Drawing class

I had to blog today, the date is 7/5/12 (7+5=12).  So here I am, with only an hour of the day left, blogging.
Fortunately, I went to a drawing class yesterday and have something to blog about.  As I may have said before, drawing is not something I would naturally choose to do.  I keep thinking that I will draw, I read people's blogs where they have made a resolution to draw every day, I think I will try that too, I don't, etc.  So I am feeling pleased that not only did I go to a class yesterday but I have actually drawn again today (more about this later).
The thing about this drawing style is that it is similar to doodling, something that I often do.  So I felt comfortable with it straight away. It does take more thought than I usually put into my doodling but I still felt that it was achievable.
The class was Learn the Art of Pen Drawing by Katherine Devine.  It was at Open Drawer in Hartwell. The class was very relaxed and we were given good instructions and inspiration with plenty of time to practise.  

The first thing we did was a basic leaf shape that we filled in with patterns.
After lunch, we did our own drawings, based on a photo we had brought.  To make it easy, we had blown up a photo to A4 size and traced the main outlines, allowing us to have a basic shape that was in proportion and was not going to cause too much angst starting up. Then we just filled in the areas with different patterns, getting the shading by the way we coloured in the patterns.  Everyone produced great work, some MUCH more intricate than others (it is going to take them hours to finish but they were keen to do so).

One of the reasons I was keen to do the class is that I have an interest in blackwork embroidery - a slight interest at this stage.  I am slowly getting around to thinking that maybe, perhaps, I would like to try some.  When I saw the ad for this class I thought I had to do it, just in case I ever decide to a) do some blackwork and b) design my own.

Inspired by Buda

I have been playing around with using synthetic fabrics to produce a stained glass window look.  My current work is based on the Buda Historic Homestead. They have a Contemporary Textiles Award that will be on in June.  I think it is biennial.  There are even workshops in the intervening year in which you can visit the house and gardens and be inspired.  I was unable to go last year, partly because I wasn't sure I would want to participate - that it way too much planning ahead.  But my friend and I did visit recently and took lots of photos.

After going through a lot of my images and trying various ideas, I have come down to using three images of glass in or around doors in the house.

What is rather tricky is developing your own image when you are inspired by something in the house, as is part of the brief.  I have taken part of the etched glass image and part from the designs above and put them together in my own design.  But it is hard to say it is totally my own design.  This idea of being inspired by someone else's work is very tricky.

Tapestry group meets again

Our tapestry group met again yesterday at the Handspinners and Weavers Guild rooms.  Only one person brought her loom but we had plenty of show and tell.  Three of us have pieces that have been accepted into the Petite:Miniature Textiles Exhibition at Wangaratta, later in the year. (All feeling chuffed!)

You can see in the background the lovely exhibition of tapestry rugs by Anne Churches.
There will be a new exhibition put up next week. 

We had a new member come. He is also doing the distance education tapestry course through SWTAFE.  He had samples to show us. It was great to be able to discuss what was happening with all our works, problems that had arisen with the weaving and how to get around them.  Many minds working together - well, a few minds. It is definitely good to have the group discussions, exchange ideas and have a social couple of hours as well.

The Next Step in the Design Process

Back to the week at Ballarat.  After we had come up with some drawings of our floral inspiration, we then had to try to draw elements in various shapes that distorted them.  We started with one leaf and tried it in various geometric configurations - circle, square, triangle.  We could also do it with several leaves and then the flowers.  This made us abstract the design but also see the elements that were important to that flower or leaf.

Jane has a book about the design process.  One thing she emphasised was to exaggerate the image.  She told us to enlarge and reduce (I never remember these sayings correctly, it was something like that).  It means to enhance any special features about the shapes you have observed (e.g., spiky leaves) and then to reduce the number of elements (not as many spikes as the actual leaf has, for instance).  I am going to have to practise this a lot more.

Then we drew elements of the flower in less distorted ways but still abstracted or stylised.

I really enjoyed this process.  We were not designing a quilt top yet, just observing and drawing out the elements of the image.
Jane took us through everyone's designs and pointed out different aspects of what was working, how they could be developed further, etc.  It was really valuable to see how others were working and what was going well and what needed changing, and how that could be done. Jane set up a relaxed and trusting environment so that we didn't feel too anxious about having our work looked at by the whole group, it was really wonderful.

Textile Exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art

On one of our excursions taking our overseas visitor around, we called in to Heide Museum of Modern Art. Most fortuitously, there was a textile exhibition on  It was Louise Saxton's Sanctuary. She had made some very interesting pieces using old fabrics, embroideries, laces, tablecloths, doilies, etc.  She had cut the up into very small pieces and then reassembled them to make new images.  They were pinned to tulle, no sewing that I could see.
Actually, now that I think about it, I saw some of her work a few years ago, in the Tamworth Biennial exhibition. (This link is actually teaching notes for schools, quite interesting.)
She used old embroideries such as we still have in the cupboard.  I really must get them out one day and see what sort of condition they are in.  I definitely recognised some old tablecloths in her work.
Once again, no photos were allowed.  There are some nice images here.

We wandered around outside in the sculpture garden, enjoying the wonderful autumn weather.  There were quite a few students there, drawing, using their laptops and generally looking as if it was an ideal class to be in.

Australasian Quilt Convention again

Not only did I have work in Beneath the Southern Sky, I also had four small pieces in another display, put on by the online group: Aus_NZartquilters.  The organisers of the group have a challenge each year and last year I decided to have a go, it makes me try new techniques and do some designing.  I have posted about it during the year, as I have played around with ideas.

I am constantly amazed by the generosity of people who organise online groups, challenges and then the actual collections and display of the works. I am very grateful to them for providing opportunities like this.

It was very exciting to see the work up.  There seemed to be two responses to the challenge, which was to design 12" square quilts that were inspired by any country other than Australia.

One response was to produce works that were clearly part of a theme and had similar designs.
The other response was to try various ideas and have a less visually cohesive, but still interesting, group of works. This is the approach I took.

The Australasian Quilt Convention

On the way home from our wonderful week at Ballarat, we called in to the AQC.  (I can't link to it anymore, it is over.)
I was very keen to go to see my work in the Beneath the Southern Sky exhibition.  Brenda Gael Smith, the curator of the exhibition, did floor talks every day at 12.30.  It was very interesting to hear her talk about why she chose the ones she did and how she decided to hang them.  I am sure this will stand me in good stead if I try for any more exhibitions.
It might also make me feel a bit better when I am not accepted as she made it clear that there were good works sent that she did not use as she only had a certain number she could show and she was trying for a particular look.  She was trying to show different techniques so had to reject some fine work because she wanted a greater variety of techniques.

It was very exciting to see my work amongst so many fine pieces.  And people were photographing it!!  Very pleasing.

I can't believe I forgot to photograph my own work in the venue - I was too busy watching everyone looking at them all.  Anyway, you can see an image of it here.