Pomegranate Trees of Life

I have been cutting out quite a large tifafai these last two days ( the width of the vliesofix which is 90 cm). These two will also form part of my exhibition- as I wanted to create an impression of a wonderful pomegranate mosaic dating from roman times which we saw museum staff restoring in the Museum in Alleppo.The size of the pomegranates were really large compared to the tree. You also find a lot of pomegranate imagery in early brocades which were often woven in the middle eastern world. And pomegranates are still very much a part of daily life in Syria- you find pomegranate juicing stands all over the souq dispensing the richly coloured juice from the piles of pomegranates adorning their mobile stands- something akin to pomegranate heaven! I also like the formal aspects of much of the islamic tiling work which you find everywhere and so the tifaifai actually lends itself really well to a very stylised all over pattern. Then by coincidence and one of those serendipitous moments- I initially cut away some of the red from the centre - then did not like the result and placed some of what I had cut out back on the piece and lo ( as my daughter noticed) it looks a bit like a crusader cross. Of course Syria is the home of the best crusader castle of them all - Crac des Chevaliers.

I will also be placing something in the centre of the blue piece- perhaps another cross inspired thing.

Deb from WA I have no way of contacting you- you left a message on my previous post- if you go to my profile there should be a contact link there.

Autumn Forests

Autumn Forest #1

Autumn Forest #2 SOLD

Autumn Forest #4 SOLD

Autumn Forest #4 SOLD

Gee thanks to you all for the positive support- it made me feel much better- I still have some writing of the classes to do- which I will do after this.And I delivered the taxes to the accountant- yay!! now it's in his hands.

I had to dye a reds and orange for an internet acquaintance of many years it the US, and as she has had a couple of bad falls and not been travelling so well, I wanted to make them my very best reds and oranges. I know I mentioned that I thought chlorine was really affecting the reds- so I dyed today with rain water- which I boiled to get the temperature right. The reds and oranges were much better and more vivid, but whilst I was at it I thought I would do some more forest pieces. I think I am going to have to get a big urn because the colours are good- really good! and the patterning on the top and bottom is beautiful- in fact they are pretty sensational and I made them myself! :-) They are for sale for $40 US inclusive of postage( they measure 100x 110 cms) and I can be paid via Paypal.

Someone did say it's good to try new things and that is true, it's always good to tread somewhere unknown, but I also think there is a lot of stuff out there which I don't think adds much to the work that I see. I guess it is also a matter of work being unresolved- a lot of techniques but somehow not complete as a work in itself- these pieces shouldn't be exhibited - they are in the nature of test pieces and should stay that way. I must admit though, I haven't got a lot of technique books on my shelves- a few, most of them are about textile or art.

Crisis of Confidence

SOLD

SOLD
I finally got those taxes done- then went to load it onto cd to take to the accountant- no blank cd's - arggggh. So had to drive into town to buy blank cd's and will have to go into town again tomorrow to finally deliver it. The kids tell me they don't have school tomorrow- which means fights for the computer....

I have been asked by Zijdelings to give some mini-workshops at their Textile weekend in October in the Netherlands. I am very keen to do this- but they want somehting I haven't taught before- and that is when the crisis of confidence hit me. What can I teach that is "colourful" new and innovative? Everything I do seems to be the same old stuff- I don't really play a lot with the latest stuff that's available to buy, one through lack of money but secondly my work is much more concerned with content than with incorporating the latest technique or fad. I suppose that makes me a little old hat. I find that I usually set out with a sort of "vision" of what I want to make, though I don't explicitly plan, trusting that the process will reveal what is needed to match my vision- sort of make it up as I go.As I also live a long way away from where I might buy anything that is needed and I am often too impatient to wait for internet orders to arrive I tend to use what I have on hand and and improvise with what I have on hand. Other things that are newish take time- so the actual process involves a couple of days- not suitabel for a 2.5 hour workshop. So what now......

I made some more pomegranate cards thinking one little workshop might be variations of the one form. These cards are for sale ( measure standard postcard size) at $27 US inclusive of postage.

