Busy but not Much to Show

 

I have been busy dyeing fabric for a shop in Melbourne, Patchworks Umlimited in Pascoe Vale. This is the only shop I dye for in Australia- I used to do a lot more but gradually they have all dropped off or are getting their dyed fabrics elsewhere. I drove down to Melbourne yesterday to take the fabrics hoping to get to Zart Art to buy more dyes- but as it was Colac Show Day I took teens with me- not a good idea as the anxiety levels of not getting to the clothing outlet part of the city before closing time got too much and I had to abandon the idea of getting to Box Hill.

I have been sewing up my little story dolls and cats- then spent most of today stuffing them. I have often felt tempted to say when asked "What do I do?" to say "I stuff toys" ( I used to make fish and seahorse stuffed mobile creatures as well) though I have to admit "I dye" usually gets a bit of a startled response! Anyway my dolls are ready for the next stage- the hand embroidery and hand embellishing.This is a job I can do at night ( I tend not to work at night as I work all day) as it is quite relaxing.

I have been trying to organise an airfare to Europe for January- but all the airfares are outrageously expensive and I don't think I can afford to do it- so I think I am going to have to cancel my January classes which is a pity, but I can't see any other way around it. I sometimes wish I had my own wings!

Just....

 

 

 

 

When I thought..... all the last drawings and amendments to text for the book have gone off to France and I could breathe a sigh of whatever, I find out this morning that Editions de Saxe have been bought by another company. The General Manager has gone ( he was the one I dealt with) and there is a new one. The contract is signed but I only sent it on the day I left Europe- so it should be there- they had already signed. We had amended the contract as I wanted to keep the English rights until such time as they published the book in English. So now what?? I was hoping the advance would pay for my trip to Europe in January. Hopefully I might find out more tonight- but it just shows how precarious things can be and if the thing is scrapped I will have to cancel my trip :-(

So I decided to make some more of my griot dolls and sone of the cats (one as a thank you gift to some acquaintances in Austria who kindly sent soem Halloween things for the kids). I sold a couple of the dolls when I was overseas- people seem to genuinely like them . So I decided to sell them through the blog as well.! They are $55 US inclusive of postage (airmail). I carved a new figure as I want a variety of faces and patterning as well.

Things left Behind

 

 

I haven't created anything new since being back because I have had to sit and do all the working drawings for my book Seventy Two Ways which will be published in French in January. Serves me right- I thought I would get away with drawing by simply sewing- but not so- they also wanted drawings as well as drawings indicating sewing directions. So I have had to sit and draw these very neatly ( and you know my drawing with the sewing machine is much better than by hand!) it is done- I also had to be more instructional in the descritpions accompanying each square- in the english version I sort of presumed that the people who would be buying the book would already know some of the things, however Editions de Saxe caters to a much wider market than I might reach, so I have had to be much more didactic than I might ordinarily have been. But it is all done- all I have to do is load some images of some of my machine quilted pieces onto a cd and it is ready to send off tomorrow!.

I leave a lot of my things in Europe at my aunts- I get snagged by way too many books- you know how it is- fishing line with attractive book at the end and when I was in Syria I was given a number of artists books as well. I brought one of them home this time. The book was released to accompany the exhibition of the work of Abdullah Murad and is wonderful. I share two images here. The blue one was entrancing- it was quite big and had I had the money I would have bought it. It is composed of so many layers, so many drifts of ideas, a langauge beyond langaue and yet it also captures the presence of Syria/of a Syrian artist working with layers of story and history- I loved it. The other thing I much admired in Murad's work was his masterly use of yellow- it reminded me so of Bonnard whose use of yellow is wonderful.

One of the things I noticed when I visited Artisan Bookshop in Melbourne just before I left, was how miserly the books on quilting are. By this I mean they were all soft back slim volumes on one technique yet many of the other books in the shop also relating to areas of art and craft were substantial weighty beautiful books. I think we are selling ourselves short- by allowing publishers to dictate the quick and speedy way of publishing. I don't mind if it relates to one technique but when the book contains substantial work it desreves better than a slim soft cover volume. So this thought has been ruminating in my mind- as I have been trying to think of ways I can make a catalogue to accompany my exhibition in Munch next year- and I am leaning to hand made books- I know it is a kind of expensive exercise- but if the content is good and the work even goes vaguely halfway to capturing what I have been imagining then it is worthy of something more than a mere invite. Anyway I have still got the thinking cap on , and maybe it is too big an ask. I am thinking limited edition catalogue. Ok off for a glass of champers!

