Post 2000 and A Happy and Creative 2014!

I had actually planned to have my 2000th post sometime in December rather than on New Years Eve, but somehow life and time intervened and so ... Post 2000 becomes a wish for all of my readers to have a Happy , Safe and Creative 2014. Thank you for being a part of my journey and letting me  be a part of yours. Leave a comment , and I shall put names in a hat and draw a winner and I think I will find something I can send to you to help your hands be creative!

As I am home alone tonight, I guess it's a moment for reflection- the year has been far from stellar. I have had a friends and an acquaintance pass away from breast cancer far too young, and have had another diagnosed with a particularly aggressive  breast cancer which is being treated with a  new drug therapy. What a nasty insidious  illness it is, and one day, one day soon I do hope they find something that will cure cancer. Both of my elderly parents have had illnesses , not unexpected  but because they have been separated for more than 40 years, it becomes a bit awkward especially as they have both been ill at the same time and live about  3 hours  apart. My youngest daughter  did her VCE year and it turned into a long drawn out affair - thank goodness she got through and now it is the wait to see what offers from which university will come. But I am certainly glad that  I do not have to go through another VCE year again!

But there have been good things- my daughter passed her VCE! I exhibited at Quilts en Beaujolais and CrossXPollination in Colac. I started on my France book, but time is an issue as I need to earn a living as well. There have been a number of things organised for next year, including exhibiting in France, England, Germany , Australia and the Netherlands ( I will post details soon)- so there is much to look forward to.

I will pack up my  rented house as I head off to Europe for 3 months at the end of February to exhibit and work, no point paying rent when no one will be here. The idea of not having a home has  given me quite a lot of anxiety but until I sell my block of land I can't see what else I can do except dream about a gypsy caravan!

All in all there is much to look forward to and there is a lot of work to make! 2014 will be very busy and will need a lot of creative ingenuity!

I did finish another Chartres piece which I did start some time ago- it's another interpretation form the figures on the Porte Royale, done on the type of lutradur used to wrap flowers.

Lots and lots of stitching in this piece!

Also I have had a couple of emails by people asking if I would run the linocutting on-line class again soon- is there interest out there to do that?

And there is still time to join the 2014 Travellers' Blanket on-line class starting on  10 January 2014- just email me for information.

Seasonal Greetings

I made a deliberate choice this year to spend Christmas only with my children, and no one else- well actually Christmas eve-which left lots of lovely leftovers for Christmas day and I didn't have to do much at all. It was deliberate  as I am working on my  textile pieces for  Palaiseau which are interpretation of the feminine at Chartres. The church is devoted to Mary of course and it seemed apt to reflect on Mary at this time of year, given she was the mother of Jesus. I have also been "studying" the various studies of the architecture/stone sculptures at Chartres and the changing interpretations as time has moved( Male, Panofsky, Ball et al) on to the  study I am presently reading ,Margot E Fassler's The Virgin of Chartres . I am trying to understand why Chartres Cathedral played such an important part in the Marian cult ( which still exists) and why there are so many sculptures devoted to the female form. It's proved to be fascinating if dense reading ( the footnotes are almost as long as the  book itself and the appendixes are long as well) and I haven't got to the art part yet and reading it makes me wish I had done Medieval studies at university, but then this kind of study was only beginning to emerge. when I studied.  Fassler marries history ( well several histories , we all know that history isn't a linear line that  knows all) with music (in which she is expert) liturgy and imagery, and I find I am reading something as dense, rich, complicated and mysterious as the Cathedral itself and I haven't even got to Fulbert yet!

So you see my mind is full and I am not actually creating anything except a few small embroideries at the moment- though bigger work is  in the planning but I am just waiting for this  family stuff to be over- I have to drive my mother back to her house the other side of Melbourne later today and I won't get back until tomorrow. When I really get my head down to working on an exhibition i find i need clear headspace as I need to imagine what I am working with, to try and understand the ideas and the feelings they evoke....

The first  embroidery is inspired  by la Bell Verriere- of the Virgin said to contain the blue glass , the blue that no one can work out how it was made. I know the image is not strictly correct, but I am just trying to get the feeling of them.And the number of images are starting to build and be almost like the torn pages from a book- they measure about 9 inches square and are  hand dyed  muslin onto a dark lutradur which adds to the torn page feeling.

And the second one is another interpretation of  one of the female figures of the Porte Royale or the western portal. I do draw the image first, and if they were drawings they would be different ,somehow the stitching changes small nuances in the image- hard to describe, but the slight sideways movement of a stitch ( which happens) changes  almost the whole way the image looks or feels.

So I hope you had a Merry Christmas and that the season brings you everything you had hoped for!

