The piece above is the first traveller's blanket I ever made dating from 2001/02 and was made for an exhibition in New Zealand. It was inspired by travels in Africa back in 1990 and the yelow/black and red fabric had been purcahsed at a market in Bangui in the Central African Republic. I hand dyed the background fabric ( and if you join the class there is instructions for this type of dyeing in the notes). There is no batting in this piece- it is simply stitched through three layers of hand dyed musling fabric
Above . Pieces I have made over the years. The photo above were all pieces made for an invitational exhibition at the Quilt & Craft Fair in Sydney and Melbourne. I spent 18 months making this pieces- it was a stitching marathon. Some of these pieces ( except the blue on the left) are for sale if you are interested.
All of the pieces in the photo above have been handstitched. When I moved back to Gellibrand in 2015, I lived in a shed on my land I had there and it had no power. I idid eventually get a solar panel for lighting but it was not enough to power a sewing machine so I did a lot of hand stitching until I sold it early in 2019. I also hand stitch when I travel as it is easy to take with me. I use almost solely perle 8 weight threads though in reality you could use any embvroidery threads- whatever you have to hand really. The piece on the left and the one beside were made into a book PLaids Nomades by Editions de Saxe and I have seen some wonderful interpretations.
The pomegranate piece was started whilst I was house sitting for a friend in the shadow of Pic St Loup. Pomegranates have inspired a lot of my work over the years and it is the tale of Demeter and her search for her daughter that inspires this work. I love the greek classical tales- they are bold, big and soemtimes outrageous and yet they often touch on human emotions and the excesses thereof. I stitched this piece on a piece of hand dyed khadi which was dyed whilst I was visiting a friend in Rajasthan. It was a failed piece of indigo dyed khadi but somehow acquired a life of its own as I stitched this piece.
The piece above was purchased by a friend in Tassie- i think it is amongst my favourites , but to be honest I spend so much time stitching these pieces that they all rank as favourites. This piece was a journey through the surface design techniques I have used over the years that I have been stitching seriously as a textile artist.
This piece was commenced when I did an artists residency with the women of Boneca de Atauro ( whose works I have for sale on another page of my blog- 100% of proceeds go to these women who do amazing things on a tiny island of the East Timor coast) Every morning I would walk along the beach before it got to hot and the first time I was there I encountered many sea urchins. There is a ridiculous number of french knots on this piece- and I took soem months to finih this piece ( it measurs 45 cm x 90 cm)
The piece above was commenced whilst I was exhibiting at ChARTres some years ago . I was invited to exhibit this year but unfortunately due to travel restrictions I was not able to partiicpate. I love this event and have come to know the organisers and other artists as friends and have coem to view Chartres as my second city. At the time I only had undyed khadi on hand and soem indigo dyed thread which has soemhow found its way into my suitcase. So I decided I would sytitch this piece monotone . The hand dyed thread was slightly variegated and soem of it was a little darker than the rest- it became an exercise in making each circle different by stitchig alone and using weight of stitching to create contrast.
This piece is called One World and I started it not long after I moved to Morwell and my ex commission house which I bought when I sold my land in the Otways. We have only one world and each of us sees it so differently - yet together we must all take care of it and ensure its continuation. sometimes the task seems too daunting particularly in the face of big business ( which are corprorations enriching the pockets of a few by exploiting the resources that should belong to us all) and yet we must continue advocating fighting for what a lot of us know is right in the knowledge that there is only one earth. This piece has been stitched on madder dyed khadi sourced from the
Stitching Project and you can even buy packs of patches from the stitching project if you have none of your own.. This piece is doubled khadi without any batting or flannel middle layer.
The piece above and the details were inspired by walks in the shadow of Pic St Loup near Montpellier. I sometimes house sit for a friend there ( i also visit her of course) but again that has not happened for soem years. I walk her dog through the vineyards and there is always some new weed, flower or herb to encounter.
If you wish to learn any of this work I will be starting another on-lie course on 14 february- yes I know Valentine's day, but these pieces are not stitched in a day. I set up a private facebook group for discussion and sharing and organise fortnightly zoom sessions for question and answer. There are also a few short videos and extensive notes whish are delivered every two weeks over an 8 week period. I keep the stitching relatively simple and encourage you to tell your own stories with your stitching. Would love to see you join me. Cost is $75 AUS- just click on the Paypal button.
