Walking in Le Triadou

I have had the thinking cap on  for what i want to make next. I need to do a book proposal and I am contemplating the subject matter and how I will go about  creating the pieces. We have been out walking every morning and the collage is of some of the things we have encountered on our walks.It is Le Triadou on the summers solstice.

the central image in the collage is of flowers picked along the roadside and some eggplant pickles I made yesterday.

Back to some more thinking....

Nimes and Leysin

It has been a busy week. Last Monday we went to Nimes to have another look at the Arena and I must admit i did not notice the matador  statue ( I guess it was too cold last time). The statue is of Nimeno II ( Christian Montcouquiol) . I love the patterning that the sculptor has created on the matador clothing with all sorts of found objects and I love to see the way tourists interact with such things.

I also taught  at Leysin at a Art textile and Patchwork retreat. The other teacher was Liz Berg and it was lovely to meet in person someone's work i have looked at over the years. The event was organised by Christiane Studer and  participants came from far and wide. The accommodation was excellent as was the food- but  we did not see the famed scenery, in fact one could have thought there was only fog in Switzerland! It was a pleasure to teach the same students for 3 and a half days and get a sense of their working rhythms,  their ideas, their inspirations and enthusiasm.

And on that note- I shall be going back to Australia later this year ( though I will make trips back to Europe from time to time) so if you would like to do a workshop please contact me! I still have some times available though  my calender is starting to fill. We will also be doing workshops at le Triadou; dyeing, transfer printing with lutradur, some inspiration in fabrication in July and August ( there is a swimming pool here to cool off ). If you are interested please email me.

I am also coming up to my 1,000th blog post and my 300,000th reader- the events look like they may coincide- who would have thought that would happen when I started blogging???

Southern Lands at Centre Europeen du Patchwork

Clare Smith's Work

Robina Summer's Work

                                                             Sarah Louise Rickett's Work

                                                                 Fiona Wright's Work

                                                            Felicity's Hopkins' Work

                                                      Olga Walters' Work
I am incredibly busy at the moment but found time to visit the Fete du Couture at Centre Europeen du Patchwork and of course Southern Lands, the exhibition which is presently being shown there and which  I have curated. I could not manage to capture the  complete bodies of work of each artist but you will find the work and the artists statements on the Southern lands website.The seven artists exhibiting are Clare Smith, Robina Summers, Sarah Louise Ricketts, Fiona Wright, Felicity Hopkins, Olga Walters and myself ( I didn't include a photo of my work). Whilst i was there  I could hear visitors ohhing and ahhing about the work- and people just standing in the middle of the gallery and absorbing the work as a panorama-it was extremely heartening to find so many positive comments in the visitors book- formidable and magnifique being two words that jumped out . Thank you to the artists for submitting such awesome work!

On another note- the KISS project is still  happening- if you  indicated you were participating earlier in the year please send me photos of the completed work - after the weekend I will have more time to  set up a blog and get things happening !

Bedouin Tent

I have in the past been heard to say that i wanted to live in a bedouin tent- little did I think i would spend the night in one! This bedouin encampment was outside of palmyra and came replete with chickens, dogs, a cat, quite some camels, sheep, goats and a horse!

This gorgeous girl was one of the younger women in the camp- so even in the desert without running water and mirrors you can do eye make-up!

That evening we were entertained by some local musicians, one of whom had been to Australia  to play his music. You can also see the inside of the tent decorated with embroidery made by the women, who sadly couldn't join us because of local custom that the women cannot be present in the presence of non-family members.

The embroideries were made by the sisters in this particular family- I love their naive expression of everyday and imaginary things.The embroideries were quite large- almost a metre wide and about 50 cm high.The depiction of the trees is quite charming as if the embroiderer got carried away with the idea of the shape of trees.!