Small Steps

I  seem to have been treading water and feel as if nothing has been achieved, but when I review the days since I last wrote I seem to have done more than I thought:

I finished an article on working with Print Fuse and Solufix for Down Under Textiles ( it will appear in March next year). I love the shape of this tree which has been inspired by an olive tree at Pont du Gard at Nimes- this is such a a gnarled old tree that it begs the question of -how old it is? Did it witness Roman slaves building the bridge? I have stitched it  onto khadi cloth.











I have hand stitched solid for a week now on a piece called Gilgamesh's horse blanket, originally it did not have hand stitching- just as well the cricket proved to be vaguely interesting. But what a difference the stitching makes!

I hand stitched one of the stone figures form the Porte Royale at Chartres. The stitching on the khadi paper almost becomes writing- I find the faces of these figures very intriguing- this is to some extent my take on illuminated manuscripts.

I received the latest issue of Down Under Textiles which features an article about my work- it is always lovely to see your work in print.

I have been trying to sort out my things and found an unfinished fire piece which I finished, It measures  50cm wide  x 34 cm long ( A3) size and is for sale for $50 AUS inclusive of postage. The  holes in the background have been made by burning holes in the fabric.SOLD











I went to my mothers and did some much needed work around her  garden as she has been unwell these last months and could not do the heavier work ( sadly it needs doing in my own garden and I haven't got around to that)

All good positive stuff however my printer has now decided to become belligerent and not print, I have even tried manually cleaning the print head- it's annoying little dilemna- I use a printer a lot but don't really want to buy a new one so shortly before going overseas, but do need to print off some things using Inkaid and I don't want to run that through a  friends printer. And then yesterday the wooden table which an acquaintance gave to me two years ago  and on which I do all my printing etc, in the sunroom collapsed and cannot be repaired. I know the universe is helping me  clear out stuff which is not worth storing- but hey I need that work table for awhile longer!

I shall be starting another  Travellers' Blanket On-line  class on 10 January 2014- if you are interested please email me and I can send you an information sheet

Older Work For Sale

As promised older work for sale at seriously discounted prices. As i worked through these photos I  realised that selling the older work also has to do with a catharthic process- of moving on and facing a new as yet to be ascertained future- however it does involve textiles and art and stitch. The last 7 years have been far from happy for me, and people sometimes tell me I say too much on my blog, but I can't pretend and I also feel that whatever has happened has matured me as an artist, especially as the universe has chosen that I must continue on with creating textile art. I also realised that the  "down" cycle started  7 years ago and if you believe in  such cycles then the next 7 should be much better- so onward and forward!

I am going to start with the bigger more expensive pieces first. Measurements are in centimeters and currency is in Australian dollars. If you need to work out what the cost is in your currency , I use CXE Currency Converter

Postage is an additional cost to the price listed. It is $25 AUS for the large pieces and $ 7.50 for pieces under 50cm square. Email me if you are interested in buying anything. I can be paid with Paypal ( just contact me and I will give you details) or by internet banking or cheque if you are in Australia.

Some of the quilts do not look straight but it was windy when I photographed them early this morning, making them look slightly skewiff especially the softer ones.


REEF SOLD
50cm x 120cm
tie dyed silk entirely hand stitched. The hand dyed silk reminded me of the myriad little worlds one encounters on the Great Barrier Reef.
$350.00AUS plus postage

Hellfire XIX

 123 cm x 123 cm

Hand dyed cotton, burning, machine and hand stitched

The last of my hellfire series which I made in 2006. I don't remember whether I was in a rush or what, but I have spent the last  few days hand stitching around the tie dyed circles and adding extra machien stitching- with the end result that it finally looks finished and I like it much much better.

$350.00 AUS plus postage

Banksias In My Garden SOLD

101 cm x 120 cm

Hand dyed cotton, hand printed cotton, hand painted lutradur and cotton, machine stitched

This quilt was included int eh Across Australia travelling exhibition and has been exhibited in the Netherlands, Libya, Egypt,Syria, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Israel, the Palestinian Territory, Australia and I can't remember where else. It languished for awhile in my cupboard because I had machine quited the area behind the tree with zigzag stitch which had the effect of pulling in the fabric too much. I recently undid all the zigzag quilting and requilted it with lines which makes it look much better!

$250.00AUS plus postage

Red Sentinelle Threesome

105 cm x 110 cm

Hand dyed and painted fabrics, hand printed  central panel, machine stitched

Those of you familiar with my sentinelle work will see that the sentinelle image is slightly different to the one I have been using recently- it was the first linocut I made of the sentinelle figure and I only used it about a dozen times before  making another.

