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

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/

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Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Giveaway - Gifts for You on My Birthday

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From my workshop page....

Current Workshops Offerings Thinking of a workshop for your group in 2022? Art Doll Workshops : - Garden Thread Dolls (one day workshop - WoW -(Woman of Wisdom) - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head. This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or 2 full days days! - Message/Story Stick doll - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth. ( one day) - Elemental totems - stick doll variation , with sculpture ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric) TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style. - Dipping Into Tea - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric. ( two days) work by Judith Bee, workshop participant. - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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