Friday, January 31, 2020

And the Fires Keep Burning

It is hard to imagine that bushfires have been burning in various parts of Australia since September and still continue to put many communities at risk, including the communities so badly affected by the fires around New Years.  Today the smoke haze has returned and though where I live there has been no fires close by ,at times the smoke haze has been so thick I could barely make out the houses across the road. There has been an incredible outpouring of donations, stories of hardship, but also stories of amazing survival, and yet our government refuses to accept that  climate change has had an impact on the dreadful drought being experienced by  much of Eastern Australia, or the ferocity and sheer magnitude of these fires . And still the government  sells off water to mining conglomerates  despite the fact  that it is much needed by the people here. I sometimes feel like there are two parallel universes- half of the people want to do things for the good of their fellow man and the other half who obviously don't give a damn. How did we get to this? I am pretty certain the media and the ownership thereof has not helped one little bit.

I have finally got around to finishing working on the third bedroom and hallway in my house. After mum was resettled  at her home it has still taken a lot of my time going back and forth and attending appointments with her- and making sure she has what she needs as she is not driving- though she wants to. We will have to speak to her GP about that next time we visit him. The hallway and third bedroom in this house were covered by ugly wallpaper- which I think might have been there for 50 years, so it took a good deal of elbow grease to get it off the walls and to get residual glue of the walls as well. But finally the work is done. My painting job is not as good as that done by my friends who helped me last year, but it's a great improvement on what was there. So I am getting to the stage where a lot of the cosmetic renovation has now been done ( just a few things to still do, and still thinking about the woodwork doorways in the hallway), but I feel better knowing my house sitter will have a nice fresh room to sleep in whilst she is here.

 The bedrooms and hallway as they were and the transformation.



And after



My vegie garden has been chugging along (  I am afraid there is a lot of weeds in the rest of the garden as the  prepping for painting took way longer than expected) and I can say that I have had several meals out of the garden. The plan is to make the food production side of the garden much much bigger, and I have been trying to find like minded local people who have permaculture ideas, or at least food growing ideas ( but  that has not been as easy as one might have thought) In any case tonights meal will be mostly from my garden and my herb patch is doing really well especially the thyme and vietnamese mint and the lemon verbena. But I need to get in there and do some work, apparently no one lived in this house for 8 years which means a number of things have gotten out of control in the garden and explains why stove and heater were not working  at all.



I have printed up more bush maddonnas and slightly different colours. Some people were interested in the colour of trial print I had done on craft paper so I have dyed fabric to as close to the colour of the craft paper as I was able to and in the process also made an avocado green. I also made a sort of powder blue colour and grey ( bottom left- it looks blue in the photo but is a bluish grey). they are for sale for $25 AUS inclusive of postage and measure 18 cm x 45 cm. I will be donating $5AUS for every panel sold to Wildlife Victoria ( I will be making a donation tomorrow in relation to the panels I have already sold and I will continue to do so on the first of each month)



And on a really lovely note. The Berry Quilting Retreat is celebrating it's tenth year this year and Elizabeth Dubbelde the organiser for all those years has offered to put on a display of the Bush Sentinelles as her community , though spared fires is right in the middle of the worst of the fires of the NSW south coast. So if you embroider a Bush Sentinelle panel we would love to display it in Berry on August 15-16 2020. I will add a page to my blog in the next few weeks with details ( there will be a small administration fee to pay which also covers return postage to the maker) But lets see if we can make this a  wonderful moving display, full of whimsy, heart and community for that is what makes us strong! This is always a great weekend with inspiring tutors and great displays!

I have also been working on my own Bush Sentinelle. I found a piece of fabric I dyed many moons ago and it seemed to perfectly suit the current state of things in Australia. She is just in the beginning stages ( I actually got a blister on my middle finger from the painting brush so it's been a bit difficult doing any hand stitching these last couple of days)



Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Bush Sentinelle

I posted  this new sentinelle on Instagram and Facebook but I thought I would also blog about her.
In 2012 I started a series of work entitled Sentinelles. The series depicted my concern for the environment and was a reminder to myself to be proactive and to do what I could. I chose the humanid form with an halo because it occurs in many cultures. I made a little catalogue to go with the series explaining each piece and in all I made ten life size sentinelles ( they were  supposed to be the same height as me, though there was some minor variation between each one). I also made a sentinelle linocut because people asked me if I had any small ones, that they themselves could work on. I was gobsmacked by the response and the beauty and thought people embroidered onto the  printed panel. It ended up becoming a touring exhibition with 142 pieces which travelled in Europe and Australia. I still have some of the large pieces ( one hangs in my bedrooom- Tracks Across the Land) and I still get asked if I have any more small sentinelle panels to sell.  I don't as the lino has become too fragile to print with and I want to keep it for the archive of the series of work.

I thought the series was done and dusted- I don't exhibit the large ones any longer but I woke up a few mornings ago with a sentinelle demanding to be drawn.


And so this sentinelle encapsulates all the concern for the people, the wildlife and the land that has been so damaged by the recent bushfires ( which are still burning but at present not out of control) She looks straight out into the world as all the sentinelles did, as a challenge to each one of us, because we have to find a way forward out of this nightmare because the political system is incapable of doing so. There are good guides and custodians out there and science that tells us this is not normal and there are things that can be done. We have to love our land beyond everything because without that love there is nothing, no  bush, no wildlife and no people, and lets face it big business is not in it to help in this matter- they are just corporations for the profit of their shareholders and the owners. The koala is the face of the wildlife that was devastated by the bushfires ( there were many in different states), the gum leaves and flowers the bush, the banksia the babbling of many. 
I then transferred the drawing onto  the lino- she changed a little and things also changed a little as I carved the lino.


