Tour Finished- Reflections

Well the tour of France is finished- we saw a lot despite the weather- rain and wind!I hope people had a lovely time....
So some  reflections from the last 4-5 days.......

Roses in the window of the loveliest rose shop, just behind our hotel in Paris.

Black tulips in Monet's garden in Giverny.

 Just the loveliest view through one of the windows of the ruined Jumiege Abbey.

 Perfect little cakes in a shop window in Rouen.

 Looking seawards from le Mont Saint Michel.

 Copper pots at Chenonceau Castle- I loved seeing the kitchens in the castle! And I loved the little maze/labyrinth in the gardens- but I did not photograph it so it shall remain my secret!

Silk embroidery in the hallway of Blois Castle- it was very large.

From France

It's hard to believe we have already been here for 10 days.... it's been a hectic time, seen lots of things and enjoyed many museums and French food and lots of walking.Despite the weather- very cold and wet, we have managed to enjoy some of the wonderful things that can only be experienced in France. So here is some of it in photos for you...

Only in France could a little dog wait with such excitement in a cheese shop for his master to emerge!

 Wall stencil near Rue de Mouffetard- this stencil is quite sophisticated and who is taking photos of whom?

 Chandelier in Fontainbleu- how amazing and really quite beautiful.

And yes the Louvre today- and yes hundred of tourists in the Renaissance  rooms to see La Giaconda- and yet, Botticelli frescos rushed past- how gorgeous is this and how lucky to be in the presence of such brilliance, I don't know but I like to think of it as a little magic!

Deep Blue Sentinelle and Out the Door!

Ha I have a Certificate III in Micro Business- it was a bit of a slog in the end- the business plan was over 22 pages long-  and I already think some of it needs re writing, simply because I have thought of some other things.

I have also been sewing  like a fury- one last sentinelle with this stencil- other  new sentinelles will be different, and they are moving on in the world. So here she is - there is still stitching to do in the badge areas but I like her face:

Just about to head out to the airport and arrive in Paris tomorrow and then we are off to Beaujolais and Lyon! Will have a glass of champers at the airport that's for sure- it's been hard work and there is all sorts of administrative things undone which i can't do anything about because things haven't arrived in time.

That was a few days ago,and I hit the save button not the publish button! Now at Quilt Expo en Beaujolais- some wonderful work on display- which i shall share in another post later this week. And it's great to be in france- catch up with friends- still haven't quite finished to blue sentinelle despite best intentions- but she is growing!

Five Sleeps until France!

As always thank you for your comments! And your thumbs up for my blog! I have been trying to finish work for exhibition at Quilt Expo en Beaujolais as it had to be in the post earlier this week and also finishing of the business plan and financial details...crossing all the t's and dotting i's- it all takes such a long time. But First of all back to Alice Springs. We went to a number of galleries whilst in Alice- all of indigenous art which is of course a great tourist attraction for the town- and there are many different indigenous nations( I say nations because their language is different and their creation stories and their regions) represented by art centres and galleries.

One gallery we visited Talapi Art Centre was in the process of  mounting a new exhibition and allowed me to take photos of exhibition views. There was some wonderful work on display as you can see from the photos.

My favourite artist was Nirvingka Lewis- see photo below- her work was a little different than the more usual dot and stylised motif  paintings- she had actually burnt on the marine ply panelling and then added painting- the motifs were also of everyday life and had a lovely naive charm- I wished my budget would allow me to have bought one- maybe another time.........