Funghi

I am still doing the books- I use a spreadsheet and mucked up one of the columns today in such a way that I had to start over- so frustrating. So no sewing done, nothing creative. Anyway I am getting there.

And it looks like the slab for my shed may be laid next week- at least I can move all my work things in there and set it up properly instead of forever seacrhing for things that I know I have stuck in one box or another. I may also get rid of some of my fabrics- the ones I bought before hand dyeing and even some of the early hand dyed pieces. I will have to work out how I go about doing that.Once the slab is in there it can be lined with insulation and it may become my abode until the house is built.

And this mushroom appeared under the birches at the front of our propert- they always look so delightful and are a real sigh that autumn is here.

From the Garden

I am doing my taxes- I am late but there has been so many interruptions it was hard to get a clear space to get to them- plus I always hate doing them so put it off and put it off ( not a good thing to do and each year I say I will be better next year but it doesn't seem to happen). I don't mind all the other admin- but this one chore really gets to me.

I have been having breaks in the garden. The tomatoes are very late this year ( although I usually have tomatoes into May) but this time they did not start turning red until a couple of weeks ago.If this weather keeps up I shall still get a bumper crop- will have to make more slow roast tomatoes- these are really delicious and freeze reasonably well and are lovely to use in casseroles, and of course pasta sauce. The zucchinis are still going madly- though I have run out of a bit of enthusiasm for them. The eggplants and peppers weren't much chop this year but the chillies are good. The lemon tree is loaded- it was badly frost affected last winter and I really missed the lemons- now I will have so many that I won't know what to do with them all. The persimmons are turning orange and the leaves a lovely red coloured, though th efruit is small due the dry conditions.There is even a couple of kilos olives on the trees! And the king protea has put on a gorgeous display.

Coral Variation #27 and Winter Forest

Winter Forest SOLD

SOLD

I spent most of today colouring lutradur. I do it with the iron which takes forever. I do have a heat press but it doesn't get hot enough so I have to do it with an iron. As I was digging around I found some of the coral lino transfers I had done and put aside and remembered that I had intended to make 50 of these. Last count from memory was #26, so I made up another one today #27. It is for sale for $50 US ( my embroideries for my exhibition won't be quite this cheap) and they measure 8 3/4 inches square.

I also dyed some more fabric- the intention had been to make quite dark fabric for more cross stitched Syrian scenes, but I ran out of dye ( had to order more) so these softer colours emerged. The top piece is for sale for $40 US inclusive of postage.. The other narrower piece is also for sale- it is 55 cm wide .

I just had another lot of books "Seventy Two Ways not to Stipple or Meander" printed up. So if you are interested in purchasing one of these please contact me. I sold quite a few at the Ballarat quilt-in after I showed them both the black and white piece and the coloured piece that I made for the French book.

I know I seem to be a spoil sport with most of the blog awards that do the rounds and I normally don't these awards- but I have been such an agony aunt of late and people still nominate me for these awards so the least i can join in for a change. I also got nominated 4 times so it would be rude of me not to acknowledge that your nominations did indeed make me feel a lot better, and will keep me trying to be creative and hopefully offer a little inspiration. So thank you to
Sandra from the Netherlands
Helen from Hebart Journal
Margaret from Wales
Elaine from Red Thread Studio/Slow Cloth

If I nominate you these are the rules:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. To show these rules.

I nominate the following people as being delightful reads- each offering fresh ideas and ways of doing things:

Marianne from Heegeldab
for her wonderful crochet and inventive ideas for using it in jewelery
Belinda Schneider from Bel's Nook
For sheer fun in what she produces
Magic Cochin
For her passion for heritage vegetables, undergardeners and wonderful lino-cut prints
Kristin la Flamme
For whimsy and Fun and finding her creative voice!
Fiona Wright
For her wonderful work and travel reports

Ok so as Peter Cundell from Gardening Australia would say "that's your blooming lot" I would also add that I do visit many blogs- especially those in my links list- and many others besides- it's just I am slack at updating.I love the fact that blogging in the textile arts seems to have become such a worldwide community But I am dumfounded that visitors from 150 countries have visited my blog( the count for countries in the world is between 179- 197 depending how you look at it)- actually its 148, I don't think a satellite provider or the Oceania Pacific region count as a country.