She is challenging us to work together because we have to get it right and we have to do way better than what has gone before. She measures 18 cm x 45 cm . Her price is $25 AUS inclusive of postage.( $5 of every sale will be donated- see below)

I will donate $5 AUS for every panel sold to  Wildlife Victoria. I have done a bit of research and found that Wires in NSW have received  more donations than Wild Life Vic because a number of celebrities were  organising funding drives. It is great what they achieved, but I suspect  almost as many  animals are and were affected in Victoria. I  also know that many people, including myself ,have donated to recognised organisations like the Red Cross, and Vinnies. But for me this sentinelle is about our land and our country and its wildlife which is unique and precious and also needs our help.

I have printed the sentinelle on a number of different colours, if you see a colour you like let me know. I will add a Paypal button but if you are in Australia it is easier to pay by internet banking and it is better to email me . I will be dying more fabric to print more panels in the  next week- just have to wait for the air to clear a bit as, air quality outside is not good because of the smoke from the fires on the border.




The beige coloured one in the first photo is actually a trial print on craft paper. I will try and dye a colour similar to it as a few people asked me about it.


Saturday, January 11, 2020

Mojo Seems to be Returning!

My mojo has been missing in action for quite awhile- it returned here and there a few times, but in all reality i need alone time to develop work, without interruptions. I don't answer my phone or emails. during the day, I just work away at stuff. Sometimes  I will leap from one thing to another- but it also  sparks ideas. It's hard to explain but I find it difficult to create new work if my mind is wondering elsewhere, I mean if my mind is wondering around other things than creating work.

The good news is I have found a house sitter, which  is maybe  the reason my mojo has been returning- it is one less thing to worry about, though now I do have to repaint my spare room ( which is presently wall papered in dire stuff). I will just have to get onto it. Thankfully my  electric wiring in the ceiling for the lights got rewired the other day- it was a great relief to know that it reduces the risk of a house fire enormously.

A few people expressed interest in purchasing the  octopus linocut so I have printed up some more on different coloured fabrics. The linocut measures 24 cm x 30 cm and has been printed by hand onto hand dyed fabric. I can see that  the octopus will be fun to stitch- and I am chomping at the bit to get going on one but first I have to finally finish my sea scene.

Octopus Linocut Printed panel.
The price of the panel is $23 AUS inclusive of postage. In the photo below is the range of colours I have at the moment.


I have taken  shots of  single panels so you can see the detail.



I have added a Paypal button for the octopus  if you are overseas or simply email me  if in Australia and I can give you bank details , and to tell me the colour you would like.




And I have been working on another linocut  inspired by the original sentinelles- whhcich were about my concerns about the environment. I get  asked every now and then whether I still have sentinelle printed fabric, but the linocut itself has become so fragile that I do not want to print with it any longer as I want to save it as part of he archive of that body of work. So I decided to make an entirely new sentinelle ( which I will reveal in the next few days, I am still refining it a little, making sure it will be interesting to stitch. Meanwhile here is a photo of the original sentinelles.



Thursday, January 09, 2020

What to say ?

The country in which I live has been devastated by horrendous bush fires that has resulted in death of people and volunteer fire fighters, loss of property and decimation of forest and wild life, not to mention the loss of business and livestock. I live about 100 kms from the worst of it, but my house has been shrouded by the smoke from the fires, so that I could barely see the houses across the road- and yes that is uncomfortable- but nothing like what people have had to endure in affected areas. I refer you to an article by Jackie French in the SMH about what it has been like for people. I have friends who have lost houses , whose health has been affected by the inundation of smoke, who are still desperately preparing their properties for the onslaught of tomorrow which is predicted to bring more terrible conditions.  The pain and stoicism of people is palpable. Even if you do not believe in climate change, what is exactly wrong with trying to make the planet a better place? And then there are the trolls- why in a time like this are there such negative horrible people out there ? It is like social media unleashes the worst in some people- and yet on the other hand good things  come out of social media too- knowing people are safe, sending support because you know what is needed, the donations to help recovery. And people who have been dealt this blow are so incredibly brave, their stories remarkable- their sense of community so strong, their willingness to help others worthy of hero worship.

My heart blanket became more and more about the bushfires as the days went on- how we need to have empathy for people who struggle not only through disasters like this, but in their daily lives through illness or circumstance. We are a community of humans, we have to live together and to do so we need to have empathy for those who live next to us, across the road , across the city, across the sea, on the other side of the world- and we need less of the " I am alright Jack attitude"


Background stitching is going in, with a very lightweight thread.


I am still working on the "one World" blanket although progress on it has been a bit slow- there have been distractions  worrying about friends, my mum, and my country.

I seem to have acquired a rescue cat, Portia Bull's Eye ( because of her patterning). It is lovely to have a creature here but the timing is a bit awkward, but she needed rescuing and I have missed having a cat in my life. So I will definitely need a house sitter. So if anyone is interested in living in my house for 2 months from April until June you are most welcome. Unfortunately I cannot afford to pay you ( to be perfectly honest i was a bit shocked that people get paid- I have done house sitting for nothing in the past unless people insist on paying me. )


And I have finally hung the gum leaves I created for the Aussie bush project in my windows in the lounge. I think I need to make some more for  the other window as well- I quite like the effect


 And I have made a new linocut of an octopus- they are such fascinating creatures and I believe the health of our sea has a lot to do with the health of our land. I will be  printing this linocut on different fabrics- print measures 24 cm x 30 cm  and if you are interested in purchasing  email me.