Scapescrape workshop @ 2QAQ

Here's the wonderful scraped tissue that we all played with at 2QAQ on Saturday. Lots of wonderful colours and opportunities to create beautiful landscapes ... or sunsets ... or bush fires ...



Ready for action

All the pieces dyed over the weekend are now airing in the study. Some delightful patterns and colours emerged especially since the focus was on using primary colours + black or combinations thereof.  I cannot wait for our dyeing workshop in June. Closer to home, 2QAQ meets tomorrow @ 44 Esher Street Wellers Hill (Brisbane) and we are kicking off at 12.30pm with Scapescrape followed by Ankie Kings beautiful Indigo exhibition "The Lady Dyed the Blues". 

Take-away dyeing

Definitely not edible but totally yummy. Ankie and I spent the day playing with different ideas for a workshop in mid-June. I managed to do some gradation dyeing with an electric blue, made a sea scroll, pipetted my way through three fat quarters, and did some pole dancing (in the textile sense). Also managed to dye the final New Zealand piece -  a variation of Moroccan red. I can't resist a good international colour! Also stretched smaller pieces of silk that are now transformed. What a great, grey, rainy day.

WMBM, a shiva stick and the Dyson

Left alone this evening with a copper shiva stick and some poplin WMBM tried his hand at an antique doily, an old jug and ... the vacuum cleaner hose. 

Dyeing and Printing Day

I dyed again today.  I still get a laugh from people when they ask what I'm up to on the weekend and the reply is a version of  "oh, I think I'll be dyeing".  Had a great time transforming fabrics with prints and finger-painting-on-glass mono print.  I learned how to combine black pigment with yoghurt-like goop (there is a technical name for all of this but I love goop)  and printed four different designs. Upper left is finger painting on glass and pressed onto PFD poplin, the middle black and white banner is created from 4 different wood blocks, the dark strip is actually black pigment and gold finger painting on glass pressed onto aubergine dyed poplin and the bottom piece is the same blocks used on hand dyed silk. It was a transforming experience on a number of levels and I had such a hoot of a day I forgot to have lunch! Now that is saying something .....

7 more sleeps to 2QAQ's May meeting

Next meeting is on Saturday May 28 - we're going to kick off at 12.30pm for those who want to workshop Scapescrape - using stencils, acrylic paints and tissue paper to create an art quilt over the next three meetings.  The highlight of our get-together will be Ankie's Kings exhibition "The Lady Dyes the Blues" - Ankie will share her beautiful indigo exhibition pieces with the group. Can't wait and hope to see  you there.

Silk surprise

As I was leaving paid employment this afternoon the courtyard area was emptied of intruders - just the blustery wind and me left to argue over a piece of red silk. I love the public art in and around the streets of Ipswich - so many ideas, and 40 more circuits of the sun left to do it all!  Thanks for your comments Sue - I still want to know how you get the little bits of shiva off the tiles in the motel rooms. WMBM and I spent quite some time on our knees in New Zealand scraping minuscule bits of gold, cooper and iridescent charcoal from the floor tiles.

Fur balls and felt bowls

I returned from New Zealand to find a gift pack from Maxine. Inside was a pack of 16 fur balls (I'm certain they did not originate in a cat) and I had, by serendipity, purchased felt squares at the Auckland Quilt Show. One of the items on display at the Show was a bowl made using the fur balls and a large circle of thick felt  ...  easy, once the spacing is worked out. Thanks also for the beautiful sari silks ... I feel really blessed.

Leafy surprises and cannon rubbings ...

My friend Kate released a book into the wild at our place some time ago. I read the book. The pages of the book then gifted me two beautiful leaves from Canberra - perfectly dried and exquisitely Canberra. I cut the leaf shape out of template stencil with a surgeon-like cutting knife (the book was The Surgeon of Crowthorne) then pressed some gold shiva onto baking paper. Dib. Dib. Dab. Dab. I used a small sponge to transfer shiva over the stencil and onto hand dyed pieces of silk and fabric. Thank you Kate.
Speaking of shivas ... WMBM has requested  a set of fabric pieces and shiva sticks so that he doesn't have to wait about for me if he sees something worth rubbing. While wandering Russell in New Zealand recently, we did our first "joint" rubbing -  a beautiful cannon (that fires cannon balls ... not of the religious kind). The effect was gorgeous and part of that fabric now graces the binding of my entry for World Quilt. There are still 5 days left to meet the deadline for submission ... see Sue Dennis' website for full details. Thank you WMBM.


The cannon @ Russell,  NZ



Plume art NZ

While at the Auckland Quilt Show I met Jenny Hunter from Plume Art. Jenny sources all the usual and unexpected bits and pieces from around the globe for textile artists. Her business is mail order and based in Auckland. I could not resist some of the felt pieces and unusual beads and sequins.

