The Edges of Australia: Ice cold in Tasmania

Ice cold in Hobart when I arrived but the welcome was very warm. It was not all work. I had time to go and see the Art Gallery at MONA. Taking the ferry complete with cows and sheep.

Set underground for the most part the gallery with Old and New Art was eerily strange and at times very disturbing. The White Library a room of blank books,  and Maso Okabe's and Chihiro Minato's installation of rubbings from railway sleepers from Hiroshima were haunting. A visit of surprises and challenge. I am giving nothing more away.

I was delighted to be back with Stitching and Beyond.  They were featured in an article by Textile  Fibre Forum looking at the success of the group in providing valuable textile focus in the Tasmania scene.

Some of the work in progress on the 'hbook Development' workshop and 'From the Land' is shown below. Thankyou to the participants for allowing me to share their work.

Final image is of a the ladies shadow sketching in a bit of sunshine at the fabulous Moonah Arts Centre. On to Melbourne next.

www. stitchingandbeyond.com

The Edges of Australia. A Road Well Travelled

I have just had a few days in Sydney working with ATASDA. New South Wales  I stayed in Frenchs Forest area overlooking Sydney and the coast in the distance.

I went to the Manley Art Gallery and Museum and saw a wonderful exhibition 'War Time Quilts' which included an example of Wagga patchwork, a quilt made from butcher's cloth. Wagga quilts or rugs, using men's old but strong fabric,  suiting samples or swatches were common in regional Australia in the first half of the 20th century. An example of the Australian practice of reusing materials, or 'making do', when resources are scarce this piece carries the printed text on the cloth.
(Read more Powerhouse Museum collection)

I also managed to get to meet with friends at the Gosford Regional Gallery which had a wonderful exhibition of Ikebana in the community gallery which led you in to the wonderful Japanese Commemorative Garden.  I particularly liked the installation work of Ruth Feeney in the Emerging 2015 competition exhibition.

The reflections in the window were stunning:

A contrast to the Ku Ring Gai Wildflower Garden off the Mona Vale Road.

My Romany Grandmother was a Cunningham so this seems highly appropriate in the garden

Finally, I am delighted on be included in an article on Textileartists. I travel frequently and this would not be possible without the friendship and interest from the textile world, so a BIG THANKYOU TO YOU ALL

International Working: A Road Well Travelled

Stitch Stories is on Kindle as well as hard copy now.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flaming June and memories of the Lot Valley

A little over a week ago I was over in France in blazing sunshine delivering workshops for Studio Preniac. It all seem so far away now in both time and warmth.The Lot  Valley lying a little to the south of the Dordogne is an inviting landscape of rolling hills and valleys, picturesque villages and towns.

 Safely tucked away in my attic bedroom after a wonderful supper by our generous hosts Billy and Liz. I awoke early to the gradual change of the morning from dawn blue blush which I tried to capture in my first captured sketch between workshops. This set me for a week of exploration of Shadows, Layer and Line in Cloth beginning with a sketching session in the nearby  village of Montuq for the Sunday market. Carrying our sketchbooks to snatch studies as we walked and bought materials for use in the workshop.

Getting ready to draw.

Jenny in the Studio

Laurence at work

Within walking distance of the studio there was plenty of inspirational resource available for drawing

Judith Shadow Drawing

We also had a chance to see the hidden gardens of Cahors and visit the nearby town of Saint Antonin Noble Val before flying back last week

Sue and Laurence in the Moroccan Garden Cahors

Hidden courtyard in Noble Val 

It was hard to say goodbye to this lovely view from the workshop, great companionship and food and come back to the cold grey of England..I am sure it will get better.Thank to the workshop participants for their wonderful cards which contained little snippets of those memories.

France had not quite left me, in the same week, my advance copy of the 'Stitch Stories' arrived brightening up a grey morning and a little bit of this lovely place is recorded in the book in the work of Ros Woodhead (above)

Thankyou Bill from Studio Preniac for the additional images and to all the workshop participants for permission to use photographs

Finally, breaking news, I am to be one of eight artists featured in the next issue of the wonderful John Hopper's Inspirational Magazine..yippee.