Modes of Transport

Damascus and Aleppo are modern roaring cities with all variety of cars and trucks- pretty well like all modern cities except for the inner old cities where few vehicles find their way. Out in the countryside transport is an entirely different matter and you find a wide variety of modes of transport.I know we live in the modern world and we have to move with it, yet the transports in this collage also speak of other ways of moving, of a life lived more slowly.

Syrian Food and Spice

What comes to mind when you think of Middle Eastern food? Hommus, baba ghanouj, mahammara,olives,mutabal, fattoush, kibbeh,borak- it's all delicious. Some of the restaurants were a bit disgusted with us  because after our fill of wonderful savoury pastries and dips and salads there simply wasn't room for another thing- or the main course for that matter.

Then there is the spice souq- wonderful smells  and colours, fresh fruit and vegetables( all seasonal - everything is grown in Syria)

The "mobile" juicing stands, loaded with strawberries at this time of year and with the remaining pomegranates.

Come drink A Cup of tea with Me

Tea and coffee is very much a part of life and social etiquette in Syria- it's a serious business. I am intrigued by how many ways people find to have their tea ( I focussed on tea as I am a tea drinker).

Just quietly sitting and watching the street go by- requires a cup of tea!

Tea is dispensed throughout the souq's by elaborately dressed men with their highly decorative water carriers and teapots!There were more of these tea carriers around this time compared to my previous trips.This man I encountered in the al hamadiye souq in Damascus.

You often encounter gas rings and teapots on the  foot paths- one just never knows when a cup of tea is needed.

Another tea carrier in Aleppo.

 The trip to Syria was organised by Creative Arts Safaris and covered many areas of everyday Syrian textiles and life. There is another trip planned for next year so please let Fiona from Creative Arts Safaris know if you are interested.

Syrian Odyssey

I am back after a fabulous two weeks in Syria despite the flu. We saw, we marvelled, we explored, we played a little with textiles , we ate, we delved into history, we met people and their crafts,we spent time in souqs , palaces and ruins,we slept in a bedouin tent- basically that sums up my love affair with Syria! I will be sharing photos and experiences over the next few weeks as well as trying to get some projects done for the Bernina blog.

Maybe some of these things could have helped for the flu??

These are Syrian pickles- aren't the colours fabulous??

And some blue glass bottles- one had to come back of course!

Reef is Finished

I have finally finished hand stitching the silk dyed piece I have entitled Reef. it took a lot of hand stitching. In another half hour I will be driving to Lyon so i can catch my flight to Damascus. I hope I shall be able to do some blog posts if not I will share lots of photos when I get back. I am on orders from my daughter to take lots of good images for the Carvanserai book.

And if I were to do an "art quilt" type book what would you like to see me write it on?

72 MORE Ways Not to Stipple or Meander

The coloured version of 72 MORE Ways is finished and delivered together with the black and white version to Editions de Saxe last Thursday, who will publish my second free machine quilting ideas book in time for  Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork.It will be published in French- no one in English speaking publishing world seems to be interested in publishing it...

It was a crazy week last week as I left the Netherlands ( had to pack up all our /my stuff) and then  return  a machine I had borrowed from a friend near Paris. Picked up a machine from Bernina who have agreed to sponsor me with the use of a machine when I am in Europe and I shall be blogging for them ( I will send the link when I have it)- finish the coloured version plus some other work for Southern Lands which will be exhibited at Centre Europeen Du Patchwork from 16 May, teaching for two days before finally arriving back in Le Triadou. I have decided I would like to experience a southern French summer- but so far the weather isn't co-operating!!! I will be in le Triadou until late August so if you are interested in workshops in southern France please contact me! We have space here to run workshops for 4-5 people.

For those of you who registered interest for KISS- it's still happening,  I have simply extended the deadline until late in May because I shall be travelling to Syria next Thursday for the Creative Safaris tour- I am so looking forward to that.I hope to be able to blog from Syria - to inspire you, and my eldest daughter and I are working on a book  inspired by Syria and the work I made in response to the experience.

