Skip to main content

A Christmas Tree Story


 Most years, I decorate a huge Christmas tree with hundreds of ornaments and sparkles, but this year our tree is so different .... it is a small jade tree in a pot, decorated in soft colours . 

The  little tree is  from a second generation cutting from my grandmother's jade tree, brought from Hong Kong, or so the family story claims. The baubles are frosted glass with our grandchildren's names on them, made by my daughter-in-law.  I added a few little dolls also in pastels and  I hung some felted balls .  These little balls were made in Nepal, a couple of  years ago at Seven Women, a centre  which empowers marginalised Nepalese women through education and employment.  There is a single wooden star resting on the top branch  of the tree. 



Somehow all this seemed appropriate with the unsettled and disturbing situation  of the fast spreading  Omicron variant of Covid -19  here in Newcastle ( NSW)  - these colours are calm, reassuring  and subdued . The tree decorations reflect the feeling of wanting to protect our own family and also remind us how lucky we are compared to those in other countries where the health services are not as accessible for so many. 



On Christmas morning, I placed a single star on the front door - a beautiful gift from my sister. It is made from handmade paper with an Aboriginal design - it fits this year's theme and intentions perfectly. 

I rather like the "pared back" look of Christmas in our home this year - perhaps it's a sign of  future Christmases ? 


 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

A November project

 A few years ago, I began scheduling into my day, the routine of a daily art practice.... seven years later, I still love #the100dayproject and am a strong advocate of "create something, anything, every day" .  In more recent years, I haven't been content with a mere 100 days and have often pursued shorter /or longer projects requiring some daily attention. For example, I completed 145 days of slow stitching my garden and then another 60 day random cross stitch garden.... but that's a digression....  This month, I am being far more practical... I still like to send and give Christmas cards, but am always getting them in the post very late, and trying to make some  special unique cards  for the family the night before.... so all this month, I am making Christmas cards - just one a day. By 30 November, I should have some to choose from for posting within Australia and for giving in December.  Here are my first 4 days ....  If you're wondering why bother ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
3 comments
Read more

How does your garden grow with stitch?

"How does your garden grow with stitch?" is an update on a post I published way back in 2015, when I stitched my first "impressionist garden" for a course I was studying at the Embroiderers' Guild.  Gardens are my constant inspiration for my artwork, and I create gardens in cloth  and stitch repetitively, using many different techniques. I am particularly fond of this heavily stitched embroidered "impressionist" garden.  In 2016, I stitched two small gardens in this style for an exhibition and they included photos of  my husband's grandmother and her brother and sister as children. Although the collector who bought these two works did not know our family, the children reminded him of his own family from England of about the same era. These two 'gardens'   have become my "stitch" reference and images which best showcase the technique although I don't have the originals any more.   Since then,  quite a few other gardens have gro...
Post a Comment
Read more