Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

  Over the last few years, I have created an "advent" regime of creating something with a Christmas theme in the month of December - sometimes, it's been drawing, tags, cards or sharing photos . The themes have been Christmas Tags,   Christmas Firsts , Christmas \postage stamps, Christmas cake, and crazy Christmas trees from the past.  You can search this blog with the tag #christmas countdown and see what you can find ?  My mother used to love the #Christmas Countdown series  and it is now almost a year since she passed away. The "lead -in" to Christmas and origami were a couple of her favourite things, so this year, 2023, my December goal is to make a paper folded Christmas tree ornament each day n her memory.  1 December, 2023 : To start with, I chose the simplest little pinwheel and added a button and a star.  2 December, 2023 :  This folded shape starts with a pinwheel, so it seemed the logical follow on. And I also stitched on a button and sparking star. 

  Connecting and Interpreting : Story #2 from the ATASDA Collaborative Golden Cape The  Golden Cape  is a new collaborative project for ATASDA members. 50 present day members will each receive an image of one of 50 yesteryear members artworks, to use as a muse, to create new artwork based on the past. Inspiration can come from textures, colours, style, design, subject, culture or history of the original artwork.  (from   https://atasda.org.au/50-years-of-atasda)  The second story in this series highlighting the narratives behind the creative stitching on the contributions to the ATASDA  Collaborative Golden  Cape is a topical and poignant social commentary.  As I contemplate what happens after the disappointing defeat of "The Voice " referendum, I think of the word   ‘Makarrata’, a multi-layered Yolŋu word understood as the coming together after a struggle. It involves truth telling. A beautiful response by Karen Rivers, ATASDA member to the equally  thought provoking 2014 t

'Imitation is the highest form of flattery" - or is it? In art, there is always speculation about how much you are influenced by another artist's work .... can we measure  the amount of inspiration,  interpretation , collaboration or outright copying in an art work? What makes an art work truly original?   Let's not get into the discussion of copyright and the grey areas of   appropriation, imitation, and plagiarising.   Perhaps there are not so many questions when the medium used  is different from the original or when you are in the business of making reproductions.  (like my Van Gogh socks pictured above) ?  Why has this topic been on my mind ?  In a recent textile art challenge, set by ATASDA ( Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association), current members were asked to respond to artworks created by members from past  years , to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the group in 2024. Each of the small artworks would then be appliqued onto a golden cape  H

For most embroiderers, the idea of stitching  and relaxing under the warming winter sun in the historical courtyard of Timeless Textiles Gallery sounds very appealing. Then add the other elements of  enjoying the company of like minded people, a lovely morning tea, and a fun project, with materials supplied. That sounds heavenly... That's  exactly what  the series of short textile art workshops, "Courtyard Creatives" are!  I recently caught up with Cathy Jack Coupland , award winning textile artist at Timeless Textiles. She was preparing for her "Courtyard Creatives" workshop on 3 September.  In this workshop, 'Pumpkin Patch',  Cathy  evokes the vibrant colours of a pumpkin patch.  The warm colour palette Cathy has chosen for this project  (see the sample pictured above) is a perfect antithesis to  grey winter days. The oranges and yellows exude energy, optimism and joy.  What fun it will be to learn how to make suffolk puffs (yo -yos )  and stitches l

To celebrate World Embroidery Day ,  I led a  small group of stitchers at Timeless Textiles Gallery embroidering recycled tea bags . There was a lot of laughter , shared conversations and  creative stitching      

  Sixteen contemporary Australian craft practitioners, designers and artists examine the concept of exuberance through colour, materiality and politics through hand stitch. Objects and wall pieces will reflect the current urge of re-engagement with nature and the politics. Using stitch as a metaphor of repair, care and protection that is required for the environment, often reflecting the ability of plant life to proliferate in weird and wonderful ways when given the opportunities. In psychology, exuberance denotes child-like displays of lack of inhibition, and this comes through many of the artists working on this project. Dates 1 Jul – 26 Aug 2023 at Craft + Design Gallery, London Circuit, Canberra, ACT  Some images of my work included in the book, Exuberance. 

 #100daysofeggcups - drawings of egg cups from my collection  - YELLOW    Watch a reel of days 11-20

  After a hard night ... a bird tag for Tag Tuesday 

It seemed appropriate to end the 10 day folding book of  egg cups with a blue chook!   The decision wasn't as easy to manage the space between the beginning and the end of the shelf - Should I have left it blank? I filled it in with a drawing of a pot plant. There is a much bigger version of this plant next to the cabinet where the real egg cups are displayed, so it too seemed appropriate... .   And here are the images of my  #the100dayproject - #100daysof eggcups... Thanks for following and watch this space for the continuing story - only 90 days to go! 

  These two "police" egg cups in my collection - a Parisian gendarme and a London bobby - made me wonder what could possibly be the connection between the police and eggs?  After a quick Goggle search, I found that an Australian policeman made the world news by cooking an egg on the bonnet of his car in 46 degreesC heat in Birdsville , Queensland and here's the video to verify the story...   This of course has nothing to do with my #the100dayproject and the drawings of the little egg cups in my collection. I also drew a floral eg cup today, so bouquets to the police all over the world. 

  Days 7 & 8  created a little scene of laughter and absurdity.... some funny faces egg cups with a cup and saucer egg cup . I did also draw a lovely egg cup with the Bavarian coat of arms, one of the many egg cups I collected while travelling in Germany.  It really did get overshadowed by the funny faces ...  Followed by the cup and saucer ... .  #the100dayproject : Days 4 -8 #100daysofeggcups  To view the series so far - check   Instagram