I have been stitching stitching and stitching ,finishing the work I had started for Caravanserai some time ago but did not finish. I am taking a break as my back is sore from all that stitching. This was the day time village scene that I painted awhile ago and had not heat set the textile ink enough so that when I dyed the cloth the textile ink blotched in some places. At the time I was really disgusted with it, but some months later and I found that I thought I could resurrect it. I will be covering the moon with ochre coloured fabric as it bothers my daughter to have a moon in a daytime scene. But the rest has all been stitched and colour added with iridescent Shiva paint stickes. The round rocks at the bottom will be coloured in too. The colour of the binding will be tricky- I want to think on it overnight.
It sounds as if we are gearing up for another shocking day on Friday. The forecast for tomorrow is bad but for Friday they are saying 45 degrees celsius and a south westerly change with winds up to 50 kms. We all have our valauables packed ( i shall be packing the last of them tonight as well as backing up the back up hard drive)/ I am able to pump water from the river but I don't think the house can be defended on a shocking day .However meanwhile I am trying to green everything as much as possible and really soak stuff good and well. At least all my quilts or nearly all will be in Melbourne at AQC!
I know some time ago I said I would not be making any more forest/view from my window quilts? Wrong. I had to make another one as I had put it in for the Tutors exhibition at AQC ( which I must admit had slipped my mind) when I sold the piece earlier this year. Moving house was an expensive exercise and so I was very glad when someone wanted to buy it, but it also left me with a dilemna which I discovered afterwards that I had entered it elsewhere. So I contacted AQC and they allowed me to substitute a piece so I made another View from My Window piece- simply because the view from my window is still of trees, and the afternoon sun does set behind the trees.Oh and there is still three places available in my Tifaifai class at AQC in case anyone is interested. Just follow the link for AQC.
I have been working hard - actually I got embarassed into working hard- there were several pieces I did not finish last year for my Caravanserai exhibition. They languished as so much stuff was going on in my personal life and that's what kept happening. I would think I must and then something else would happen and they simply did not get made.But last week AQC rang me up to say they had managed to snare an article in the Herlad Sun- this is one of our big daily newspapers- which is good publicity for AQC and for me. So now I had to live up to my promise.... The photographer came out yesterday and he was knocked out by the nature in my surroundings and the cat did her best to win him over- so he took lots of photos of my quilts , myself and a lovely large old gum tree in the background and with the cat who behaved like a movie actress ( and yes she is a tart!) I really dislike being photographed but it certainly was more fun knowing i was showcasing some of our fabulous scenery.
We had a community fire meeting on Thursday night as we are in a community where the risk of fire is great - there was some ok information, but most of us knew a lot of the information, but I was a bit shocked by the lack of co-ordination between say our shire and the emergency services , powercorp and the police. The shire guy talked about recovery- and yes it is good to know they have a plan- but we are more concerned about what if a fire hits here- what will we do? There is no community safe area because none of the governmental/bureaucratic bodies want to take legal responsibility for that- we were told we must wait for the police- we don't have a police officer stationed here- the nearest one is 22 kms away in Colac- the fire is likely to come from the north west- which would cut us off from Colac- and there is only one road in and one road out- which means the police are unlikely to be able to get through for a certain time in case of fire.
Then the discussion turned to closing certain roads on extreme fire danger days- but we were told by the shire that everybody was too worrried about the loss of tourist dollars so they couldn't do this. Excuse me this seems to me to show a certain lack of clear thinking......( and I am talking about extreme fire days of which we get maybe a weeks worth a year- some years more some years less)- but the tourists are more important than the communities???? And if a fire does strike there will be no more buildings part of which constitute community. And the tourists I encountered on the sunday after that fateful Saturday which was also a total fire ban day, with open fires , shows that they had a total lack of respect for the conditions or for the communities where they were visitors.
I think it is time that everyone also realised when the CFA and media forecast extreme conditions like February the 7th and a total fire ban - and the warnings were out- then that risk applies to everyone who lives in the state- not just the communities at greatest risk- stay home if you don't live in high risk areas, and if you are at risk and can't see yourself saving your house get out as early as you can before even a hint of a fire.
