Jobs that Need Doing

 

I have been doing taxes all day- I am running behind and simply must get them done.I don't think I could ever have been an accountant.The trouble is I get such a mental block about them that I put it off and off- in the end it isn't anywhere near as horrendous as I thought, but it still takes time. My promised reward is to finally do some work on the book I am working on with Marion Barnett, and to do some freeform cross stitching on the last piece for Lyon so I can courier all my pieces at the end of the week.

So I am sharing some pics of what is in my garden right now- gum nuts- these are quite big - about 4-5 cm in diameter, and they become all sorts of hidey holes for all sorts of insects. The other leaves are box gum and the red leaves are from the grape vine.

Then next week I can get on with new work- work I want to do and work which I have been itching to get to- but first I have to do all the have to's.

The country count has been slowly climbing to 120. There is said to be 194 countries in the world so only 74 to go!I would really love to know more about how these people come to visit the blog. When I was a child I used to spend time writing lists of countries and their capitals so this reminds me of that game.

Student Work from the Weekend

 

 

I have been away for the weekend teaching in Braidwood, a small country town between Canberra and Nowra. It is a delightful town with many historic buildings ( I was lucky to stay in the old Post Office residence which has been beautifully renovated whilst keeping its old world charm) and I was teaching at Braidwood Townstay, which is an old bank building, the downstairs part of which contains a wonderful space in which to teach or utilise as a retreat space for a group in which to work, a lounge and diningroom and kitchen and , an upstairs part that sleeps eight people ( or more with some foldout beds). Kate Marshall is the delightful owner of the space, and it is her dream to see the space utilised for all sorts of textile activities. From a teaching point of view- the space was big with great design walls, well lit and warm ( important on cold winter mornings). Some of the students stayed in the accommodation and were able to keep working until all hours ( yes you Gerda and Carmel) and got up at sparrows fart to do even more sewing!

The collages are the work students who did the tifaifai workshop. I was delighted that nearly all students created their own designs ( in fact several had come along with designs already done- some even with two!!!!)I was also delighted that many of the students attached both the positive and negative of their tifaifai cutouts to backgrounds. I have to say Gerda and Carmel worked like trojans to get both panels sewn- and they were up late but lightened the load with a bit of bubbly here and there( and they even offered the tutor some ). The red and blue work and the green and red work in the second collage are by Carmel and Gerda respectively.Well done!!! Gerda also showed me ( and then gave me) some printouts she had made of my blog- wow- I have always thought of my blog as an internet thing- never thought to print it out- but the images were better quality than I would have thought, and well the whole thing was so booklike- it really blew me away to see my blog like that.And here I have been wondering what to do about another book???

I also visited Braidwood Print and Bookroom- a small company that did print its own limited edition artists and writers bookson their own printing press, but now also publishes books of essays one of which I bought entitled "When Books Die" 15 Essays edited by Finlay Lloyd published by Finlay Lloyd ISBN 0-9775677-0-2. The front cover flap ( and I just adore front cover flaps for starters) says;"The future of the book may be equivocal but its continuing power is demonstrated here by fifteen contributors to this collection of essays who examine,play with,and question the role and fate of reading in an electronic age." They also sell many other books- in fact their shelves looked a bit like my wishlistfor literature and philosophy!
There are other lovely businesses in Braidwood- cafe's, secondhand bookshops and small galleries with all manner of interesting objects and art and two patchwork shops. So if your group would like to have a retreat- i can't recommend it highly enough!

Finished

 

I am just about out the door to go and teach in Braidwood for three days. It takes 2.5 hours to get to the airport, so there is still a bit of a drive before I hop on that plane! I know I have shared a picture of All the Sweet Perfumes of Arabia before but it wasn't finished at that time- it is now. All the hand quilting is done, the binding is on and it really does remind me of Damascus- the rich colours of the old decorations and ceramics and of course the textiles, the density of the smell of perfume- the layers and layers of history and stories.

Got to keep packing!

Yep and I am still looking to rent a small place in France for awhile- a year or two at least.

