Unhappy Bananas.

 Maybe they knew they were going to have to stay home on Christmas Day! 

Another interesting set of numbers.

 Today is 21/12/21 ... 211221 (in case you hadn't noticed).

Probably my last blog for 2021 - unless something wonderfully interesting occurs. (I was going to say last post but that sounded a bit ominous.)

I went to the NGV today and had a look at the Rosalie Gascoigne and Lorraine Connelly-Northey  exhibition. It was amazing - some very large pieces all made of detritus left on the land. You'll have to look it up to get a better explanation than that! Some of the pieces were huge, others were smaller but still large. 

I had found my membership card and managed to put it in the rather limited collection I now carry around with me - no need for cash, lots of cards are useless these days and I haven't been going anywhere much. But I didn't need it, the exhibition is free, as are most of the NGV exhibitions. It is a truly wonderful place. 

I only took a couple of photos - ones that spoke to me for various reasons.

                                        

I'm hoping you can read the text as it was interesting. 

Most of the reasons they spoke to me are to do with possible ideas for tapestry challenges that are upcoming. Our online group that I have participated in for about 10 years is now Australia only and this next one is likely to be the last one. The wonderful people who have put in all the effort over the years have decided to stop doing it. But there is one more to go, one more incentive for me to do some weaving. 

I have actually warped up my tapestry loom. It took me twice as long as usual (and I am slow!!) because, once again, I put double the warp. Not sure what is happening to my mind, I'm blaming Covid. Anyway, now I just have to finalise the image, choose the colours, get the cartoon onto the warps and START. That will be a few days, probably not before Christmas - but I'll keep my fingers crossed. 

Then I wandered off into some of the other rooms in the gallery. It was all a bit much at once, especially as I have been a bit housebound in the last two years. But I have been reminded that I used to do an Artist's Date (from The Artists Way by Julia Cameron). So I might try to reinstitute that practice. 

Arthur Boyd - The Wheatfield.

Howard Taylor

Landscape Unfolding

Out and About

 I have been to a couple of exhibitions in the last few days - trying to get some creative interest going but also to see some wonderful work! 

Yesterday I went to the Australian Tapestry Workshop to see the Kate Derum and Irene Davies awards for small tapestries. I had seen the online exhibition and opening but it was SO much better to see it in person. 

I thought the voting for the public's awards was shut but found this on Facebook just now: it is a link to the event and then the voting button is further down. 

Having seen them in person, I was able to go back and see them and know which ones resonated with me when I could almost touch them. So I have voted. 

I actually know a few of the people who have put works into the exhibition but I didn't let that influence me, I went with the one that had the most to say to me. (No, I am not going to say what I voted for.) 

I saw one piece by K Spoering and thought, I know that name! Then I realised that is it someone whose blog I have followed for years! 

I took some photos but didn't get the names of the artists, so I won't post here. You will just have to go the site to see them. 

However, I did get the names of some artists at the AQIPP exhibition that I visited the day before. I have posted already about the wonderful online recording that is available but, as usual, there is nothing quite like being there in person. 

The exhibition has been extended till February, so take the chance to visit, if you can.

There was a great variety of interpretations and techniques. I found it very inspiring. A lot of the artists were affected by the lockdowns caused by Covid 19. Some were sadder than others. But they were all very interesting. 

I really liked the piece of dyed silk that wafted over the background. 

This one was interesting to me, especially, as I have recently done the Cas Holmes online course and there was quite a focus on using paper collage as the background. 

I found the artist statement 'spoke' to me. And the combination of machine and hand sewing was lovely. 

The Miracle of Water

 I am pretty sure that I usually put up a picture of the hydrangea at our front door closer to Christmas. But this year the plant has flowered early.  (Maybe not, I have checked past posts and some are early December - it just seems early this year.)

Each year I am amazed by the difference water makes to the plant. I took a picture of the flowers starting to wilt - it has been warm the last few days (we seem to be getting summery weather later than usual) and then another today after having watered the pot. The pot plants need regular water, more than the ones in the ground. We have had some rain too, giving us more humid weather than we are used to - at least, historically (in my memory). I think we had a more humid summer than usual last year too. 

