Horse Blanket

 

This piece of textile is actually a Syrian Horse Blanket.It is not antique but it it unusual as woven Syrian textiles are difficult to find. I was delighted to be able to buy this piece from Achmad my textile restorer friend near the Jeron Gate in Damascus.It came in whilst we were chatting and having tea with him and I immediately fell in love with it.He said that when they do come in- which is not often they often no longer have the tassesls, which is a charming part of the whole.Some years ago I purchased a book entitled "au Fil du Desert- Tentes et tissages des pasteurs nomades de Mediterranee" published by Edisud ISBN 2-85744-806-6, because I am a bit besotted by bedouin tents and well this book contains many bedouin tents as well as other woven objects made by desert nomads. There was a page from the book and I remember falling in love with the woven textiles on that page,it contained just such horseblanket in very similar colours to the piece I bought. So regardless of the fact that I was on an extreme budget when visiting Syria I could not leave this piece behind. It is quite heavy and the colour is deep and rich.

And France is moving one step closer. I may have found a small cottage not far from Vezelay ( I also have the choice of a much larger house near Perigord, but for 3-4 months of the year it is used by other people whereas the cottage can be a year round thing). I will go and look at both of them in September. The one near Vezelay is more central to places I teach and need to go and it is only about 2.5 hours from Paris. So whilst Perigord is beautiful - the small house is probably the better option for the time being.

Random Thoughts

 

 

The first photo is of a clump of some kind of fungi found in my chook yard- alas all my chickens have gone- another fox attack whilst I was away. The second photos is of some leaves I found and rearranged.

I have been doing some research on printmaking- I want to get back to some more printmaking in the next couple of weeks.
Often the issue of copyright and copying comes up, however one of the first suits on this issue was brought in the renaissance by Albert Durer against Marcantonio- an engraver who had allegedly copied a series of Durer's engravings ( according to Vasari). Marcantonio also worked with Raphael making engravings from Raphael's work. It appears this may have been a true collaboration, in that Marcantonio didn't so much copy the paintings as work from Raphael's prepatory drawings thereby creating a new work. Rapheal seems to have been actively involved in the process- it was done in order for the work to be "publicised" more widely.

However I was bemused by Durer's claim for copyright for his work- so much more eloquent than the copyright symbol....

Hold! You crafty ones, strangers to work, and pilferers of other men's brains. Think not rashly to lay your thievish hands upon my works. Beware! Know you not that I have a grant from the most glorious Emperor Maximillian, that not one throughout the imperial dominion shall be allowed to print or sell fictitious imitations of these engravings? Listen! And bear in mind that if you do so, through spite or through covetousness, not only will your goods be confiscated, but your bodies also placed in mortal danger.

I found this quote on William Patry's Blog - dealing with issues of copyright.

The last 24 hours

 

 

 

 

I think doing the taxes must have set in panic mode- sometime yesterday I decided that I needed to hand quilt one of the long cross stitch panels , as I had forgotten about one of the other quilts I was going to send- it wasn't in the immediate field of vision was it??? Anyway I now have really sore fingers ( I don't like wearing thimbles at all, and I don't hoop) as I spent most of last night and this morning hand quilting. I had thought of maybe doing it by machine , but then after some stitching the texture of hand stitching is so much richer- as the photo of the unquilted section shows-the stitching intensifies the colour a lot. So the three long panels are all going to Lyon ( they are about 100cms or more)- they were supposed to be the same length- well at least the two stone angel panels.

Then I did some doctoring on Persephone's Rug for the Underworld- I decided it wasn't dynamic enough so I added some free machine appliqued hand printed pomegranates. It has been sent as well, though I might do some more to it when it returns. Anyway I am happier with it now. And then as I was searching for the pomegranate cut-outs that i cut out last week I found another quilt I was going to send- so it meant I actually had an extra quilt, which I have decided to keep here. But gee my fingers are sore!!!

X Marks the Place

 

Another panel with X's and freeform cross stitch.I finished stitching it today. I have three of these panels and want to make still more ( they are the size of an A3 page). I am also stitching another X panel which has to be finished by tomorrow so I can courier it to Lyon for the Magic Patch Expo which will take place at la Sucriere from 21-23 June. So i think I will be stitching well into the night!

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.