Stone Angel Panel Done for Lyon

 

 

Thank you all for all the supportive comments and thank you Red Shoes for your comments on your blog. The Dordogne is a favourite area of ours , though our accommodation ran to tents! And yes the forest fabric has a much more European forest feel than Australian forest.

I have finally finished the Stone Angels panel- I am not sure why it has taken so long, but there have been many disruptions to the week , and I have also been dyeing fabric to take up to the workshop I am teaching in Braidwood this weekend.The fabric has to be ironed tonight so I gues it might be a late night!

When I was teaching in france Genevieve Verrier mentioned an artist whom I had not encountered before. The last couple of days I have spent sometime researching Simon Hantai- he was Hungarian by birth but lived in France from 1949. I find his work very interesting because though abstract he has crossed the boundary from painting into the actual materiality of the canvas he is using. There is a very interesting article on his work on the website I have linked. Hantai worked by first folding his canvas then applying the paint and then unfolding the resultant painting and stretching it. The positive and negative spaces both came into play in an interesting way- suggesting pattern and repeats but in actual fact being random. Hantai shapes are also reminsicent of Matisse's cutouts and how they floated in the space of his canvas. The reason I am interested in his work is the use of positive negative space, but also it is in essence how I dye fabric often- letting the folds of the fabric and the cursory manipultions I make have a role in the final appearance- though of course the dye reacts differently with the fabric than paint does with canvas- still.... some food for thought methinks..... and of course then there is shibori- which relies entirely on folding, stitching and manipulations for effect.

Summer Forest

Summer Forest- but which one? I dyed some fabric with the intent of forest- these seem like summer forests to me- and I have to think of some shapes to float over the top- but they are so much like a summer morning as the sun lights through the trees- actually it reminds me a little of the woods around Chateau de Chassy in the Morvan.But which wood to chose?

Sorry about the rant yesterday- I receive a very small amount of parenting payment( not the full amount ) for my children- but it seems that with the new rules that I am expected to earn money, even though I am earning some money , in the eyes of the government it is not enough- it seems that that amount has been specified by the government to be 30 hours per week at a rate of $13.00 per hour ( I think that is what they said)- my business does not earn that amount in a week- in fact it would be lovely if it did. I have worked hard for the last 12 years at getting to where I am, paid taxes as well- with little children around my feet and working in a tiny space ,I even did a Masters degree ( and worked at my business during the whole time) in the hope of perhaps getting some work in the tertiary sector- but that is a field of diminishing jobs.To give that up now to do some other kind of paid job( what kind of employment could I get in this place in any case, and I certainly don't want to go back to being a solicitor) seems kind of crazy so I guess I will forego the parenting payment. It seems that I can walk into many places overseas- that my curating is respected- but not here in my own country. So much for the governments cry of aiding small business.There is very little support for the arts by our governement and what support there is usually goes to arts administration rather than to the practising artists. If it wasn't for the fact that I have some wonderful artist friends I would say that we are becoming a country of philistines- where everything is part of the money equation except sport- where no outcome is worthy unless it has a dollar value and the bigger the dollar value the more "worthy" the outcome.

Anyway that brings me to another matter- perhaps leaving the country- it is a thought that has crossed my mind before- I have so much more work in Europe, but my children go to school here, though they are also getting more independent and mature.The fields of study they are expressing interest in are probably also better catered for in Europe.

I think the solution is to rent a small place in France for awhile-in the countryside, that I can use to store my teaching materials and where I can work and have a sewing machine. Can anyone give me suggestions as to how I might go about this? Does anyone have a small house I could rent?

Another Stone Angel Panel

 

I have to make work for the Magic Patch Quilt Expo in Lyon for later in June of this year. A lot of my work is on display at Sophie Gelfi's Gallery in la Bourboule and still some more work at Centre Europeen du Patchwork in Salleles d'Aude ( only about 4 pieces there) . This means I am a bit thin on the ground for actual work I can send. I also want to send pieces involving lutradur as Marion Barnett and I are working on a book on that subject and what better way to show the variations possible with lutradur than in exhibition pieces. Marion has also created pieces using lutradur which you can see on her blog.

