Arty Alphabet Days 1-5

My cousin alerted me to this Instagram challenge called #everydaycreativeatoz hosted by artist, Jennifer Cockcroft . Here is a summary of what Jennifer says about this challenge in her blog

"Everyday Creative A to Z challenge!

This really is as simple as it sounds - every day the prompt will be a letter of the alphabet (we'll work through them in order so nobody gets confused!), and all you have to do is post something related to that letter.

I want you to really let your imagination run free with this and post whatever you like!

I know we're in the lead up to Christmas, but there's absolutely no requirement for you to post festive images if that's not your thing - or if you're a total Christmas freak then please go right ahead!

You could stick to a theme in your posts, or mix and match each day depending on your inspiration.....

You get the idea - there really are no rules with this, and if you like you can switch and change and post something different every day, or skip some days and just pick your favourite letters."

Here are my first five days ...
A&B : Because I didn't actually start until 28 November, I used one photo for both letters. ART and BALDNESS . This is a photo of me, soon after I shaved my head for a charity fundraising supporting the Zero Children's Cancer Campaign. The art is by Brisbane based artist, Sylvia Watt whose portraits here are obviously of bald women. This photo set a theme for me for the rest of the challenge to post an "arty" alphabet...
C: COW COLLAGE Followers of this blog know that I tear up bits of paper and use them in an attempt to create artistic collages. I sometimes include postage stamps in those collages after being inspired by the work of Jette Clover earlier in the year. Jette encouraged us all to try to practise art each day with a simple exercise of making a small collage for a card - here's one of them!
D: DAY of the DEAD DOLL I created this doll after winning a set of fabric markers in a raffle. It started with a piece of white cotton and I drew on it , sewed it up, filled it with fibre fill and then painted over the edges of the raw fabric.
E: EMBROIDERED EGG and EGG CUPS I have been collecting egg cups for over 40 years, so I have a large collection.... I like to stitch temari too. So here is an embroidered egg sitting in one of my eggcups with part of my egg cup collection in the background. Just for the record, we love boiled eggs!
Watch this space for other posts about my arty alphabet .... and soon a Christmas Countdown for Advent!

Wednesday's Child /2

Work in Progress - 3 of the 193 for "Stitched Up"- Wilma Simmons The work for the "Stitched Up " Project continues. See the previous "Wednesday Child" post for the background to this art project celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Newcastle Industrial School. I have been documenting the progress of my work, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the early stages of the "stick dolls" ... Here are some of the beginning steps.. Sticks collected while walking the bushland in my neighbourhood Drying and getting rid of any insects - oven heat 75 degreesC for approx 1-2 hours. Trimmed and cut if necessary Ends sealed with matte sealing solution. Drying - solution goes on white but dries clear. First wrapping - foil to create a body shape Second wrapping - stretch fabric. Third wrapping - fabric strips Some stitching - more stitching and embellishment to ...

Evolution of Message Stick Art Dolls

Message Stick Art Doll - stick, polymer clay, hand dyed & stencilled fabric with embroidery My message stick art dolls have evolved over the last couple of years. Why have I called these art dolls “Message Sticks” ? I wanted to recreate a doll which was based on traditional techniques, so I have used ideas from a few different cultures. Many traditional dolls were made from wood - often wrapped with fibres. In Egypt, several types of paddle dolls have been discovered in tombs in Egypt. The dolls are made of wood, flat, and constructed in a shape has led the form to be called a 'paddle doll'. The dolls seemingly follow a convention for the female figure, emphasizing the hips and hair. The wooden figures are usually painted with a geometric pattern of lines and dots. These patterns may reproduce tattos or ritual scaring in female Egyptian culture of the period or represent clothing or jewellery. A fine exampl...

"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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