73 MORE Ways- The Coloured Version

I have been working hard on the  coloured version of 72 MORE Ways Not to Stipple or Meander , as I need to deliver quilts and words and whatever else we need to Editions de Saxe next week so they can prepare the book in time for Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork. I did not think I would get there as I could not dye the right colour blue but after several attempts I was running out of time to keep dyeing more so I decided I needed to start on the quilting. I also have to leave the apartment I rented in the Netherlands on Monday morning- so I have been working hard.

I have been using the Aurifiul Cotton 28  weight Mako Thread and it is sewing like a dream. I decided not to use the machine embroidery threads as I wanted to see how the  heavier weight cotton would look. I am surprised that it has made me sew the individual elements of the designs larger or maybe when I made the black and white version I was more stressed ( we had just moved house and I was wondering how we would make ends meet)- I don't know, but try as I might I can't get the motifs as small as I did on the black and white quilt. I guess it doesn't really matter and it is 18 months since I made the black and white version and things change!

Don't forget the black and white version of the book is still available from me. I can send from Europe.If you are interested email me.

Where Did That Week Go?

I finally finished the Traveller's blanket- I felt I should have given it to my daughter ( were she interested in such things and if her suitcase wasn't bursting full with things that teens consider important) as she set off back to Australia last night from Frankfurt.

 Unfortunately she did not love France the way i do and so she is going back to Australia and I will follow at the end of the year as I have commitments to fulfill  until then. Her flight was delayed from earlier in the week because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland and i was happy to be able to get her on another flight so close to her original flying date.I feel a bit heart broken actually- but I know she missed her friends and sisters. Unfortunately opportunities for work in Australia are always difficult- what I teach isn't traditional patchwork, or piecing. I teach people to be creative and to acquire skills to be creative and not everyone wants to learn that.And selling work is always difficult, especially the last 18 months or so. Going back to being a lawyer is a  difficult option at my age- I have to retrain, and then there is that age....

Last weekend in Essen,Belgium,  the Colours of Africa  event was a well attended  with lots of familiar faces coming through ( I know the faces, but the names- they always escape me) Sandy and I shared the  space in the bottom of an old house - with wonderful high walls and good lighting. 

These four reddish pieces glowed with the light and gave a real sense of the intensity of colour of Australia.

Then, because my daughters flight was delayed we headed back to Kolderveen- two days flew past and I  am not sure what i did. I was supposed to have dyed fabric but I forgot to buy the soda ash on the first day. Then because of the delayed flight my daughter asked if we could please see Versailles and go shopping in Paris, so we went to Paris ( not exactly next door but even further away from Australia!- and I hate shopping).

I love the stencil art you find around Paris. The photo below is  kind of quirky as it shows three different  human forms.

And then off course there is Versailles. I am glad we went early in the morning- my goodness the amount of tourists there already at that time ...... and yes it's ostentatious and over the top but room linked into room- not too wonderful for privacy you would think. The  Hall of Mirrors was magnificent though it was difficult to get a good picture what with jostling tourists ( yes I know I was one too) I have been trying to photograph tourists as they  go into  noteworthy spaces- I wonder whether the extended arm with a digital camera on the end will become a kind of icon of the digital age ??You know there are dozens of people in a room and all of their right arms or left arms are extended into the air?

So here it is; the Hall of Mirrors, in which Marie Antoinette at the tender age of 14 married Louis the XVIth of France and sealed her fate- though sealing her fate suggests she had a choice in the matter, perhaps I should have said Marie Therese of Austria sealed her very pretty and bright daughters' fate.

And last but not least a Cherub pointing whither?- what will the winds carry?