So when we got home to lots of ill health with parents I sort of felt like I had been hit by a bulldozer and it was very difficult to find the wherewithall to do any work whatsoever.However tucked amongst some lutradur pieces I worked on last year I found a long stone angels panel which had not been quilted. So of course it asked to be quilted- and not only that, I happened to have exactly the right coloured background piece at exactly the right length- so I think this piece was asking for itself to be worked on , to soothe the spirit and carry hopes to the cosmos.

I also have to write some articles about Across Australia this week- the deadline is 1 June. I had hoped that Across Australia might travel to the US-one Museum has given its yes approval but another museum is not so forthcoming. Unfortunately there are not the funding opportunities here, that could support the project travelling to the US- as always I am stuck in a difficult place because I chose to curate as an individual rather than as an organisation which limits the funding I can apply for. And then today I have to have an interview with centrelink about Newstart- they think I should be looking for a job- I have tried to explain before that I do run a business, that yes it's income is not great( how many artists have a living wage income? for starters the daily teaching fee suggested by Ozco- the national body for visula arts and crafts has not altered for 20 years- how many other professions have had no pay increase for 20 years?), and the exhibitions I travel overseas bring much goodwill and indeed Across Australia's travels in the Middle East did much to open eyes to the sheer beauty of Australia- all this without a cent of government funding!! Sense of Place likewise did much to promote good will and certainly has created an opening for rapport between Syrian and Australian artists- again without a cent of government funding.I think sometimes I need my head read as to why I continue to do this, because though I have been fortunate to be able to privately fundraise ( with the help of a grant from Victorian Quilters for Across Australia and a scholarship from OZquilt Inc for Sense of Place) the costs of airfares, much of the time I spend with the exhibitions is all unpaid work.Yet so positive is the response to the Australian work that I have curated that it becomes its own kind of enthusiasm generator and before I know it I have said yes to another project.Anyway how do I explain all this to a public servant tied to a desk?

Fabric I Dyed

 

 

The fabric in the photo is a piece of fabric I dyed the other day. One of the things I love about dyeing is that there is no such thing as a failed piece of fabric. This piece started as a failed piece of gray ( and as I was low on fabric and itching to get back to dyeing I resurrected it again). The gray had gone too green and had become nondescript- pale yuk .This was also the fabric that was not behaving very nicely in the dyeing process before I went away- or I wasn't gettting the results I normally do- I am thinking the water might have been the culprit after all- with high levels of chlorine to counter algination in the summer heat- because the piece that is in the photo is back to the old definitions of colour contrast- in actual fact the piece in the flesh is even more contrasty as to what I see on the monitor.

We have had a lot of rain during the week has has brought forth a multitude of different mushrooms. I wish I knew more about mushrooms, I have always been fascinated by them. This little red one came up almost overnight- along with other family members- but something is eatig them- so if we find hallucinating bushrats around ( whom I suspect of being the culprits) I will know why!

Went to see Pirates of the Carribean III- The Worlds End last night- story crazy and all over the place as the previous two- but wonderful nonetheless! I loved the Singapore scenes- so visually rich and textural and the costumes that went with that segment of the film.

Antique Salt Bags

 

 

I purchased these antique salt bags from a textile restorer Ahmad al Nakhal who runs a small shop near the Jeron Gate behind the Omayad Mosque in Damascus. I was introduced to Ahmad by Monika Spahl a German textile artist living in Damascus ( her work is wonderful). His collection of tribal rugs and salt bags and cushion covers was seriously wonderful and he was very knowledgeable about them all. The bags i purchased are between 60-80 years old and are Turkoman ( it is difficult to get textiles woven in Syria these days) Ahmad also proved to be a very skilled textile restorer and he showed us how he went about it and he told us how he had learnt his trade starting as a boy of 10 and gradually becoming so impassioned by the textiles themselves that he not only reached a very high level of skill in restoration but also in knowledeg of the different weavings from the region. We spent many delightful hours in Ahmad's shop,hearing stories of how he collected and stories of his childhood and modern day life in Damascus. If anyone should go to Syria his shop is well worth a visit- he may not be the cheapest woven textile seller in Damascus but his textiles are genuine and he can tell you so much about them. His little library of books was also wonderful and I wished I had written down all the titles.

