A Week of April Days

April 21 - Tea Day - Amy pouring herself a cuppa.

Sometimes, it is just fun to celebrate a week of special days when nothing very special is happening. This last week was one of those weeks for me. Starting off last Saturday, 21 April was "Tea Day" - a celebration of the amazing drink tea is. Tea is a wonderful drink that comes in a wide variety of different flavors, each of them having a distinct personality and character. It’s been used for everything from a simple morning libation to the central element of certain social and religious rituals.

April 22 - Sunrise at Hall's Gap, The Grampians , Victoria

22nd April was Earth Day which is not only a celebration but a call to protect our natural environment. it is customary for groups and individuals to mark the day with community environmental activities.

April 23 - English Language Day - Watercolour drawing and collage: Wilma Simmons

Monday 23 April was the United Nationals English Language Day English was a quiet language that began on a small cluster of islands off the coast of Western Europe, it slowly developed and spread through a few different permutations until one day, in an explosion of colonialism, it suddenly spread across the world like wildfire. It became the language of what was once the most powerful nation in the world and has since become the language of commerce in countries all over the world. English Language Day celebrates this language, its history, and its oddities! (from daysoftheyear.com)

April 24 - Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day - stitched tea bag sculpture : Wilma Simmons

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day commemorates the day in 1915 when hundreds of Armenian intellectuals were arrested in Constantinople (Turkey) under government warrants. They were sent to exile and killed. The annihilation of the Armenian intellectuals was a part of a plan to exterminate Armenians in their homeland. I chose the image of a tea bag sculpture also to pay tribute to Armen Rotch, an Armenian artist who creates amazing tea bag installations to raise awareness of the one and half million Armenians killed in the last years of the Ottomon Empire.

April 25 - Anzac Day - Red Poppy and Nest - textile art : Wilma Simmons

ANZAC ( Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice of men and women serving in wars, international conflicts and peacekeeping operations. The day was originally the day when the Anzacs attempted to take the Gallipoli peninsula against the Ottomon Empire in 1915, World War I

April 26 : Hug an Australian Day - Watercolour and ink drawings : Wilma Simmons

26 April was Hug An Australian Day. This is an annual event , founded by Thomas and Ruth Roy of the Wellcat.comwebsite. Though the origins of this event are unclear, Hug An Australian Day has quickly become popular over the last few years, and is celebrated by sending the likes of greeting cards and e-cards to Aussie friends.( from daysoftheyar.com)

April 27 - Tell a Story Day - BNeedle felted doll and teabag book : Wilma Simmons

27 April - Tell A Story Day . This is a special day celebrated in USA and the United Kingdom. The aim of the day to get participants telling, sharing and listening to each others stories. It is a celebration of the art of oral storytelling in all of its many forms, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, a tall tale, or folklore.

And so at the end of 7 very interesting days, I kept wondering tonight if I should continue ... well, at least until the end of the month - such good celebratory days coming up "Save the Frogs Day, then "Zipper Day" and "World Jazz Day" . N0 ... you just enjoy the remaining days of April!

Christmas Countdown #25envelopes/9 : Holly

9 December Christmas Countdown #25envelopes : Holly . The Druids of ancient Britain believed holly leaves had great powers of fertility and longevity . Nowadays, Holly has become a symbol of a Christian Christmas. It is also said that the sharp holly represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore, and the red berries the blood he shed, so it has quite a religious significance. Today’s envelope is a simple collage with paper and fabric. I couched (stitched) Holly ribbon and embroidered French knots for the berries. The Holly theme is inspired by one of my favourite Australian Christmas stamps, depicting an angel with holly leaf wings . Today, I was stitching the holly ribbon onto the envelope at the Wednesday group and had planned to glue on some paper berries but a friend convinced me that embroidered ones would look much better and I think she is right!

#SeptTextileLove26 Day 4

#septtextilelove #stl26day4 … Story-telling … making ‘art dolls’ gives wonderful opportunities to tell stories … This matriarch’s story is intertwined with the cicadas which form part of the soft sculpture and emphasises what appears to be a contradiction about nurturing life and inevitable death... Cicadas spend years underground as nymphs feeding on root sap, emerging en masse as winged adults for a few days, perhaps a week, to mate and lay eggs in tree branches, then die, leaving the eggs to hatch into new nymphs that burrow underground to restart the cycle. The dormant underground phase of the cicada’s life can be from 2-17 years! In my interpretation, this forest matriarch offers a safe place for cicadas to lay eggs, only to cause their own demise … but the continuing life cycle is ensured.

#SeptTextileLove Day 5

#SeptTextileLove #STL26Day5 ‘Caring’ … so much of what textile artists do involves caring - for the environment , for others, for our own health and well-being , for social justice, for our art … today I’m advocating caring about sourcing our materials . I use lots of embroidery thread and it is sometimes tempting to buy cheaper imported threads than the ones I really love to work with, - hand dyed right here in Australia by a small family business . I looked at one of the omnipresent online ads with its incorrect spelling and the suggestion that bulk is better gives strong hints about the ‘quality’ and the price makes me wonder about the working conditions and rights of those who produce and package the thread? I care that the people who make the materials I use get a fair wage and work in safe conditions. I also care that the quality of the materials I use are the best I can afford and have the least negative impact on ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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