Also communication is a really big issue for us. Most of us with modern phones would lose the ability to phone due to power shut down which is done for safety reasons. Only old style phones would enable you to get through ( anyone have a spare one ?) we are also in a mobile blackout area because Telstra does not consider it commercially lucrative enough to put in a tower ( yet they could put in a mobile tower when the great bike ride went through a few years ago)- it was mooted and Telstra would also put in a tv repeater which the community would have to pay for ,as we also have very bad tv reception- what seems to be a basic right in much of Australia- is not possible here- even 774 ABC has dodgy reception here even with a battery operated radio.I think big companies which are supposed to provide services to a community ( for which we pay) should actually deliver those services as a matter of equity not of commercial expediency. Having to post ever bigger profits for ever greedier shareholders is not a good premise on which to deliver equitable and fair services to all communities.
I have been hand stitching and hand stitching on my Palms of Palmyra piece ,so not a lot to show. I decided I could not possibly finish the second travellers blanket before AQC- I won't mention all the other things I have still to make. I really should have done a lot more work these past two months but it just didn't happen. Anyway now it is a matter of urgency.
And on Friday when I went to order my dye and printing supplies for AQC ( with some trepidation i might add as I knew they were located in the area badly affected by bushfires) I found out that KraftKolour had indeed been burnt down. The owners did get out alive thank goodness .and they have stated they will rebuild their business and have asked people for patience and loyalty as they try and rebuild in the aftermath.I have been able to source some supplies elsewhere but they can count on my loyalty for the future!
This morning my youngest daughter and I went for a walk to Triplet Falls which is about 20 kms from where I live. It has long been a favourite spot but it's been too long since we were there. It was beautiful despite the smoke haze which lay over the Otways from the bushfires more than 2 hours away. And when we got right down to the river level the strangest sweetest smell emanated- it smelt like pure oxygen to me- with all that forest and tree fern growth. ( the small photo on the top left is the view from my work room window and the bottom left photo is of a flowering gum on my block of land)
I have finally managed to put on all the squares of the traveller's blanket for Zenobia. However not all of the squares have been embroidered yet , not even two thirds- still a long way to stitch and then there is the quilting to do. But I wanted to do all the squares before I started on anything else. I still have a lot of things to make before AQC at the end of February.
Today is my birthday and I won't remember it as a very good one , not because I didn't get any presents or anything like that ( and my girls made the cards and bought me the delightfully colourful footstool), but because I am shocked by the magnitude of the devastation and death toll of the bush fires last Saturday some of which are still continuing to burn. I shall be digging deep to send money and will also donate a quilt to the raffle which will be run by Vic Quilters for the duration of AQC to help raise further funds. Please dig deep if you can afford to- it will take an enormous amount of money to help the people who have lost everything to re-establish themselves, if that is in any way possible given that so many have lost family and friends and their townships.
And if you cannot help in any other way think of doing a rain dance- although Queensland which has had terrible floods would be crying no no - but we desperately need rain here.It keeps on looking as if it might rain but nothing happens.
Also spare a thought to the volunteer firemen, DSE officers and police and their families who have had the dreadful task of dealing with the fires, and then with the clean up- it must be one of the most gruesome and heartbreaking tasks that they will ever deal with, and all the other volunteers who have come to help in any way possible. We are a lucky country that we have people willing to give so much of themselves to help others.I hope that this selflessness will create the fabric for reconstruction with the input of much needed money
Just a quick update and will post some more this evening.
The Otways were spared on Saturday - the weather conditions were horrendous and it could have wreaked the tragedy anywhere, there were tree limbs the size of trees flying around the house as the mini tornadoes eddied around the front of the cooler front moving in.It is with horror that I watch the tragedy unfold- so many people, so much devastation.
My heart and sincerest condolences to all those who have lost so much.
And then on Sunday morning early, my youngest daughter and I went to photograph the river which has a bush camping ground near it and to my complete and utter horror found two lots of campers with open fires- I was aghast and came home and reported them. It was a day of total fire ban- the Otways are still tinder dry, the winds were still strong- what kind of idiocy makes people think they can flaunt the common rules for community, especially after the worst day ever for Victoria and Australia?
I am making slow and steady progress on my travellers blanket for Zenobia.It's been hard work in the heat wave we have been experiencing . The temperatures soared to 44 degrees celsius last week ( that's about 113 fahrenheit) and even with aircon the heat was almost unbearable. Then the whole electricity grid for the state broke down- fortunately they fixed that quick smart. It was the hottest three day period on record and temperatures are starting to build again. I hold my breath in this kind of weather as we live in a high fire risk zone and there is always some malevolent idiot out there ,who lights fires as happened in the east of the state last week. It was also the week thatI had to do loads of running around for school things as my children started school this week after the long summer holidays. Finally I have my days back!