 I also wanted to mention my hostesses again- simply because they have the lovely annex cottage available for quilt retreats or quilters visits to Alice Springs at a very reasonable nightly rate. So if you are at all interested you can contact me and I shall send you Barbara's email details so she can provide further information. I have to say that Barbara and her sister Nancy  are incredibly creative and they are  incredibly productive and inventive:

 Nancy is a ceramicists and these meerkats were just so charming ( one came home with me)- ceramics and quilting is not the only thing Barbara and Nancy do- they paint their own wool to knit all sorts of fabulous things and  socks and  slippers that are felted, they felt and Barbara makes beads- their house and studio was a treasure trove of creativity- very inspiring and most certainly anti-minimalist- it made me realise that all these bare and minimal homes give you no idea of what the people are like- not so with Barbara and  Nancy every nook and corner  revealed yet another creative pursuit- a rich and varied life and production and incredibly kind hostesses.Thank you Barbara and Nancy for a wonderful week in Alice Springs!

  Barbara with a challenge quilt she made which had to incorporate the nine patch block and yellow under the tree that inspired the quilt.

Nancy was making these budgerigars for a bird exhibition later this year ( Australian native bird) which were first knitted then the knitted wool is painted and then they are felted- they were just  wonderful and I am not sure how many Nancy was making but as these birds fly in quite large flocks I think a flock may have been the plan!

And Nancy with her  budgies.

And then last but not least- I have  quadrupled my  quilt output this last month- until the beginning of March it stood at one  quilt for the Beneath the Southern Skies exhibit ( though I did start the full time NEIS course in that time and that impacted on available time, and I did make some small stitched pieces) but I wanted my sentintelles to have maximum impact in Beaujolais ( I am still working on one more which I will take with me - a lady of the deep blue southern skies I think) 

So here is the finished blue sentinelles:

 And red sentinelles......

 And a lace sentinelle- it is the  stencil i used to paint all the other sentinelles- too pretty not to use and allowed me to create a lace like piece- which did not want to hang completely straight- but then the  folds and irregularity actually added to the piece- I am nit sure what a quilt crowd will think of her....

All of my work is for sale ( including the other sentinelles except for the Red Earth Sentinelle)- email me to inquire as to price etc.I also have available lots of the small printed panels- they are $15 each including postage- just name your colour- as I will spend the next 3-4 days doing a lot of printing.

Finally Some Catch-Up

My goodness it has been a busy week, and in the middle of it all my favourite uncle passed away- as if the  torments of early onset Parkinsons disease was not enough an aggressive leukemia finally struck him down-  a gentle and kind soul,who made my aunt very happy,vale Ed, the Netherlands will be a little less the Netherlands without you.I had hoped to see him when I go to Europe later this month-but my wish was selfish instead i will have to hug my aunt.

 I have been making some new work for Quilt Expo in Beaujolais ( where I shall be taking a small tour group to enjoy the quilts and wine), but then realised Easter is in between now and my departure date and I had clear forgotten about it- so limited shipping time, which means even more desperate sewing. I have also been writing a new business plan- I am almost there but it is taking a lot of time and effort and initially a lack of enthusiasm- but now that I have some structure in my plan I can see that my focus has been wandering for quite some time, since 2006 really, and I somehow haven't picked up the pieces and moved on enough. The business plan has given me the opportunity to refocus, to make changes, to see that my business is way way different then when I first did a business plan back in 1994- in fact it is almost completely a different business.It is good to sit and write goals and plans- and get some vision happening- because it isn't all about making, but about organisation, about exploring new avenues, about structure, about dedication and hard work and then about creation ,and dare I say it marketing- my nemisis. It is really hard to constantly push yourself out there, to sense... not too much but also not too little. Writing a vision statement was challenging too- different to an artists statement and yet for an arts practice  the vision needs to incorporate some of the artists' statement- I am still tweaking with it and not happy with it- but envisioning  your practice/business in the future is a worthwhile exercise.

