Sentinels Taking Shape

I have been working- yay. I am working on a large sentinel piece, but am fighting a battle with a thread I am using and got annoyed with it so switched off the machine and will restart on it later this morning. I have a lot more ideas for these ladies.

A lot more stitching needs to go into place and I will perhaps do some foiling on the haloes.
I also hand stitched a small one  ( 11x 19 inches) to see the contrast between hand stitching and  machine stitching. The effects are a  lot more subtle with hand stitching. But I do like both because of that contrast.

I have used colonial knots and running stitch.This piece is for sale- remember it's entirely hand stitched. It  has been hand printed on hand dyed cotton.  It measures 11 x 19 inches (  28  x 47 cms) The price is $250US inclusive of shipping.

Don't forget - it's still possible to enrol for my on-line linocutting class. Simply email me. The cost is $55 US.Here is some information:
 The start date will be 7 March. The course is  3 lessons ( with various exercises) delivered fortnightly with the  intent of building your skills with the tools as well as your design skills, looking at how to use  your photos,three colour printing and various other things like simple repeats, alphabets etc. The cost of the course is $55US. Lessons are delivered as a pdf file and number approximately 100 or so  pages, with exercises and tips and  inspirations. I also organise a discussion group to troubleshoot problems or discuss discoveries and to share work.

Sentinel Finished

I have finished stitching the River Sentinel- the fabrics have been heavily textured with stitch. I am thinking I want to make these life size and am dreaming of lots of possibilities.

I received earlier this week a wonderful book of Angie Lewin's prints which I ordered as my birthday pressie for last week. I love linocutting and any kind of printing and really like Angie Lewin's work the book is called
Plants and Places and shows many of her working drawings and water colour sketches and gives a real insight into how she produces her final prints.Her inspiration is often weeds and unassuming  plants and seed pods which are layered in interesting  designs.The layout is clean and uncluttered- I have had fun just studying one print a day.Not surprisingly she also designs fabric. Anyway it's my book of the moment!

And speaking of linocutting- I have had a few emails  from people interested in another course.I am going to Syria ( nearly certain ) mid April and then to Europe to teach and exhibit work. The only start date before then  would be 7 March. The course is  3 lessons ( with various exercises) delivered fortnightly with the  intent of building your skills with the tools as well as your design skills, looking at how to use  your photos,three colour printing and various other things like simple repeats, alphabets etc. The cost of the course is $55US. Lessons are delivered as a pdf file and number approximately 100 or so  pages, with exercises and tips and  inspirations. I also organise a discussion group to troubleshoot problems or discuss discoveries and to share work.If you are interested in the course email me.One of these days I will make it all into a book if I cna find a publisher! 

Sentinels to the Land

I have been working on a new linocut , toying with the idea of sentinels/guardians/keepers of the land. I know they look kind of  madonna like, but the intent was also to  incorporate a spiritual orientation,the idea that we need to  heed  things that are greater than us, and not fool around. The patterning was inspired by a piece of lace which I blew up, to suggest my cultural heritage and I wanted a human shape.

The sentinel measures about 18 inches high, and I printed with turquoise printing ink as i do not have other colours here at the moment. I am making a prototype with stitching and some gypsy piecing around her.

I haven't finished stitching yet as my machine has decided it's not happy today, but you can see the stitching adds a lot of texture.

This last image is of some damask I dyed some time ago thinking I would make an underwater scene- but life and inspiration has taken me elsewhere. This piece measures 58 inches wide by 48 inches long -145cm x 120 cm( the photo is of only half the cloth as I did not have anywhere big enough to photograph the whole, but the dark on the right side also goes up on the left side of the cloth). Anyway it is For Sale for $110US inclusive of postage.