Some things from my Trip

The first photo is of a piece of Kuba cloth which scomes from the Congo. I bought it at Val d'Argent.It is a technique peculiar to the Kuna people , and I have not heard of any other people working with this particular technique. The ground fabric is woven from raffia and then embroidered with raffia- the embroidery is then cut to create the chenille effect. I love the slight irregularity of the shapes which gives it a certain motion. I was very happy to get a piece of Kuba as slowly I am building up a small collection of all sorts of indigenous textiles.

the se=cond piece is some fabric I dyed the day I met with Laura and Annette Jeukens. I couldn't take it with me at the time as it was still wet but Laura kindly sent it to me. It is painted with Trapsuutjies opaque textile paints and fabric liners( copper is the colour I used) I really like this piece of cloth but have not decided what i shall do with it. Oh and btw Trapsuutjies website is now also in English ( and hopefully soon in French as well)

Back in Australia

 

 

 

 

The photos above are from a small textile museum in Hard near the Boden See in Austria.This particular area developed as a textile printing area after a person moved to this area from the great Mulhouse printing factories sometime in the 1700's. The area was chosen for it's pure water which was also ultimately to cause its demise in the 1860's with local town councillors voting to close the industry due to the polluting of the water system. The museum is small but well worth a look if you are in the area- they had a very good video showing the carving of the blocks and transfer of designs and showing the actual printing process and mordanting process for silks ( and much of the mordanting of natural dyes uses urine- for example woad uses bovine urine, and workers associated with the industry often had derogatory names assigned to them because of the odour of urine) as well as a very nice collection of printing blocks and fabrics printed in the region.Wood block carving was a much sought after profession in that it paid three times the money than ordinary work in the textile industry and was done in well lit warm and dry environments. One did a three year apprenticeship upon which one was given or bought ( I am not sure which as my German is a bit rusty)a box of tools as seen in the photo. This enabled woodblock carvers to travel with their tools to various areas and of course resulted in a cross fertilisation of patterns and designs.

I am back after a long journey home not helped by a train strike in France ( my intended way of getting to the airport which had to be changed to hire car as I did not want to miss my plane as it had been incredibly difficult to get a fare home in the first place), to being told the plane was too full and that I would have to fly with a partner airline( which was fine by me) to being told at the last minute they did have a seat for me, arriving in Doha late and having to scuttle to catch the next leg of my flight to find my luggage missing on arrival in Bangkok. I was a bit overwhelmed by Bangkok-the noise and dirt and its skyscrapers- giving an outward appearance of western affluence ( why is this so desired- I find modern western cities soulless) but concealing poverty- and the number of shops selling designer clothing ( how many of these outlets are there worldwide of these overpriced items- there are whole cities that exist on selling hotels and designer malls to tourists- Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Bangkok and no doubt many others).I had hoped to buy some silks but I didn't get to the markets . Then I flew home on Jetstar- and from my point of view never again! The plane was fine but having to pay for meals and drinks on a reasonably long haul flight when you are tired and just want to get home is not my cup of tea. Not only that I used my frequent flyers points for this leg- and my grumble is -- I earned those points on more expensive fully catered flights - yet I get to spend them on a lowcost flight with no services!Thanks Qantas!

So I am home- have to finish drawings for my Seventy Two Ways book to send to France- my book contract is signed for the French edition of the book! Also waiting upon my arrival home was lovely already coloured lutradur/polyester non-woven fabric purchased by one of my students from Paris ( Thank You Catherine!)in a Toto of all places ( though in a sense not surprising as Toto's seem to have all manner of things fabric). Catherine sent me yellow, orange and red- which saves me having to colour the first application before applying the next layer of colour/designs with transfer paints.

Marion tagged me for a meme- but as i can't think of an unsual fact about myself and I haven't yet got around to thinking of any other facts.

And I will be going back to Europe in late December/January and giving more classes so if you are interested please contact me!

Painting Fabric

Yesterday I went to Laura Liebenberg's atelier and Annette Jeukens ,Laura and I had a play day. We made hand made paper in all sorts of colours and then also painted some fabric with Laura's paints ( see the link under Trapsuutjies- blogger won't allow me to make a live link and Annette also has a blog- again see the link column) Laura also has pearlescent inks now ,which are terrifc on dark colours. I couldn't bring both pieces I painted home as one was too wet, but the one pictured will get a lot of handstitching at some stage- it is again an exploration on cross stitching.I had to come home earlier than I wanted as the files( traffic jams) and the Antwerp ring around five are not fun!