I chose these particular salt bags because they were so colourful- and of course I like anything wioth woven reds or terracotta colours.

Doors

 

 

 

 

The photo of the quilt is a piece I finished just before I left Australia- there is also an earlier photo on the blog. When I arrived in Damascus I found that the gallery space had doubled since I saw it last year and Sense of Place had been put together with the previous space in mind- so I was lucky I had with me a suitcase full of work destined for Sophie Gelfi's Gallerie du Splendid in La Bourboule in the Auvergne in france, which fit the extra space nicely. It helped that some of the work was about Syria as this piece was. It looked so much better with proper lighting- it made it much more multilayered somehow as the lights caught the glints of foiling in the background and created much deeper shadows in the areas of stitching.

I love doors, and thankfully there is a world heritage order on the old city of Damascus so that you can still find wonderful enormous old doors. The patterning on the doors is often intricate, sometimes ornate, and the doorways says something about the place you are entering! The Rajabs of the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait have written a wonderful book about "The Carved Wooden Doors of Kuwait.the Gulf & Yemen" ( ISBN994885149-8, it is available form the museum website) and unfortunately most old things inKuwait have been bulldozed in a bid for modernisation in the 1960's. Whilst there are similarities with the doors of Damascus there are differences too- for example decoration reached an amazing level of intricacy and skill in Damascus and this can bee seen in many place including some of the interiors. Many of the old beits ( courtyarded houses ) are being restored as restaurants ( where at least the ordinary bod like me can still see some of the wonderful decorated ceilings and arches) or luxury hotels which I am never likley to see the interior of, as I travel on budget.

The weekend of 31 May to 2 June i shall be teaching in Braidwood at Braidwood Townstay. Tifaifai ( a two day workshop) and transfer printing and stitching a one day workshop. I will be teaching at the residential workshop the brainchild of Kate Marshall and her sister and you can see details in the link I have given. There are still a few places if you are interested.

Here is the photo of the chopped up Roman columns

 

They make rather a sturdy wall don't they?

What to do with Pesky Roman Pillars When They Fall Down

 

 

 

 

I want to share some photos of stone carved patterns in Palmyra- it is one of those places ,it drags you in- you touch the pillars and hear the whispers of the ancients.As you rub the stone worn smooth by centuries of sandstorms and the hands of ancients you wonder who exactly touched these? It is hard to imagine why the Romans built such a large complex - after all it is in rugged terrain 100's of kilometers from anywhere. It is, and was an oasis , but an oasis can only support so many people, it was on the silk route- but if you look at a map it does not appear to be in a direct line from one place to another or maybe some of the other places have disappeared under the sands of time? Much of Palmyra was submerged under sand until the early 1950's. It appears to have been settled for centuries before the Romans, and whilst the Romans did conquer they never did quite manage to completely subdue the local population who were of an individualistic bent.
Indeed the city's heroine is Zenobia ( though there were rumours that she was implicated in her husbands death. Her husband was one of the Roman governors) She was a headstrong and powerful woman. It is thought that the bend in the central avenue of Roman columns was probably due to the individualsitic bent of the Palmyrans under Zenobia's rule, though no one is sure.


"Palmyra's greatest days however were after the murder of Odeinat, when his wife Zenobia started ruling Palmyra on behalf of her son Vaballath. Zenobia with the help of her Prime Minister Longinus extended Palmyrean power to the west and took over Bosra and occupied as far as Egypt (269-270), then she headed for the north and attempted to take Antioch. This sudden expansion posed a threat for the Romans, and after two years in 272 of being flexible Aurelian retaliated and took back Antioch then Emesa (Homs) and then Palmyra itself. Zenobia tried to escape but was captured and was taken back to Rome as a prisoner."
Today many Palmyrans proudly insist that they are Arameans.

After the Romans left , others came including some that thought that chopping the huge stone pillars into sections would make an excellent wall- admittedly it does create a rather lovely effect ( see thephoto in the next post), but when you thinking of soaring stone colums it is a rather sad end.

