Not happy with my design!

 The EGV annual members' exhibition is coming up. The theme is Magical. I have always had a fascination with dragons, so I am trying to come up with a piece that I think is ok. 

So far, I have done one that is using a piece of silk that I painted many years ago, possibly in the 1980s! I'm not certain that it was that long ago but it definitely was a while ago. I haven't done anything spectacular with it, just put some hand sewing on it and mounted it. 

My next idea is also dragon based. I have done a free motion embroidery dragon, with two smaller ones to put on - perhaps. 

But I can't find a background that I like!! It is stopping me in my tracks. 

I made a small quilt based on Ricky Timms' convergence quilt ideas but I think the dragon fades into the background too much. 

I decided that I needed a rock for the dragon to be sitting on but now I think it is too dark and takes the focus away from the dragon.

Note the two much smaller dragons peeking in from the sides. I think I may end up not using them at all. 

I may just put it away and let myself try something different or I may get out lots of differennt  pieces of fabric that I have collected over the years and see if I can be inspired. 

Hopefully, I'll find something that speaks to me. If not, I will have to move on, which I am finding hard to do at the moment. 

Alphington Community Centre art show.

I have just visited the art show at the Alphington Community Centre. It is only on for this weekend, so much work for such a short time! Well done to the organisers!!

I am a newish member of the Melbourne Collage Meets group and we had a room for our works - as well as some space for a few other local artists. It was beautifully presented and fun to see all the works that I have seen in the making at our meetings at a local cafe - we meet there every fortnight. 

I am still trying to develop my own style and am learning from seeing the different styles of other participants. I enjoy it for the creative stimulus as well as the social connection, Collage is not my strength but it is expanding my understanding of art - as well as my enjoyment.  

I really liked this felted tree trunk! 

Some of our collage group pieces as well as a couple of paintings by local artists. 

More collages.

Australian Sheep and Wool Show.

I attended the how last weekend. It was a lovely day, there were lots of people there and we had a good time. 

Despite assuring myself that I did not need anything, of course I bought some yarns and threads. There were largely unusual for my work. I have no idea what I might use them for but I had to buy something!! There was so much lovely yarn, wool and other fibres that I was almost overwhelmed.

We spent the majority of our time looking at the woolcraft sheds. Didn't see any dogs rounding up sheep, or shearing or even fashion parades!

As usual, there were only four entries in the tapestry weaving section! 

They were all different and had interesting takes on the theme - Where the road leads us. 

We are hoping to get some more entries next year!! 

25/6/25

 Not as good as 25/5/25 but still not bad. 

It keeps me posting. I started posting years ago as we were learning how to use a blog as we would need to teach it to our students. I have found that online presence has moved on enormously but I don't much feel like trying to keep up! 

But when people talk about the older generation as being not technologically savvy, I ask who they think taught them about it! I just can't be bothered with some of the new stuff that is totally irrelevant to my life!

However, it is good to have this blog as a visual diary - I have lots of physical visual diaries at home but they are hard to search!! Also, I am trying to downsize some of my stuff - not very successfully. But having the blog means I can search better - if I have remembered to put in the proper labels. 

I have finished the tapestry, have sewn up the loose bits, put on a backing and now only have to take it to the HWSG so that they will take it for me, and bring it back! It is a very helpful and useful thing they offer members. 

I am also trying to come up with an idea for the EGV annual members exhibition - not due till late September but I need to come with an idea that I actually want to do!!

The theme is Magic - it is not speaking to me!

But I am going through some books (that I have resisted giving away) that have quilt ideas, optical illusion  ideas, and some old calendars that I have - I used to get dragon-themed ones each year. Dragons can be magical. 

I am also thinking of my fascination with how colours seem to change depending on the background colours. So more thinking is necessary before I commit to an idea. 

Almost finished!!

 I have finished weaving my tapestry!! It is sitting on the loom with the warp loosened so I can cut it off tomorrow, all being well.

The theme is Where the Road Leads (or something like that). I originally thought that I would have a road leading to a grave - that seemed a bit too depressing. So I had the wonderful idea of putting in a map with all  sorts of directions I could take - that turned out to be beyond me. 

I have done some road signs, not particularly well, and it has turned out to be a bit whimsical. There are roundabouts, slippery roads, etc. I was going to put in a STOP sign but that also seemed a bit final. So now there is a stop sign shape and colour with a question mark. Does it stop here or do I go on??? 

Also, I have a lot of green pastures but they tend to get dryer as we travel further. 

Note that some of the roads do stop at the red sign but some bypass it and life goes on. 

The top has the greener pastures idea - moving on to greener pastures. 

I am going to enter it in the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, coming up in July. I actually have it done in good time!

Autumn leaves

 We have had a much warmer than usual autumn recently but the very recent colder weather has arrived. I may be wrong but I think that the colder weather has given us some lovely reddish and orange leaves. We had a lot of yellowish leaves before this. 

Anyway, I was looking at the fallen leaves on my walks with the dog in the last few days. 

I found a leaf from our pear tree - not that we get many pears, the possums beat us to them. But the leaves are gorgeous. I know that I have posted about them in the past but just had to do so again today.    