And I have a load of work to do- so sitting and stitching by hand seems and feels like a decadent luxury- it doesn't feel like work, and makes me feel a bit guilty- i don't know why because in all reality it is work. I sit and watch movies and just stitch and stitch. Current favourite movie is the Painted Veil and Miss Potter- both have me sitting in tears as I work, and yet the tears make me feel better, it's like they are the unshed tears of the last few years- both are about ordinary humans with their human foibles yet also humans who do quite remarkable things - so uplifting inthat sense- maybe I am just an old softie! I am using domette as my batting/inbetween layer which makes stitching easier and gives a lovely suppleness to the whole.
Tha catalogue for an exhibition entitled Pattern and Decoration arrived today after I finally tracked it down at the website of the Hudson River Museum. I talked about some of the thoughts expressed by Anne Schwartz in this post, and it is so much more edifying to see the images as well as the text. I am looking forward to giving it a closer reading, but feel that my way of work does rather fit in with the philosophy and working methods of the artists involved. It also gives me food for thought as I contemplate work for the future- as I have been invited to possibly exhibit in Egypt with work inspired by my travels there, which would be a brilliant opportunity . I am not so much thinking Pharaonic as everyone seems to do that but the decoration aspect of many things Egyptian- so many surfaces are decorated, tiled, beautified. So many beautiful, quaint scenes- how to gell this into an interpretation worthy of exhibition and of interest to an audience who live with this every day??? I took literally dozens of photos of chairs when in Cairo ( and cats)- and I am thinking a chair may be a worthy vehicle for some of the ideas I want to express- the invitation to sit , to take tea is all about taking the time to share a small portion of the day.
The photo of the King Parrot is not clear- the poor creature was sitting atop one of the cupboards outside, very distressed- because of the extreme heat today ( over 100 degrees fahrenheit or 42 clesius). We did put some water near it- but it flew off a little way only to come back.I didn't want to distress it any more by getting closer to it- but aren't the colours stunning? I hope it realises the water was put there for its benefit. I would love to have a bird bath, but we have a cat ......
I have been making slow but steady progress on the travellers' blanket for Zenobia.It is a completely different mindset to work on the blue fabric, particularly in chosing the colours of the threads. I do like the quilting stitches in red, though as I look at the image on my screen it does seem to have the effect of purpling the blue. I always love the way the colour of thread interacts with the fabric it is placed on.Anyway there is still a lot more stitching to do, and more squares to be appliqued.
I have been trying to think of ideas for the on-line lino-cut and printing course I want to devise. So much of lino-cutting is about thinking in reverse- and thinking about the textures that can be created with the carving tools, which of course become interesting when stitched- so it isn't simply about creating an image but also about how the textures of the image can be stitched to make them more interesting.
Today is Australia Day , and an indigenous Australian ,Professor Mick Dodson from the ANU, was named Australian of the year.Mick Dodson has been a tireless advocate for his people in a society that often has a very racist and patriarchal attitude to indigenous people and a nation that until one year ago refused to acknowledge that there was indeed stolen generations of indigenous people ( how they could deny it is beyond me as I went to school with several children who were exactly in that situation). Mick Dodson has suggested that Australia day should be held on a different day as his people view it as the day their nation was taken away. Initially i thought that it was not a good idea but as I have been sitting and stitching I think it is the only way to achieve reconciliation- to acknowledge that the creation of the Australian nation was at the cost of taking away anothers' right to their nationhood and shifting it to a more positive mode. That we have to go forward together goes without saying and I think that joint decision should be marked by a national celebration which includes all of our people embracing equal rights and freedom.I think Australia day should not embody the past, but instead should focus on the future- what we might achieve as a brilliantly diverse community. And what better time than now when there seems to be optimism of an uplifting kind with the inauguration of Barack Obama- when Martin Luther King's words have some meaning again, when the Inaugural Poet, Elizabeth Alexander points to the power of words. Not cliches but the beauty of words and language- love , liefde, amour,amore, love for our fellow human beings. Tell me your words for love in your langauge- make it your daily mantra.
My friend Fiona Wright from Creative Arts Safaris sent me some lovely sari silks that she is recycling - aren't the colours luscious. I am not quite sure what I shall do with them yet, but they may well find themselves worked into some kind of traveller's blanket in the future. Maybe I shall call it my "wish" blanket as I would love to visit Fiona in India one day .