Thank you for all your good wishes- Collin's mother is slowly improving, there is still a long way to go.

Work but not of the Textile kind

 

 

I came home to some of the garden still bearing vegetables- tomatoes, peppers, chillies, eggplant and herbs . I was expecting them to be all finished up but managed to pick about 10 kg of tomatoes which will need to be processed. I will also make some lebanese eggplant pickle with the eggplants- although there is not many of them.

Sometimes the generosity of students blows me away- this doll was made edspecially for me from fabrics this student made in the printing workshop I taught in Palaiseau and is the work of Veronique Douillet. I had greatly admired the dolls she had made with the embroidered squares for the fundraising project Pascale Goldenberg organised for the Afghan women. Veronique's dolls were a total delight, picking up on the patterning of the individual embroideries, giving the embroideries centre stage as part of the dolls clothing, but somehow imprinting her own personality and skills to complement. All her work is by hand, and her quilts are likewise quirky and wonderful- alas she does not have a website as far as I know . I hope to see more of this wonderful work in the future and feel lucky to have the doll. Thank you Veronique!

Back Home

 
 
 

It is hard to know where to begin- we are exhausted after our flight which we spent worrying about health problems which have emerged in the last week for my mother-in-law and father .So after a quick snooze ,Collin has gone to see his mother in hospital and we called by my fathers on the way home-he will hear next week what the surgeon is contemplating doing.

Othewrwise i will start at somewhere near the beginning and keep it textile related.The first photo is of an old woodblock print from the Al Azam Palace in Damascus- I adore woodblocks and woodcuts. The palace had a dedicated printing area for textiles. The second photo is of Damascene cloth from the cloth souq. Unfortunately the number of stalls selling this cloth seemed to be less compared to last years visit- and my budget and suitcase space did not run to buying some ( the reason why, will emerge)- but then there is next year as it looks likely I shall be travelling back to Damascus ( this will make it more my home city than the one closest to me- Melbourne- and can you see me grinning) The last photo is the fantastic patterning of the ceiling of the Great Mosque in Damascus- this area is one of the few sections that survived a great fire in the nineteenth century and is a marvel- I really wanted to lie on the ground to photograph it, but my pre teen daughter who was travelling with me thought this much too embarasssing.However I have three words to say- I love Damascus!

Once again I met many wonderful people, have put more faces to some of the readers of my blog and will try to post regularly. I have a lot of work to make in the next two weeeks as I have been invited by Magic Patch to exhibit work at their Expo in June of this year- and some of the work needs to be made ( I wish I could say ideas were fully formed in my head, but they are not- but there is always tonight). This is not a totally bad thing as I tend to procrastinate when I get back from such a long trip ( nearly three months)- there is simply no other way than to do.

Centre Europeen du Patchwork

I am still unable to load photos into my blog. in the coming week I am giving two workshops at the Stofmeid in Borger Drenthe. I am teaching a two day class called Inspuiration in Fabrication where the idea is to create your own individual work.
I am also teaching at Centre du Europeen Patchwork in Salleles 'dÁude on 30 April and I May- dyeing on 30 April and using the fabrics you have dyed the following day.

workshop

If you click on the word workshop in the title a youtube video of a workshop I did at Le Palaiseau will come up! I was working with paints from Trapsuutjies ( link in side column).I finished my All the Perfumes of Arabia quilt- a lot of handseing in that quilt!

Art Textile Palaiseau

Here are some images of the Art Textile Exhibition at Palaiseau near Paris.
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Damascus and me

Daily , as we wander around Damascus we get to like it better and better- we are getting to know some of the stall holders and stop to have tea, and sometimes buy but it is not a necessity to buy. I have found a website with lots of photos of Damascus- so please look at it and imagine us there http://www.david-guerrero.com/viajes/orientemedio2003/damasco/index-en.html- except of course we have a much better eye for textiles!

