On the Edges of Things

It is as I prepare for trip to the USA I realise it is precisely 6 months since my return from Australia Often, when I travel as much as I am involved I often feel on the 'Edges of Things' and leave friendships and experiences behind. Yet, many of these experiences are interaction with the world are shared with others.

 Whilst in Australia, I worked on drawings and gathered pieces of fabric from my friends to make physical some of the experiences and the conversations I had about life and everything. I called this piece 'The Edges of Australia' and unrolled it is around 4 metres in length. It brings back Tea in Tasmania to ward off the cold, The wonderful early mornings in Queensland and misty views. The incredible Loy Yang power station in Traralgon which had a strange beauty all of their own  and the birds visiting the empty bird cages in my an eccentric garden in Perth
 (I am looking to return in 2018 if I can manage it).

 

  

 Making memories from cloth to hold the things close is one of the things we hold in common as textile artists. That and collecting cloth. During the Fibre Arts event at Ballarat this year in conjunction with The Lost Ones Gallery, there will be an exhibition of the work of the Australian tutors titled "The Collection".

Appearing in the exhibition (and in the detail above) is Memory Cloth #12, Numbers Lost, by Glenys Mann, marking the loss of life in the Australian bush fires of 2009


My work is inspired by emotions of the environment, the world events and emotions of everyday life Glenys Mann 

Often this 'emotion  of the everyday' is that feeling of being 'on the edge' and not being able to 'control' things which you care about you but are simply not in your control to change. Dealing with illness and change equally makes us feel we have no control.  We all have close family members and friends who are being lost to us..I am no exception.  In her work for the shortly to be opened Prescriptions at the Beaney Gallery
Artist Sally Chinea talks about the loss of her friend at a young age from breast cancer:
 The fragile textile cubes, portray life, hanging by a thread, the images show a small selection of my friend's work as well as poignant messages and moments from our friendship.

Prescriptions runs from Thursday 21 April to Sunday 14 August at The Drawing Room, The Beaney, Canterbury.Free Admission, drop in
The exhibition focuses on the book art of Martha Hall, on loan from the University of New England, and linked to a University of Kent symposium. Hall’s books documents her experiences with breast cancer and interactions with the medical community, and are accompanied by a curated show of artists books responding to themes of art, empathy and wellbeing. Supported by the Wellcome Foundation.

I have Florascript accepted to the same exhibition

They remind us of the ‘roots’ of our relationship with medicine. A time when prescriptions or ‘script’ were written up for treatment of a patient using ingredients collected and sourced from the natural world around us. During the ‘Great War’ children and adults grew and collected medicinal plants  and herbs from the roadside edges and the wild places (to compensate for the loss of German pharmacological products on which Britain was heavily dependent).

Edges of Australia :Power in Victoria, Loy Yang

I have spent the last couple of weeks in Victoria working with Opendrawer in Melbourne  and Fibre Arts Australia   The population of the area is powered by power stations in the Gippsland near Tralorgan where I stayed.  These have a strange beauty of their own.

 I had a brief visit and found this compelling image appeared in a small sample for demonstration. I am keeping a selection of these small pieces as a recording of my visit around the 'Edges of Australia '  In Melbourne I was able to visit one of my favourite Australian artist John Wolesely in his exhibition Heartlands and Headwaters at the National Gallery.   His Heron at Loy Yang reflects his love of the land and its complexity. National Gallery of Victoria

 I loved my quiet journey on the train in typical winter weather.  I had time to reflect and prepare for the next stage my trip. The colours were reflected in the print colours at the Tralorgan workshop.

The sketches below from Opendrawer  below made a good start to a project investigating cloth.Tcloth.Thankyou to Glenys Mann at Tralorgan and the workshop team at Opendrawer or all their help on this stage. 

 Finally some of Tea Flora Tales is on show in the window of Opendrawer.  Feel free to pop in and look or contribute a piece.(Information about this project appears in the drop down menu on this blog).

The Edges of Australia, Stitching in Queensland

A week in Australia on the wonderful Queensland  coast. I worked and played,  including  a motorbike ride along the coast near Rockhampton and some fabulous landscape. A chance to catch up with old friends and new. Great to meet with a former colleague from the UK in the days we both worked for Spiral Arts as community artists 
The journey started with a brief stopover in Singapore where I was able to see the amazing Garden in the Park lightshow.

 

Morning view from my digs with the lovely Peta and Bruce Lloyd near Rockhampton.

 This view was hard to leave, I sat one morning with an old friend from home.

 

I went to see Peta Lloyds wonderful Crocodile Series exhibition at the Rockhampton Art  Gallery.. You can find out more about her work in Conversations with the Makers by Glenys Mann of Fibre Arts Australia

The workshop hosted by the Capricornia Printmakers was a wonderful warm welcome to Australia. It was great to work in the studio and stitch our by the Fraser river in 'Winter

 

Peta and I had a studio day and made a drawings of cups and played with collages

Peta Cups

Cas Cups

 I am equally delighted to have her work included in Stitch Stories which is out on 6th August . Here she is looking at the advance copy.





Finally I leave with you with some fabulous views and local wildlife.