Exhibition : Sydney Street Gallery

 I had intended to be more frequent in my blogging, but life has been busy, and then life is not always straight forward and I am not very good at winter, my least favourite season. Some cleaning up has happened in the garden in prep for spring planting but I had hoped to have done a bit more. The  Gathered Threads Exhibition at Latrobe Regional Gallery will finish next weekend on August 23 and the feedback has been positive , so thank you to those who have visited since it opened and there is still nearly a week to visit the exhibition.

My next exhibition is a solo exhibition at the Sydney Street Galleries in Marrickville, NSW from 9 September until 20 Sept 2026, open daily from 10-4, and I will be travelling to Sydney to gallery sit the exhibition the entire time. The opening will be on Saturday 12 September from 3-5 pm and all are welcome, in fact the more the merrier! I will be displaying quite a bit of my Sentinelle work and work made with botanical inks and printing as well as work to do with Tifaifai and other stitched and dyed pieces including some Traveller's Blankets as well as some hand made artist's books. A good cross section of my work, plus I will have printed fabrics for sale as well.

You are invited......

I will also be running a series of workshops whilst  the exhibition is running in the exhibition space as follows:

Workshops

10.30-3.00pm

Cost: $100 per workshop with materials provided

10 September: Make Botanical Ink and Printing Ink

15 September: Make and print with linocut

18 September: Hand stitch a Printed Panel

19 September: Hand Stitch a Botanical badge

To book: email me ( please do not hesitate to email if you have any questions)

10 Sept 2026  Thursday- Make Botanical Ink and printing Ink

You will make a number of botanical inks made from plant material using a few different methods to show you the range of possibilities in making botanical inks from plants in your garden or roadside verges. It is a constant surprise as to what will give colour and the focus will be to provide you with easy methods with which to create inks. We will also create printing ink for you to take home. We will do some printing with botanical material in the workshop time permitting.

You will need to bring:

8 smallish  empty clean jars ( no bigger than 250 ml) 

botanical material, such as leaves, and flowers or herbs ( a handful) ( brightly coloured flowers can give good results)- hard leaves are better for printing but are often reluctant to relinquish colour in the ink-making process.

A notepad and paper.

15 Sept 2026 Tuesday -Make a Linocut and Print with a Linocut

You will make a small linocut ( or maybe two) based on a  simple design with which you will print your own fabric later in the day, with a method of hand printing which is easy to replicate at home. You will be shown how to make a linocut and how to print.

I will also bring some linocuts that I have made for you to use and print fabric with.

You will need to bring:

Some smallish squares of light coloured cotton fabric ( plain if possible)

A sketchbook and drawing pencils- and a 2B lead pencil if you have it.

A sharpie medium fine liner

If you have any linocutting tools at home please also bring those

18 Sept 2026 Friday- Hand Stitch a printed Panel

You will be provided with a hand printed panel ( there will be some choice available) and you will stitch and embellish the panel with embroidery thread.  We will be using simple stitches and  thecolour of thread will add to the visual impact of the printed image (you will  be provided with backing fabric and the flannel used as the batting layer)

You will need to bring:

If you prefer using an embroidery hoop please bring your embroidery hoop

Your normal small sewing kit including and embroidery needle that you use with your embroidery thread

Embroidery thread in different colours ( this can be perle 8 or stranded embroidery thread)

19 Sept 2026 Saturday- Hand Stitch a Botanical Badge

 You will make a badge with a pre printed small panel ( it will be an image of something botanical and there will be  choice available)- you can add lettering to your badge if you wish

You will need to bring:

A pencil & pad

Your normal small sewing kit including and embroidery needle that you use with your embroidery thread

Embroidery threads in various colours ( stranded or perle 8 weight thread)

 Gathered Threads and Mentoring For Mastrius

The technical crew at Latrobe Regional Gallery have been busy installing Gathered Threads which opens this Saturday June 20th from 3-5 pm and you are most welcome to come and join us for the Opening. I am really looking forward to seeing it lit though I have been having peeks as to how it is all coming together and I must admit to a bit of anxiety whether the 31 sentinelles would come together as I had hoped as a sort of tower suspended from the ceiling in the gallery. I won't share too much of the work of the other Gathered Threads yet as I feel it needs to be seen with the gallery lighting and  the full install but I will share an image or two of the sentinelles. There will be other exhibitions opening as well so the gallery will be full of new work for the winter season.

Works to the left that you can see are by Beth & Trevor Reid and Lisa Anderson and along the backwall is work by Sarah Louise Ricketts. The lighting is not yet in place. It is looking really good and I can't wait to see it when the  tech team have done the  works!

