Tea on Thursday 23

stash of tea bags- drying

Tea bags are now firmly established as one of my favourite materials to work with. In the past, they have appeared as small embroideries, collaged materials, and even used in art dolls' clothing,
In the last few weeks, I have been very privileged to take classes with amazing talented artists.
At the Contemporary Craft Retreat earlier in the month , I participated in Susie McMahon's "Expressive Bust" . Susie taught us some wonderful techniques and I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and the process of creating a small sculpture . It was a happy accident that I had included a few tea bags in my workshop box. The timber base looked ok, but it just looked better with a few tea bags applied to create a more aged look. Susie discussed the need to try to connect the elements, so they appear to be part of a whole, rather than disparate additions. I think the applied tea bags helped to achieve the integrated look.

I called this "Sunflowers on the Inside"

Last weekend and Monday, it was a great privilege to attend a workshop with Dutch artist, Els van Baarle. The workshop was entitled "Walking the Creative Path' and it was a journey in manipulating wax, dye and print. It was fun to create so many different pieces of surface decorated cloth and paper - layer upon layer. One of the special touches that Els did was to present us each with a small memory book at the beginning of the workshop, and we were to have it completed by Monday, filling it with samples of the work we did in the workshop. The cover of my book is a small piece of waxed rayon, with a printed tea bag applied with a rubber stamp over the top. This little book is based on the poem,
Slowly I close the chamber door
Alone I sit and wait
You did not come
Disappointed, I drink solitary tea.

Workshop Memory book cover

Memory book - samples of workshop techniques.

There are also other benefits to using tea in art works .... One just has to drink it ...

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

My most recent find in the local supermarket - tea in silk bags and lovely tea, too.

Comments

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

"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 ...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog