...drink the wild air

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. ( Ralph Waldo Emerson) … I chose this quotation as a theme for last weekend’s workshop at the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists Retreat. The air was “wild” with inspiration, activity, enthusiasm, fun, friendship, colour and creativity – such an invigorating atmosphere for all who love working with textiles and fibres. The talented textile artists, Jan Clark and Trevor and Beth Reid were also tutors at this retreat.

I had a wonderful group of women in my class who created dolls from found objects, polymer clay and upcycled fibres and fabrics to produce really imaginative and meaningful creations. We each started with a quotation to inspire our work and from then on, there were no restrictions … a stick in the garden will never be looked at in the same way and a shapely bottle will never find its way to the recycling bin again. Here are a few images of my students' creations.... very satisfying to see such brilliant work produced.

I have had other wonderful weekends this month – is it so long since I have posted on this blog? The previous weekend’s theme must have been “Live the moment” - what a whirlwind weekend!

On the Friday and Saturday I was the Secretary General at the Model United Nations Assembly, where young delegates changed the world. We managed to resolve the Middle East crisis, develop plans to cope with Climate Change,deal with terrorism, refugee processing and the reform of the United Nations itself – no wonder I was exhausted! The Model United Nations Assembly is a Rotary District 9670 event, and it is a really amazing experience. Youth delegates representing United Nations member nations debate global issues and attempt to resolve world problems using individual nations' viewpoints and alliances taking a peaceful approach. Perhaps the real politicians, world leaders and decision makers need to follow these young peoples' example.

Then on Sunday, I managed one day of the two day class with visiting doll maker , Patti Culea. - so interesting not only to learn new techniques, but also to chat about the inspiration for this doll - the bound feet of Chinese women in the past. How privileged we are to be able to access the talents of such inspiring artists. Then, just to finish the weekend on an even higher note, that was followed by a magical musical evening of Andre Rieu and the Seekers

The weekend before that we celebrated Mother’s Day. We spent another great day with our wonderful family on the shores of Lake Macquarie, first having an outdoor breakfast and then a visit to the Lake Macquarie Art Gallery to see a textile exhibition.

And of course, great presents, especially hand drawn and handmade cards from children and grandchildren

I know it's often said bad things happen in threes ... with these three fantastic weekends, I can only conclude good things must come in threes, too.

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...

Christmas Countdown 25... Christmas Tree #1

Background : It has become a bit of a Christmas tradition for me to write an Advent blog - a series of posts leading into Christmas from 1 December . In the past, I have featured Christmas characters by the alphabet, all you ever needed to know about Christmas cakes, Christmas Firsts and Christmas traditions. I usually find myself on 30 November, thinking what to do this year? However, I've had the idea of "crazy " Christmas trees in the back of my mind since last year. So this year, it's about non- traditional, unusual, crazy, weird Christmas trees. There will also be a "handmade" element to my posts, so there may even be some links to tutorials or other ideas.... So here we go. Christmas Countdown 25 - 1 December. Source : https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/455285843573622091 This is the image which started this line of thought.... a yarn bombed, crochet granny square Christmas tree. I though...

Fairies in Your Garden?

"She didn't claim to see the fairies or hear their music, but she did find the fairy rings of dark grass, sprinkled with toadstool left by their dancing feet. " Having completed a small watercolour and ink sketch this week led me to thinking about "fairies in the garden". I remembered a story of an amazing hoax by two young girls in 1917. Have you heard of the Cottingley Fairies? Much has been written about the five photographs produced by two cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in Yorkshire, England. I would love to show here all five photos but there is some controversy about the copyright of the photos and I would not like to be in any sort of dispute about the use of them. However, they are reproduced on these sites - click on the word link to see the photos : 1. Wikipedia 2. Museum of Hoaxes 3. The Telegraph - Five Famous Hoaxes Elsie and Frances took photos with a quarter plate camera in their garden ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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