stitch into them to further embellish and add to the story already forming with each. Images of moths , houses , lines and botanicals merge . 

Perfectly Imperfect

 After a week on vacation at Mooloolaba beach where time spent with head down poking amongst the rock pools. I find I am picking up broken pieces of shell and bleached coral segments. These have a perfectly imperfect beauty. A fragment of what they were , worn to a smooth other. Ripples and folds , oddly shaped now as formed from a turn of the edge of the shell. 

I made a shell necklace fire a little person. I added two pieces to to worn twined silk I made for around my wrist. They clink together with their own sound. Two pieces of shell from the ocean. I wonder where they started life and how long ago were they a protective home for a creature. How long before they would have been worn down to grains of sand