The Sea - for Tag Tuesday

For the current challenge "The Sea"  at Tag Tuesday, I made a couple of  painted/ hand drawn tags . These were created from a piece of watercolour paper which had been sprayed with acrylic paint - blue, yellow and quinacridone gold. I then sketched over the top  , trying to follow some pattern created by the splatter and then add some felt tip pen lines  watercolour pencil to highlight the shapes. The tags represent the fantasies of the hidden city of Atlantis and a mermaid. 

With this theme in mind, I also add a free motion stitched  tag I made  earlier this year for 29 Faces - 

If life gives you limes, make margaritas....

Margaritas sound  like an exotic use for limes, but as a non-drinker, I have been looking for other delicious ways to use an excess of limes. 

One of the most obvious ways was to make some marmalade.  One kilogram of  limes made a tester jar and 10 other jars. Not only does it taste good on toast, it will make a good glaze for ham and in other sauces. 

To celebrate limes more indulgently, I also made individual lime cheesecakes ( although the recipe calls them pies) - two batches of these didn't last long. 

And with the rest .... just a slice of lime in water because 
Limes are a good source of magnesium and potassium.

• Rejuvenates skin. Several skin care products claim to promote healthier, younger looking skin. ...
• Improves digestion. ...
• Fights infections. ...
• Helps with weight loss. ...
• Lowers blood sugar. ...
• Reduces heart disease. ...
• Prevents cancer. ...
• Reduces inflammation.  ( from Healthline)

Here are the links to recipes I used : 

Lime Marmalade 

Mini Lime Cheesecakes 

A rose by any other name ...

The well known song says that it should be "raindrops on roses" as one of my favourite things, but this  morning, I am saying that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." What do I mean ? I don't have any roses blooming at the moment and so there are no photos of raindrops on roses. I do have flowers of other names in my garden that I think  are as beautiful just after rain. 

And, just out of interest, a final explanation from Literary Devices: 

Meaning of A Rose by Any Other Name

The importance of a person or thing is the way it is; not because of what it is called. Simply, it means the names of things cannot affect what they actually are. This line,  from Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet" is, in fact, very profound, suggesting that a name is just a label to distinguish one thing from another. It neither has any worth, nor gives true meaning. Only an individual or thing has a worth when it deserves it; for example, even if we call a rose by an entirely different name, it would smell the same as it does by its name “rose.” Likewise, Juliet links this with Romeo, that his name is just a label, and that he would stay the same for her.

Feathers -Tag Tuesday

"Feathers " is the new theme for Tag Tuesday and as I am currently making #100pinpoems tags for #the100dayproject, I thought I would share some of the ones I made with 'feathers" as inspiration. 

The first is a fabric collage with a stitched bird. It captures a moment when I saw magpies on the lawn, appearing to keep their social distance. 

The second of the "feathered" tags is still about the magpies.... I startled a few when I went out into the garden. I was surprised as they were, I think, and all I seemed to see were black and white wings against the blue sky. 

The third of these tags is an "abstract" of some pigeon feathers on the underside of their wings. It is free form stitched collage d cotton paper. The pigeons which frequent our garden are crested and look very fashionable as if they are wearing little hats, and although their outside feathers are essentially grey, there are beautiful jewel tones on their wings when they are flying.   

The fourth tag  I am sharing with you today is suggestive of the amazing coloured feathers of a rainbow lorikeet.. We are very fortunate to have these bright colourful native birds in our garden every morning and their red, green purple and yello  feathers brighten the dullest day. 

Remember to pop over to Tag Tuesday to see the great tags created for the theme "feathers'  hosted this fortnight by Wendy. 

And for a blast from the past to end with - "Feathers appear when angels are near " -  created for Tag Tuesday in 2015.... 

When the garden takes over ....

Stitching a 'garden' background - Wilma Simmons 

Using gardens as inspiration for art is long established practice in the fine arts, including textile arts. Monet's painting are amongst my favourite artworks and there is no shortage of  treatises about the gardens in art.   

https://www.booktopia.com.au/monet-s-garden-in-art-debra-n-mancoff/book/

Some of my favourite textile artists ( like Anne Kelly) turn to gardens as a source of unending inspiration. 

https://www.textileartist.org/small-worlds-recycled-textile-art-by-anne-kelly

In a considerably more humble way, I have recently been featuring plants from our garden in my small wearable art pin series for #the100dayproject. Although we are in the winter phase of the garden where the colour palette is a more subdued, there are still some beautifully bright flowers, like the purple black eyed African daisies, late summer marigolds, tiny native violets and their potted cousins, violas. Even the pure white rice flower plant  appears to be shining in the soft sunshine . 
 Leaves from deciduous trees and plants even put on a display of colour as they turn Autumn gold and red - I have particularly enjoyed stitching these rich colours.  Even on the greyest of days, there is always something which attracts interest in the garden , even if it is a single leaf on the ground or caught in a spider web, or vegetable seedlings growing up towards the garden supports.  