Ohh and on another note I will be visiting New Zealand in April with my kids for 11 days.We are really looking forward to it. My eldest daughter and I had some air points due to expire at the end of February so we thought we had better use them- we had enough to get to New Zealand easily. We had thought about Singapore but hotel rates seem to have sky rocketed there. So we shall be delivering the My Place quilts to Quilt Symposium in Wellington and wending our way back to Auckland. \ The metallic medallions are tea lights cut and pressed with a biro- I quite like them but not quite sure what i shall do with them.
We have been away the last few days and nights camping at Skenes Creek near Apollo Bay. The weather was hot and whilst I am not a very keen beach person ( all that sand...) I do like walks along the beach and rockpools. My eldest daughter loves the beach so that was part of the reason for going as it is school holidays here. We had a lovely time clambering among the rockpools- they are like little worlds of their own , teeming with interesting texture and life.We are so very fortunate to have such a pristine sea so close to our home, though the black dirt in the camping ground was a bit diabolical!
I don't know where the past week has gone, but gone it has. It is summer school holiday time, and we have had a few very hot days, which always brings with it a certain laziness and we have been doing more house setting up- arranging books and furnishings and a little e-bay buying. The bottom image is of one of my purchases- a side table/hall table in solid oak which I got at a seriously good price and the piece of furniture is just stunning. And I love the way my masrahbija inspired quilt looks with it( though I am not so fond of the wood on the walls, but oh well)- it looks as if they were meant for each other. The small blue glass pieces all came from Egypt and the glass blowers enclave in the City of the Dead. the small ceramic jug from a pottery near Chateau de Chassy and the boxes are from Morocco and Syria.
I have also dyed the fabric for Zenobia's travelling blanket. I am still not entirely happy with the colours I am getting here when I dye, but this piece I will work with. The reds just don't seem to take in the same way. But I wanted a "royally" bluish colour for a queen, as blues/purples were much prized in ancient times. And one of my blog readers sent the piece of domette which I have dyed as the batting for this piece. I can see lots of orangey/terracotta colours with yellows and dark accents as the travellers squares on this piece.
The other piece of fabric - the yellowish one is for sale- it is 80 cm wide and 135 cm long and the price is $32 US including postage worldwide.It is the light weight muslin which is so lovely to hand stitch with.
It is the time of year when the echidna's are active. They are monotremes which means they are only one of two mammals in the world which lay eggs but suckle their young in a pouch. They live on a diet of ants and other insects. It is hard to get a close-up of their faces as they are extremely shy and scurry away if you approach them. Fraser, my eldest daughters' boyfriend, managed to capture this photo of this echidnas' face yesterday afternoon when we dropped him off at his house.
The second photo is of a little lozenge quiilt I made to send to a friend- I wanted to make it quickly as she has quite a few sad things going on in her life- hence the size.It is very textural and fits into your hand.
The last photo is of a garden sculpture made by Heinz Moritz for his garden up at Berwick. Heinz and Gerda, who are friends of my mothers, have a gorgeous hand built house made largely from rocks- their first house burnt down in the Ash Wednesday fires back in 1983. There are wondrous sculptures throughout their garden and a vegetable garden to die for!
And today whilst I was trying to establish some order in my workroom and throw out a lot of paper stuff I have kept for years ( never mind there is still a shed half full!) I found the letter from the electricity authority stating that the electricty to be attached to my block of land is paid for! Hoorah- this was quite a relief as I had no idea where I had put it and was wondering where to start searching. It means my block is more valuable, as all that has to be paid for by anyone who buys it is the connection fee which is nowhere near as expensive as having power put onto a block.
I have also been researching places to live in France- I know I have quite a few French readers so any suggestions would be appreciated. At the moment I would like to rent just to see how things go, but I shall have a 14 year old daughter with me, so she needs to go to school.Her skills at present lie in Art, Music ( piano, guitar and drums) and English( oh and French!).
Hand dyed cotton fabric- 1 metre For Sale $40 Us inclusive of postage
Hand dyed muslin ( light weight pure cotton) 1 metre by 1.4 metres $40 Us inclusive of postage.
We have been away a few days visiting my mother. It always takes some time to settle back in at home after being away, so today we did a lot of setting up my new work room- which had been sadly lagging. I am afraid I am still searching for inspiration. But I need somewhere to work so I need a sewing table set up and a bit of organisation! It is starting to take shape and maybe the feeling that i can work will arrive at the same time!