And last but not least - my trip to Alice Springs and the Big Red Rock- Uluru and the magic of Kata Tjuta and King's Canyon. I was teaching in Alice Springs and my hostesses were Barbara and Nancy who kindly let my mother ( whom I had taken with me)  stay in their annex which proved to be a lovely cottage which is available  for retreats/ and or quilting retreats ( but I will blog about this separately later in the week- when the business plan is out of the way) . We did a 3 day trip out to the rock with Emu Run tours because Uluru is some 400 odd kms from Alice Springs.We had a great guide, Dan, and a terrific group of people- and we slept in swags- and I can tell you the starry night from a swag is a magical experience! I loved it all and the red centre was surprisingly green after recent rain, so the dust and the heat and the redness were not so readily apparent. I have tried to find websites that informs about Uluru and Kata Tjuta and it is surprising how many of them mention Kata Tjuta standing sentinel to the region. The red centre of Australia has a rich history of human occupation and it is here that the creation stories start for the Anunga people.Of course we saw Uluru at sunset:

I was not expecting to see so many deep crevices and  holes in the rock-  as we did the Mala walk and another walk- and  many of the caves have become part of the creation stories. There was some rock art though Uluru is not  known for it's rock art;

And of course we were up at the crack of dawn to see the sun rise over the rock- all that was missing was the  Australian Children's Choir- it was special  as the sun came up  behind the rock, but there were so many people photographing ( and I had forgotten my good camera) that i concentrated on Kata Tjuta instead- the texture created by trees and spinifex grass in the foreground and  the dawn light slowly lighting up the redness of the rocks , just created a remarkable very painterly image and indeed you could see them standing sentinel watching over the poor lonesome big red rock;

But I think my favourite was King's Canyon - sacred to the Luritja people. It was possible to do a rim canyon walk, but I decided i would like to explore the bottom of the canyon better- and what a  magic place it was-rocky river bed, lots of textures, even some cycads, water holes and I felt I could sense singing- its sound reverberated in my head as I wondered and found a myriad of textures and little treasures ( more over the next few weeks)- I would dearly love to have spent a week there to get a sense of its rhythm and pace of its life...rivers are my secret place I think- and here is a website about aboriginal culture, art and music

The bottom of the canyon is littered with rocks- all kinds and all colours, you can imagine the river flowing fast in times of  torrential rain, and the river gums shoot majestically from the rocky terrain ( another thing I had not expected to see- was beautiful sculptural river red gums)- I could not resist this composition, one black tree contrasted with the gorgeous river gums ( I think there is a tree or trees  in my secret life)

And this rock formation like the pages of a book- an ancient book telling of the land and the people. The canyon was used mainly for men's ceremonies and as i wondered you could sense it as a special place.

And this face I found at the bottom of a tree- what was it telling me?

Chapters of  stories, of ceremonies, of people, what a book! And then there were so many textures- the whole  canyon was like a texture park- everywhere you looked there was texture of one kind of another , patterned tree juxtaposed against the cloud textured sky...

On one of our last nights in Alice ( and I will blog more about some of the art I saw and also about  retreats in the Annex) we went to Simpsons Gap in the Macdonnell ranges for a sunset bbq- we braved the ants, the flies and the mosquitoes to end another perfect day in  Australia's centre- and what better way then one of my sentinelles meets the ancient rock ( it is said that this landscape and rivers are the oldest in the world) ...

And on a completely different note- my 400,000th blog visitor ( since I have had the sitemeter visit counter) visited this morning from Jyvskyl in Finland - if this was you please contact me I have a little surprise for you.

Thank you to all who come and visit my blog and for leaving your comments , many of you have helped with my journey. Some one recently said  that blogging was about an ego trip- but as a journal keeper since age 15, I have found that sharing  here  has little to do with ego or with a swollen head but more about sharing this wonderful world that i have the privilege to travel and feel inspired by - and the fact that that sharing creates friends has been an unexpected but delightful bonus!