I am also trying to get some enthusiasm up for either fabric dyeing or some collage and have collected some nicely shaped leaves from other trees too.

I just realised that I didn't get any fig leaves from the small tree that determinately grows in our garden. It is very small and doesn't give us any figs but it does have lovely shaped leaves. I really love the shapes, so I will go out tomorrow and get some. 

 

Compelling date: 25/5/25

 As the header says, today's date is pushing me to do a post. Not that I  have much to post about! I am still struggling with my tapestry! I am trying to do a bit of weaving every few days - can't seem to get it done every day.

I am working on an incomplete cartoon - mostly because I have made some mistakes and have not bothered to be too fraught about them. Also, I didn't do a coloured background in the cartoon so am making it up as I go. 

The theme seems to be that the longer we go through life, the dryer the surrounds become - a bit negative but that is how it is feeling! We are in drought here despite it not being officially acknowledged- we have had very little rain recently!!

Anyway, I am beavering away at it - sometimes. 

I usually do small tapestries, this one is not big but is bigger than I usually do. So I am finding that the seat and table I use are not that comfortable. I have lowered the table as far as it will go, have lowered the chair as far as it will go. I am trying to keep my arms at the level that is recommended for using a computer, having your elbows at a right angle. At this stage I am managing that but have to spread my legs more than I am used to as they no longer fit under the table. 

Ah, the sufferings we have to put up with. 

Anyway, it is going along and I hope to get it finished in time for the Bendigo Wool Show (also known as the Australian Sheep and Wool Show). I should have time, as long as I can stop myself from pulling out lots of it. 

On another note: there was an article about the textile course I did at RMIT. Not specifically about the course I did but relevant. Here is a link to the article.: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/25/a-new-room-for-a-doomed-loom-and-the-battle-to-save-australias-slowly-dying-crafts

The interesting thing is that it reminded me about the course I did, the changes that happened in the few years I studied and the fact that the Lost Trades Centre in Ballarat is going to take the old loom. 

Not much progress!

 I'm still working on the small tapestry. It is not helped by the fact that I have changed the cartoon while work is in progress. As I said in my last post, I have reduced the number of traffic signs. But I may not have made the larger roundabout sign big enough. 

I have woven, unpicked, woven, unpicked, etc. I think I have done it 4 times! I have decided to just do it, life is imperfect, so will the tapestry be.

On a brighter note: the weather is warm and pleasant at the moment. It's probably not good really, still drought and unusually warm. But it does entice me out. 

On my perambulations (what we call a walk when we don't want to use that w word! - we have a dog.) I saw some interesting faces in places - things that look like faces, or aliens, or animals . 

Here are some random pictures.

I am doing a post because I was reminded of the date (thanks Sue). It is 5/5/25. 

It keeps me entertained!

25/4/25

 ANZAC Day. Lots of stories about the world wars and other wars our people were involved in. Some amazing stories! Many sad stories. 

But I took the day off and tried not to get involved in all the stories - and the upcoming election!

I am working on a small tapestry. The theme is about Where the Road Leads. Initially I wanted to do a road leading to a grave - after all, that is where we end up.  But I decided that was probably too depressing. 

So I am working on an image that has road signs that indicate the trials of our travels through life. Lots of warnings, turn arounds, etc. 

I was having trouble doing all the signs so have reduced the number that I had thought to use. 

I decided to make the background grass - we are currently in an unofficial drought  - not sure why it isn't being declared. So I have been influenced by that! 

I have also tried to use up some of the bits and pieces used in other pieces. Therefore, the green is a bit random. 

Here is an image of the piece so far. 

A Blast from the Past!!

 I used to walk down at Darebin Parklands a lot with our previous dog. We haven't been recently because our present dog hasn't had a lot of off-lead walking. But we took her there recently - we are having quite warm weather at present, seemingly later than usual. So we are still needing to wary of snakes. 

I was amazed to see the cliff face looking so different from previous years. I'll have to find photos to compare the colours. 

And I have a tapestry based on the rocks that is quite purplish. No purple visible today!!

I also have a small tapestry based on a photo of a branch of a tree - it is not looking very inspiring now.

This has an enormous dead branch! Don't think it is the one I used as inspiration but I suppose it may have grown a lot in the intervening years. It is so long ago that I can't find any images since my proper computer died. All I could find was this link to my own blog. 

I also have a fabric collage I did from photos of the mulberry trees - they are gone! There are some small ones planted but of a different type. Actually, the link I found shows the trees not looking that much better - but they are deciduous and it was winter. They weren't so dead!

We have not had much rain for quite a few months now, it is drought-like. I read an article in the newspaper this last week, saying that the government doesn't declare drought conditions now. I didn't really understand why - but we are in a drought around here. 

Maybe getting some inspiration.

 I went to the AQC today, haven't been for a few years. 

It was busy around all the stalls, lots of lovely things I could have bought. I was relatively restrained but did buy a few little things - no fabric though, I have quite a good stash as it is. 