Reporting In

I have finally found a small amount of time to report in. It has been hectic, and I have been trying to find an airfare back home ( somehow I mucked up my frequent flyer returns last year) which has been a little difficult as it meant I was returning from europe instea dof Australia, and airfares from here have hit stratospshere highs no doubt caused by the rugby world cup and the Australian penchant for all things sport!

However Ste Marie aux Mines was as always fun if tiring- a full teaching schedule plus friends to catch up with. I had a rather bad experience getting to Europe- lots of excess luggage costs etc etc- however the first day in France was topped off by a prize in the Councours this year "A Garden Passionately"- my quilt "The View from my Studio"or whatever I called it won a new machine from Husqvarna- the quilts in this exhibition were very good so I was really surpised and thrilled to win a prize.However now I have the dilemna- keep the machine here in Europe or sell it- I think the second option is winning at the moment- so if anyone is interested in a brand new machine in Europe.....

Then I taught in Belgium this last weekend for a group where I have taught before. the good thing about return teaching is you get to know the people you are working with and they get to know you- and they really did some wonderful things last weekend.
Plus Therese Keppens the organiser, organised for me to see several lace related things- and I am back in love with lace. We went to the Carolus Borromeus Church in Antwerp and their lace room- seriously if you are ever in Antwerp on a Wednesday see the lace room- seventeenth century- stunnning stunning lace- to die for gorgeous stuff and because it is all seventeetnh century you can see how lace evolved in that century.Then onto the Mode Museum in Antwerp and some private viewings of Binche and Valenciennes lace and the curator giving so much of her time and so much information- it was wonderful to be in the presence of people so passionate about lace with such incredible knowledge.So the first photo is of the church and the second is of lace worked in metal thread from the eighteenth century- little survives because the metal corroded away-but isn't it fantastic?( and yes it's upside down) This piece was from the Mode Museum who are updating their website.

I am going to be in Italy after 9 Octber- so if anyone in Italy would like a class- contact me- long story as to why I will be there- it's for another time.

A Bower Birds Dance Hall

 

I really haven't time to blog today but we found a Satin Bower birds bower today in the undergrowth on our nature strip. The satin bower bird male is a deep blue black satin colour and has violet eyes. Only the mating male turns this colour - all the immature and non mating males and females look the same- they are khaki and brown sort of banded. They are a reasonably big bird being slightly smaller than a crow. The male builds the bower in order to perform his mating dance and strews the surrounds with all things blue- to make the place more enticing.They are also a nuisance particularly as this is not their normal habitat- they are normally forest birds but because of the logging they have come into the valley- I doubt that they will leave when the logging stops. They are voracious eaters and will hollow out a carrot in the ground.

I have dyed fabric today- the fabric i ordered recently (4 bolts) must have contained two bolts of a different cotton ( and it feels a slightly different weight)- it has dyed nowhere near as nicely as the first two bolts. Now it has to be washed and then ironed.It will be a late night. Then there is all the packing to do- just as well I don't leave until late tomorrow- though I have to get to my fathers by mid afternoon. Packing clothes is no big deal- two pairs of jeans, 4 t-shirts, a jumper and jacket I will wear. I hate travelling with too many clothes- waste of space and if I need anything I can always buy it.


I will try and blog if I can, but being able to load photos is always a hassle. I will be back Ocotber sometime- when I book my ticket back- because of the Rugby world cup in France this is proving more expensive and difficult than anticipated.

My Talk/Lecture

 

I have been working on my lecture- the powerpoint is done and the notes are written- just needs a nights' sleep before I do the final edit and send it for translation. I ended up with 100 slides in the presentation- some I can work /talk through fast as they show progressions form inspiration to interpretation, some not so fast as so much of my work contains stories thatare inspired byt the original textiles or traditions assocaited with textiles. But the thought that struck me was that maybe I should make a cd of the presentation with the text as appendix and sell it? Would you buy it if you had been to a lecture and someone was selling a cd of their talk?( Given off course that I might not inspire a single soul- but that's my risk)

I don't think I have ever shown an image of this quilt before which is called "At Our House Under the Stars the Tree Spirits Dwell". It is actually pieced which is a bit unusual for me :-) and is the basis of a workshop I teach called Breaking All the Rules. I am absolutely useless at making anything meet- well i can but it is a stressful experience so I would rather not go there- so this is about making nothing meet and seeing whether you can still get geometric effect.It is also inspired by the Adinkra cloths of West Africa where geometry is loose and bends all the rules but the effect certainly appeals to me- but this one is about our own story.My middle daughter drew the tree spitrits when she was four- we always used to knock on trees and ask "Is anyone home?"- it was surprising how many things are at home in a tree!