The photos are of yet another pomegranate lino-cut- yes the pomegranate muse appeared again this morning- there has been a lot of rebirths in the last 18-24 months. However there is always something new to be said even about the same old thing and right now I am contemplating the possibility of pomegranate lace- it seems the right sort of thing for an iconology that represents dark and light- living and underworld.

Greens

I did lots of dyeing today. Unfornatelthe reds didn't want to co-operate as I wanted them to, but the greens came out lovely and intensely coloured.It's annoying that the chlorine content of the water has such an effect on the reds and purples and browns as well.

I tried dyeing my village scene and I think I may have ruined it- the colours are too dark so that you can't see the drawn textile ink image. I suppose I could bring it out again with a bright coloured thread- but I am a bit annoyed with myself for being so heavy handed with the dye.Otherwise I willhave to draw the image again.

Syrian Textiles and My Place

Forest Fire IV SOLD

Forest Fire V SOLD

Woven Goat hair band for Bedouin tent

Ornamental band from the Palmyra Region

Two more forest pieces for sale- they measure 100cms x 110cms and cost $40 US inclusive of postage.

The woven brown and white textile is woven goats hair. They are woven in bands and sewn together to make the walls of bedouin tents which you can see scattered throughout the Syrian desert. I bought this particular piece in the Souq in Aleppo. It is woven out of goat hair because goat hair is more water resistant, also the goat hair is readily available. I know there are many more outstanding pieces , particularly antique ones- but as I had seen these bands being woven, a small piece of bedoiuin tent had to come home with me.

The Ornamental Band is actually out of a book I have entitled Au Fil du Desert: Tentes et Tissages des Pasteurs Nomades de Meditrranee, which is actually a catalogue of the collection of nomadic textiles of Arnaud Maurieres and Eric Ossart ( does anyone know whether this is on permanent display anywhere- perhaps the Maison des Tisserands a Cordes-sur-Ciel in the Tarn?). It wasn't an easy book to get! I am particularly drawn to this band because of the colouring and even more so because it comes form the Palmyra region. I am very very tempted to make a quilt with half square triangles ( which will send those who know me well into gales of laughter).It is so simple yet so beautiful.

MY PLACE- I am the Australian co-ordinator fo this travelling exhibition in conjunction with Anne Scott from New Zealand Quilter and Jeanette Botha from South Africa. I have now prepared entry forms for any interested Australians due to the fact that I have had a lot of expressions of interest. Accordingly the works will be selected. If you would like an entry form please contact me.

Village scene

I have been forcing myself to do something in the hope of finding something ! I redid the village scene, and added in much more detailing which I had in the original drawing. I like this version much better than the version I showed previously. I haven't decided how I will colour it- dye painting would be one option, but then I like the randomness of just dyeing it in the ordinary way and seeing what happens- there is a bit of control possible of colour placement- and would add to the "feel" whereas to dye paint would make it much more orderly - and really like a colouring in picture.Just ruminating about this has helped me decide- now I have to wait for the textile printing ink to dry so I can set it. This piece measures 110cm x 135 cm. I am looking forward to quilting it- as I can see lots of possibilities for texture.

The second photo is some breakdown printing I did awhile ago- inspired by motifs I drew when visiting the Museum in Damascus- these were actually designs on the cloak of a sculpture of Ibbit Lim of Ebla dating back to 1900BC. The designs were quite free form- and very fresh. I must admit the original breakdown print I made did not have enough definition ( see the top of the photo)- but using the textile printing ink to trace around the edges of the design has given it the oomph that it needed- now I have to decide whether I like the colours- hmmm...

Forest Fire?