In Alice Springs

Wish I could share photos of some of the marvellous things I have seen this week- the magnificence of nature and a surprisingly green centre of Australia- but I forgot the chord that connects my camera to my laptop, and words well aren't the right way to convey what i saw and experienced.Now it is off to teach for a couple of days and a marathon of work when I get home and burning the midnight oil- will share more next week. So today's photo is one of whimsy;

Back in Sentinelle Mode

I have to make some more sentinelles for Quilt Expo in Beaujolais, where my series will be exhibited in April, as I have more than 10 metres of hanging space. Of course I have been putting off and putting off, as I seem to completely lack any motivation to stitch and meet the deadline- I guess I am in a bit of a funk- not sure why, but when I feel like that i find it really difficult to work.

So today I battled the grass which has grown way too long- and I have one patch of grass that got out of control- my mower won't mow it, my whipper snipper is too light and a piece of rubbish that was given to me  and is  useless , so I had to cut it by hand  with shears-I am half done but at least it is getting done.Thank goodness I don't have to do my whole lawn like that!

And i did make a start on another sentinelle piece- this one with a sentinelle panel as it's centre. The first image is without any stitching and the second is with the stitching started. At least I have started, usually once I do that I seem to work steadily - and my goodness I have to do that! The Sentinelle series will also be seen in Australia in July /August in the Gallery space at Caroline Springs ( near Melton)- though I do hope to sell a few. But I view the series as an ongoing thing. I am also working on a face for a new large sentinelle piece. The next large sentinelles are going to be quite different than the previous ones. The striped blue fabric is  cut from a quilt top I started many years ago and never finished- I usally finish things, but this one never did get finished so I thought I would put it to better use.

Oops Forgot to Provide a Teapot/Rosewater Jug image

In my last post i forgot to post a photo of the fours Teapot and Rosewater Jug panels I have available for sale.Here they are!

Need to Kickstart Inspiration!

The change in the weather from too hot to be funny to cold and wet has me lolling in the doldrums a bit- plus I am supposed to be doing market research fro my Business Plan- and that is dreary. I did devise a questionnaire for the tour guiding part- though I should have framed the questions slightly differently- you can complete the survey here if you are so inclined. Any responses would be much appreciated.

This business plan thing has me thinking about my arts practice/business and how I can balance making art with the need to also make bread and butter product so that i can somehow survive.I understand it is never easy to make a living from art  but it does seem as if it is  much harder at the moment than it ever was- certainly  much harder than in the previous 17 years that i have been doing what i do and yet when you look at art auction prices you could be thinking the art market is healthy- there have certainly been some record prices for the art of dead artists.Grants seem to all be geared towards conceptual art- but most people do not engage with conceptual art- certainly in all my years of trying to get a grant I have never succeeded so either I am bad at writing grant applications or my work is not up to par.

And I have a question- what product would you like to see me produce?:
hand dyed fabric
printed hand dyed cloth
one off hand printed pieces
books - technique/how to
books -work inspired by travels with travelogue
small quilts
large quilts
more on-line classes
anything else?

I also feel I need to  make a new product of sorts  but am not quite sure what. I have been looking on the internet but nothing inspires at the moment or others are doing it better.
Anyway i have been printing some more sentinelles on cotton and evolon.

 The first image is a sentinelle printed on hand dyed cotton and  the other is printed on evolon- it looks quite different and more velvety on the evolon- it will be the next sentinelle I hand stitch

These three sentinelles are destined to be the centre panel of a larger quilt which I hope to start tomorrow- it's been in the procrastination basket for too long but I am starting to run out of time so it has to be done!

When my friend Rahima Macdonald was here from Auckland we made some bunting- not quite sure where to hang it yet- this house is not very good for hanging anything let alone bunting!

And last but not least I have some teapot and rosewater jug squares for sale- I have photographed them together but they are four separate panels. They are hand printed onto lutradur and then machine stitched. Each panel measures approx 20 cm squares or 8 inches square. They are for sale for $45 AUS inclusive of postage. Plus remember I have quilts for sale- simply click on the little poppy panel at the top right of the blog to see what is available.