The Percolating Mind- or Mind Mapping

Still no sewing done but a few ideas are percolating. It's been a case of going back to basics- ie my drawing journal, lace, immigration and sense of place. I still can't get up to the Youyangs to have a look around as the park has been closed  due to water damage- I had wanted to get there and take photos- like I did on  my daily walks in France. I am also looking hard at the work of Judy Watson an Australian artist who uses both her indigenous and european background in creating her work- creating connections with the past and with the earth of her ancestors whilst incorporating  elements she has encountered in her travels. I bought a book called Blood Language some time ago , really liking her interaction with the land, the fauna and flora and her passion for creating narrative and confronting  political issues such as racism and conservation.Her work is full with meaning and the desire to tell stories.All of these elements appeal to me as an artist and are things  I need to look at again- start at  the beginning- define what draws me and then look at how i can do something with those elements.

Watson's work speaks of her indigenous past yet there are other sensibilities at play- the work has a far reach to  human interaction as humans and as humans with the natural world.It's also this sense of incorporating the past that appeals to me- I am an immigrant in this land, and returning recently has created a bit of ambivalence. In one way I am happy to be back but I am oh so drawn to Europe and France and in particular  Languedoc Rousillon where I believe my french ancestors hailed form in the 16th century- does that kind of rootedness last for centuries? I am also witnessing the effects of immigation as my parents get older- yes the world is a much smaller place but still, their siblings are all over there, all childhood friends and connections are over there- so they rely on  my brother and I heavily for  family interaction and yet they are suspended in a kind of strange vacuum.

I celebrated my birthday earlier this week and my eldest daughter and middle daughter visited Heide. My eldest daughter is studying art & design at Brighton Bay College and part of their assignment was to visit exhibitions and galleries . So we decided to make a day of it. Heide is always pleasant and they had a wonderful exhibition called Freehand- an exhibition of recent Australian Drawing. We walked around the gardens and enjoyed the kitchen garden.

They also had a retrospective of Mirka Mora's work  from the period that she knew the Reed's, who gifted Heide to the people of Australia, and who hosted Sunday lunches for many of Australia's   poor artists of the time.

We then had lunch at Abla's- the food was wonderful and reminded me so much of Syrian food (there is still places on the trip if you are interested). And then we ambled down Gertrude Street Fitzroy to visit retro shops and other galleries.We enjoyed the Exhibition at Australian Print Workshop- it would be so  lovely to do a workshop there.There is also lots of graffiti like in so many urban centres- this one appealed.

Syrian Village Scene Finished

I have no idea where that last week went, but all the children are back at school finally- it's been a long holiday with moving and everything else as well as job hunting- and still no luck in that department- but I have organised some workshops at  Jiddi's Patch which is nice and close and will see us exploring different textile techniques and inspirations over the coming year. And I will also be looking at stitching at the Geelong Sewing Centre.

I finally managed to finish the village scene today. The first photo is with the lines of sating stitch in place but with out the quilting.

The next photo shows what happens when you put in the quilting.

And the last photos shows a close-up of the stitching and detailing.

This piece is for sale. It measures 22 inches by 20 inches and is made of hand dyed and hand printed fabrics.it is heavily stitched as you can see from the close-up. The price is $275 US inclusive of postage.If you are interested in buying this piece please email me. SOLD

Today as I was driving back from Melbourne an idea for developing an exhibition suddenly struck me. I have been thinking and thinking about how to incorporate the experience of France into my work and how to juxtapose it with my experience of  Australia. I guess since my masters degree the idea of immigration and movement and place has never been far from my mind, but how to articulate the differences and similarities- how to work that into something that's an exploration and a narrative.So there i was, driving on that awful straight  stretch of freeway from Melbourne and approaching Geelong there is a large hilly jagged outcrop called the Youyangs. It suddenly dawned on me   that in terms of iconic value this outcrop is not dissimilar to  Pic St Loup of which I have shared photos  in blogposts last year- although Pic St Loup is more dramatic.Unfortunately i cannot go to the park at the moment as it is closed due to water damage.

Fred Williams immortalised the Youyangs in his work and in doing so created a marvellous look at the often spare but messy Australian landscape.

So I am thinking how can i use this- is there a way to explore the two things side by side. Now I have to get out my journal and really ponder this idea- maybe create a mind map, is it worth exploring? I don't know- I will let you know.