The Sea - for Tag Tuesday

For the current challenge "The Sea"  at Tag Tuesday, I made a couple of  painted/ hand drawn tags . These were created from a piece of watercolour paper which had been sprayed with acrylic paint - blue, yellow and quinacridone gold. I then sketched over the top  , trying to follow some pattern created by the splatter and then add some felt tip pen lines  watercolour pencil to highlight the shapes. The tags represent the fantasies of the hidden city of Atlantis and a mermaid. 

With this theme in mind, I also add a free motion stitched  tag I made  earlier this year for 29 Faces - 

If life gives you limes, make margaritas....

Margaritas sound  like an exotic use for limes, but as a non-drinker, I have been looking for other delicious ways to use an excess of limes. 

One of the most obvious ways was to make some marmalade.  One kilogram of  limes made a tester jar and 10 other jars. Not only does it taste good on toast, it will make a good glaze for ham and in other sauces. 

To celebrate limes more indulgently, I also made individual lime cheesecakes ( although the recipe calls them pies) - two batches of these didn't last long. 

And with the rest .... just a slice of lime in water because 
Limes are a good source of magnesium and potassium.

• Rejuvenates skin. Several skin care products claim to promote healthier, younger looking skin. ...
• Improves digestion. ...
• Fights infections. ...
• Helps with weight loss. ...
• Lowers blood sugar. ...
• Reduces heart disease. ...
• Prevents cancer. ...
• Reduces inflammation.  ( from Healthline)

Here are the links to recipes I used : 

Lime Marmalade 

Mini Lime Cheesecakes 

A rose by any other name ...

The well known song says that it should be "raindrops on roses" as one of my favourite things, but this  morning, I am saying that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." What do I mean ? I don't have any roses blooming at the moment and so there are no photos of raindrops on roses. I do have flowers of other names in my garden that I think  are as beautiful just after rain. 

And, just out of interest, a final explanation from Literary Devices: 

Meaning of A Rose by Any Other Name

The importance of a person or thing is the way it is; not because of what it is called. Simply, it means the names of things cannot affect what they actually are. This line,  from Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is, in fact, very profound, suggesting that a name is just a label to distinguish one thing from another. It neither has any worth, nor gives true meaning. Only an individual or thing has a worth when it deserves it; for example, even if we call a rose by an entirely different name, it would smell the same as it does by its name “rose.” Likewise, Juliet links this with Romeo, that his name is just a label, and that he would stay the same for her.

Feathers -Tag Tuesday

"Feathers " is the new theme for Tag Tuesday and as I am currently making #100pinpoems tags for #the100dayproject, I thought I would share some of the ones I made with 'feathers" as inspiration. 

The first is a fabric collage with a stitched bird. It captures a moment when I saw magpies on the lawn, appearing to keep their social distance. 

The second of the "feathered" tags is still about the magpies.... I startled a few when I went out into the garden. I was surprised as they were, I think, and all I seemed to see were black and white wings against the blue sky. 

The third of these tags is an "abstract" of some pigeon feathers on the underside of their wings. It is free form stitched collage d cotton paper. The pigeons which frequent our garden are crested and look very fashionable as if they are wearing little hats, and although their outside feathers are essentially grey, there are beautiful jewel tones on their wings when they are flying.   

The fourth tag  I am sharing with you today is suggestive of the amazing coloured feathers of a rainbow lorikeet.. We are very fortunate to have these bright colourful native birds in our garden every morning and their red, green purple and yello  feathers brighten the dullest day. 

Remember to pop over to Tag Tuesday to see the great tags created for the theme "feathers'  hosted this fortnight by Wendy. 

And for a blast from the past to end with - "Feathers appear when angels are near " -  created for Tag Tuesday in 2015.... 

When the garden takes over ....

Stitching a 'garden' background - Wilma Simmons 

Using gardens as inspiration for art is long established practice in the fine arts, including textile arts. Monet's painting are amongst my favourite artworks and there is no shortage of  treatises about the gardens in art.   

https://www.booktopia.com.au/monet-s-garden-in-art-debra-n-mancoff/book/

Some of my favourite textile artists ( like Anne Kelly) turn to gardens as a source of unending inspiration. 

https://www.textileartist.org/small-worlds-recycled-textile-art-by-anne-kelly

In a considerably more humble way, I have recently been featuring plants from our garden in my small wearable art pin series for #the100dayproject. Although we are in the winter phase of the garden where the colour palette is a more subdued, there are still some beautifully bright flowers, like the purple black eyed African daisies, late summer marigolds, tiny native violets and their potted cousins, violas. Even the pure white rice flower plant  appears to be shining in the soft sunshine . 
 Leaves from deciduous trees and plants even put on a display of colour as they turn Autumn gold and red - I have particularly enjoyed stitching these rich colours.  Even on the greyest of days, there is always something which attracts interest in the garden , even if it is a single leaf on the ground or caught in a spider web, or vegetable seedlings growing up towards the garden supports.  

#100pinpoems - Wilma Simmons 

#100pinpoems - Wilma Simmons 

I could honestly say that the garden has taken over my days - not only trying to get some late produce seedlings into the ground, but also taking photos and then interpreting my garden views in stitch. 

I wonder if the benefits of gardening will be doubled if I both spend some time tending the garden as well as depicting it in my art activities? Let's hope so... 

https://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/blog/why-gardening-is-good-for-you/

Yarn Bombing Day

Thu Jun 11th, 2020

Yarn Bombing Day

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Pearl one, drop one?

Yarn Bombing Day is a day when fibre lovers all over the world go a bit crazy and ensconce everyday objects in woolly patterns. It is sometimes called yarn storming or guerilla knitting. 

from ABC Newcastle 

No matter what you call it, it is simply the practice of knitted  or crocheted works of art being added to public places.   For example some sort of colourful knitted pattern and wrap it around a bus stop. The aim of this practice was to try and take knitting from something that was viewed as merely for creating clothes and hats to something that could add meaning and colour to urban locations. It’s not like standard graffiti where the point is to mark your territory. It’s also definitely not an act of vandalizing. It is about creating a sense of belonging and conveying meaning, as well as drawing attention to something that is ignored by most people. Yarn Bombing Day, therefore, is simply a celebration of this tradition, raising awareness of the art of crochet and knitting while having a lot of fun in the process.  (from Days of the Year )

from mewcastleherald.com.au 

Last year, here in Newcastle, a very strange incident occurred where a busy corner was relocated and left the telegraph pole in the middle of the road. It became the obvious place for a bit of advertising for a good cause. My all time favourite example of yarn bombing was on the steps of the Helsinki Cathedral, Finland . In 2011, over 8,000 wool blankets were made for the bombing. These were all later donated to charities worldwide. 

from lorinotes.wordpress.com 

So today, my bit for yarnbombing day is a mini version.... it is Day 66 og #the100dayproject and the series #100pinpoems. 

"They're called gureillas, /but they're peace-loving knitters./ Yarn Bombers unite! "  - yarnbombed driftwood wearable art pin.