I found some fabric I had previously dyed which is for sale if anyone is interested. I have one of my blog readers sending domette- I am so happy and I have some interesting things to share tomorrow- not my sewing but fun things anyway! But I did want to share this gorgeous water lily which was in a pond, in the garden of a friend of my mother's. I love the tiny teeny little purple flowers in the foreground- it just adds that little zing to the photo.
Forest Fabric #1 for sale $40.00 US inclusive of postage
Forest Fabric #2 for sale $US 40.00 inclusive of postage
Forest Fabric #3 for sale $40 US inclusive of postage
Palms of Palmyra- stitching
I actually took the dive and did some dyeing the other day. I was a little apprehensive about dyeing as we are on tank rain water here as opposed to the town water I used to be on ( we can also pump from the creek- but I only do that for the vegetable garden). But i need not have worried- the results were good and these forest fabrics remind me of the early morning light shining through trees. I can see lots of light/misty coloured stitching on these.
I have been stitching on my Palms of Palmyra piece- it will take quite some time as it is a big piece.When the weather is good it is hard to sit still for that long- but my penchant for wandering outside may be a little curbed- sigh... Yesterday I went into the vegie patch to tie up one of the tomato plants . I was in my thongs ( flip flops for non-Aussies) and as I stepped I saw the tail of something shiny disappear into the foliage of the next garden bed. At first I thought it was a lizard but no it crossed the path and it was a sleek four foot long brown snake. I managed to scream and stand quaking in my thongs as it disappeared into the tree fern grove. I am absolutely petrified of snakes- fortunately browns are not as aggressive as tiger snakes ( which is the most commonly seen snake here) but they are more poisonous- and I almost stood on one. Needless to say I shall be buying a pair of gum boots today. However I did surprise myself in that I managed to scream- that might not seem to be the best response- but my worst nightmare ( and I do have these nightmares sometimes) is a snake encounter- and I always am mute, unable to scream. Anyway I have decided to use the sprinkler to water the vegies rather than the hose as the tap is not far from the house. The longish grass will also be coming down at a rate of knots!
Rebecca asked how much my Tears piece was- it is $225 US inclusive of postage- a lot of hand stitching in that one.
And Sue offered to get some domette or bump for me- many thanks! I shallof course pay you for it or send something in exchange. I am pretty certain it is called bump and I would love to have two metres of it if at all possible.
I was really pleased to receive a copy of the latest issue of Magic Patch in which they featured my View From the Studio quilt, plus I explained how to go about making a quilt like this. I like how they took the photograph and it is really not that easy to determine where the real foliage ends and where the quilt begins. We did lots of impromptu photographs when I was in St Marie aux Mines for some of the "how to" photos. I borrowed a new Designer machine from Husqvarna France, Magic Patch coralled in their photographer, and I did the sewing ( just as well I had fabric with me)- and people came from far and wide to watch.It was a lot of fun!
The other photo is of a poppy seed pod in my garden- they are so interesting and arresting- kind of a bit mishapen like pomegranates are.
I haven't any work to show as I have been stitching stitching and stitching on my Palmyra Palms piece- it needs a lot of stitching. As i have sat stitching I pondered on the fact that my ode to Syria- Carvanserai- really does contain a lot of hand stitched pieces and was further spurred on by Idaho Beauty's comments : I am continually impressed by what appears to be your fearlessness regarding stitch. It is what sets your work apart and whether it is done by hand or by machine, it is always rich, fascinating and exquisite
Firstly thank you for that very kind comment, however a textile piece for me is usually not complete without the stitching - it is the "extra" dimension and allows me to add my own mark making personal touch. I think the reason why I have used so much hand stitch in the Carvanaserai work has to do with authenticity- so much of what i saw was made by hand in time honoured patterns and traditions, I wanted to relate to the process of the work , though mine is quite different- but I did want to be in tune with the process, with the feeling that went into creating the original pieces.
And lo the stitching has brought another thought racing into my head- Zenobia wants, needs and must have, a travellers blanket- you see she saw the travellers blanket at a banquet she held in his honour to recount his travels- she immediately saw how she could tell the world of her accomplishments and her tavels and battles- she has commanded colour and I am the slave set with the task :-)
However I do need something- I need that curtaining flannel for the batting( it has a special name which I have forgotten). The last lot I bought in England and it was such lovely thick flannel and sews like a dream and has such gorgeous drape. I dyed it but I have none left. If anyone out there prepared to send me some in exchange for something or I can pay...please please please???