$250.00 AUS Plus postage

African Travellers' Blanket
74 cm x 122 cm
Hand dyed muslin, purchased fabric from the market in Bangui , central African republic
This was the first  Travellers Blanket I made- I used fabrics I had purchased in Africa in 1990 and hand dyed the background. I want a soft feel for  this piece so it consists of three layers of hand dyed true muslin. It is heavily hand stitched! Exhibited at Northart in New Zealand
$300.00 AUS plus Postage

Otway Green Traveller s Blanket

96cmx118 cm

Hand dyed muslin, and bunf, entirely hand stitched

Once I had stitched my first Travellers' Blanket  I started on another- there is something so soothing about hand stitching . This one is inspired by the green of the Otways and then the hot heat of summer! This one looks as if it is crooked , but it is not- it's the softness of the fabric and the wind that is causing it to ripple.

$325.00 AUS plus Postage

In the Spirit of Decoration SOLD

80 cm x 130 cm

Hand dyed fabric, hand printed, machine embroidered and stitched, recycled candle holders

I made this piece inspired by  fabric   i found in a Museum in Damascus. The paisley design so popular in the  26th and 17 th centuries. I called the piece in the spirit of decoration mainly as a kind poke in the eye to some people who think I merely make decorations- which is perfectly fine with me because ultimately textile is the ultimate and most marvellous form of decoration!

$250.00AUS plus postage

Childhood Memories- Billabong Creek SOLD

50cm x 125 cm

Hand dyed silk , machine and Hand stitched

At one stage I had intended to make a whole series of  this creek and river inspired pieces, but somehow I ran out of steam.  The Billabong  Creek was where all children in Jerilderie swam until t they built the pool. At times we could not swim because of the fear of hepatitis and the water would run thick and black

$300.00 AUS plus postage

Eye Idols of Tel Brak

100 cm x 140 cm

Hand painted fabric, foiling machine stitched.

$275.00 AUS plus postage

Masks

 89 cm x 111cm

Hand dyed cottons, machine embroidered masks, guinea fowl feathers, machine quilted

This piece was made for my first solo exhibition entitled Asante Sana Africa in 1996 when I had three children under the age of 6. We traveled in Africa in 1990 and it changed my life in more ways then I can say. It started my route to fabric and textile. We encountered many masks and I machine embroidered the masks and matched them with fabrics that had faces emerging out of the hand dyed fabric.

$200.00AUS plus postage

You Toucan Tri-angles

90cm x 90 cm

Hand dyed, machine applique and stitched

Early on in my quilting career I made this design into a kit- I sold a few kits, but decided that kits wan't the way to go!

$50.00AUS plus postage

Tifaifai Apples- positive image SOLD
57 cm x 100cm
Hand dyed cottons, machine stitched
$60.00 AUS plus postage

 Tifaifai Apples -negative image SOLD
57 cm x 100cm
Hand dyed cottons, machine stitched
$60.00 AUS plus postage

Rock Pool 
49cm x 59 cm
Hand dyed and painted cotton, entirely hand stitched and with a serious amount of colonial knots- I am still adding accents
$100.00 AUS plus postage.

Small Pieces ( postage cheaper):
I won't give  very extensive descriptions for these- if you would like to know more email me.

X-Stitch #1- inspired by Syrian cross stitch SOLD
28cm x 37 cm
Hand dyed cotton, transfer painted lutradur, hand stitched
$35.00 AUS plus postage

X-Stitch #2-inspired by Syrian cross stitch SOLD
28cm x 37 cm
Hand dyed cotton, transfer painted lutradur, hand stitched
$35.00 AUS Plus postage

X-Stitch #3- inspired by Syrian cross stitch SOLD
28cm x 37 cm
Hand dyed cotton, transfer painted lutradur, hand stitched
$35.00 AUS plus postage

Eye Doodle
Hand dyed fabric and , raw machine applique machine stitched
60 cm x 57 cm
$50.00 AUS plus postage

Small Sentinelle
44cm x 59 cm
Hand dyed and hand printed cotton, machine stitched
$50.00 AUS plus postage

Southern Stars  SOLDOLD
28cm x 40 cm
Transfer printed lutradur , machine and hand stitched.
$35.00 AUS plus postage

Magnolia- from my book Tifaifai Renaissance
 70 cm x 70 cm
Hand dyed cotton, applique
$50,00 AUS plus postage

Big Bang
 49 cm x 49 cm
Hand dyed cottons, machine stitched
$45,00 AUS plus postage

River Delta #1 - a series of work I did about waterways.SOLD
Hand dyed and printed fabric, hand stitched
 28 cm x 33cm
$35.00 AUS plus postage

River Delta #2 - a series of work I did about waterways. SOLD
Hand dyed and printed fabric, hand stitched
 28 cm x 33cm
$35.00 AUS plus postage

Landscape- River bend SOLD
26 cm x 26 cm
Transfer painted lutradur , machine stitched
$25.00 AUS plus postage

Paisley SOLD
20cm x 28 cm
Transfer painted lutradur, machine stitched
$25.00 AUS plus postage

There will be one or two more coming in the next day when I can find the images.....