The Quatrocento in Siena and Some Tree Linocuts

Have been travelling with my daughter until early last week and have then returned to Le Triadou to get stuck into some serious work ( 2 articles to write for a magazine in Australia and one in France) and work to prepare for  exhibition at Festival des Arts du Fil  ( Forca Fil) in Provence  for 24,25,and 26 June. I am also teaching there on 18 and 19 June Transfer printing and Stitching and Form and Variation. Plus my friends daughter is getting married next week and the wedding will be hosted from their home. I am also teaching at Cuci-Service in Oderzo on 11-12 June 2016.

My daughter and I ended up back in Italy as I wanted her to check out a course on printmaking at Il Bisonte in Florence. Unfortunately it is not within her means to do both the course and afford living there whilst doing the course- it was a nice dream- or maybe I might get lucky and  sell some of my bigger works. However we enjoyed Florence and all it has to offer and we also spent a day in Siena , the city she was named after. The marble floor in the Duomo is always a marvel and the Quatrocento of Siennese painting in the Pinacoteca so worth a visit ( and with surprisingly few tourists for this magnificent period of Siennese art) The Met have an on-line catalogue available with some interesting essays noting the difference between the renaissance in Florence and Siena in case you are interested. I must admit it reignited my idea to do  a book Musing in Textile:Italy on  inspirations from Italy.

A shop window in Florence and a selfie of sorts.

  Inside the Duomo in Siena with my daughter Siena. And then the glory of the Quatrocento.

I have been working on another Babbling Banksia quilt,

 and I think this will be the last for awhile whilst I muse about Italy and the inspirations it offers, do some research and see how I can translate that into cloth and stitch- lace might make a reappearance in my work somehow and I  am feeling very inspired by the ethereal faces of Sano di Pietro- and also the beautiful detail of the cloth in  his paintings.

I also started a quilt with meytree linocut- and drove the sewing machine to distraction so I did not finish it prior to Quilts en Beaujolais unfortunately, but I will finish it now. I also have for sale the tree linocut which measures  50 cm and 40 cm and is double the size of the next nearest linocut I have made. It is printed on hand dyed cloth and costs 20€ plus 3€ postage ( a total of 23€). Email me if you are interested in purchasing the fabric print. The colours in the image are a guide only and as I will be dyeing more cloth next week I can print on any coloured cloth you might like. ( also have available prints of kings and queens of Chartres and the folkloric girl and the rabbit inspired by the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry)

And it is still possible to purchase my book Musing in Textile: France in Australia or here in Europe ( and anyone who might be interested in the US- shipping form Europe is much cheaper than shipping from Australia) Some sample chapters can be read here. The book also includes a dvd with explanations of how I use the techniques of dyeing cloth, making linocut prints, printing fabric, transfer printing and stitching ( lutradur), breakdown printing my way, freemotion stitching, hand stitching and a video demonstrating the techniques. The price of the book is $49.95 in Australia plus postage ( but postage to anywhere overseas is almost as expensive as the book- thank you Australia Post)  and 45€ plus postage from France ( the price difference is due to the different taxes that have to be paid) but the postage is 8€ Anyway if you are interested in purchasing the book please email me.