Skip to main content

11 Wise Women

Today is International Women's Day 2011. The world  today celebrates 100 years of progress towards gender equality. International Women's Day, however, is both a day to celebrate and a day to draw attention to the challenges that remains before gender equality is truly realised.


What  a significant day to meet with a special woman /gallery owner to negotiate a series a workshops culminating in an exhibition of handmade, soft sculptured  art dolls ,"Wise Women" or as they have been affectionately become known as WOWs (Women of Wisdom). The exhibition opening is planned for International Women's Day 2012. Naturally, I began to think of all the "Wise Women" I've made over the last few years, as well as the many wise women who have taken workshops to make their own. I wonder how many women from the WOW pattern now exist? I have chosen eleven of my creations to help celebrate this very special day 2011...

Happy International Women's Day to my women friends and to the women in my family who are all wise . Here is a special short documentary On Her Shoulders  -  Thanks to all the brave women who have come before us to make our lives so much more fulfilling. Hopefully we can all work to make a small positive difference to improve the lot of women in many parts of the world where they are less fortunate than ourselves.
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 8, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    This is a great post Wilma. The video is excellent.

    LOVE your WOW women!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Designing with Grids

  Wilma Simmons: Magpie Grid, 2026  Straight lines - no not my style! However, here I am stitching grids to create net like structures.  In a recent Stitch Club   workshop by Eszter Bornemisza,  the brief was to create small, transparent textile samples consisting of airy, net-like structures made from a variety of leftover and recycled materials. Using machine straight stitch, small scraps of material including transparent fabrics, lace, cotton and paper were secured  onto water-soluble stabiliser or a layer of paper napkin tissue, or mulberry paper. In the sample pictured above, I used cotton fabric scraps and some roughly cut out motifs secured to a paper napkin with stitching. I washed away the paper napkin , leaving a net like composition, inspired by magpies strutting about in the garden.   Eszter Bornemisza's s innovative technique has been developed over many years, and her gird designed map like installations are world renowned.  Esz...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...
3 comments
Read more

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...
8 comments
Read more