I also had to post because of the date - 2/12/21. I meant to post yesterday, 1/12/21. Such is life. 

Stirrings of interest

 I might actually have some ideas starting to whirl around. 

There are two things to be thinking about: one is that the topic for the Aus/NZ group's challenge for 2022 has been announced - even though it won't be touring to NZ next year. The them is Sense of Place. At the moment, that sense of place is restricted to the backyard, where I have been doing my observations and drawings for the Cas Holmes course. Hopefully, that will be expanded somewhat now that most restrictions have been lifted, especially those relating to travel. 

I did a small embroidery a few years ago for my machine embroidery group, also based on the local area. I can't remember the actual theme, it could have been that we were doing works based on artists as I seem to remember that I was thinking about Hundertwasser at the time. I'll have to see if I can find those images. It might inspire me for the tapestry. 

Found one link!! And a picture. 

The second thing to think about is that we have had to put cardboard boxes around the house to stop our puppy chewing on electric cords. They are not beautiful. I am thinking to make some barriers that will serve the purpose but are machine embroideries. I think we are going to need the barriers for a while yet. 

So far,  I have browsed my photos (I have a lot) to see what appeals to me in that small format. I will have to adapt my photos to the shapes of the boxes but that will fit in with my recent struggles with landscape format for the Cas Holmes course. 

Then I remembered that I have done some pieces based on my workshops with Kathryn Harmer Fox and I would like to try something more in that vein. 

So lots to think about - hooray. 

Amazing Virtual Tour AQIPP

 I received this link today: AQIPP 2021

The AQIPP show is at the Box Hill Town Hall, not far away. I will try to see it in person soon.

Here is a screen shot of my piece, from the virtual tour.

Mine is the middle one, of course, the one you can see all of. 
I don't know that names of the other artists, hopefully I can find out when I visit. 

The virtual tour is amazing - how much has technology advanced in our lives recently?? And how much have we learnt to use it? It has allowed people to attend events that they otherwise would not have seen. Today I attended a Zoom meeting for our local tapestry weaving group and one person was in NSW, she is very unlikely to be able to get to our small in person meetings. 

I also got to the Handweavers and Spinners Guild to pick up my tapestry from the Bendigo Wool show, which was cancelled the day before the public could go, in June or July (it is so long ago that I can't remember). 

There was a certificate and ribbon with it - very pleasing. 

Ideas drifting up in the mind.

 How could I not post today? 12/11/21. 

So ... what to post about?

I am still in the doldrums a bit but am slowly seeing some ideas emerge. 

We have a newish puppy (6 and a bit months old now) and we have had to put some cardboard boxes in places to keep her from investigating the electric cords too closely. I have been asked if I could make a piece to take the place of the boxes. 

It will be reasonably large and will need at least 3 panels. So I will have to devise how to do it and an image or images. Finally, a challenge that interests me - and has a place to go.  (Although I hate that question people ask about textiles But What is it FOR?? I tend to ask it of myself at times.)

I am thinking of doing something along the lines of work I have done arising from the Kim Thittichai workshop I did years ago as well as one by Kay Khan. 

Both classes were several years ago and are not precisely what I want but they did have reasonably thick bases that could be converted into a standing piece. They can be my inspiration. 

I also have ideas surfacing from some Olga Walters classes I did. Here's hoping something comes of these rather vague ideas. 

On another note, the AQIPP exhibition opened today. I have a piece in it, is a small wall hanging. I hope to get there in the next few days to see it in situ. And to see all the other works. I have seen the exhibition in other years and have loved it. But I have never entered it. I was very chuffed to have my piece accepted. 

The title was Where is the World? and I was inspired by the flowers in our garden! Silver Princess. Very Australian image, I think. 

Developing an idea

 I'm still plugging away on the Cas Holmes course. We have been asked to come up with a design for a digital book displaying works by the participants. 

The brief is to come up with a design that is in the landscape orientation with the horizon line at the bottom third of the image. It is also supposed to be three times wider than it is high. This is way out of my usual design orientation. 

I took some photos at Warburton, when we were allowed to be there, and then drew a small image that was inspired by the photos. 

