Earth Mother

 Yesterday I participated in a wonderful workshop with @zuzu_and_me in Eumundi. Erzu is a wonderful tutor and the day was filled with meditation, herbal teas, gentle guidance, quiet reflective discussion and a tasty lunch.  I have done wet felting and needle felting with the embellishing machine but not hand needle felting. So this was a very inspiring day with lots of ideas to do more work in this technique. My doll is reflecting the earth mother coming out from the lava of a volcano . Here I was thinking of my mother who was passionately interested in land forms, rocks and in particular volcanos. The three circles in the front are seeds , from Jacaranda  pods that I have lately been investigating through drawing and stitching. So this Earth Mother has come to spread more seeds on our rapidly threatened earth. Three for each of my girls and there is a small one for my petite fille, Harriet. 

As we stayed in Noosa for the weekend it was lovely to see the last few installations remaining on the foreshore walk to the Noosa National Park, for an exhibition , Floating

These were amazing large hanging , fabric jellyfish. I did not get the artist’s name so if anyone does I’d like to be alerted so I can give credit to them

Finding Texture

 I have stitched up this wee textile piece and pulled up the Threads to get some texture into the random placement of fabrics. All found as scraps , some Indian silk, scrim, cotton patchwork fabric , batik and silk. Laid down and then stitched across or round and up and down pulling gently until it all came together. Very freeing from the need to be neat, with corners meeting and ironing as you go. I am really enjoying this play with fabrics and stitch to make textures. Overlaying with sheers  and lots of folding and scrunching to get it all to fit into the space.

Jacaranda month

 I have been collecting fallen parts of the Jacaranda tree on the footpath outside my house. October in Brisbane is definitely Jacaranda month. For the rest of the year I hardly even notice them as they lose leaves and the green foliage when they do have leaves is fairly fine and spindly. There is a painting in The Queensland Art Gallery of a beautiful scene around a wide spreading Jacaranda. I believed the staff scatter  the purple petals around its base on occasion. 

There is also the message for students that if you haven’t started studying by the time you see the first Jacaranda in bloom it is far too late for you. Especially true around UQ campus where jacarandas line the ring road along the river. 

So I have arranged the petals, seed pods, seeds and stems. Looking, looking planning to sketch, draw , paint, press , smudge into paper . 

Art Gallery visit

Last week I went to the HOTA gallery at Burleigh Heads and had an inspiring time. One of the exhibitions was students art work.

My favourite 

Weaving

I have been weaving , colours inspired by painting at GOMA . Trying proportions of colour and matching yarns. Also plying new yarns to use .

Poppies

 I have just discovered the amazing colour, form, and beauty of poppies. I had been given some from a garden a friend is watering while the owner is away.

I haven’t stopped looking at them, sketching, pressing the petals as they fall, photographing and videoing them as they dance in the breeze.

Even now when all the colourful petals have dropped I am now admiring the green twisted stems and the wee furry flower heads. 

My new favourite flower. 

But they have such a special place in my memory. My Dad grew poppies in our garden in New Zealand, but as a child I just saw them as another part of the natural, and cultivated botanical world I lived in.

Then my first trip to France when I was 22. When I saw the blood  red poppies growing wild in the green fields I suddenly got a tiny glimpse into the deep, deep meaning for my grandfather and many others wearing them every ANZAC day in Australia. He spent time in the trenches in France during WW1 and would have seen these wild poppies growing. Hardy, fighters, bending but not breaking.

September Postcards

 These are the next two postcards for members birthdays in my Broadstrokes textile art group.

This first one was the most recent for Jane. As the theme is travel, I sent her on a fantasy travel journey. The background fabric in a vintage style imaginary map. On top I have stitched small squares of fabric collected from various countries around the world. 

The second one for Mel who developed a range of work titled Sunday Drives. She would go on day trips in the car around the Brisbane environs, taking photos , sketching and bring these back to her studio for further exploration. So my postcard to her has her figure in the centre surrounded by flowers, sketches, maps, phone camera, a car and a wee cat face as some of her explorations simply led to her backyard and neighbourhood with her Cat , Calico. The ‘compass’ in the top left corner is made from the inside of an envelop as  Mel worked on a collage a day using envelops a few years ago as part of our group project.