Forest Fire I SOLD

Forest Fire II SOLD

Forest Fire III


The other day when I was dyeing, my reds weren't as successful as usual yet these forest pieces came out really well. I can really see this being worked with light and bright threads. They are of course for sale for $40US inclusive of postage.

I have had another shocking day with no work done and lots of anxiety. I was rung by the Child Protection Authority to tell me my middle troubled daughter had run away and she was last seen at the train station- this was after they had allowed her to stay at the home of a person I had specifically asked them not to place her due to a history that concerned me. She has been found- apparently she had not actually take the train but I have no further information. All of this is so upsetting for my other two children- and with everything else going on I feel like finding a little hobbit hole and just sleeping for a month and find I have made two or three large quilts which are in my head but which I can't get to and that my house is built. The last two weeks have been school holidays so that interferes with work and just when I thought I could see some space and I had some ideas this happens to rock the equilibrium. The other thing I wish is that these people would actually listen to the things I have been telling them!

Doors and Stamps

One of the delights wondering through old Damascus is to come across an old wooden door usually leading to a khan or rhiad. In all reality most of them are perhaps 2-300 years old, but I love the idea of all the people that would have entered through the doors- with what hopes and dreams and with what stories in their hearts?I would really like to take one of these doors- like a giant stamp and print it onto fabric- with all its nail crenellations, its worn grooves, its texture and its decoration.Most doors are decorated in one form or another and all bear the marks of their wear. I have been thinking about what it is I want to express with my exhibition- I do want to have the sense of the exotic, because wondering around Damascus exploring nooks and crannies and finding treasures and occupations long gone form western lands make you feel a bit like you have landed in a magic place- add to that the sociability of the people and you have an unforgettable experience. In fact old Damascus feels like a giant book in someways, one in which it is a privilege to wonder through its pages, to touch the cornerstones of history, to rub ones hand over the worn and shiny wood of an ancient door.

The bottom photo is also of wood- a wooden stamp which I bought at Ishka last week ( the stamps have doubled in price since I went there about 18 months ago, so it might be a while before I add to the collection- I think it may be the result of a magazine article in which the wood blocks were assembled as a coffeee table top- and resin had been poured in the gaps between the blocks and to even the surface).It too has that worn look of use , the tiny imperfections signifying the hand of the maker- with what dreams did he sit with his chisel and wood block to carve this pattern for printing?

More Forest Fabric

Forest 1

Forest 2
SOLD

Grotto

Forest4
SOLD

I spent the whole day dyeing as I have an order i have to deliver tomorrow. I should have been dyeing the last few days but the weather impeded that, and the storms on Wednesday were downright scarey. All the fabrics are for sale for $40US ( 26 Euros) inclusive of postage and I do accept Paypal.

I will be giving a talk about my work and Middle Eastern travels at Ballarat Quilt-in on April the 12th.

Pomegranate Cards

SOLD

I finally finished these pomegrante cards. I did start them ages ago. At least I finally turned on the sewing machine, but am still not overly enthused. The cards are for sale at a cost of $30US each inclusive of postage and they measure 6 3/4 inches by 5 inches ( made a mistake in the measuring). They are lino-cut printed onto 12mm weight habutai silk and machine stitched. Someone asked about the African painting technique- if you go to the Trapsuutjies website which I linked in my previous post, Laura has a downloadable booklet outlining different techniques for use with textile printing inks.

I got the quote for the house we are thinking about today- all I can say is something miraculous will need to happen. The quote is quite a lot more than I was hoping.There is nothing for rent around here either- so I am stuck inbetween the rock and the hard place or however that saying goes

I really have a lot of hand stitching to do- but I kind of feel guilty doing it- like I am stealing a little pleasure because it does not seem like work, to stitch. It's a reflective action that has to take its time, and that determines it's own placement. I need to stitch lots of Zenobia's and finshed another one today- I am thinking I will make 50 or so for my exhibition. How to install them still needs to be worked out- but perhaps they could have little wooden platforms