Skip to main content

Arty Places 2011 #4


Newcastle  Entertainment Centre became an 'arty place' when the Craft and Sewing Show came to town a fortnight ago. I heard some visitors say that there wasn't much there, but I found lots of fun things to do.... and enjoyed at least two different  new arty techniques to try.  I did a workshop on paper quilting with Michaela Laurie .  I have made a few gift tags, but nothing quite as  complex as this example of Michaela's lovely work  (image jewelled elephant from the website).  I also  purchased a kit for this little container made by weaving strips of Japanese fabric and I amazed myself when I  completed it in one night.


One of my favourite stalls was Wabi- Sabi Designs manned by Shuji Yamazaki from whom I bought a beautiful silk  kimono style jacket.  Wabi- Sabi Designs is based in Canberra and has a regular stall at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston as well as online shopping.

My other favourite stall was BeBe Bold,  specialising in Japanese textiles and really delightful patterns, including children's clothes, and the very popular Lucky Owls.  Jane McDonald  from Lismore is the talented designer behind BeBe Bold ( check out the range on the website). I was very happy with the really soft and subtle colours of the "Galaxy" wool I bought from Be Be Bold and the scarf it made.


However, being somewhat biased, I thought the Hello Dollies stall was really stunning - beautiful work from all the doll makers in our group and the extraordinary quilts from Anne's Glory Box provided the perfect setting for them.

Hope you find and enjoy some arty places where you live.. This was just another in the series of arty places close to my home.

Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing your arty places, I had fun checking out all the links. The paper quilting looks very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was lovely to meet you Wilma. Your scarf looks fabulous as do all the things you made...Thank you for telling us about the restaurant by the way!

    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 Anonymous comments will not be published.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

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...

Giveaway - Gifts for You on My Birthday

Giveaway Gifts T his week is blog giveaway time! Last week I celebrated my birthday.  I’ve had far too many to count the candles, but I had a wonderful party on the weekend with my family - with an indulgent birthday cake, favourite foods cooked by my husband and great company. ( In case you were wondering about the writing on the cake , Por Por = Chinese grandmother)     I also got great gifts from  my family and friends. There seemed to be a bit of a theme this year – with many of my gifts and cards depicting matryshoka ( babushka) dolls and tea drinking.   As it is also winter here in Australia ,   it was easy for me to  decide what I could offer as gifts  in this birthday giveaway. All the gifts are handmade by me. Gift 1 - two little fabric matryshoka dolls  Gift 2- a little bag made from colourful teapot and teacup fabric . The design is called a jester bag, but it is suitable for carrying s...

From my workshop page....

  Current Workshops  Offerings  Thinking of a workshop for your group in  2022?    Art Doll Workshops : -  Garden Thread Dolls  (one day workshop   -  WoW -(Woman of Wisdom)    - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head.  This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or  2 full days  days!   -  Message/Story  Stick doll  - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth.  ( one day)    -  Elemental totems  - stick doll variation , with sculpture  ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric)  TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS    Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style.    - Dipping Into Tea  - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric.  ( two days)  work by Judith Bee, workshop participant.  - Tea Bag sculpture : ...