Gypsy Blanket is it Worth the effort

I started a large collaged piece to showcase the Aurifil threads- but at every stage I have thought is it worth it.I have used the 28 weight thread cotton mako- and loving it! I have been  making whole cloth quilts or hand stitched pieces these last 18 months  and to suddenly use lots of bits of fabric has created a bit of uncertainty. I am also a bit limited by my pallete- not having that many fabrics with me- I possibly used more purple than I would ordinarily- though the piece looks more purply than it is in actuality The photos show the various stages. Stage one is collaging the fabric, stage 2 putting in the stitched lines to add more definition, and finally the free machine stitching to enhance elements.The piece is about 90 cm square so the stitching is taking ages... It is still not quite finished , and I should finish it tonight, but the last half hour or so I have been fighting with the machine so I think it's time to call it a day for the time being.

                                           Stage 1

                                            Stage 2

As you can see on the last photo the stitching is heavy- but is it worth it?

Traveller's Blanket

I have been working hard on my travellers blanket- hand stitching , embroidering the last 30 or so squares.I have been sitting up untilmidnight stitching- which is somethign I don't normally do much  stitchingat night as it  is also my daytime job. I really want this piece finished all of a sudden. I have this  need to have it finished and out of my life. However that is not to say that I won't make another one. I am already planning another one- getting the right fabric is another matter though- as I have used bump ( heavy weight flannel) as the batting and that is really important for it's suppleness, ease of stitching and  drape.I did purchase some Ethiopian light weight hand woven cotton from Maggie Relph from the African Fabric Shop to dye for the top layer ( Maggie will also be in Essen next weekend with her shop) As you can see from the image- the piece is very heavily stitched or is it embroidered? It is six embroidered squares wide and 11 long and each square is about   1 metre wide by about 1.6 metres long- that's a lot of stitching!!! I had wanted it finished last February  2009 but life intervened. I feel the urge to start another for a new phase in my life- hopefully a happier phase- though the colours in this blanket are really cheerful- perhaps it is telling me something!

 I also want the travellers' Blanket  finished for the Colours of Africa exhibition at Essen next weekend as part of the Kunst Route ( art route) that Laura Liebenberg has organised. Please come if you have the time- there will be exhibitions a small but wonderful market place  and an auction of textile pieces made to raise money for a safe creche for  childrren in South Africa.

Making The Dream Work

I have been hand stitching all weekend- somehow it did not seem right to machine stitch. And today I intend to make another linocut so i can make some small pieces for the Colours of Africa exhibition in Essen next week.

The trouble is when you sit and stitch it can sooth, but it can also set you to thinking and right now I am worrying about making my  European dream work. I really need to shore up more work/workshops- at present i do not have sufficient work lined up.Sales of quilts are down and I am in the process of getting more books printed ( 72 ways and 72 MORE ways). I need to make more little work but haven't had the machine to do that- I need to get busy this week!

I am in the Netherlands until 2 May and am available for workshops ( except for 26/27 April). I am also close to the German border ( well i think it is close) so if anyone is interested until 2 May please let me know. On 3 May i head back to Montpellier and will be there until 13 May when i go to Syria with Creative Arts Safaris. I get back  from Syria on the 28th of May and am then available to do workshops anywhere- though I am teaching at Leysin in Suisse from 16-19 June ( and there are still places available in that workshop , we will be very creative !).
If any of my readers are at all interested in workshops please email me! I have a workshop information sheet I can send out.

Billabong Creek/Southern Lands

I have finally finished a machine stitched piece- I can't tell you how relieved I am to be finally stitching on a machine again. My friend Christine Moulin lent me her second machine for  the month whilst I am using this studio and it happens to be the same machine as the one I used back in Australia- so the machine is getting a working out!

I needed to make two more works for Southern Lands- and this one i s inspired by one of the creeks in Jerilderie where we used to swim before  they built a swimming pool. The waters were always dark in summer because  of the tannin  from the gum leaves. I was always worried about snakes in those dark waters!

Thi spiece measures about 50 cm by 135 cm- and it took a lot of stitching. In a sense I am beginning to wonder is it a quilt or is it an embroidery?

The entire piece was stitched with Aurifil threads- who have been kind enough to sponsor me with threads whilst I am in Europe.