I then found some pieces of paper and fabric that I thought might suit the image. I ended up only using one piece of fabric that I tore into two pieces, another small piece of fabric and one piece of paper. And the marks on the fabrics were in the opposite direction from my initial idea. 

I haven't finished but it is in progress - which is very pleasing as I haven't used my sewing machine in about four weeks - partly due to it needing to be serviced and partly due to a lack of creative energy. So I am pleased that I got the machine out today and had a go. 

There is plenty more to do on it yet but it is on the go. 

Seeing another face

 I was browsing through my photos today, looking for some inspiration for the final piece for the Cas Holmes course I am doing. There is going to be an online book/exhibition of people's work. You don't have to participate but I would like to try. The format is landscape which I haven't been working on for most of the course. Hence the browsing photos to see some of the many photos I have taken over the last 8 weeks on my walks around the neighbourhood. 

I had made the photos large and was just using the arrow key to move along. I saw one I thought interesting and put it in the album for the course. Then I clicked to see more photos and this one then became small. That's when I saw the face!! 

I can't see it when the image is large, just when it is small. 

Staggering on

 Today's date is 11/10/21. Thank goodness I have these dates to inspire me to post. 

We are nearing the end of our lockdown - hopefully. The case numbers are still high but the number of double vaccinated people is rising. 

I feel as if I am in a queue to get tickets to the Grand Final. Willing to wait hours till the tickets go on sale, then, the closer you get to the gate, the more the queue pushes up closer and closer, all anxious to get there before tickets are sold out - or, for other games, before the game begins. 

Anyway ... I have been doing the Cas Holmes workshop through Fibre Arts Take Two. We had a live presentation yesterday to mark the end of the official times but the course is still accessible for years, so it doesn't all have to stop. 

My sewing machine in refusing to do free motion work at the moment. I have found a mechanic who is able to meet me and take the machine away (given the travel restrictions in place, that is very pleasing) but I have to wait till he comes into our area. Then another wait till it is ready again and he will be back in the area. So I will have to either do some hand sewing and/or making more fabrics and papers to use as backgrounds. All doable, once I get the energy up. 

Here is one piece that I am experimenting on. I had put it away after making it because I wasn't sure what else to do with it yet. 

Now I have done some hand stitching. I don't think I like it much but it did make me do something, so that is a plus. And I can always experiment a bit more on it. Or I could try another piece I have made to a similar stage. Or I could try making some more backgrounds. Lots of options!

Hmm - now that I can see them both, I think the leaves need to be darker. But I will let that idea lie in the back of my head and hope it doesn't get lost. And the lighting was different, that affects how it looks too. 

Three weeks since my last post!

 The date is 21/9/21, three weeks since my last post. Where does the time go??? 

Maybe it is a good thing that time seems to have lost meaning, given that we seem to be going to be in lockdown for another 5 weeks, at least. 

But I am tired!! 

However, I have been doing an online course with Cas Holmes, through Fibre Arts Take Two. It is set up in the same way as the Tara Axford one I did last year. And I seem to be having the same problem I had last year - moving from the initial modules where you look closely at something, to painting papers (and fabrics this time) to making collages. 

I have done daily drawings, using the continuous line technique, as a preparation for using the sewing machine to do continuous line drawing. I will have to admit that I do mostly daily drawings. I managed to make some collaged images last year, all using paper. I was moderately happy with some of them. But I didn't take the next few modules and move on to inks and water paints. 

This year, I have done the initial module of looking closely at my surrounds - which is mostly the backyard, given the 5km limit of movement (it is now a whole 10km!). Then I did a bit of fabric marking, mostly with the gelli plate and fabric paint. I didn't do much paper as I have so much left over from last year. 

Now I am stuck at the making a background stage. Other people doing the course have moved from the daily drawing to the collaged backgrounds to putting an image on the backgrounds. 

My backgrounds tend to be started with an image in mind, which influences how I put the fabrics and papers. Then I don't like them much, or the sewing doesn't work. 

These two were inspired by the fact that I had some bits and pieces that I collected when people doing a Bojagi workshop were throwing out. I had to rescue them. I had no idea what I would sew, which is fortunate, as it has turned out rather weird, a scene coupled with an in door scene with a tree growing inside. Ah well, it got me using the sewing machine again. 