There is still time to register for my mentoring sessions with Mastrius and you can register here

but meanwhile here is what mentorships is about and you will see there is a discount for the first two months is=f you are new to Mastrius:

Don’t waste time making the same mistakes I did. I’ll show you how to:
✅ Sharpen your technique
✅ Sell your art for $$$
✅ Build a thriving art business

In my small online mentorship group with @mastriusofficial, I offer personalized guidance to help YOU grow and achieve your goals as an artist.

This group is designed for Emerging Artists, and there are only a couple of spots left, we start SOON!

✨ If you’re new to Mastrius Mentorship, enjoy 50% off your first two months — plenty of time to meet your mentor (me!), settle into your group, and start feeling real momentum.
Use coupon code 2for50 at checkout.

Comment @mastrius.official for more info or DM them the word DIJANNE and they’ll send you the details!

#artistmentor #artmentor #elevateyourart #learntogether #createtogether #artistsforartists #artistnetwork #creativecommunity #artcommunity #mastriuscommunity #mastriusartist #i💛mastrius

My morning walks have been filled with fungi. I have never seen so much variety of fungi- almost every step brings something new and my walks are taking longer because of the stopping to look and investigate. It makes the fungi sentinelle seem very pertinent at present as she represents the underworld and the connections of living things through that underworld. I get completely lost in discovering what is there and it changes from week to week; it's a veritable wonderland.






Last year when I was teaching at the Textile Fibre Forum in Geelong I purchased some woollen fabric from an estate sale and I have been having fun eco-printing it the dirty pot way. I have been using  eucalyptus as I have plenty of access to that and it is producing the colour I like for what I have in mind. They are quite big pieces as I intend to make a top- we will see what happens. I am also slowly hand colouring some more sentinelles. I have to wait for each stage to dry before I can move onto the next session so it takes time.

Mentoring and Working

 I have joined Mastrius as a Mentor. It is a Canadian organisation that saw that mentorship was an important element of developing your artistic practice and voice ( in all arts practice) and yet there is very few opportunities to find a mentor- I certainly craved one in the earlier days of my practice, but having someone willing to guide and provide active support was very illusive. So when Mastrius approached me to become a mentor I was intrigued and after meetings with the organisers I decided that I did have something to offer and that  it offered an opportunity for interested textile enthusiasts in particular to have some help to develop their practice as well as foster a community.

You can find my profile at the link below

https://mentors.mastrius.com/product/918/DijanneCevaalMentorshipMG1067/profile

Mentoring happens in small groups , once a month  with a 2 hour interactive session.

✨ If you’re new to Mastrius Mentorship, enjoy 50% off your first two months — plenty of time to meet your mentor (me!), settle into your group, and start feeling real momentum.
Use coupon code 2for50 at checkout.

My group starts on 22 June 2026 and I am really looking forward to seeing how this develops.

One element I intend to focus on is developing a body of work embedded in a narrative process- ie telling a story with your work and that is exactly what I have been doing with  the new sentinelles I have created  for the  group exhibition of Gathered Threads exhibition at the Latrobe Regional Gallery which opens on 20 June.




Somehow this sentinelle project has grown to include elements of the Australian bush, the grasses, the trees (eucalyptus) and the fungi that connects everything under the ground. Initially I was only going to make 10 or so kangaroo grass sentinelles but then the idea grew to include other elements of the bush I encounter on my regular walks in a bushland reserve close to me home- and then the idea grew bigger still to become 31 sentinelles, all hand printed, hand coloured and three that would be embroidered and would be the leaders for the troupe. The embroidery is  quite a task as each sentinelle measure 75-78 cms in height ( half human size). In a way the space where they will be shown influenced this decision as the ceilings soar to 6 metres allowing a vertical installation without taking up commensurate wall or floor space- but I did always imagine a troupe of them to embed the sense of being in the presence of the bush. I am also working on a large hand made book to capture the feel of the bush and its voice as I walk, as sometimes when I walk I lose all sense of self and somehow feel surrounded and in wonder. The book won't be part of this exhibition but I do hope to have it done in the next few months and to have it for my exhibition at The Sydney Street Gallery in Marrickville ( Sydney) in September of this year



I have also been reading a lot around the subject of "nature" in how to engage in something that might offer another way of looking and engaging  the imagination and have stumbled across the work of ecologist and philosopher Matthijs Schouten  ( former lecturer at Wagening University and the university has structured a course inspired by his teachings) and in particular his book "Anders Kijken" which is only available in Dutch ( and then I had to get a friend from the Netherlnads to buy it for me and send it to Australia). It is the first time in a long time where I am underlining things as I read and commenting in the margins- there is hope in what he writes and that is of itself entirely to do with immersion in nature in a myriad of ways and taking time to be still. There is so much food for thought.