Have bought a book by Mirja Wark a Dutch weaver living here, who has written a wonderful book on Si'Ira weaving from Northern Venezuela- if you are interested in weaving the book is not only a very thorough study of Wayuu weaving of Si'Ira and the wonderful patterns that most commonly occur, but also an interesting ethnographic account of the Wayuu way of life. We hope to visit some artisans around the Souq on Tuesday with Mirja. But really so much of the souq is textile heaven- all the killims and woven rugs and cushions and to a lesser extent some of the traditionally embroidered dresses ( of which I already have one from the last visit)- and all the wonderful jewelry, and then there is the wonderful food!

We went to Palmyra during the week- the hotel had purchased our bus tickets but had forgotten to tell us to take our passports- so after catching the taxi to the Pulman station we had to head back to the hotel- and then back to the Pulman station and buy new bus tickets- sigh , just as well that bus tickets only cost about $3 ( for a 250 km journey) Then onto Palmyra where we were beseiged by the inevitable guides- we were lucky as we had met a young Aussie, Steve at the hotel , who had decided to go to Palmyra on the same day so we shared costs. However the whole Roman complex is so large.... unbelievable really as the journey to get there covers some pretty inhospitable terrain-barren rocky ground and hills and all we saw were bedouin tents, with the herders and their herds and not a blade of grass- I swear the sheep must suck on rocks for sustenance! Palmyra itself is an oasis, but still the complex is incredibly large because it is a long way from anywhere and most of it was submerged under sand until the 1950's. We also saw some Aramaen tombs- which were all built below ground, an important one of which was found recently when the truck that had parked over it ,so that the driver could have his nightly snooze- sank into the tomb! It makes you wonder how much of antiquity must lie under the sands of time.

And on a more bloggerly note-the country count has gone up to 106! And I am about 700 visits off 100,000 visitors since I put up the blog counter ( not Neoworks but the other). So i will be keeping my eye on the number- maybe something special from Syria might find its way over the the 100,00th reader!

From Damascus

I wish I could post some photos but the photo card reader at the internet cafe I am using won't read my card unfortunately.

It has been a busy week but the exhibition Sense of Place is installed and looks terrific. The Australian ambassador to Egypt and Syria opened the exhibition.There was quite a lot of space as the gallery is twice the size compared to last time I saw it, so we ended up hanging quite a lot of my quilts which I had with me for the retrospective at Sophie Gelfi's Gallery in la Bourboule in France. ( and i still have two quilts to finish with hand stitching). I was delighted to find that they had used one of my quilts for the invite as well as the cover of the catalogue ( they did not know it was mine as the person to whom I had sent the cd and the document containing artists names had not married the two things together)

Since then I have spent a lot of time with Ynez wandering around the souq and old city trying not to spend money and just enjoying the ambience of the old city. We met with a German textile artist Monica Spahl ( and doctor) in one of the old textile shops in the souq- she has a daughter the same age as Ynez- so Ynez has gone to her school for the day. It was such coincidence meeting another textile practitioner ( well maybe it wasn't as it was an antique textile shop) . Anyway Monica came to the opening and brought another textile artist Mirja Wark whose work I hope to see in the coming weeks ( she is a weaver) and knows many of the crafts people still practising in the souq. So I hope to see some of their favourite textile haunts around the city in the coming weeks.

ok off to find some nint tea and put some time into my paper journal!

In My Dreams

In my dreams I would have completed 10 quilts by now, done the taxes made a new small bag to put my docs and wallet in and would be packed or half way so and dyed fabric for a shop I have to deliver to on Monday on the way to the airport.

The reality is that I will be lucky to get the six quilts done ( two need more hand stitching - but that's ok- gives me something to do at night in the hotel in Syria). The photo is of Gilgamesh's forest rug- I abandoned the piece with the foiled cedars- i wasn't sure about them, nor am I sure about this stitching, but I will keep going. I have to dye the fabric tomorrow- it is too hot today- i should have done it early this morning, but I didn't think it was going to be this hot......

Nothing is packed, though the list is done- and as long as I have a list things will happen.I did try and make chilli plum sauce but put too much vinegar in I think- I suppose I could add more plums to it to even it out- maybe tomorrow.

There is a lot of sewing planned for tomorrow- getting on the plane and not having to do anything will seem like a holiday.

