Skip to main content

Something Blue - Pay It Forward

 DUST is the ETSY "Down Under Street Team" - a group of Australian Artists, Craftspeople and Artisans who support ETSY and wish to promote independent handcrafted goods here is Australia and workwide. I am a proud member of DUST . Each month DUST has a sale with a theme. This month, the theme is "Something Blue".  I had very few things in my shop which are "blue", so started to get out all the blue stuff I have.This Blue Beadie is one of the little pieces I created once I saw how many blue beads I actually had in my stash. I could probably make hundreds of blue beaded things with what I have collected over the years .  Do I have Bower Bird syndrome? I also made another little blue Angel of Hope. This one is number 21, but will be sent as a gift to a friend
Do you believe in Pay It Forward ... doing a good deed with nothing asked in return except that the hope that the recipient would go and do another good deed for someone else to keep the cycle going. This is probably more of a 'paying it back" story, but a similar idea. Yesterday Jim and I were having a light lunch in a Japanese cafe "Kitami Kitchen", in Hamilton, Newcastle. A rather dishevelled man came into the cafe and asked the owner for some food for a friend  but he had no money. This is a very small business with just the owner and a chef, with three tables in a small shop front - very unpretentious.  I expected the owner to refuse and ask the man to leave the premises, but instead, he quietly packaged up some food in takeaway containers for him. I don't want the cycle to finish there, so besides leaving a huge tip for the cafe owner's kindness, I'd like to recommend this little cafe for a quick lunch or takeaway food. All this happened after a great Father's Day outing with our family. What a great Sunday...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday's Child /2

Work in Progress - 3 of the 193 for "Stitched Up"- Wilma Simmons   The work for the "Stitched Up " Project  continues. See the previous "Wednesday Child" post for the background to this art project celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Newcastle Industrial School. I have been documenting the progress of my work, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the early stages of the "stick dolls" ... Here are some of the beginning steps.. Sticks collected while walking the bushland in my neighbourhood  Drying and getting rid of any insects - oven heat 75 degreesC for approx 1-2 hours.  Trimmed and cut if necessary  Ends sealed with matte sealing solution.  Drying  - solution goes on white but dries clear.  First wrapping - foil to create a body shape  Second wrapping - stretch fabric.  Third wrapping - fabric strips  Some stitching - more stitching and embellishment to ...

Stitched Faces

I   've always enjoyed that imperfect line of  "not quite in control' free motion machine stitching....  I think it really suits creating portraits , giving them some character and even a quirkiness that hints of personality plus.  These ones below are from my " Red Cheeks" series from a couple of years ago, and are amongst my favourite stitched portraits.  The current Stitch Club ( textileartist.org) workshop, by  Batool Showghi has inspired me to stitch more this week. Batool , of course, is in complete control of her machine stitching and her works are exquisite and they tell a moving story.  ... " Working with paper, print, paint and stitch, her textile art bears witness to displacement, silenced women and the damage that authoritarian regimes impose on ordinary lives. Batool’s mixed media wall pieces are incredibly striking, but her artist books truly set her apart. Printed imagery of family photographs, birth certificate documents and her o...

Evolution of Message Stick Art Dolls

Message Stick Art Doll - stick, polymer clay, hand dyed & stencilled fabric with embroidery  My    message stick art dolls    have evolved over the last couple of years.  Why have I called these art dolls “Message Sticks” ?    I wanted to recreate a doll which was based on traditional techniques, so I have used ideas from a few different cultures. Many traditional dolls were made from wood - often wrapped with fibres.   In Egypt, several types of paddle dolls have been discovered in tombs in Egypt. The dolls are made of wood, flat, and constructed in a shape has led the form to be called a 'paddle doll'. The dolls seemingly follow a convention for the female figure, emphasizing the hips and hair. The wooden figures are usually painted with a geometric pattern of lines and dots. These patterns may reproduce tattos or ritual scaring in female Egyptian culture of the period or represent clothing or jewellery.  A fine exampl...