The 31 Sentinelles are all but finished and a life size one will also be made for an outdoor installation at the courtyard at the Latrobe Regional Gallery. It will be made from fabric and the back  will be ecoprinted  wool. How it will fare in the outside weather will remain to be seen, but textile is remarkably durable so we will see.

Walking and Working

 I try to walk regularly in the Crinigan Bushland Reserve which is close to where I live. I did get very lax with walking late last year and until this month as I have struggled a little with mental health issues and suddenly I was not interested in doing anything much despite the fact that I have a plate full of things that must get done one way or another.

I have been working on a series of sentinelles that will be exhibited  as part of  Gathered Threads, which will this year be shown at the Latrobe Regional Gallery for their winter season and the Opening is 20 June 2026. I am revisiting the sentinelles as in a sense they are my voice in the wilderness- and the world does seem like an alien inhospitable place at present and  the only thing that seems to calm the restless disorientation I feel is to walk , and yet knowing this, I can't make myself walk every day- it's that loopy circle that jus goes round and round. That said I have been out more this month and every time I do walk I feel a little calmer for a short while.

 I have envisaged these sentinelles as being a troupe of wanderers singing and telling stories of the bush I have encountered on my morning walks- things noticed and somehow intrinsic to the Australian bush. I have yet to add botanical inks to add colour but I feel a little less anxious now that I have carved the linocut for the third Sentinelle and printed it. I always envisaged there would be three figures alerting to three different levels of the bush- the eucalypts/canopy, the kangaroo grass/ the understory and fungi at the earth level. I could make many more but I don't have the time. They are 75 cm high and will be suspended  with twine so hopefully creating the feeling of them floating and some at eye level. 

I think my favourite one is the fungi sentinelle- and the " flower" shapes are not actually flowers but earth stars who are quite flower shaped when you really look at them. I have been intrigued by fungi since childhood and to me it seems such a magical largely unknown world that somehow connects us all in the great circle of  all life, not just human life. I encounter lots of different fungi in the  Bushland reserve and it varies from year to year. Anyway see what you think. They are still a work in progress and there will be an embroidered sentinelle for each design.

The fungi sentinelle is inspired by these fungi encounters:

Exhibition and Artist Residency; Matchbox Gallery, Yinnar

 Inkpot Alchemists are having an Exhibition and Artist residency at Matchbox Gallery   on Main Street Yinnar from 19 March 2026- 17 April 2026 with an Opening for the public on Sunday 22 March 2026 with light refreshments and discussion from noon- all welcome

We will be showing some of our Inkpot Alchemy work with the natural inks we make from botanical materials from the bush and our gardens. There will be an opportunity to come and sit and stitch if you are inclined ( I will make sure I have some stitching things available so you only need bring yourself and the inclination to stitch. 

There will be workshops;

For children on 4/5/6 April from 1-3 pm in the presence of a responsible adult please

Adult workshops 11 & 12 April from 1-4 pm  with a cost for materials of $10.

Please contact me if you are interested.

We had a lot of fun with the 3 day workshop we did at Cheryl's property at Tanjil South the previous two weekends and it gave us lots of insights into developing this kind of workshop further which includes immersing you in nature and hopefully recalibrating mind sets and opening new insights and discussion. I share some images from the workshop.

We were favoured by gorgeous weather which allowed us to do some consolidating of our thoughts under the shade of a wonderful blackwood- it was a little on the idyllic side. Julie Murray a friend of Cheryl's had led us through the lowland forested area to help raise our awareness of the type of plants occurring and the layers of discovery to be had.

I have been doing a lot of reading by writers of nature, but I think my favourite is by Annamaria Weldon and her book of essays, poetry and photographs entitled The Lake's Apprentice- her beautiful writing about Yalgorup National Park near Perth ( I see the book is on special for $10 which is a bargain!), I also love the Bruno Leti Workbook 15 from Readings which is also on special for $15 ( another absolute bargain). I think these two books ( though  Bruno's book is not exactly about nature all the time but it is some of the time, particularly in relation to River Redgums) really appeal to me as both  are migrants and have come to love certain places in Australia, much as I have. Bruno went to a very similar place in Australia as I did and at a similar age as a child as I did; I really feel an affinity with many things he tries to express even his recent work in relation to Italy- the place that was once home to him. I like these two books because they are both artistic responses to place and nature- very different but give lots of food for thought.

So please do come and join us at matchbox Gallery from Thursday next week.