Coppery Evening Light

 

These trees are up the back of our property and when the sun sets- there is a short moment when they glow all coppery. The colours are wonderful but it is only fleeting. I have worked all day but have nothing to show for it.I think I will get it all done if I abandon doing a few things, but it will be hectic as always.

I have decided dh can have the shed seeing he has invaded it- it was to be my studio where I could teach and even hang some of my work- but I haven't the energy to fight for the space after the last year (which has been a year I would rather forget- too much pain and hurt and too many losses and deaths and major illnesses and surgeries for parents and partners)- so I will have to think of something else- hopefully something will strike me when I am overseas.Something fresh and new- perhaps the solution is to find a studio space away from home so that it can't be invaded- but unfortunately Colac does not appeal to me, and there is very little else. I still would like to live in France but unfortunately my children don't want to go which means I have to stay here at least some of the time, and keep doing what I have been for the time being which is pretty exhausting. I am taking so many things with me for workshops that I really should have some of my supplies over there- ready to go- fortunately the suppliers I use in Europe have been very helpful in getting stuff to places I need it ( thanks Trapsuutjies and Dreamline!)- but it all takes a lot of organising. Sometimes I think I should set up an Art Van Go style thing on the continent- but I don't really want to be a mobile shop keeper.

I love making, creating, and I love to teach- but I teach in blocks so that I have time to create, I couldn't teach every weekend. Teaching takes a lot of energy, not only in what you deliver but also in how you deliver yourself- you need to be calm,helpful, and hopefully inspiring- and inspiration levels differ form day to day- but when you teach this is what you have to deliver- you have to work out the energy levels of your students, work out who needs to be helped, who will fly, who will struggle and yet hopefully offer something for everyone.Personally I would love to teach many more 5 day classes where you have a chance to get to know your students better and learn what risks they are prepared to take so that you can actually be more useful in providing triggers and inspirations- one day workshops barely allow you to remember half a dozen names- really when I think about it, unless it is a specific technique ( and I do teach some of those) one day workshops are about skimming the surface.

Not Getting as Much Done as I Would Like

 

 

Ackkk- I had hoped to be much further along in the quilting of my rocks piece- but other things intervened. I did dye about 25 metres of fabric but I will have to wash it tomorrow, ran out of time- and then I have some more to dye. I did do some quilting but not enough. There is always so much to do before I go away- like go to town and stock up the freezer and make sure that the kids school lunches are covered for the next two weeks. Have to cook some lasagna's before I go and a few other things too.IN fact I am always so frantic that getting onto that plane is like a big sigh and rest. There is nothing to do for 24 hours.

Today a book I ordered "Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra " came in the post- it is much too late now for me to work on my Syrian journal project- it will have to wait until I get back. The sellers said it was published in 1890- but I can't find a date anywhere in the book,, though the frontice piece is very charming and there are some old photos of Palmyra. It will be good to have it there when I get back .

Big Rocks Little Rocks

 

I have been stitching on the rock quilt- I always love the way stitching changes the surface. I worry that doing very little pieceing or appliqueing is in a way cheating ( though the dyeing takes some doing and planning), but then when the stitching goes in I lose that concern- because it really adds so much interest to the surface. And I finally have my machine back from its service and it is running very smoothly- though the working conditions are far from ideal- work table much too high.

It takes up quite a lot of my day having Celeste here doing work experience- although she made a very nice party dress today- that she mostly designed herself with a bit of help from me. Black and with tulle- I am trying to convince her to make a "lace" wrap, but she is not convinced or to make a embellished belt.

Not long to go until I go overseas- and panic has set in- I will get the Rocks quilt done without any problems but there is still a lot of other things to do- like write up my talk- though I have nutted out largely what I want to do- still it has to be written up. And I did want to make some more postcards with pomegranates- the pomegranates ar eprinted- but they still have to be sewn.