Fourteen Pomegranates and an Eye Idol

I have been making more pomegranate cards to sell. They are priced at $30US inclusive of postage and measure 5" x 7" (12 x 18 cm) The pomegranates have been printed using the African Painting technique. The cards are numbered 1-15 from top left to bottom right. I can take payment via Paypal. Numbers 1,8,9 and 11 are sold! And Number 4 is sold!

I have to baste another quilt- I found two tifaifai tops which I had almost forgotten existed ( this is rather a bonus as they only have to be quilted) I tossed them aside after I returned from England in 2005 and then they got tucked on the bottom of a shelf. I found them the other day- so another two quilts to add to the number I need for my exhibition in France!

The Sense of Place exhibition will be at le Palaiseau from late March until 9 April, Smaranda Bourgery had put the information on her blog- the information for the exhibition and the course I am teaching in french are as follows:
6° Exposition de Internationale de Patchwork à Palaiseau
L’Atelier « Patchwork-Art Textile »de la MJC- Maison pour tous de Palaiseau (91),organise du 24 mars au 9 avril 2007,salle Guy Vinet (place Salvador Allende),sa 6° exposition internationaleautour de l’Australie, pays invité d’honneur .Une dizaine d’artistes y seront regroupées autour de Dijanne Cevaal : Jenny Bowker, Gloria Loughman…Fionna Wright, Sue Dennis,Olga Walters…Plusieurs invitées européennes de renom se joindront également à cette manifestation : AM.Bertrand, les Bosna Quilts, P.Burbidge, A.Huet, P.M.Inderbitzin, B.Vold Klausen, C.Lyet, V.Matter, N.Richard, R.Tschudy ( les koraks)... et moi-même avec un quilt que j'ai fait spécialement pour cette exposition.Cette exposition attire plusieurs milliers de visiteurs autour de ses nombreuses œuvres.Ouverture tous les jours de 10h à 19h ; nocturne le vendredi jusqu’à 21h.Entrée libre.Dijanne Cevaal animera trois cours durant cette exposition, ainsi qu’une conférence avec photos sur l’inspiration des artistes de son pays et leur travail sur le thème de l’exposition « Sense of Place »(vendredi 30 mars 007 à 19h30, salle G.Vinet : (gratuit)Renseignements, programme et inscriptions :contact@mjcpalaiseau.orgou par téléphone : 01.60.14.02.87
Voici les cours de DIJANNE CEVAAL :COURS 1/ IMPRIMER SES TISSUS :(6h) Mardi 27 Mars 2007Quelques techniques faciles pour créer un tissu en fonction de ses désirs et réaliser ensuite, ces impressions, chez soi, sans grandes dépenses. Les tissus peuvent être unis ou déjà imprimés ;On se servira de feuillages, de pétales , de graines, de cailloux, de tout ce qui a un relief, et on apprendra à réaliser un tampon, un stencil…etc.Des encres spéciales et des tampons seront fournis en cours, et inclus dans le tarif..L’inscription sera définitive au reçu du chèque correspondant à l’ordre de la MJC/PalaiseauLa liste des autres fournitures sera remise à réception de l’inscription.Coût: 70 € + adhésion 12,5€°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°COURS 2/ IMPRESSION-TRANSFERT REBRODEE :(6h) Samedi 31 Mars 2007 : COMPLET !!!Dijanne fera ce cours également lejeudi 29 mars 2007Consiste à imprimer de façon permanente sur des tissus synthétiques (polyester, organza).Ce procédé permet de 3 à 4 impressions en série. On explorera les tissus ainsi réalisés avec des broderies en piqué libre et l’on pourra jouer des transparences, des épaisseurs et des variétés de tissus. On expérimentera aussi les tissus « fondus » par chaleur.Encres spéciales et tissus transferts fournis en cours, et compris dans le tarif.Coût: 70 € , plus adhésion 12,50€°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
COURS 3/ BRODER EN QUILTANT : (6h) Mardi 3 Avril 2007Pour aller plus loin dans le piqué libre, et découvrir en jouant que le quilting est bien plus qu’un simple matelassage , mais plutôt une véritable broderie qui ajoute un plus à la structure de votre travail. Vous pouvez apporter un patch ou plusieurs pour trouver des idées et les réaliser !Autre fournitures éventuelles précisées après réception de l’inscription.L’inscription sera définitive au reçu du chèque correspondant à l’ordre de la MJC/PalaiseauPied pour piqué libre indispensable et mode d’emploi de votre machine. Coût :60€ +adhésion 12.50€°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°Inscriptions /renseignements Par mail : MJC : contact@mjcpalaiseau.orgou christinemoulin@wanadoo.frPar téléphone :N.Astier : 01.60.14.02.87°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°BULLETIN D’INSCRIPTIONNom prénom :…………………………………………………………………………………
Adresse……………………………………………………………………………………….....Adresse mail…………………………………………………Tel :..............................Cours demandé……………………………………………………………………………....Règlement .............................................................................................

