Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

From the   Newcastle Herald today Tactile textiles by top fibre artists BY AMY EDWARDS  Photo by Dean Osland 26 Aug, 2011 04:00 AM THE best of Newcastle’s fibre and textile artists have welcomed the opening of a gallery in Islington to show their work. Timeless Textiles, the brainchild of Newcastle fibre artist Anne Kempton, opened in Beaumont Street, Islington, last night. ‘‘I knew there was a niche and an important one for this style of art. This is high end work and it features 19 artists,’’ she said. The exhibition Revealed: Uncovering the Beauty of Fibre Art features the work of Newcastle, national and international artists ranging from natural fibre clothing designs, wall art, sculptures and 3D hangings. Wilma Simmons, a former high school principal, has created a series of dolls using natural fibres. ‘‘This is a really rare opportunity. There are so few galleries not only in NSW but Australia to promote excellence in fibre and textile art,’’ Mrs Simmons s...

In my 2011 series of  blog posts on  inspiring Arty Places, I am very excited to  feature the newest gallery in Newcastle -  Timeless Textiles , a rare treasure amongst art galleries which is devoted to celebrating excellence in fibre art. When I first visited, I was stunned by so much beauty in one place and left reluctantly but feeling culturally and spiritually uplifted. Anne Kempton, the owner of this special art space, is committed to sharing her passion for textile art and has worked tirelessly for months to make her dream a reality of the finest quality... some images of the fibre art currently displayed in Timeless Textiles.     The first exhibition, Revealed:Uncovering the Beauty of Fibre Art will showcase  the finest work of international, national and regional  fibre artists  and the invitation encourages you to to "immerse yourself in the complex beauty of traditional and contemporary textile pract...

What a week - four days of workshops and a witch doll project dinner with Gumnutters Doll Group! I spent a whole day dyeing every bit of cotton and velvet fabric in sight, preparing a great stash for future projects. All of this fabric has been dyed with procion dyes. This was a wonderful day with textile artist, Roberta Hodgson. My class with the Sydney high school students was great fun, too. We did some wet felting, but it seemed to prove that glittery butterflies and love hearts are favourites amongst fifteen year old girls, whatever their background, circumstances and aspirations. The weekend was a Gumnutters' birthday celebration with the "unveliing" of the witches travelling doll project on Friday. . There were two groups of four and the project was "a body in a bag" , with each person working on the other three group members' dolls  with a theme of witches and wizards , but no wizards appeared. My multi-coloured organge/purple and green body re...