I have managed a few that are ok, but my latest ones are not much chop. I have resorted to doing some hand sewing to see if I can make the lines of the collaged materials less obvious. 

All this might sound negative but it has been keeping my mind active (on occasion) and I have spent some time thinking, planning and doing. And the course doesn't have a particular time-line, so I can revisit or just abandon this part and move on. Or I could go back to last year's course, it is still available to me. Both courses should be available for years! 

 

looks like the pandemic is going to affect our lives for a few years yet, that could be very beneficial. 

I'll have to start thinking again.

 Well, the online course for tapestry weaving, through the Australian Tapestry Workshop, has finished. I am feeling a bit flat about that. The course was interesting, I learnt and relearnt things, it took concentration and time. 

We were given a task to do that required all the above but not much decision-making of a creative sort - except to think about how you might incorporate a certain technique into your work. 

The final task was to interpret a design that was provided. It was a black and white cartoon. But we were also provided with three interpretations of the piece, done by the three different teachers. 

I did mine, which turned out not to be all that much like the other interpretations, which I didn't really notice till we had our Zoom session and people were talking about how they had interpreted them, They were talking about some bits that I just had not seen. That's probably the fault of Covid fatigue and wanting to get it done in time. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)

Seeing I am very unlikely to be weaving someone else's image, I didn't worry too much. And it was very difficult to do all the detail as we were weaving with a thick warp and weft - thicker than I usually use. And it was only 16cm square. Not much room for small detail. 

Anyway, I am happy enough with my piece. I wanted to get it done for the final Zoom session and did. 

I wasn't happy with the top right hand corner, so have now pulled out a bit and rewoven it. Of course, I was concentrating so hard on that that I started to pull in the sides - it is so easy to do that! I wasn't up to the task of pulling it out again - it will have to do. (I'm not what you would call a perfectionist!)

I had trouble with the warping up - as usual. I did a better job than usual but did notice that is was slightly tighter on the left-hand side - now I can see that there are ridges in the weaving on that side. Live and learn. 

Obvious

 I have been taking photos, for years, faces that I see in various places, usually trees. 

These two are from my most recent walk along the banks of the Yarra. The faces I see aren't always human. They make me think about the stories about beings living in forests, etc. No wonder these stories have evolved. 

But today I saw the easiest one ever to recognise. It was outside the Eaglemont Station where some people are making a garden in the shared council and railway land. The garden is developing beautifully and I really appreciated the whimsical elements. 

Trying to stay positive

 21/8/21 - makes me post. Something needs to motivate me. 

We are back in lockdown. I know that I am not that burdened by it, compared to many other people, but I still feel exhausted. 

To help me keep interested in things, I am doing a Cas Holmes online workshop, through Fibre Arts Take Two. I attended a workshop, in person, a few years ago and really enjoyed it. So I thought I would give this one a go. 

So far, we have focussed on drawing, not a favourite thing of mine. But I have made a little sketchbook, using papers I have left over from Tara Axford's online course that I did last year (also Fibre Arts Take Two). Cas suggested that we use a variety of sketchbooks, some commercially made, some made by us. 

I have made a simple one so far, just some used photocopy paper that I did some gelli plate printing on, folded in half and sewn into a little book. It is to be my daily drawing sketchbook, along with some of the others that I have purchased. 

As we are not supposed to venture far from home, I have decided to start with very local sights - from the front and back yard. 

The first emphasis is on doing a continuous line drawing, probably because we will eventually move onto using the sewing machine for the drawing and it has to be continuous line, unless you are willing to be very picky. 

Shadows that can be inspiration for drawing shapes. 

Tried a white pen, based on some cockatoo feathers I found last year. Will almost be time to get them again soon, when the babies start growing their adult feathers.

Used a pencil on the left, a black pen on the painted surface as it was relatively dark.

Line drawing using the blank side of the paper and another piece that has paint on it. The paint felt good with the pencil 

Random pieces of paper. 

Soft paper bought from the Papermakers of Victoria. A ready-made sketchbook.