And I can finally share my travellers blanket I made in January- it was for a travelling exhibition entitled Beneath the Southern Skies ( there is a button in the side bar that will take you to the website and the gallery of all the work selected) It is called Traversing the Land.

France Here I Come!

This really is your last chance to hop on board my tour of France starting 11 April ( there is a land only price for those outside of Australia). It's going to be 19 fab days starting with a taste of Beaujolais and quilts and textiles in Lyon- then onto Paris and museums for 6 days and Versailles and it's gorgeous gardens the design of which i am reading about at the moment, shops, and some walking tours I am planning, based around themes and ideas, then onto Giverny and Monet's garden- where it will be springtime, then Lumiege Abbey, Rouen and the Catherdral, WW2 landing beaches, Bayeaux and the fabulous tapestry- Mont St Michel and the abbey, Chateau du Blois and Tours. So take a leap in this leap year and join me in France where i can show you some of my favourite things.I will have a few little surprises for you along the way to help you look and see perhaps a little differently when you travel.Let me know if you are interested.

It's been incredibly hot this past weekend and the weekend was the hottest of all- nothing to do but lie low and move little. I also am involved in a project called Voyageart with fellow textile artists form all parts of the world- the link is to our blog. We are working to themes to do with travel and the first subject was "where I am ". I found this theme hard to explore because even though I am beginning to enjoy aspects of Geelong it is not my preferred place to be living. I miss the  Otway bush, I miss Pic St Loup- I miss the countryside , I miss the inspiration it gives my work, but my daughter has to finish high school and she is enjoying her school and enjoying her schoolwork and we are close to many things, so here I have to stay.( any walking buddies would be wildly appreciated!)

I was trying to be literal in "where I am " but could come up with no visual clues- I made a mind map but I only came up with positives and negatives. In the end  I decided to think about my work and I am immersed and in the middle of my Sentinelle work. A couple of weeks ago I made a small Gocco screen of a small face drawing I had made as a sentinelle variation, as I wanted to create medallion shapes  to  link with middle age/byzantine pilgrimage. So the photos below are what i came up with. The first shows a section without the hand stitching-  I just love what stitching does to the surface of a piece and the second of the finished piece.I stitched it all by hand because it was too hot to sit at my sewing machine and sew. I really enjoyed making this piece in the end and found just the right coloured skerrick of tie dyed silk fabric that had the right colours- just as well I keep scraps sometimes :-).The blue background was just the right blue- and dare i say it - this piece makes me quite quite happy.....

If you look on the left of the photo- you can see there is no stitching- the stitching just adds so much texture and really interest. I used DMC perle 8  for the background.I think the starry background is being influenced by the fact that I am reading the letters of Vincent van Gogh and also the  most brilliant night skies of the Otways which are no longer in my orbit.

I still haven't decided for a name for this piece.

 And below one of my favourite madonnas from the Musee des Augustins in Toulouse- why is she looking away from her child with such sadness, does she know what the future will hold - do any of us? I made the decorated border for the image- she is living in my bedrooom at the moment- I really want to make her into a sanctuary piece.

Another Hand Stitched Sentinelle

I  have finished another hand stitched sentinelle and she measures 20 cm x 44 cm. I found this sentinelle difficult to work with simply because she is  blue, even though I use blue, is not one of my favourite colours, though I do collect ceramics with blue. I do love a deep indigo colour though. The sentinelle has been preprinted with a linocut and then hand stitched/embellished ( see my earlier pics of printed panels). The sentinelle hand printed panels are for sale for $15 AUS and the stitched sentinelle is for sale also for $160 AUS plus postage. Our postage charges have gone up yet again at the beginning of this month- this is about the 6th time in a matter of three years!