I want to wish all of my readers a Happy Safe and Creative 2009! Thank you for reading my blog ,leaving your comments and thoughts and just being my friends! Thank you for your support of my books and cd's and my fabric and even the occasional quilt purchase.
I am afraid 2008 has ended with another sting in the tail- the new old car that I bought as back up is having starter motor problems. So here is hoping it will get to town so I can get it fixed.
I have had several people email me and ask whether 72 More Ways book was a second edition of my first book 72 Ways. It isn't - it is an entirely new book with entirely new ideas for machine quilting/stitching.
I have been stitching and stitching on my tears/lozenge piece as I was determined to finish it before the new year started so I can start on something fresh for 2009.It's all done now and it's for sale if anyone is interested .It measures 18 inches by 12 inches ( 45 cm by 30 cm) and is entirely stiched by hand.
Night Village 100 cm wide x 120 cm long
For Sale $900 US
hand painted and dyed cotton, machine stitching
Close to Damascus many villages dot the hilly landscape, the minartes towering above the villages.
Small Essay
Pattern and Decoration
Last night I sat and played with a photo I had taken in Venice on my recent travels which I had printed onto water colour paper. The image cried out for something more and as I have been struggling with doing anything creative I decided I would “decorate” the photo. Now the word “decorate” is a loaded word, but has been playing in my mind since we have moved and as I am decorating my environment to reflect my interests and things I have collected over the past. The other thought that played in my mind is why hundreds of thousands of people flock to Venice every year- it is a special place, but what makes it so special? Is it the canals, the narrow streets, the lack of cars, the lack of the “modern”? It is, if anything, a highly decorative city- as you walk around it you are charmed by ornately carved balconies,iron filigree, arched doorways- in fact much of Venice is “decorated”. Part of what has been lacking in my process to work, is to let my mind wander around what it is I am creating- my mind has been elsewhere (preoccupied with personal things) and so I made a decision. I would track the way I normally do when I am not preoccupied, which is to research and read and ponder the ideas I want to explore, and let that inform any work I may create. Keeping a journal is part of this process- and I seem to have not done anything journal wise- or hardly anything since about May of this year. So step 1 is to resurrect my journal- doesn’t matter what, and then define key words.
So when I got up this morning the word floating around my head was Decorative Impulse- I googled it and lo it brought forth Pattern and Decoration and a marvelous catalogue (well the articles are very interesting even if the images are missing for copyright reasons):
Contributor Arthur C. Danto, John Perreault, Temma Balducci, Michael Botwinick
Published by The Hudson River Museum, 2007
ISBN 0943651352, 9780943651354
The catalogue does not seem to be available anywhere except as an unprintable pdf- arggghhh. I was particularly interested by the curator Anne Swartz ‘article Pattern & Decoration: An Ideal Vision of American Art which made some interesting points which resonated deeply with the way I think about how I create. I am well aware that my work is often decorative and whilst doing my masters became quite aware that my work was not strictly viewed as art or fine art (whatever those terms may mean). That was fine by my- I like making decorative things, but they are not only just decorative – there is always a discourse or narrative of some sort- it is there if you want to see it, and it is an attempt to distil experience with visual expression- I have also been fortunate to have been exposed to non-western art and know that this has had a decided influence on the way I express myself. The Pattern and Decoration movement in America of the 1970’s was also influenced by other non-western art, particularly Islamic and Asian art largely by the exposure of some of the members of the group to the teaching and mentorship of Amy Goldin, as well as travel. As Joyce Kozloff, one of the main proponent artists of the P&D movement said “I meant the viewer to ‘read’ sequentially. This was my private metaphor for travel, paralleling the experience of walking through a bazaar or the streets of an unfamiliar city, taking in complex and variegated stimuli at unexpected intervals and rhythms”
And Amy Goldin herself said: “Decoration involves the maker in a relationship to the world around him that is much more intimate and practical than the specialized alienated world of professional art. Decoration doesn’t lend itself to artistic ego trips or scientific abstract thought. Instead of seeing yourself as the unacknowledged legislator of the world, you face the requirements of your own environment, the settings of your own life, and the feelings of the people around you. Your job is to clarify and heighten the impact of objects and occasions that already exist, that already have meaning”
So then I looked at each of the individual artists represented in the catalogue and found that few had any web presence and even fewer had images of their work as a body of work- a great pity. I am so used to being able to find so much on the net- and it is not about appropriation, it is about research- looking at how each of the artists has investigated their response to the idea of working with pattern and decoration.