#100pinpoems - Wilma Simmons 

#100pinpoems - Wilma Simmons 

I could honestly say that the garden has taken over my days - not only trying to get some late produce seedlings into the ground, but also taking photos and then interpreting my garden views in stitch. 

I wonder if the benefits of gardening will be doubled if I both spend some time tending the garden as well as depicting it in my art activities? Let's hope so... 

https://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/blog/why-gardening-is-good-for-you/

Yarn Bombing Day

Thu Jun 11th, 2020

Yarn Bombing Day

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Pearl one, drop one?

Yarn Bombing Day is a day when fibre lovers all over the world go a bit crazy and ensconce everyday objects in woolly patterns. It is sometimes called yarn storming or guerilla knitting. 

from ABC Newcastle 

No matter what you call it, it is simply the practice of knitted  or crocheted works of art being added to public places.   For example some sort of colourful knitted pattern and wrap it around a bus stop. The aim of this practice was to try and take knitting from something that was viewed as merely for creating clothes and hats to something that could add meaning and colour to urban locations. It’s not like standard graffiti where the point is to mark your territory. It’s also definitely not an act of vandalizing. It is about creating a sense of belonging and conveying meaning, as well as drawing attention to something that is ignored by most people. Yarn Bombing Day, therefore, is simply a celebration of this tradition, raising awareness of the art of crochet and knitting while having a lot of fun in the process.  (from Days of the Year )

from mewcastleherald.com.au 

Last year, here in Newcastle, a very strange incident occurred where a busy corner was relocated and left the telegraph pole in the middle of the road. It became the obvious place for a bit of advertising for a good cause. My all time favourite example of yarn bombing was on the steps of the Helsinki Cathedral, Finland . In 2011, over 8,000 wool blankets were made for the bombing. These were all later donated to charities worldwide. 

from lorinotes.wordpress.com 

So today, my bit for yarnbombing day is a mini version.... it is Day 66 og #the100dayproject and the series #100pinpoems. 

"They're called gureillas, /but they're peace-loving knitters./ Yarn Bombers unite! "  - yarnbombed driftwood wearable art pin. 

Sea Glass Shanty

Wondering if I have the time,  I tentatively registered for the TextileArtist.org  Stitch Club. I started late but I have come to terms with being behind and will do the exercises when I feel in the mood ... my new formula  is: 
(collection of ideas + good mood + time opportunity)  - (hesitation + self doubts) = happy project 

 So this weekend, it was time to tackle the first workshop by artist, Debbie Lyddon. No problem with "ideas" This is what Debbie says..... 

" I walk, look and listen, I pick up an object and put it in my pocket. I make a container for it and place it ... in a place where I gather interesting objects together. I make connections and I tell stories.... 
This workshop is drawn from my love of walking, collecting, being curious , telling stories and making....  The challenge is to make three hand-stitched containers for a collection of three objects, natural or man made..."  from Stitch Club workbook 

 I painted cloth as suggested by Debbie - watered down  acrylic paint. . Then,  I thought as I wanted to make tiny containers for small pieces of sea glass that the cloth should be reminiscent of the ocean. Previously I have created art cloth which I called "Coastal Dreams" so I decided to reproduce this . There is such comfort in doing something familiar as a start to trying something new - a happy memory exercise. 

This art cloth is like a sea shanty itself. It rollicks along with space and time for improvisation.  Torn up bits of newspaper, threads and scraps of cheese cloth were applied with watered down paint mixed with gel medium. I then free motion machine stitched  over the whole cloth when dry, with the main purpose of making sure all the added bits were secured. Randomly, I stamped some patterns with rubber stamps and acrylic paint and highlighted areas with metallic rubs and wax crayons.Previously, I have used art cloth created like this for sculptural pieces ( samples pictured below) , so I was confident that this art cloth  made stiffer with  paint and embellishments would be really suitable for "containers "

With such beautiful thread in a shade called "Sandy Bay " all my materials were aligned with the theme. I chose three pieces of the brown glass to work with, and traced their shapes roughly to make templates for containers. Following Debbie's instructions, making grommets from wire for " peep holes" and  hand stitching, I worked with rhythms of the ocean and before long, a series of containers with enticing glimpses of what they contain.  While these containers brown glass, I also made the happy discovery that other coloured pieces also fit. 

What next  with these - Shall I keep them as Debbie does in a place where special pieces gather to tell stories? Shall I add a cord to make a pendant? Or a pin to make a brooch? Will they be ad addition to one of my dolls ? ... or shall I just make some more? 

