September 23

 I have just been told that I should have blogged today, it being 23/09/23! So here here it is.

I went to the opening of the Annual Members' Exhibition at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria (Australia) last night. It was a very  interesting evening. 

I am on the exhibition committee, so will have have a vested interest in it, of course. 

But it was a lovely evening with interesting speeches. And an amazing array of works. In fact, I have commented that the exhibition is becoming a bit too good for its own good, in my not so humble opinion  - not an opinion shared by all. I feel that the quality of work is so high that some people might be put off joining the guild as they might not feel as if they could keep up to the standard. 

However, there were a few works that might encourage people to take on membership because they could live up to the standard - mainly my two works. Not being modest here, I wanted to participate and did a couple of pieces that pleased me (one here) - no thought about how they would stand up to comparison with other members. 

I did my blackwork labyrinth piece - I feel as if I should have put in a statement about ignoring the lumps and bumps, the imperfections, just walk the Labyrinth (finger walk). I didn't - but it is how I feel about my imperfect work. I don't care that it has imperfections, it was an enjoyable and meditative time making it. No precise plan, as seems to be my thing at the moment. I just did pieces at different times, as they spoke to me. (The theme is Reflection - I think that walking a labyrinth is a time for that.)

I am currently working on a small tapestry (20cm square) and it is another piece that had a plan that I am not really following all that closely. (It is also based on a labyrinth theme. The outside of is going to be textured, the inside (hopefully) will be smoother.)

  I have found a whole lot of yarns that I bought to play around with, in my more experimental days, and I am trying to incorporate them (it is quite possible that I am returning to those experimental, not very precise, days). My weaving is not getting much attention at the moment as I have been involved in setting up the exhibition at the EGV but it is slowly growing. 

Not sure what I am doing!

 I have an idea for a small tapestry. 

There has been a call for entries for a theme: Between the Lines. 

I thought about it for a while, even started a mind map. Then I returned to my ideas of a labyrinth - walking between the lines. 

The size called for is quite small, 20cm square, at most. So I knew that my previous labryinth pieces (here) were too complicated for that design. I am now going to go for one base on a tree shape. I have drawn up a couple of cartoons (the term used for tapestry plans). I coloured them, thinking that I might go through the colour wheel, as I really love playing with colour blending. They are not as complicated as one I tried earlier!

Then I got out one of my tubs of yarns - the yellows and browns. So the colour plan is totally changed!! I am also influenced by the idea of the outside of the path being a bit rough/textured. 

This is what I have found. It has totally changed my plan. I think I will do what I have been finding helpful recently - go with the flow: have a basic idea and let it grow. So I am going to warp up the loom and start, then see what develops. Use the basic idea but don't worry about the colour plan. What could go wrong?

Oh, I have also decided to continue using the yellow warp - that really influences my designs as the moment. 

Using old ideas and adding to them.

 I have a LOT of old doodle/Zentangle pieces. I have been doing it for years. 

Recently, I went away for a few days and took an old, A5 (rather small) pad of old doodles with me. I also took some coloured pencils and Landscape colour brush pen things. 

I knew I was not going to be doing much, was just taking the chance to be away. Usually, I have something on the go that is portable, not this time. 

So, here are some images of my reinterpretation (or reuse) of some small doodles. 

Something sort-of new for me. It was rather peaceful as the design was already there, I just had to choose some colours. It continued the theme of the doodling for reflection/peace rather well. But I didn't do them in bed, as I do with my doodles. 

I think I prefer the ones done with pencil. there is a greater colour range. But, as they are for just contemplating, it really doesn't matter what I used. 

The value of keeping records.

 I was looking for some information about doing an animal image today and remembered that I had done a few experiments on it in the past. I couldn't find any links that I had saved in my folders, then remembered this blog and how I think of it as a visual diary. 

Lo and behold: I found the relevant pages: here and here (I note that it was in the pre-Covid, more creative times).

So now I am going to try to be a bit more updated and post what I am doing. 

It has been bit of a struggle to be creative these last few months but I have persevered and managed some things. 

My most recent thing is to have done a wall hanging quilt for an upcoming exhibition. I just have to decide which exhibition to put it in. 

It was designed for the AQIPP exhibition that is coming up, the theme being Unfolding. I have made my image based on flowers unfolding from the buds. 

I also came across an old piece I did a few years ago, a folded book, done in fabric. I rather like it and may try to make a slightly bigger one (to fit the size requirements) but there isn't a lot of time left, so I will see what eventuates, try not to stress myself. 

It is actually good that I have kept the blog - I couldn't remember how I had done it - now I can see what I did!

Mixing techniques

 As I posted recently, I am trying some new ideas using Zentangle, doodling and quilting patterns with Notan ideas. 

I cut out some pieces of black paper, flipped the pieces and glued them down. 

These ones are on A4 paper and it takes a little longer to do the doodling, so it is still ok to be doing in bed, helping me to sleep. But ... doing it in bed means that the control of the pen is not as good as it could be at a desk. Luckily, I am not trying to do fabulous art, I am trying to relax and play with ideas - get my mind off the worries of the day, just relax. 

Now I am doing a bit of doodling to fill in the spaces. 

Another idea that I haven't tried is to use a white pen to doodle on the black paper or, perhaps, some coloured gel pens. (I saw this on Pinterest.) Something more to try soon. Maybe.

Something slightly different

 I have been thinking about Notan Art recently and came across a couple of items on Pinterest that had it combined with doodling/Zentangles. So I thought I would give it a go. 

I only used an A5 pad, quite small pieces of paper. So far, I have done a few. As I usually do some of the doodling in bed, just before I go to sleep, I had to prepare the black paper cutout prior to going to bed. That meant it took much less time to do the actual doodling. I'm not sure if I like that or not, I seem to get one piece done each night. Usually I take two or three nights to get one image done, although I usually use a bigger size paper. 

However, I will persevere for a while, see how it goes. It isn't for any purpose other than to calm my mind before I go to sleep, so I don't need to stress about it. As you might notice, the doodling isn't all perfect - doing it in bed, especially if I am very tired, will do that. 

This is more my usual style, just drawing random lines and then filling in the spaces, 

Reflection

 I decided that I really should try to finish off my piece for the annual members exhibition at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria (Australia), coming up in September. Plenty of time, I know, but I needed to cut it to size and put a border on.

I decided to do the quilt art thing and put a fabric border on. I had some silk that I had dyed at the same workshop I did the background fabric at. That got cut up today and then I sewed on the border. I also sewed on a backing. 

It isn't perfect as I am not that good at hand sewing, especially silk. But it is done!! I have gone online and put in the details. Now I can relax, I have a piece for the exhibition.

I have cropped an image I got from 123RF. It is a site where you can purchase an image and then use it in your art. Here is the copyright.

Now to get back to my tapestry and see about finishing that in time - for a closer deadline!