What little I have found will not influence my work but what I did find was, how much I have worked in their mode of thinking without actually having being aware of the Pattern & Decoration movement as such- I was aware of the work of Miriam Schapiro - mostly because of her feminist stance and also with that of Joyce Kozloff for similar reasons and though I was aware that they had been involved in Pattern and Decoration it wasn’t that which had made me look at each of these women. That I work in a manner not dissimilar to Kozloff in what she is attempting to achieve- reading sequentially and a distillation of experience and sensation intrigued me ( all quotes from the afortementioned catalogue article by Anne Swartz)
I am distinctly uncomfortable with minimalist art and spaces- they seem to me to suggest a certain barrenness of soul and thought. Life is a rich experience with so many sensations, inspirations and rhythms: the challenge is how to interpret all those stimuli- pattern and decoration seems to offer a rich underlay with which to work and superimpose those stimuli. I like Goldin’s idea that the P&D artists are distinctly of this world and shaped by their exposure to the things of this world not to some idealized sublime (the Kant formulation has always bothered me as the man never stepped outside of his city and kept to a routine that was forbiddingly severe)- it certainly was in the back of my mind when I was creating the work for Caravanserai- it was influenced by my exposure tocarpets, textiles, ceramics, textsin my travels in the Middle East and Syria- I was not intending to appropriateany art of the region yet I wasinterested insharingthe impact that those travels had by the things I had encountered. So on that note I shall share a substantial portion of my Caravanserai exhibition in pictorial format:
Travellers Blanket 100cm x 120 cm long
Hand dyed cotton musling, hand stitched
SOLD
Ibn Battuta was a famous 13 th century traveller who travelled through the region before Marco Polo and recorded his adventures int eh written form. I like to think of this blanket as a cloth version of such memories- each fragment containing a memory of travels in a time when people did not have journals or pens.
Three panels 30 cm x 40 cm inspired by cross stitch of the region
Eye Idols of Tel Brak 90 cm wide x 140cm long
For Sale $1300US
Hand painted fabric, hand dyed fabric, foiling and machine stitching
This quilt is inspired by the eye idols found at the archeological dig at TelBrak- hundreds were found in the temple area, but no one knos what they were used for. Each one is different and so it si thought they may represent individual worshippers.
Pomegranates 110 cm wide x 110 cm long
Hand dyed cotton, hand painted and machine stitched
For Sale $1250 US
This pomegranate tree created in the tifaifai method is inspired by a roman mosaic I saw at the Museum in Alleppo. This is the positive interpretation.
The Kahn Assad al Pasha- Damascus Photo transfer with Inkaid, cross stitched by hand
30cm x 37 cm
For Sale $250US
Gilgameshs' Horse Blanket 50 cm wide x 140 cm long
Hand dyed silk and machine stitched
The sotry of Gilgamesh is said to be the oldest written story, parts of it are missing, but it does detail a journey into darkness where Gilgamesh has to confront his gods. I think Gilgamesh needed a horse blanket to speed him on his journe
Layers 50 cm wide 140 cm long
SOLD
Inspired by the layers of history presented by Syria
Pomegranates- Small SOLD
Teapots and Rosewater Jug small- SOLD
Magic Carpet 90 cm wide x 120 cm long
Hand dyed cotton and machine Stitched
Fopr Sale $900 US
This quilt is inspired by the masrabeja windows of the region, the colours of a Syrian horse blanket I purchased in Damascus, and a hand printed indigo motif on a fragment of Roman cloth I encountered in the Museum in Damascus
All the Sweet Perfumes of Arabia On Exhibit in the US
Assurbanipal's Horse Blanket 50 cm wide x 140 cm long
Hand dyed silk , machine stitched.
For Sale $800US
In my studies on Syria I came across a picture of the Assyrian king Assurbanipal astride his horse carved in a stone relief( now in the British Museum) dating from the 8th century BC. The Assyrians prided themselves on riding without saddle and when you look at the carved stone relief you will see that there is a horseblanket on the kings horse- to whcich the sculptor has given remarkable detail- Is this the first depiction of a quilt? I have tried to refashion the horse blanket using the patterning as carved