But I saw a couple of quilts that spoke to me. There were many beautiful and amazing quilts but these ones may be able to get me going again. One hopes. 

These will hopefully inspire me to do (and use) some more sun dyeing and eco-dyeing. I loved them!

  This was an amazing piece with free motion machine drawing!!

I liked this one because I like using scrim. And one of the members of our free motion machine embroidery group happened to bring a whole lot along last weekend - of course I took some, not knowing what I might use it for - now I am getting some ideas. 

All in all, a good day out!

Another month!!

 I have been trying to come up with a design for a new tapestry. The theme is Where the Road Leads (or something like that). 

I have had an idea but I can't seem to come up with a cartoon that I like. 

So today I decided to just start!!! 

My initial idea was that we all end up dead and I could do a grave but that seemed a bit depressing, so I am planning some sort of map thing with road signs along the way. I don't think I will be able to put in all the detail, so I'll see how that goes. 

I warped up the loom on Friday - as usual, it took me over an hour, I put in the floor and waste yarn on Sunday. Today I have hitched on and done a tiny bit of weaving. I have no real idea of what colour background to do - apart from a vague notion of using green - and I have a bit of left-over yarns from previous works, so I used them to get me going. 

As you may be able to see, there is very little weaving at this stage!

I hope I feel more enthused and on top of what I am doing tom !!

What am I going to do with this??

 I had a lovely day with a  couple of friends earlier this week. We did some eco-dyeing. 

I didn't really have an idea that I desperately wanted to do. So I took along some silk and cotton - no synthetics for me! I did take some foliage but it didn't make much of a difference to what we ended up with. 

On our arrival, our host had prepared two pots that were already boiling. We wrapped our fabrics in various ways and put them in the pot. 

  

One pot was eucalyptus-based and the other was also, but, somehow, some iron got into the vat! So we ended up with quite lovely greys from that pot. The other pot gave us some beautiful browns - golden browns.

As I hadn't done any natural dyeing lately, apart from my experiment with the hollyhocks, I didn't have any particular expectations. 

Now I have some lovely fabrics that seem to want to go together - the darker fabrics from the pot with the iron (and eucalyptus) have a slight purple sheen, especially when in the sunshine. 

i now have a small, collection of fabrics that I will have to wait for some inspiration about how to use them.

We had fun though and I can feel a developing interest in more eco-dyeing growing. 

This is the fabrics that I have from the iron pot and the hollyhock dyeing. I will do something with them one day in the not-too-distant future. 

Another Month!! Time is definitely flying!!

It is almost a month since my last post. Not a lot has happened  but I have found some old works to put into a show called the Art of Again. It is about recycling and using that in our art. 

I have not made new pieces, I have used ones that I have made previously but that I think will fit the bill - they use scraps of fabric to make something new. 

The exhibition will be at Strathdon House, 449-465 Springvale Rd, Forest Hill. 

I'm not certain of the open days, it may only be Thursday to Sunday and be for two weeks. I don't have to help with sitting in the exhibition so I am not certain of the times. But I will definitely visit it. 

I am not sure that there will be room for all that I have put in so I'll have to wait and see. 

I have done my horse fabric collage, my Making Waves one and a couple of small experimental pieces as well as my Ro Bruhn fabric book that I recently finished.  (I just looked it up and when I did the workshop, it was 2021!! I have worked on it recently to complete the book.)

I could only find a picture of it in progress - but it gives you the idea. The sky is made using an old blouse of mine that has been used in other works too. 

By the way - it is 22/3/25. My inspiration for posting today!

Well, time is flying!!

 I was reminded that today is 25/2/25. I looked at my last post and it was early January! 

I have been doing some textile stuff, obviously not enough to inspire me to post. 

However ...  I went to the Handspinners and Weavers Guild today and gave them our Witch tapestry. It was done over a period of time that coincided with Covid lockdowns but we somehow managed to get it to enough people to finish it. The guild has recently had an exhibition up of works from their collection. It inspired me to contact the people who participated in the challenge. We have been wondering what to do with our group piece - no-one was especially keen to have it to themselves, so I proposed giving it to the guild for their collection. They accepted!! The guild accepted! Very pleasing. 

On another note, I am currently trying to finish a fabric book that I started in a workshop with Ro Bruhn. It has been lying in a box for a while (since 2021). I am trying, very slowly, to downsize and get rid of bits and pieces - it is very hard!! The Alcove Art shop is going to take part in an exhibition that is about repurposing textiles and this seemed like a great way to progress. I can, hopefully, finish the book and have something in the exhibition. 

So I am going through some old experiments and am trying to put them together to go in the book. It is satisfying, in one way, but also makes me see that I have a lot of stuff that I should/could get rid of.

I am also continuing to go to the small group that meets fortnightly to do some paper collage. I am trying to keep up but am finding my inspiration is not that high at the moment. 

I am also trying to do some more Zentangle/doodling and took a photo recently in the hopes that it will inspire me! It was of the sun shining through glass bricks - I was at the dental specialist so was happy to see something good to distract me!! (Nothing to worry about, at the moment, with the teeth!)