Postcard Portraits - "Travelled" Exhibition

Recently, I've created a few portraits and it is always interesting to try different techniques. For a "travelled" theme exhibition, the Wednesday Makers Group at Timeless Textiles was invited to create some postcard portraits. It was a great opportunity to use "random cross stitch" , a technique I learnt in the textileartist.org workshop by Sharon Peoples.

The cross stitch helps to create a textured skin with subtle changes in tone. My husband, Jim, is the subject - here depicted on a trip in Finland ( Finnish forest in the background) This postcard is all handstitched and as Jim always travels with a paper map , I added a much loved map in miniature.

The whole collection of postcards by the group captures travel memories of places visited and enjoyed - places like Hawaii, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Vietnam, Bali, India, Fiji , Latvia, Lord Howe Island, Disneyland, China , Germany, Finland, Ukraine, Bhutan, Italy, France, Japan, Egypt and various locations in Australia.

My second postcard portrait was of the Kumari, the child living goddess revered in Nepal, with a Buddhist stupa in the background. For this one, I used coloured pencils ( Inktense and Prismacolour) and hand and machine stitching, with some tassel making and wrapping for the headdress.

The third submission for this projects is called "Immigrating to Australia". Rather than recall a travel memory, this postcard portrait is a transferred photo of my great grandmother who travelled from China to Australia to settle in 1909. Here she is seen in full formal Chinese dress and her tiny bound feet can just be seen poking out from under her long robe. The background for this postcard is crazy patchwork in subdued colours, with handstitching.

The postcards are a small part of a much larger exhibition of textile art created by the renowned UK artist, Anne Kelly and all the artworks, including the postcards, can be viewed in the gallery until 7 August or online.

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