Another Quilt Finished

I ended up putting in deep marooon free satin stitched lines for accent-it is another Gilgamesh Rug.It is also a reference to remnants from the past being nothing more than glimpses- so the first layer has been foiled with some random cuneiform marks and then overlaid with scrim and then with dots added as a sort of counting system- the idea is that this would read not only on a visual level but also on a touch level- and the story of Gilgamesh comes to us incomplete with sections missing from the broken tablets on which they found the story - we have to surmise what the missing sections are. The quilt measures 60 cm by 145 cm long and it is for sale ( $1,000 US).

Todays task is to make more pomegranate cards to take overseas with me and to start another long piece- not quite decided what - there are a few options but none is crying out loudly.

Anonymous asked how to contact me- I had not realised when I went to the new blogger my profile settings did not follow- as I used to have an email link in my profile. That is fixed now so you should be able to contact me through clicking on profile.

Ten More days

The launch of Sense of Place went really well. At the last moment the Syrian Ambassador could not come as he was delayed in Damascus, a pity, but we had a good night anyway. It would have been nice to have had a few more people, but those that came had an enjoyable time, and Bev Brock was a wonderful MC and really livened up the evening. We had a silent auction and an Art to Wear auction, and the raffle wrap- all went for around the price we had hoped, so I know at least I have the cost of accommodation in Syria covered.

The quilt pictured here has been slowly growing- it still needs something else, but I haven't decided what yet- I think it might be squiggle shapes in the areas where I have used the scrim, perhaps in black thread.

Thank you for all the nice comments about the scarf- I have been thinking of making these to sell but as always pricing is an issue.I am not sure what to charge as they are quite time consuming by the time you have painted the silk, printed it and then cut out the shapes and sewn it.

And this will be your last chance to Purchase Seventy Two Ways not to Stipple or Meander- Ideas for Free machine Quilting for the next couple of months, as I cannot send it out whilst I am away. The cost for the book is $25US ( i have had to increase the US rate by $2 due to exchange rate and the fact that the post office has scrapped it's economy air option), $ 25AUS and 12 pound sterling or 18 euros, all inclusive of postage ( the cd is cheaper) if interested please contact me, and I can be paid on Paypal.

Tomorrow is Launch Time!

The flowering gum is flowering in my garden- isn't it beautiful? I love the way on the top left, the stamens are popping out oftheir little cocoons and wearing a little hat!

The other photo is a not very good photo of a scarf I have made as one of the gifts to give to our speakers and special guests tomorrow night for the Sense of Place launch. I haven't made lace for a while so it was good to get back to one, pity I won't get back to any more until well into May. The motif is inspired by drochel and I really must do some more with this motif but as always it's time time time, mind you I seem to waste an awful amount of time as well. These last few months it has been almost impossible to work let alone work consistently, and I am starting to fret about my studio/shed ever being in a fir state, let alone me working in it.

I did manage to change a Qantas booking today without too much penalty - whatever you want to do with them always costs and one of the really stupid things about Qantas and Frequent flyers ( not only do you have to pay for their card ) you can only use your frequent flyer points for a return ticket or for a one way from Australia - you can't use it for a one way from Europe as i found out last year.Anyway it is sorted to my great relief. So I have a one way to Europe in September to teach at Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork again- yay! I will work out how to get back here later on.