Satin bower bird returns



Satin bower bird - female

 She's back. Her scratchy voice goes straight up the spinal cord. Hardly befitting this beautiful bird. For the second autumn she's here on the property. If there's a male in residence, he will have built a bower in the grasses we let go wild on about a third of our acreage and collected blue objects to make himself more attractive to her. The actual nest is sometimes 12 metres above the ground - we think we know where she's nesting but will be leaving her and the tree alone for the breeding season. They love the lilly pilly fruit which is in abundance as do the fig birds and other fruit eating friends that visit us or live in the gardens. (Image from google)

Woven and carved

The  Maori carvings are exquisite. The woven patterns are equally fascinating and it was a privilege to sit and contemplate the spiritual significance of the building and its contents.

Trunk show in Waitangi treaty grounds



WMBM on the far side of the trunk


A trunk show with a difference - that's the WMBM standing on the other side of this once giant life form in the Waitangi treaty grounds.  We visited the treaty house and saw the beautiful woven mats, cloaks, baskets and woollen warmers. We wandered the grounds through the "fern top" walk and over to the spot where the treaty was signed in 1840.  So many lines and patterns and forms for stitching - inspirational heaven. Opportunities for rubbings were everywhere - a sundial commemorating a visit by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, plaques to mark the plantings of so many trees throughout the grounds - some have been rubbed , along with the sundial, for a future project.


Food and fibre




Fern top walk

 

Walking from Paihia to Waitangi



Auckland Quilt Show

Thank you to the Auckland quilters for the great show in downtown Parnell on Mothers' Day. It was a great mix of  "on show" and "on sale" .  I dumped the WMBM at the hotel and rushed by taxi to catch the last hours of the exhibition. Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, and permission to share your works across the Tasman.


Helen Harford "Hibiscus"



Helen Harford "Inch by Inch"



Lesley Rawlings "Journey I, II, III




Sarah Ward "Totems"



Waitangi totems (for Sue D)



Stitching in Paihia

In spite of the dire warnings about the cold, we barely got out of t-shirts and tank tops.  Mild weather and not a jumper in sight. Everyone else seemed to be feeling it - perhaps it was just us. At the end of each day there was plenty of time for quilting and I made a bit of progress towards a looming deadline. Not much sleep to be had this weekend!

Textile artists and kindred spirits

While exploring Russell for the day, we stumbled into a shop filled with all things textile and Gillian Jones at the Entrance Gallery. Gillian is a textile artist - lots of different fibre creations and beautiful beading. The occasional feather is incorporated into her works. Simply beautiful. It was easy to get a little bit lost in all the different textile pieces. Thank you Gillian for a wonderful afternoon in the shop talking shop.

Buttons at Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ

Found these beautiful tea pot buttons in the op shop at Russell, a short ferry ride across the bay from Paihia. WMBM just shook his head ... I think they are gorgeous!

Rubbing noses and plaques in Waitangi

We're back from a fabulous time in New Zealand. WMBM took this pic at the spot where New Zealand became a part of the Commonwealth and I was graciously given permission to do some rubbings ... so WMBM held the fabric taut and off I went with my SueDee kit and shiva rubbings. More on our adventures in another post ...

Paihia and New Zealand

Breakfast views in Paihia

Well I'm sitting in an Internet shop in Paihia in the Northland - with WMBM and about to do some last minute shopping before we return to Auckland tomorrow. Have met some amazing people including a textile artist in Russell (across the bay by ferry) and here at Powerquilts in Paihia. Much to share and can't wait to get home to post pics and text of our trip. Hope you are all taking care and having a creative time too.

Hello planet earth

Dulany at work

Where have I been? Sans computer for 2+ weeks and hoping to be back online when we return from a brief holiday in New Zealand this week. The lack of cyber access hasn't dulled the level of activity in the studio or working on the contagion of "porcelain clay". With the return of Little Sister from the Isle of Man  there's been a foray into her world of beautiful objects, glazed and unglazed. Without the appropriate level of care, it could become a second passion.
I'm working on an entry for World Quilt which is due 20 May - and all the details are on Sue Dennis' website for those who can manage a 1296 square inch minimum size - it's lovely to work "big" again.
Our 2QAQ meeting on Saturday was a hoot - and it is good for the soul when I get with "my people" as Kathryn calls them. Best of all I got an email from Dulany Lingo (La Veta Colorado) where I visited last September. Dulany's studio home is amazing, as is her polymer clay, textile and fibre art.
I'll try to post from Paihia and if not, there'll be a flurry of activity when we're back.