Treading Water

It's been a busy week but very little work has been done unfortunately. My youngest daughter turned 18, a much anticipated event for her, and she was also booked in for her licence test the day after her birthday which meant quite a bit of driving time to  reach the 120 hours  plus needed for a licence.  Thank goodness she passed her test, but it also means she wants to drive my car....I did clean up the sunroom  for the party she had so it's now tidier than what it has been for quite some time, and I often print and do other things in that space.


I did finish a linocut which was inspired by the Raoul Dufy fabric design about which I wrote in a prior post, and printed it onto fabric. now have to think of something to do with it. and  today whilst trying to kickstart some creativity with a friend I  played around with a drawing from a postcard of a sculpture of a Madonna image from Autun Cathedral.

I think I might make this drawing into a gocco print and use it that way- it seems to marry in with the faces fo the past that I seem to have been creating.

From 6 July until 13 July CrossXPollination will take place in Colac- lots of wonderful fibre events, workshops and makers market to be inspired by and to get some hands on experience. I will be exhibiting recent work including all my France work ( depending on space).

There will be a chance if you are local to do some workshops with me at CrossXPollination as follows:

Tuesday 9th, July 2013

Creating Lino Cuts & Stamps with Dijanne Cevaal
Tuesday 9, July Workshop cost: $95 (Includes $20 materials) Cost includes: Lunch, tea & coffee 10am – 3.30pm Suitable for beginners This class explores using lino to create your own printing stamps to decorate fabrics and create unique one-off pieces. We will look at the different tools, the marks they make, creating simple designs using positive/negative shapes, creating simple repeat blocks, using your photos to create lino blocks. I will demonstrate simple multi-colour printing. We will explore inspirations for creating effective lino block designs. Please bring:  • A ruler, Stanley knife, pencil, pen and paper • Carbon paper (if you can find it) • Photocopies of designs you think may translate well into a linocut design (Think of good lines and good positive/negative contrasts. Bring more than one as we will discuss what makes a good starting point for lino-cutting. • Foam roller available from hardware stores. The foam of the roller head needs to be dense (the denser the foam the better the result) • Painting brushes of varying widths for touching up and adding paint • Fabric and or paper to print on To book call (03) 5232 9511

Wednesday 10th, July 2013

Print Your Own Fabric with Dijanne Cevaal
Wednesday 10, July Workshop cost: $95 (includes $15 materials) Cost includes: Lunch, tea & coffee 10am – 3.30pm Suitable for beginners This workshop is designed to show participants simple techniques to create individual fabric which can be made at home without great expense. This is a good workshop in conjunction with the dyeing workshop as hand-dyed fabrics lend themselves to being printed - however commercial fabrics can also be printed. Methods include printing with foliage/leaves/seed pods, found objects or anything with a relief surface, linocuts, stamps, bubble wrap, doilies and stencils. Learn how to make a simple linocut, and a stencil with plastic contact paper. Dijanne will provide a number of lino-cuts and stencils for participants to use in class. Note : Printing inks, which will include at least one metallic and a pearlescent, spray adhesive stencils and lino-suts will be provided. Please bring: • Old clothes or protective apron, an old towel, rubber gloves • Disposable plastic plates & spoons • Fabric without obvious designs or plains, hand-dyed fabric is suitable • Iron the fabric flat and bring at least 10 pieces. • A thick newspaper covered with a piece of fleece – so that it is a flat surface, which can be used as a printing mat. The whole lot is then placed in a garbage bag, which is taped. • A foam roller 3-4 inches wide (available at hardware shops) • Some scrap cloths or a few kitchen wipes • An artist’s paintbrush with firm bristles • Any found objects such as ivy leaves, wattle foliage, bracken, ferns, any sort of firm leaves with obvious spines and any other objects with a relief surface • Stamps if you have them • Masking tape To book call (03) 5232 9511

Thursday 11th July, 2013

Transfer Printing & Stitching with Dijanne Cevaal

Thursday, July 11 Workshop cost: $95 (Includes $15 materials) Cost includes: Lunch, Tea & coffee 10am – 3.30pm Suitable for beginners Transfer printing is a method of getting permanent colour onto synthetic materials such as lutradur (a polyester non-woven fibre), polyester and polyester organza. The process allows you to get three prints so that a series can be created. Explore methods of melting back and free machine stitching to embellish your printed fabric. Using Lutradur and Polyester fabrics such as organza allows you to build layers and play with transparency and overlays and still create your own distinctive fabrics and pieces. Please bring:  • Your sewing machine, in good working order, with the instruction booklet if possible. • Your normal sewing notions including good sharp scissors. • Sewing thread for your bobbin (cotton of cotton/polyester mix) • Machine needles ( 80/12 size or those you use for normal sewing ) • Your pique libre foot • Photocopy paper- about 25 sheets • 2 paint brushes - one fine and one broader • 5 plastic cups or small containers for the paint • Drawing pencil • 4 fat quarters in your favourite coordinating colours • Machine embroidery threads that contrast with your background fabric. • Wadding/batting ( enough for 2 squares approximately 25cm x 25cm in size). • Fabric for the backing Note: transfer dyes, transfer crayons and linocuts will be provided. To book call (03) 5232 9511