Was and when

More collagraphs in the making and the theme of transformation - introducing the power of text. "Was" symbolises the past and the known, the things that went before while "When" is hopeful, unknown and full of opportunity. Some shellac over the weekend and these will be ready for test printing. A final series of prints will be created after reviewing the success, or otherwise of "Was" and "When".

Unspoken

Hand stitching and mark making with beautiful threads - something that might not have happened if we hadn't lost contact with the outside world for a few days. The rhythmic nature of needle and thread - turning turbulence into calm and back into the chaos if simply living. Underneath the layer of tinted tissue paper is text torn from romance novels, cards and gift wrap, all stitched to a ground of open weave cotton - a former shirt of WMBM. All the things we want to say but can't quite get out. All the times where words get overtaken by the pace of life. Often unspoken, always near the surface.

Floods @ Tarome

Perhaps the last picture of our bridge - one way in and now there's not much left of the bridge, trees or banks. Now you see it, now you don't. Around the bend it was wild and still roaring after 24 hours - then we came back yesterday and another 3-5 acres had disappeared, exposing what once was our neighbour's well, and three power poles. Pumpkins are now strewn now half a mile up the road - such a strange sight. Hoping to have an alternate way out through a neighbour's farm by tomorrow afternoon. The world is good again. Thinking of those who are still in the grips of the flooding and related disaster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything is possible

I have been looking at the work of William Kentridge and his view on the importance of play. So often when I am in art quilt mode the focus tends towards time frames  deadlines and getting to the end of the binding. Kentridge believes in the seriousness of play, "in the looseness of trying different things from which images and ideas emerge" and "in between the things I thought I was doing, the real work has happened". So today is a day for some very serious play and remembering that anything and everything is possible, especially in between what I thought I was doing.

Relocation of Memory (the movie)

Better understanding changing technologies and embracing "new media" opportunities are high on my 2013 agenda. My new media experiences are more than likely "old hat" for many - and so it was the day my parents left their home of nearly forty years and quite joyously, have never looked back. Raw feelings and uncertainty gave way to a wondrous and revitalised existence. My Father's Shed, My Mother's Garden and The Heart of the Matter emerged from between the cracks in the paving blocks, the galvanised pipes and the spaces in between where we used to live.

Music: Richard Stolzman and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Maid with the Flaxen Hair, Fine Music Vol 1 (2008)

More collagraphs in the studio

Collagraph in the making - this is the shellac moment of sealing the base and the layers of card, cardboard and other items salvaged from greeting cards and the like. Another, below, using only recycled  bits of packaging (bits of shoe boxes, cask cases and packaging) and finally having a play with woodcut using materials found in the WMBM's shed.

Collagraphs, patience and the studio

More printmaking using collagraphs -  cardboard, papers and mixed media fixed to a cardboard base and  shellaced or otherwise moisture proofed once the glue has dried. Another coat after about 24 hours and another patience-testing time to dry before printing begins. The oil based ink takes  24 - 36 hours to really dry properly.  So it's another beautiful day for working in the studio - the shade from the Moreton Bay Ash is a gift in the humidity.

 

State of the Art Quilt 13 deadline approaches ...

Not long to go until February 1 - which is not to suggest the year is galloping away but that the deadline for entry to State of the Art Quilt 2013 is closer than you think. SotAQ is the annual, juried  quilt show through Queensland Quilters Art Quilt Group and 2013 is SotAQ's 5th birthday. A wonderful and early milestone for what will be an annual event  long after I hang up my needles (not planned for any decade soon). I've nearly finished my first entry and am wanting to complete a second - in a calm, collected rush. Let's see how it all goes - and here's my favourite creative heart (a collage of the creative past) infusing today, tomorrow and all the magic that lies ahead ...

Playing and printmaking

Have found myself  waiting a lot of late. Life can be like that. On those days I pack a satchel of visual diary, multiple mark making devices (in the old days called pens and pencils) and sometimes get to hang at Little Sister's place where this week we started making collagraphs - just like 1967 in Tamworth, New South Wales where we spent part of those early years.  If anyone recognises their "Happy 50th" card - well be pleased it lives on. Play and more play ... and when it's with someone you love ... it just doesn't get any better than this. And now to play some more ..

 

 

Creative thinking boosts

There are many ways to trigger creative thoughts - and old paperbacks can be just what the doctor ordered. Roll a heap of individual pages into scrolls and stick them in a jar for safe keeping. As required, remove a scroll and paste into the visual diary or journal and find six or seven words that "jump out" (maybe from every paragraph, or every 42 words, or every 3rd sentence). Then have a bit of a party in the head about what this might mean or could lead to ..... mind map, go wild, capture the thoughts on paper ... it never fails to get something going, even if it's to say "codswallop ... I'll do this instead ..." Still enjoying a friend's fb post which said "Go to bed with a dream, wake up with a purpose". Musty pages never looked so good .....

 

Early days of linoprints and wood cuts

I've been over in the studio for a few full days of just being in the studio. Precious and rare.  It's been a time of starting with naked lino and progressing to a final print through about 10+ stages of cutting - it's about challenging the comfortable way I work by having a set of rules (every time a bird flies past the window, every 35 minutes, every 46 cuts ...) and not when I'm necessarily ready to print.  Then a day with a piece of ply provided by WMBM - and a grevillea leaf saved from a fabric printing session. Can't wait to try these out on some PFD!

 

 

 

Lots of experimentation - burnishing in different ways. Then waiting for them to dry. Sigh. I've always said I'm a patient goddess.