Petal Pouch - Amethyst Garden

I love making little stitched items which are useful but have a touch of whimsy about them....  I don't make them often but I have released this one for sale in my Etsy shop. 

The beautiful spring garden colours of this floral print make this little pouch a perfect gift for someone special.
The pouch is small but surprisingly roomy - enough space to hold a few keys, money, secrets, or those special little treasures or it can hang as a decorative item on a wall or dressing table .
The pouch and lining are made from quality cotton fabric, with a double drawstring and hand stitched fabric beads. The feature of pouch is the folded fabric flower and suffolk puff embellishment, enhanced by the fabric covered button, hand painted face.

Size height 10cm/4 ins; Width when closed 5cm/2ins when open 13cm/5ins
Contents of pouch pictured  are not included.

Free shipping within Australia. 

Dance .... with leaves and animals

Dancing my way to Tag Tuesday this week  for the theme "Dance-Dancers- Dancing" . Here I used torn bits of inked paper with other bits from concert advertising. All I could think of was kinetic energy and how I could convey that as a collage of contemporary dance. I liked the swirls of mark making  because they remind of  dance painting..... no words can explain this  better than the sight of it in action. 

In the past week,  I have also been  mesmerised by the  beautiful coloured autumn leaves which look as if they are dancing in the breeze as they fall from trees . (Remember, I am in the southern hemisphere so it is just the start of our winter). 

Attention -seeking 
Against a bushland backdrop 
Golden leaves dancing 

( a free motion stitched wearable art pin  #100pinpoems in #the100dayproject ) 

Sadly I was a little late photographing the tag I made for the previous theme "Animals" but I include it here .... I am sure some of those animals are dancing in her  hair  ( perhaps not the large lazy dog?) .... this is a simple collage tag drawing inspiration from a fun book , entitled " Animals in My Hair. "

Thank you Tag Tuesday for these little challenges. 

Where is beauty? What is beauty?

Chameleon rose from my garden. 

The answer to "where is beauty?" seems  easy .... beauty is  all around us, but do we all see the same beauty ?  There is a Chinese saying, "Flowers look different to different eyes" Yes, we've all heard that before ..."Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." 

Contemporary artists worldwide often challenge our notion of beauty and many celebrate the ordinary and the familiar, making comment on daily rituals and consumer items.  None of this is very surprising since early man recorded every day life in cave paintings  and it has been happening in the art world ever since.  Up until 1960s, household items often appeared in still life paintings, but it was the contemporary pop art movement where artists sought out the commonplace to elevate artistically. What could be more "everyday" than Andy Warhol's iconic Campbell Soup Tins ? 

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/andy-warhol-campbells-soup-cans-1962/

All sorts of useful mundane items have been celebrated in art - I am particularly intrigued by artists who transform everyday items not only into subjects for their art works but use them as art materials. It is as if they see beauty in the every day object not as it is but in its transformation. This sculptured tyre  has been created by contemporary artist, Wim Delvoye.. "The artist hand-carves rubber car tyres with motifs whose curlicued florals and sinuous vines recall Art Nouveau decoration." 

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/making-art-from-mundane-materials-900188

These artworks by  French artist, Albert Legrand are amongst my favourites as he seems to be able to inject emotion into these commonplace  found objects.    

https://www.boredpanda.com/everyday-object-character-art-gilbert-legrand/

In my recent  series of little wearable art pins, I have been trying to depict  the very ordinary, the very everyday and  to capture daily thoughts or ideas which are not momentous or genius but things that we all wonder about from time to time. Most of the beauty I see around me is in my garden or close by, but even so, others may not think what I use as my inspiration as particularly beautiful.  so ... is this the answer ? .... 

“Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.”  And then is it possible to interpret in art the beauty one perceives and does it retain its beauty? ....

Close to home

For all of us, being close to home is not an option currently. There are many positive ways to think of being close to home -  one, of course, is to find inspiration and make art . Recently, probably in the last few years, the sights and sounds in my neighbourhood have provided me with enough material for a lifetime of art making.... and I don't live in a magical place, just a simple ordinary  residential suburb in a regional city in NSW,  near some dedicated bushland, walking tracks, a village shopping centre and a hospital. 

On daily walks in the neighbourhood, I have picked up sticks from the ground to make hundreds of "stick" dolls,  fallen leaves to dye and print cloth and paper, flowers and other plant bits  for  various artworks. 

I am very grateful to have so much to work from so close to home and as I complete my second #the100day project - 100 small wearable art pins, I have tried to find a new way each day of expressing the everyday ordinary  ... #100pinpoems - a pin with a haiku ( or at least a pseudo haiku). 
Here are the last eleven ... and they all based on  being in my neighbourhood ,  "close to home " ... "Home is where you start from"  (TS Eliot)