Four Truths of a Tree

Collage: paper, paint and ink  - Wilma Simmons 2018 

The tree knows four truths –
earth, water, air and the fire of the sun.

Collage: newspaper, ink, pastel - Wilma Simmons 2018 

The tree holds four truths in one.
Root, limb and leaf unfold
out of the seed and these rejoice
till the tree dreams it has a voice...
(From Judith Wight : The Wattle Tree) 

Work in progress - ink, paint, pastel - Wilma Simmons 2018

Where Thy Grey Eye Glances

And all my days are trances 
 And all my nightly dreams 
Are where thy grey eye glances 
And where thy footstep gleams— 
In what ethereal dances 
By what eternal streams.” —” To One in Paradise " - Edgar Allan Poe  

I made a collage tag for Tag Tuesday's current theme  "Edgar Allan Poe", just in time for the season of  spooky  stories and Halloween.  I used  pieces of torn  paper - text, painted or printed household paper, tea bag, magazine page and a photocopied image of  E.A.P.  I finished  the tag with a rows of machine stitching.  Such a challenging theme set by Design Team member, Michele, but please visit the Tag Tuesday blog to see amazing tags  from very talented artists. 

Creating "Midsummer"

Art Dolls only hosted a Midsummer Challenge  for doll makers around the world.... here are some of the beautiful dolls made in response to the challenge. 

Borders #3 - Did you really burn your bra?

"Constrain" - cotton corset of the late 1960s /early 1970s ,
collage lining, vintage tin badge. hand and machine stitching , photo transfer 

The late 1960s and 1970s were heady days for young women.... never before had the voice of women been heard so loudly and so strongly. I wanted to capture a bit of the spirit of that 'burn your bra"  period with Corset no. 2 in my series  for the "Crossing Borders" exhibition. 

Corset lining in progress - photo transfer and applique 

Corset work in progress - reverse applique ready to stitch and stamping 

I used some original vintage fabric from a curtain of the period and revers appliqued the floral fabric in some of the panels of the corset. Inside the corset, the lining depicts some of the recorded visual history of the protest marches of the time. The black and white photo transfer attempts to project a nostalgic feel to this art corset. 

Corset work in progress - reverse appliqued stitching completed/ cutting edges still to be done. 

Artist statement:  Considerable achievements towards gender equality have been made throughout history. However, the 'societal' borders and limitations set by sex stereotypes, rigid gender roles and prejudices remain firm. The appalling statistics of domestic violence , the unequal treatment of female leaders, the growing demand for extreme cosmetic surgery, the increase in the incidence of eating disorders, and the lack of salary parity are real. The three corsets are symbols of the cultural and attitudinal  barriers to true gender equity. 

Corset series displayed for critique :"  Borders- Restrict, Constrain, Silence " 

Crossing Borders exhibition is currently showing at Timeless Textiles Gallery, Newcastle NSW Australia. 

Leafy Tag

It's Autumn/Halloween at Tag Tuesday, the theme chosen by the talented leader of our group, Valerie. Yes it's very late in the fortnight to be posting, but here it is.  This is a stitched cloth tag. The background is batik cotton, with a photo transferred by blender marker. The leaves are appliqued to this background and then free stitched by machine in various shades of red, yellow and brown.
Happy Autumn to all in the northern hemisphere!

Crossing Borders

Art work : Jette Clover 

Artists cross borders in new exhibition

Borders are confronted, interpreted and defined by nine textile artists in a new exhibition opening at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery in October.

The Crossing Borders exhibition displays the results of a masterclass taught by Danish fibre artist and teacher Jette Clover. Conducted over nine months, the masterclass encouraged the students to explore the literal, political, cultural, symbolic and psychological meaning of a border. 

They experimented with techniques and materials to visually express borders through lines, seams, folds, shadows, colours, and textures.

A border makes distinction between adjoining elements and spaces, and can either separate or link those elements and spaces. In everyday usage, border most often refers to a physical obstruction. It is associated with cultural and political diversity. Borders often mark language barriers and can create feelings of inside/outside and us/them. 

A journalist before she became an artist, Clover helped her students to also consider those invisible borders that affect us, personally and collectively. Personally, we can be limited by fear, lack of time and means, change, gender role and family. Personal borders can stop us from developing our full potential. Communities can also create social, psychological, emotional and ethical borders. Crossing them can bring about positive changes, on an individual or societal level. For instance, the #MeToo movement empowered women to break down barriers of silence about sexual harassment.

The exhibiting fibre artists include Peta Llyod, Wilma Simmons, Cathy Jack Coupland, Margaret Adams, Anne Kempton, Jenny Broughton, Lois Parish Evans, Nanette Blachin and Jen Florey. They have responded in diverse and creative ways to the challenge of breaking their personal borders.

Crossing Borders exhibition runs from 3 to 28 October. Jette Clover will open the show from 6 to 8pm on Thursday 4 October 2018