Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

The Wise Woman Exhibition opens on 8 March. The invitations, advertising and the media releases are out . Here is a link to an  invitation - click here  . All that is left for me to do this week is to put the finishing touches to a few more pieces. Here is a beautiful art doll created by doll maker friend, Ann Maullin - one of her new dolls in her "Landscape" series. Ann has kindly donated this  beautiful doll to be sold during the exhibition to raise funds for Penola House  programs for refugee women. There are also very many artists who have embellished  and decorated "paper" dolls for the same cause - thank you all for your generosity. Hope to see you at the exhibition celebrating International Women's Day.

TAG TUESDAY: Poetry and Prose : It takes courage : This week again,  I have rushed to make a tag on time... This distressed tag looks as though its had a difficult journey just like Dorothy and as this poem suggests. On Growing Up by Diane Paquin It takes courage to face the threatening storm, to go on though pouring rain and bolting flashes which make you want to run and hide till the rainbows appear once more.... It takes courage to reach for the stars , to climb the eternal stairs that penetrate the darkest  hours of night and never lose sight of those tiny lights when speeding meteors throw you off your ladder. It takes courage to dig deep into the earth to see the crawling bugs that destroy, or maybe find a mushrooming bud digging till the core is reached where the root of all experiences can  . It takes courage to stay on the road that leads to somewhere, not to be tempted by roadside whispers that speak of sweet fantasties - an in reality are not- or to be drawn by the

As regular visitors to this blog know, I am preparing for an exhibition "Wise Women" celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March. I had a crazy idea to ask creative friends to contribute by decorating a string of paper dolls which will adorn the skirting boards of the gallery and I have been overwhelmed by the response, especially from the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists  (NCEATA) . All of these dolls will be silent auctioned  with the funds raised going to a local charity Penola House, which supports refugee women in our community. I thank all the artists not only for their talented contributions, but also for their generosity.  Please come to the exhibition  at Timeless Textiles  on 8 March -25 March to see these all displayed and perhaps make a bid for a good cause. There will of course be many other beautiful art works to appreciate. And not forgetting my tag this week for TAG TUESDAY   which had Valentine's Day as its

I have been really busy preparing for the Wise Women Exhibition - I wish I didn't leave things until the last minute.... The opening is on 8 March with set up on 6 March and still so  much to do... To encourage myself, I am giving you a sneak preview of some of the works in progress. Reviewing what I have done helps me to refocus on completing some more of my many works in progress. This  mixed media piece is almost  completed... digital prints of some of my photos - the face on  organza and the other strips are on cotton with wrapped threads and clay embellishment. And here is head ( which by the way is attached to a body), and  hopefully with some hair and some costuming will turn into a wise woman - at least a young wise woman.? I was happy with the head, so hope now I can finish it off into a completed art doll. I still have one more Wise Woman workshop before the exhibition - please book here at Timeless Textiles. This last week I also finished off  a few bases f

I woke up this morning with a shock - it is February! Not sure what happened to January.... It's been a busy week - top of  my "to do" list was to do some preparation for the Wise Women Exhibition, which I will be curating to celebrate International Women's Day. The opening is on 8 March and the advertising goes out this week. The photo above is of some "almost finished" art dolls which will be included in the exhibition. Participants in my "Wise Women" workshop will also be displaying their work. Here is one of them - a fantastic result from a beginner doll maker! To find out more about these workshops  before the exhibition -  please check  Timeless Textiles I have also just managed to keep up with the blog group challenge  Tag Tuesday . I struggled a bit with both the themes "White" and  "Vintage" but in the end was fairly happy with my tags.   I tried some different techniques with this vintage one - a ph