 The image above is of the studio space in which I am working at the moment. I need to work really hard these next four weeks- there is a lot of work to make!But as you can see it is a really light space with little clutter.

In Holland and Form and Variation

I am back in Holland after teaching at the textile festival in Leiden.

I will also be teaching a masterclass ( dye , print and creation) at  Essen, Belgium ( there are still a few places available and you can do one day if you  do not have the time for 3 whole days) at the Colours of Africa Textile Event ( Essen is very close to Antwerp/Anvers). There will also be wonderful exhibits in conjunction with this event  including the auction of the small textile pieces created to fundraise for a children's creche in South Africa.  various artist including Laura Liebenberg, Annette Jeukens,Hella Sluyters ,Texui, Sandy Marcoux and myself will be exhibiting ( I will have at least 20 pieces on display)

It has been busy and to add to the business was the fact that i had a small car accident- which immobilised my car- no one was hurt and you would not think such a small bump would immobilise a car- but it did. Fortunately i am mobile again!


I finally feel as if I can get some work done and put the creative thinking cap on.

The image below is of bobbins I had wound as i was working on another piece for Southern Lands- I was so busy sewing that the motion of the fabric on the  plastic table created friction making the bobbin threads look as if they were dancing!

I am renting another artists'  apartment and studio for a month in Kolderveen, near Meppel and Giethoorn ( just above Zwolle in the region Drenthe) whilst the owner, does an artists' residency in Portugal.I discovered this opportunity on the Transartists website.The apartment and studios are part of a factory complex where other artists also live and work. There are  two huge studio spaces- I only intend to use one- after all I haven't got so much stuff with me, but the studio is big enough to  have some workshops if anyone is interested. The workshops would have to be the weekend of 22- 25 April. I am thinking of doing one with Lutradur, one with Form and Variation and maybe one with Linocutting. If you are at all interested , please email me.

Southern Lands at Quilters-Insel Atelier

Finally I have some time to share some photos of the Southern Lands exhibition which is presently being exhibited at Quilters-Insel Atelier. You still have time to go and see it but please contact Quilters-Insel first. The atelier is not far from Cologne ( Koln).

 Southern Lands is an exhibition I have curated representing the work of 7 Australian and New Zealand textile artists.The artists are Robina Summers ( who has built the website- thank you), Felicity Hopkins, Sarah Louise Ricketts, Olga Walters, Fiona Wright, Clare Smith and myself . if you go to the website there is biographical information, images and links to each artists' web presence.

This is my Curators Statement for Southern lands:

Southern  Lands

For hundreds of years sailors dreamed of faraway lands in the great ocean on the other side of the world, myths grew up about this strange  place . Cartologists drew strange  maps of the undiscovered southern land which was thought to balance the world. Dirk Hartog set out in his small ship and found some of its shores, other ships foundered on its reefs and rocky shores, Abel Tasman found a southern island and then some more islands even further to the east and south and called these last discoveries after his native homeland Zeeland. However it  was Captain James Cook, adventurer and navigator who put Terra Australis and New Zealand on the map. These masters of the sea found what they considered primitive life in both lands but despite that they  announced terra Australis to be Terra Nullius- uninhabited- ignorant of a rich cultural heritage spanning 10,000’s of years and ignoring the fact that the people defended their land. In New Zealand, the land of the long white cloud, they also encountered tenacious resistance which ended in Waitangi Treaty and the proud cry of the Maori that they were never defeated.

The English deposited their convicts and soldiers on Australian shores- setting up harsh forbidding prisons, then  sent its squatter settlers to race across the land in search of grazing, and Europe sent its displaced people from two world wars to discover new futures. Yet the land maintains its hold on the people. The desert is harsh and forbidding and startlingly beautiful, precarious rivers feed the towns and cities, fires create havoc and destroy communities ,flora and fauna, yet each time the land regenerates .The land cries to be treated gently and with care- the land cries for the insights of the aboriginal people who sang their way for thousands of miles to water and places without maps. The land cries for us to stand back and look, and to slowly absorb the earth, the trees, the hills , the mountains, the rivers  and to treat it with respect, for when we don’t the  elements are fierce and unforgiving.