Ink Making Workshop

 It is sometime since I have blogged and I am really not sure why I stopped, maybe I just needed a break after 20 years of blogging. I did think about setting up a Substack account, but my archive is here so it makes sense to continue here. And I must admit my mojo went missing somewhere in the latter part of 2025 and it was difficult to find enthusiasm.

So today we had a magical day exploring some remnant low land forest at Tanjil South on my friend Cheryl Cook's property. Within this small forest area which has been relatively untouched for many years there are  scented gums ( eucalypts) which have the most wonderful smell, manna gums, and box gums, as well as bursum, some blackwood ( and more varieties which I can't identify) grasses, mosses and lichens and most surprising of all reindeer lichen, something which usually only occurs in the Baw Baw Highlands ( snow line)

It has the most magical structure and is intricately entwined and holey, like lace. And that brings me to the workshop Cheryl, Julie and I will be teaching starting March1 and continuing 7-8 March. Julie is a field naturalist and will take participants through the fascinating piece of woodland and the surrounding grass lands, and we will collect some foliage and bark for the creating of inks. But we will look at the layers that make up the low land forest with a view to creating a creative response to the encounter and to give you tools to how you might do this yourself with your garden or other special place you may have.  It is about interacting with this wonderful piece of nature, of examining its layers and surprises and sourcing some small amounts of materials to make your own inks and printing ink ( which will be 7-8 March when we take you through ink making techniques, printing and creating your own response to the environment). Details and enquiry is through our website Inkpot Alchemy  just scroll down the page a little. The workshop is only with a small group and we have one place still available

These workshops are designed for you to look at nature with a different eye, and to create colour from a small amount of resource and to create art inspired by those interactions.

So much texture colours, even though we are at the height of summer, there is still plenty of things to encounter. 

Some work I have been creating in response to the low land forest and surrounding grassland- a sentinelle decorated with kangaroo grass which was growing in abundance prior to Christmas and coloured with ink made from scented gum and manna gum. These sentinelles are about 75 cm tall and are enmeshed in the landscape and looking out for the landscape. The sentinelle story continues and keep re-emerging in a different size and subject.

Finding Time

 I has been a very busy year in terms of exhibitions and creating work. The sales however have been less than stellar and most of what I have sold is smaller work. It is lovely to sell but it is the bigger work that sustains. The smaller work does not create an exhibition of themselves, though they can be good fillers. That said I do seem to be making a lot of smaller works which is a bit determined by the space on my printing plate. My cold press laminator has decided it won't cooperate any more at present ( though it can be fixed with the right tools which I don't have)  and I have to say the design for the wheel turning the rollers is not very satisfactory especially if you apply quite a bit of pressure.

I've also been making quite a few different inks, though I have to watch myself as the inks need to be stored somewhere, and really I can make more next year if I run out- it just seems so lovely to have lots of colors ,although in all reality I have a few favorites.

The Inkpot Alchemists are presently exhibiting at the Orbost Arts Centre and we also conducted some workshops there in November. One of the participants, Kim Pauly, took me out to Cape Conran, which is just the most fantastic place and I hope to go back when we pick up our work.

In January of 2025 I will be doing a workshop for the Stitch Club in Textile.Atists.Org. I am looking forward to doing that for two weeks. It is inspired by travels in Perugia and the linocuts I made in order to create a small stitched piece (and a larger travelers blanket for myself)

There are a lot of ideas bubbling away below the surface at present- and I know from previous experience that that usually generates something new- so I am a little impatient in working out what it will be. I have worked to prepare for two exhibitions coming up in March, one at Meeniyan Art Gallery here in Gippsland and one for Croisements des Arts in Chartres, where is shall also be teaching a master class. 

I have also been playing around with printing on the mulberry paper as the inks behave in interesting ways on the mulberry paper I am using, I am toying with adding wording but have not quite worked out how, hopefully it will come to me sooner rather than later.

Some new works I made for the Inkpot Alchemist exhibition in Orbost. They are nature and linocut print combos, stitched by machine and hand.

The Bush Sentinelle printed onto a nature print on cotton rag paper. In the foreground is a ceramic echidna made by an old school friend, Julz Pottery, whom I met up with recently in Crookwell. I love echidnas and this little chap  just had to come and live at my house.

This print is nature and linocut combo printed on mulberry paper and I am in the process of hand colouring it with natural inks.

I have also been dabbling with a bit of writing, but at present it is just playing, but it is also something that has been bubbling away in the background, but in a way i really want to combine writing with the work I have been doing for stitching is like a kind of writing for me. I still have my Bush Scribbling booklet for sale if anyone is interested just email me and of course I do have some printed fabrics available.