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. 

Finding inspiration in unexpected places

As I mentioned earlier, I have been working on a small woven tapestry for the upcoming AusNZ online tapestry group's 2021 challenge.

The theme this year is Weaving Water. I have a LOT of pictures with water in them! Because of lockdown and only being able to walk for an hour a day (for a couple of months) I have been along various paths along the Yarra River. It is always brown water. Apparently it is due to the clay soil. 

I just noticed that I started it about a month ago, not a bad timeline for me. Maybe because of the lockdown I have given it more time than I would have normally. 

It is quite abstract, based on a piece of paper with paint smeared on it, ready to be cut up for collage. It is also in a landscape format and the tapestry is square. I also managed to turn the image upside down at one stage and it took me a while to work out why my, not very carefully done, cartoon didn't seem to be working. So then I ditched the cartoon and just looked at the image and tried to put in what I thought it was looking like, not what it actually looked like. 

It was a very relaxing way to be weaving - no good image to follow, no right or wrong bits (apart from some bits that just didn't feel right and got pulled out). 

I went for a walk along Darebin Creek this week - without a mask!! Hooray! The water was running fast because of recent rain and was also brown. It reminded me greatly of the tapestry which is almost finished.

                                         

Starting a new idea

 I have decided that it is time to start a new small tapestry. That is the benefit of having a group that organises a yearly challenge. It gives me something to think about. 

And the group that usually meets once a month is now meeting on Zoom and has decided to show our progress at the beginning of November. So I had better have an idea! Only some of us participate in the challenge, it is organised by another online group. Others will have different things for show and tell. Actually, Zoom means that we all get a turn and it is really quite orderly, unlike our usual chats and comings and goings, which are wonderful in a different way.

The theme is Weaving Water: so many ideas come to mind. But I had worked down to one image.

I played with it in PhotoShop to make it slightly easier to see how to weave it. 

It is of the Yarra after rain - very brown water. It will be a challenge not to put any blue in, if I decide to use this image. Even the sky wasn't blue. 

Then I started going through the papers that I painted, earlier in the year, for the paper collages I did with Tara Axford in her online course. I thought it might help me get a clearer idea of how to weave it if I did a collage first. 

I came across some papers I had just smeared paint on to a gelli plate and saw water! And one of them really appeals to me. So now I will have to decide what to do ... That will slow me down again. 

It doesn't look as good here as in reality but it still evokes water for me. 

It is exciting to have found something to inspire me. I won't make a decision immediately - I have been told I am a very slow starter - but I am tending to think that I might prefer to do an abstract image. I am always trying to do abstract but never quite get there. 

I can see some interesting yarns could be included in my more abstract idea. Decisions, decisions. 

As it is a lovely day today, and we can go out for an unspecified amount of time, I'll go for a walk and let the decision be made later. 

In the meantime, I could warp up the loom. I know the dimensions that are for the challenge: 20cm x 20cm. Not that I will necessarily do it square, that can be a difficult shape to make look good. 

Another good date - and lots of sorting

 Well, I know what I might be doing for the next year, or until the Covid19 virus lockdowns ease. 

I will be sorting!!

I started with the threads and yarns, then I moved on to the threads that are specifically for hand embroidery. All beautifully colour co-ordinated. I seem to have a lot of autumn colours, especially green!! Considering that I don't do that much hand embroidery, I do have a lot of thread. Some of is years and years old!! 

Now I am moving on to the shelves that have old books, street directories, bits of painted and coloured paper. I have them for those brief moments that collage takes my fancy. It isn't that often but it is another way of coming up with designs. So I will move them out of my room, into a box, then go through them at another time. By then, I might know if I will ever use them again. 

Mind you, that 'other room' is starting to look a bit daunting. 

I could sit down and go through some of them now but that would distract me from the job I am currently working on, which is just to move things and see what is there. I might even (gasp) throw some stuff out. 

I am working on the 2 minute rule - I think I 'should' do some cleaning up so I will give it 2 minutes. Then, if I feel like it, I might go a little longer. Sometimes I just do the two minutes, sometimes 2 hours. Or more. 

This is not a quick fix, it is a way of making it doable. And the other advantage is that I get to see things that I found interesting in the past and, maybe, get inspired to try again. That has been especially true of the yarns, threads and ribbons. 

I have a box of dried leaves and plants that I picked up earlier in the year, when I was enthusiastically embracing the Tara Axford workshop (online). I am getting some glimmerings of interest again and am glad that I have kept them. The ones that don't crumble when I pick them up could be new inspiration. But I do have to find a better way and place to keep them. 

The other good thing about today? I know what day it is! I totally thought it was Tuesday yesterday. But today is Thursday - 15/10/20.

May the 4th

May the 4th be with you!
And ... 4x5=20
 How could I not post today?

So, what has been happening? Not much! Still in lockdown and winter is closing in.
We usually have nice weather in May, and it is forecast for the next few days, so I will try to get out and about.

I see that the Premier's Active April has been extended into May, to keep us interested in moving, getting exercise, etc.
So far, it has been fairly easy to go for a walk every day but as winter approaches it may become harder.

I have been doing an online course with Tara Axford. It requires lots of photo taking, some printing on paper, including gel plate printing and then cutting it up to make collages based on our photos.

I have been a bit slow to get going, partly due to the tapestry. I really miss the regular weaving, the contemplative, absorbing aspect of that. But I have been trying to get more involved in the online course.

I have LOTS of photos of the surrounding areas. As we are encouraged not to use our cars, to go anywhere much, I have been focussing on local parks.

It has been a challenge to pick an image to work on for the collage. But I am please that I have started, even if they are not the world's best collages. It is just for my own interest, my own development.

Actually, I was struggling with it a bit but then happened to see some art quilts on Pinterest and realised that they are quite similar to some of my ideas. So I will try to be less realistic and let the photos just inform my work rather than be the strong basis. That's the plan, anyway.

Trying to keep interested in things

I'm not sure why, but it has been hard to be doing things today. It started off grey but the sun came out later. I did go for a walk, turned out to be quite a long one as we found a new little path along the Yarra. I was exhausted by the time we got back.

I have been assiduously taking photos on my walks, have quite a big collection. Must do something with them!!
We are supposed to be looking at them and seeing what is interesting us, what makes us stop and take the photo. So I will try to do that soon.

Here are today's selections: a bit of variety, no strong cohesion in them but some relate quite closely to others I have taken. I suppose it isn't that surprising, I keep walking in the local neighbourhood, especially in the parks along the Yarra and the creek.

You may also notice that we are encouraged to make our images square. Fortunately, the iPhone has that option so I don't have to do any cropping later.