Where are the Songs of Spring?

eco print - marigold, grevillea leaf on khadi paper

Today is the first day of Autumn in the southern hemisphere

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom friend of the maturing sun....

And still more,
Later flowers for the bees,
Until they think the warm days will never cease...
Where are the songs of Spring ?
Yellow in all the earth and in the skies
The world would seem
Faint as a widow mourning with soft eyes
And falling into dream ....
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go
Before I sleep .....
Words by John Keats, John Shaw Neilson, Robert Frost
Images by me - (Wilma Simmons, Empress Wu Designs) from my handmade book, Where are the songs of Spring?

gum leaf captured between tea bag paper , dipped in beeswax

eco dyed wool with handstitching

tea bag and hand stitching

eco dyed wool, felted and hand stitched with wood button

eco print leaves on watercolour paper

eco print leaf , with feather, wood button and stitching

print, machine stitching, on tea bag paper applied to cotton fabric.

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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...

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 : ...

"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 ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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