Last Chance!
There is still time to book and pay for the Tour of France starting 11 April- there are still some places left and you will get to travel and see  the things that i love about travel and that inspire me to create work influenced by travel.We are a small group so there will be plenty of time to experience and do, and enjoy the ambience of life in France and Paris.It really will be a fabulous trip- I am so looking forward to our stay in Paris and showing you fabulous museums and sharing  stories over a coffee or glass of wine and revisiting the  Bayeaux Tapestry, which to me is one of the Textile Wonders of the World! If you are interested it is best to contact Custodian Travel direct at this stage.We will get to enjoy Quilt Expo Beaujolais and the surrounding wine region- anyway it's up to you if you want to see a little of the world my way!

During the week I called into KraftKolour at their new premises in Thomastown- after their  devastating loss of everything in the bushfires of 2009. Bonnie and Graeme have had to rebuild their business from scratch, their home from scratch and their lives- they managed to save their dogs and somehow miraculously their horses survived. I always like to touch base with people- email is good and well, but there is nothing like sitting down with a cup of coffee and catching up with  what people are doing. The wonderful thing about Kraftkolour is that they are setting up a purpose built  surface design studio where classes will be given, so contact them for a class schedule. Hopefully I shall be giving a few classes there in the second half of the year. One of their first classes is with Jane Sassaman- Abstracting from Nature- from 19-21 April 2012. Check out the link if you are unfamiliar with Jane's work- and what a wonderful opportunity for Australians to take a three day class with such a wonderful textile artist as Jane.

I will hopefully be teaching at the Wrapt in Rocky 2012  from 24 June until 29 June- a five day program. I shall be teaching my Travellers Blanket class which will be a lot of fun and hopefully get  a lot of stitching done over the five days and share lots of stories.! Come and join us - as it promises to be a very inspiring week with  lots of fun things to enjoy.

And on another note I have been accepted into the NEIS scheme  as I hope to change  the direction of my business a little as i am struggling to survive in the tough economic climate and with our  ridiculously overvalued dollar.I have been unable to find a job despite applying for many  and have become a little dispirited as a result, as i actually have so many things to share and give. I will still print fabrics and make things that i hope to sell, but unfortunately I cannot live on air , so it will be good to revise my business, add new aspects to it, and get some mentoring so that I can survive and support my children.

Ohhh and a question; I want to revamp my workshop list-  what would you like to see me teach and what things should be included on a workshop list?

Home Again

Well it was a quick trip to Singapore which i thoroughly enjoyed.Thank you to the ladies form the British Club Craft group for inviting me and for your hospitality!

Came home to the news of cancelled workshops next week which throws my budget into a spin, because I do live on an extreme budget.I am going to have to ask workshop organisers to pay a deposit- most things seem to be paid up front now, like my daughters' piano lessons and I can't afford cancellations as I have set aside time and money to ensure I have the right workshop materials.Anyone want to come to my house to learn or be inspired and to create work? We could do a once a month  thing for a reasonable fee.

There is still time to book into the on-line Travellers Blanket Class. The class starts on 17 February. You can see some work in progress of  previous participants  on Glen's blog and Deb's Blog. Actually their work is making me think I need to start another blanket pronto- perhaps I could make a traveller sentinelle? Email me if you are interested.

Needless to say with the travelling little work has been done. One of the things that charmed me in Singapore was the little roadside shrines to various deities. In a city that is and wants to be fast and modern and that has more shopping malls selling  high end "designer" goods than just about anywhere else ( though with goods all the same the world over you begin to wonder about the designer aspect of the goods- wouldn't a beautifully hand made item be much more precious?) there is a little quirkiness here and there and some insight to the way life might have been once and a sense of  spirituality too- which seems hard to find amongst all the shops and shining new highrise and cars.
So here are some of the little shrines I encountered:

It makes me want to build a little shrine of sorts myself! And then there are colourful juxtapositions- some of the older houses with high rise in the background, encroaching and sometimes engulfing...

And finally - a shrine like little water  fountain, I loved the aqua almost emerald green in the background with the limier green of the plants and the charcoal colour of the fountain framed by the banded palm trunks.