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.

Comments

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https:...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog