Windy days

We seem to have had some windy weather lately. I didn't think it was all that windy yesterday but a big branch fell on our and our neighbour's power lines.  Fortunately the surrounding trees kept it from pulling the lines out but it was still a nuisance.
Then we decided to take the dog for a walk.  While we were walking along the track we heard two branches fall.  As the walk was under a lot of trees, we decided to go home.
Then today we went to Darebin Parklands.  I remembered being there last year when a big branch fell.  I couldn't remember if it was the branch that I had photographed earlier (the one I am using for my current tapestry) or if a branch next to it fell.  That day it was hot and still, typical weather for eucalypts to drop their branches.

This is a very long branch!

As we walked further along we saw even more broken branches.  It may have been a combination of the recent rain and wind that made them fall.

There have been trees falling in other suburbs, so I suppose we were lucky it was only branches. It seems to have all been eucalypts that have fallen too.

Material Culture

Material Culture opened at the Counihan Gallery tonight.  There was an excellent crowd.  The exhibition was partly to celebrate the historic connection between the Brunswick RMIT textile course and the gallery over many years.  Former staff and students were represented in the show.  It was great being there, having the opportunity to catch up with many of the people I have studied with over the last 5 years, students and staff.

I took some pictures while the speeches were on but, unfortunately, they are a bit blurred.  I didn't have the chance to include all the pieces, just those that were in my vicinity during the talking.

I am used to seeing student exhibitions there, with many people's work represented. It was quite different tonight, less work and the lighting really stood out for me.  Congratulations to all who were selected to exhibit.

Beneath the Southern Sky gallery

The gallery for Beneath the Southern Sky is now online here.  The exhibition starts its tour at the Craft and Sewing Show in Sydney, March 8th - 11th.
There is an updated exhibition program here.  I am pleased to note that it will be in Melbourne twice as I might not be able to get to the Australian Quilt Convention after Easter.  I would hate to miss the show, the images I have seen on Facebook have been amazing.

I am very excited to see that the exhibition will be going to the USA next year!!

Mastering the Fine Art of Tapestry - Tour 2012

I have just received the information about the tapestry tour, Mastering the Fine Art of Tapestry, with Cresside Collette. It will be from September 3-22, 2012.  I LOVED the trip last year.  I am not going to go as so much of it is the same but I would dearly love to go to Stirling Castle Stirling Castle to see the reweaving of the Hunt of the Unicorn, and I would love to visit the Dovecote Studios. We did a slightly different tour in 2011.

I highly recommend the trip, it was great last year.  

I have posted about this trip several times, it was wonderful:

Le Manoir, my weaving of Le Manoir, The Apocalypse tapestries, France Odile Perrin- Crinere

 

Yet another excuse to put up some of my photos of the trip. These are scenes around the Pompidou Museum in Paris.

I don't know how to attach PDF files.  If you are interested, here are the addresses at which you could make enquiries.

cressidecollette@gmail.com  - the author of the trip and one of my tapestry teachers. 

ian@bentleightravel.com.au - the travel agent.   

The trip starts in London and ends in Paris, no flights from Australia included in the price.

Tapestry Weavers group meets again

Our tapestry weaving group is gradually building up membership.  We met yesterday, despite the heat.  The rooms were a comfortable temperature with the fans blowing.  Two new ladies joined us.  They are both studying the SWTAFE tapestry course, by correspondence,  and we are hoping that they will find the contact with others who are interested in tapestry to be of benefit to them and to us.
We saw the assignment that the second year students have and there was some discussion about different ways the weaving could be done.  It is good learning for all of us.
You can see samples here and here. It seems that blogs are a great way to have a visual diary.

I am having trouble with my current tapestry, it has a wrinkle (or a bulge) and I wasn't sure why.  It seems that I may have too much weft in it from not pulling and beating the weft quite tightly enough.  Hopefully I will be able to reduce some of that when I sew up the slits.  I have decided to do the sewing after the weaving as there would have been so many needles and threads hanging and I tend to tangle them.  One of our members showed me how to do the sewing after the weaving.  I suppose that I can try steaming the work if it still has bulges (I can hear the indrawn breaths of horror from some purists already).

Can I call this warped? Or should it be wefted?

I have reduced some of the bulge by putting some folded paper under the relevant warps and tightening them a bit more.  I was advised that I may be weaving with my warp a bit too loose.  This is the advantage of having people around to discuss the work.  I am very grateful that the group is available and that everyone is so helpful.  It is a group that has quite a few early-days weavers as well as some with more technical knowledge.  A good mix.

An excuse for another look at photos from France

As you may have noticed, I like posting on days with interesting dates.  I really wanted to do one last Tuesday as it was 21/2/12 but couldn't think of anything riveting to write about.  Lo and behold, today I found some photos on my phone that I took when I noticed this sculpture by Anish Kapoor.  A  friend and I were visiting Heide Museum of Modern Art recently and it was in their sculpture garden.
I know it isn't the right date anymore but I can pretend to myself.

Here is some info about this installation, it is notes from the gallery. 

This lead me to go back to my photos of the installation of his that we were lucky enough to visit in Paris. I have to admit that I hadn't heard of him till then.  It's an example of travel broadening the mind I suppose.  And that you are never too old to learn.


The exhibition was amazing.  It was specially made for the space, which was huge,  and the sunshine coming through the girders put wonderful patterns on it.  We were able to go inside the sculpture and it felt like being inside a body, looking at the arteries.

I put my camera on the floor and left it open for a long exposure, hence the smudged bodies that were moving past.

Sensorial Loop

I went to the Ist Tamworth Textile Triennial - Sensorial Loop today.  It is at Storey Hall at RMIT in Melbourne.  There were some amazing works of all different techniques. My reason for going was to see Cresside Collette's tapestries.  They were wonderful, beautiful colours and 12 small tapestries in that made a very interesting larger image. 
But there were all sorts works there.  One of the themes was around the tools textile artists use.  
I wasn't allowed to take photos, so you'll have to visit the website or go. It is well worth a visit.
Here is a link to a talk about the show:
Sensorial Loop - ABC New England North West NSW - Australian Broadcasting Corporation