I have looked for work from Australian and New Zealand artist  to  bring the spirit of our Southern  Lands to you- to speak of its mysteries , its settlement, its nature and the transgressions we as inhabitants make, and the steps we might take to  protect the future of our land our people and our children.

From 15 May 2010 until July 2010 the quilts can be seen at Centre Europeen du Patchwork at Salleles d'Aude in the South of France

And on another note- as my daughter is not enjoying school in France and it is too difficult to get a good exam result to get into a good lycee- we are looking at England as a place to live for awhile- any recommendations of good places would be much appreciated as I am investigating what would make a good place to settle for awhile.

Getting very Little Done

I made this little horizontal piece with one of the linocuts I made for my on-line course. These little trees are proving very popular and these particular ones, I printed onto Lutradur with  Shiva sticks. I then stitched them with Aurifil Lano thread ( wool machine stitching thread)- which i love, and you can even buy wool machine needles to stitch the lano thread with. it is a little hard to see the result on the photo- but the contrast of the shininess of the lutradur and the kind of flatness of the wool create a really nice contrast- plus the thread is thick so it creates a nice line.

If you are interested - we have just started the new lino-cutting on-line course- you can still join if you hurry. Cost is 40 euros ( US $54) for 3 fortnightly lessons, which contain  a lot of exercises to build up your skills.

The Scene this Morning- and some thoughts form Rainer Maria Rilke

When i got up this morning- this was the scene. It is the South of France , not far from the coast for heaven's sake- what is happening???

So, being confined indoors,  without a sewing machine which i desperately need, I have been reading one of my favourite poets, Rainer Maria Rilke- his voice seems right for being kept indoors and watching the snow melt. I am reading his Letters to a Young Poet- finally, after having read most other things written by him. But I wanted to share some of his words, for whether you aspire to poetry or any other art making his words ring true. We all  seek approval and positive critique of our work, or even less than positive critique- but it is ultimately when we draw deep within ourselves that greatest expressive power is reached. I don't pretend to have reached it , but it has reaffirmed what i have been thinking for some time- to see, to really see, to come to grips with  something is to go down to the very depths of yourself, even the mundane and everyday and come back again- with something gained, a new insight, a new way of seeing.

From letter 1

Paris, February 17^th  1903

“ In making contact with a work of art nothing serves so ill as words of criticism: the inavariable result of more or less happy misunderstandings. Things are not all so  comprehensible and utterable as people would mostly have us believe; most events are unutterable, consummating themselves in a sphere where word has never trod, and more unutterable then them all are works of art, whose life endures by the side of our own that passes away.”

“ You ask if your verses are good. You ask me. You have previously asked others. You send them to journals. You  compare them with other poems, and you are troubled when certain editors reject your efforts..... You are looking outwards, and of all things that is what you must now not do. Nobody can advise and help you, nobody. There is only one single means. Go inside yourself. Discover the motive that bids you write; examine whether it sends its roots down to the deepest places of your heart, confess to yourself whether you would have to die if writing were denied to you. This before all: ask yourself in the quietest hour of your night: must  i write? Dig down into yourself for a deep answer. And if this should be in the affirmative, if you may meet this solemn question with a strong and simple “ I must”, then build your life according  to this necessity; your life must, right to its most unimportant and insignificant hour, become a token and a witness of this impulse. Then draw near to Nature. Then try, as if you were one of the first men, to say what you see and experience and love and lose. Do not write love poems; avoid at first those forms which are too familiar and usual; they are the most difficult, for great and  fully matured strength is needed to make an  individual contribution where good and in part brilliant tradition exist in plenty......”