Open Studios of the Scenic Rim 2015

We're about to have two busy, fun days of Open Studios again - this weekend - along with other artists in the Boonah part of Scenic Rim Regional Council we're buddying up with Days for Girls - Hazel will be here most of the weekend and all proceeds from our tea, coffee and bikky sales will go to Days for Girls. Might also be some sausage in a blanket contributions too - it's windy and a bit chilly this morning so rug up and come on out. We're open Saturday and Sunday - plenty of parking too! Don't miss out on the textile art circuit - with Patena Moesker and Sally Hart at Bunjurgen and the BASi group at the Boonah Cultural Centre. A fabulous day in the Scenic Rim.

Textile Trails of the Scenic Rim - this May

If you love textiles then we've put together a Textile Trail of the Scenic Rim to coincide with Open Studios in May 2015. Artists include Patena Moesker, Bec Anderson, Erica Bates, Betty Bull, Margaret Smit, Wendy Trulson, Robyn Christoffel, Meredith Stone, the BASi group in Boonah, as well as Rebecca Staunton Coffey and me at Aliquilts Studios. Thanks to Scenic Rim Regional Council for ongoing support - full details of when and where to find us can be found at Open Studios - click on an area or weekend for dates, opening times and facilities.

Community cloth takes shape

What a fantastic response to our community cloth - with 116 printed squares created over the Open Studios weekend. Visitors were able to create a stamp, use found objects or foliage from the gardens - then printed onto 5 inch squares. These will form the basis of our 2014 community cloth
Weekend visitors ebbed and flowed with an occasional spurt around workshop times. Our last guests arrived around 4.30 pm on Sunday and departed into the evening  dusk after making their marks on a few more squares.  Thank you Mel, Rebecca, Chris, Sue, Judy and Dick and the WMBM  for making this year so special.

My Father's Shed selected for QRAA

This week I received a phone call to say "My Father's Shed" had been awarded the 2013 Queensland Regional Arts Award in the area of textiles. I've watched how other textile artists conduct themselves when published, or receive awards and have quietly wondered what that would feel like and what would be the appropriate response. Looking back, I wish I had responded with some sense of dignity or managed to be calm, cool and collected. It was not to be - when it came to the crunch, I was found wanting.

Congratulations also to Renton Bishopric for Coal for Breakfast, Jasmine Jean for That Place Inside Me and Christine Turner for Immersed. Seabastian Toast's piece Pig Post received the People's Choice Award. 

Many thanks to TAFTA for, among other joyous things, a scholarship to attend TAFTA's 2014 Contextart FORUM , to Flying Arts Alliance Inc for their generous gift, and to Irene at Scenic Rim Regional Council whose enthusiasm for our arts community is boundless. We never create in isolation - and I've had many reasons this past month to reflect on the blessings of fellow artists, friends and family in my life, especially Ankie. Most of all, Dad - thank you for surviving the move.