Putting away the thing that doesn't work

 Today is 22/5/22, so had to post. Lucky I have this things about dates to make me actually post!

I have been working in the idea of a Labyrinth. One of my online textile groups came up with a theme for a journal page - textile, of course. The theme is Place. 

I have been feeling rather overwhelmed by the world news -only the bad stuff gets reported and there sure is a lot of bad stuff! And we have been leading up to a Federal election. Lots of rather meaningless stuff being said, also mostly negative. So I thought a labyrinth might be a good place to be, trying to get away from it all and just find some peace. 

But my latest try is not pleasing me at all! I have decided to let that idea go, for the time being, and see what else I can come up with. 

However, the only ideas that are coming to me are still around that idea - just in different formats. 

I am thinking I should finish my larger tapestry sample (which isn't particularly large) and then see if I can apply some of the techniques from that to a woven labyrinth. It does mean that I will have to get to and actually weave! 

Another idea I have started is to do a blackwork labyrinth. As blackwork is to geometric, I have started on a more geometric design. I tried to draw it on the fabric using a soluble pen. As I sew, I find that my drawing is rather inaccurate!! I'll keep going but will have to make adjustments as I go, so that things line up properly. That might be a challenge. 

Both of these ideas are in the slow work category. Maybe that is what I need at the moment, to just slow down and try to appreciate the calmness - and that is before the labyrinth is made!!

Challenge - 3D

Can't believe it is May already. Where does the time go???

The Embroiderers Guild has a Challenge for the upcoming exhibition (October). I am going to try for the Challenge this year - it is to be no more than 15cm in any dimension (you can 2D or 3D) and I am thinking to try some techniques from the past and see if I can come up with a 3D piece. It has to have some sort of silk in it - not too difficult really. It could be silk thread, silk paper, silk fabric, sari silk leftovers, etc. I have all of those already, so not too stressful yet. 

The overall theme is Threading a Way but that doesn't have to translate into the Challenge. However, so far I am being influenced by the theme. My current idea is to do some tree trunks and see if I can make them into a little group that has a path meandering through. 

I may try to use some of the silk organza that I collected last year from the Bojagi workshop (which I did not do - I was at another workshop).

I have access to some tiny people figurines - due to a family member being into miniature scenes - and am thinking to have one person, or a few, finding their way through the trees. 

I have played with some sari silk that had a very frayed edge - perfect for the path. I have made the trees using sari silk that I have oversewn, using soluble fabric to provide the 'glue' that will allow me to shape it (over a straw). The base is some fabric collage on a small piece of felt. So far, so good. 

So here it is. I will decide closer to the date if I will put it in the exhibition. 

April is almost gone!

Well, I missed  22/4/22 but that was because I was away at the Ballarat Fibre Arts workshop. I was in a tapestry weaving class with Ema Shin, advanced tapestry weaving. 

It was the usual wonderful week away with a whole lot of like-minded textile artists with the added benefit of some tapestry weaving techniques that I remember we were introduced to in my initial course but have not done for ages. 

We made a small sample - which took two days, tapestry weaving being slow. 

II couldn't decide which way looks better but it doesn't really matter. 

Here is the setting up for the final display of all workshop pieces. Ema's samples were amazing. 

There were only 3 of us in the class. Luckily we all got on!! It was a wonderful week of learning, experimenting and weaving. 

Now to try to keep experimenting and remembering the different techniques. 

Trying to start something new.

4/4/22 - that must be a significant number!!

I am trying to think of something to spark a new work. The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, Australia has a members' exhibition in October. I know that sounds quite a while away but, at the rate I am currently going, that is a doable time-line - I hope. 

The theme of the overall exhibition is Threading a Way - we still seem to be trying to find our way into the future, so many things are impacting our lives still. 

The Machine Embroidery Guidance group also has a theme of trees - it has been the theme since 2020, we keep getting interrupted by Covid!

I was browsing through some old work I had done and came across one that was based on a labyrinth. It wasn't all that good but it did make me think about the theme - trying to find a way. 

More browsing led me to some tree-shaped labyrinth pictures, mostly from Pinterest. So now I am hoping to kill two birds with one stone, try a tree-shaped finger labyrinth - or just make a wall-hanging. So far I am at the idea only stage - who knows what will eventuate? 

I am contemplating trying some of what I learnt from the Cas Holmes course I did last year, using her collage idea for the background. I am also contemplating doing a blackwork one!! That will necessitate starting soon - I am rather slow at hand stitching. I also found some notes from a course I did in 2011 and saw some twin needle work on the sewing machine that might work. So ideas are coming, alll a bit confusing really.

Venturing out

  Well, it is the equinox and 22/3/22, so that is something to write about. That's done then. 

I visited the Counihan Gallery at the Brunswick Town Hall last week. My main reason for going was to see the works by Ema Shin. They were amazing! 3D shapes that were either woven tapestry or embroidered. The story was interesting too. Artist statements can make works so much more meaningful. 

I am going to be attending a workshop run by Ema in April. Her work was very inspiring, I am looking forward to the workshop even more after seeing the exhibition. I think it will be very challenging. 

Another room had lager-phones on display. Unfortunately we were not allowed to play them! It is probably fortunate for the person on duty at the entrance though. This exhibition was called The Sparrow Made Some Beer. 

They were beautiful and cheery. They had been carved into the shapes of animal heads - based on Lithuania. The bottle tops were arranged to add colour and dimension to the imagery. 

All in all, a very pleasant outing. 

Cheating a Little

 I am hoping that this post will go online at 2am (I have tried for 2.22am, will see how that goes) on 22/2/2022. So, obviously, I am doing it beforehand. I am most definitely not going to get up at 2am to post it, much too early in the day. 

I have done another small free motion machine sewn fabric collage. It is still too big for a doll's house, well, one that is the usual proportions but I am finding out what I can do and what I can't. 

I actually did a bit of collage with tiny strips today, to try to get different greens and blues, not such pure colour as I had previously. I am still using the leftover silk organza from the bogaji class. It should last me into the next century - maybe even till 3/3/33 (not that I will last that long!).

The piece is based on a photo of the Yarra River at Warburton, taken last year during a break between lockdowns. Or maybe it was the year before. I have lost a sense of when I did what over the last couple of years. As have many others I know. 

I laid out some fabric, decided that it was so small and fiddly that I had to put Vleisofix on the back so I could make it stay, then laid it out again. Then I did some free motion sewing. 

I think I prefer the image before I put the final touches on - too late now, those final touches are on. 

I've been reminded that it is 20/2/2022 today.

 As the heading says, today is 20/2/2022 or 20/2/22. Still lots of 2s! 

What to post about?? 

I have put away my tapestry wools for the moment as I have finished my small tapestry. But it is so small that there is a whole lot of warp available above it, so I am considering doing another at this warp sett. 

I have a picture of a leaf that I saw on the ground, I am considering doing that. I may even be adventurous, for me, and do a shaped piece. I will take some time to consider it, but not too long because I will want to get the first piece off the loom. 

I also have some gorgeous silk threads that I got somewhere, sometime. I am thinking about how to use them, they are the right colours, mostly. Of course, I will still use the ATW wools as the basis, silk is a bit too slippery for proper bedding down. 

The different thicknesses will be my excuse for having to do eccentric weave at times, the sort that doesn't match up with the weaving around it - well, that's how it works for me. 

Now to look up how to do shaped pieces, how to hitch on, etc. I think it is fairly straightforward but I will look up my notes and books, just to be sure. It will the the first hitching on method I learnt, not the small tapestry hitching on that I commonly use now. I have talked about both here, when I was still doing the textile course.