Work Experience

 

 

 

My eldest daughter Celeste is on work experience this week but unfortunately she could not find her preferred experience locally ( drafting or architecture- which is a bit sad really- that local people won't support young people more) so I agreed to let her do the experience with me on the proviso that she really made some things. She decided she would rather do clothing-so I said ok but it needed to include some screen printing ( gocco or thermafax) and some art to wear. The photos are the little screen she made to print on t-shirts and the resulting printed t-shirt. She is chuffed and I think she did a great job!

More rocks

I have been doing some more silk dyeing because what I had in mind has been growing. Gerrie was quite right when she said the process of surface design is often ruled by the serendipity priniciple- which is half the fun- and that therefore it is difficult to surface design with something specific in mind. However that serendipity factor did in the end play a role. I had another go at the orange and black- but had a small piece of silk left from some other thing which had not worked out- so I decide to tie some rocks into it and put on the black dye. I really liked what happened to that piece and it suddenly changed rocks into strata of rocks- and so I tied and dyed the other top sil piece today as I could see it merging into blue. I think it now needs some vertical movement- which I may do with heavy stitching or with torn twined silk.

On Friday I had a delivery of threads from Downunderdale- I often use Victory machien embroidery threads from the Threadstudio in Perth- and always take some with me when teaching due to the fact that Europe does not have the most brilliant selection of threads- or not that I have found. I know there is a wonderful silk place in Paris but I have lost the address. But I also ordered one of the Khadi journals. Khadi is hand made paper form the south of India and is made from recycled cotton rag. I am not sure what it is but i really like working with it- you can also sew on it quite happily- another plus.

Another Try

 

 

I had another ago at tieing the stones in the silk cloth- this one was a little more successful but again the black seemed to seep much more than I wanted- it has created a nice piece of cloth but not quite what I had in mind. The effect I was trying to get was to make a small journal piece inspired by the marvellous wooden door from Damascus- these doors are so big and heavy and wonderful- I liked this one because of the panels. I also want to make a larger piece for an invitational I have been asked to participate in later this year in France, creating work inspired by the word Pierre- I wanted to get the feel of rocks and earth . But it also looks very carpet like very organic- I think it could look wonderful with some hand stitching- not quite sure what thread yet.

Blood Plum Blossom

 

The fabric did not turn out as expected- hmph! i will have to tie rocks again tomorrow. The thing I did wrong was not to dry it immediately so the black seeped into most areas and there is only minor contrast- a very nice piece of darkish silk, but not what I was wanting. Perhaps it will be nice to print the lino cut I showed from last week onto the piece in a pearlescent soft orange.

Spring is bursting here- finally- as I walk around and around our block ( after nearly being run over on the road a few years ago) i wear a track around the perimeters of our block- yes a bit nutso but beats being run over! Anyway on my route are some of our plum trees- and they are in full bloom at the monent- the scent is heavenly and the bees are buzzing!

The results

 

 

 

I used 572 beans to be exact- and fortunately it did not take as long to untie as it did to tie. I also had to use the hairdryer to get the silk dry.The orangey/terracotta piece is what I ended up with. I had hoped the black would be a little more dramatic because as you can see the beans were quite black before I steamed them. The contrast is better than on the photos- the sheen of the silk seems to diminsih the contrast when phtographing. The othe rpiece is a piece of silk I tied rocks into. I have painted it and am waiting for it to dry. I tried reversing the colours - whether that worked or not remains to be seen.

I have started walking again now that the weather is better-I must get better and walk in bad weather too. But it is good to be out walking again- - hope to build up to 10,000 dedicated step walks by the weekend as I want to get in a bit of foot toughening for Europe. I always find I do more walking in Europe than here. The towns there lend themselves so much more to walking andgetting things- and then there is Paris- walkers paradise!

Tieing Beans into Silk

 

 

 

 

I have been tieing dozens of beans ( berlotti and canneloni) into silk with nylon knitting thread. Tomorrow I will dye it. It was so sunny the last couple of days that I was in a colour mood again- but alas today it was overcast with a bit of drizzle- grey day. This method of dyeing silk works best when its very sunny and it dries quickly.If its overcast again tomorrow I will perhaps use a hair dryer to get it dry. Any guesses for how many Beans I tied into the piece of silk- which was 50 cm by 120 cm long? It took quite some time!

I also hand printed some pomegranates- I want to make more pomegranate postcards to take to Europe with me. I also have a couple of dye orders ( small ones to complete) but I keep putting it off- sometimes it is hard doing those have to jobs.

I did sew some lettuce ( 3 different varieties) radicchio, tatsoi, cabbage and celery yesterday- hope it all comes up. The drizzle should do it good.