Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

... On all the big Gum trees there are Gumnut Babies. Some people see them and some don't, but they see everybody and everything.... They love to sit in the sunshine ,warming various parts of themselves while they think. They think of everything and wonder why... . ( from May Gibbs: Gumnut Babies) I have just completed a commissioned series of small watercolour paint, pencil and pen drawings  based on the stories of May Gibbs, Australian folklore author. She did not have a Hakea, Geraldton Wax nor a Grevillea character in her stories, but these are beautiful plants flowering at the moment in my garden, so they were included.

Rain forest babies - art dolls by Wilma Simmons 2017  " In the forest, the child. In the child, the forest. Dwelling well within themselves, children can right wrong turns, can find the clarity of a clearing in the woods. Breath deeply enough the scents of pine, mushroom, moss and beech mast and they will stay with you: listen to the forest attentively enough in childhood and the blackbird will still be singing seventy years on. (http://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2015/06/woods.html ) People often ask me what inspires you to make the things you do.... I draw my inspiration from many places. The little rainforest babies were made very late one night a couple of weeks ago. They are a response to a challenge 'inspired by May Gibbs" held by my doll making group, and while I wanted to pay tribute to May Gibbs' love of nature, I didn't merely want to copy her gumnut babies. However, I did want to capture her magical feel to her characters.... and I really loved the

 A friend gave me some old copies of Design magazine.... they have been very useful in creating these little collages. The colours are vibrant, and there are lots of interesting pages with plans, diagrams and layouts . These two made great thank you cards.

Stamped torn paper from a magazine page with french knots.

Twice torn paper collage.... the paper, torn from magazine pages, is laid on a base, and the when the glue is almost dry, the surface is scraped to tear the paper again to add texture and in some places,  further mystery...

Perhaps I am deluding myself, but I think this one looks like an abstract landscape - all from a couple of torn magazine pages.

And this is how the torn paper series began ... torn magazine page with a newspaper base. Is that part of a crossword puzzle peeking through?

This is the beginning of another series of torn paper /mixed media collages. Some of the postage stamps I have kept have such interesting themes so I am looking forward to creating more of these collages with stamps. Stamped#1 is definitely for cat lovers, but it has been awahile when it cost only 50 cents to post a letter in Australia.

Over the last month, I have been busily tearing up bits of  paper. I haven't quite gone crazy - I attended a workshop with Belgium based artist, Jette Clover who encouraged us to indulge in some daily art practice, making small collages. Here are some of the square collages I have made into greeting cards....  My stockpile is already diminished as I happily gave many away to thank the committee members of a group at a recent Annual General Meeting and others to accompany other thank you and birthday gifts. Tonight's post shows a few, but I think to maintain the daily practice, I will post one a day for the rest of August at least.  with Jette Clover, in front of her work for "Stitched Up" exhibition.