Meditations on Mercator

‘The Timelessness of Stitch’ was an invitational group exhibition at Timeless Textiles Gallery, Newcastle NSW , 1 April – 10 May 2026 …. Across generations and cultures, the act of stitching has woven together stories, traditions and identities. Each thread carries not only aesthetic value but also the memories and emotions of those who crafted it, demonstrating how this simple act transcends time and place.

I was honoured and humbled to be amongst the twenty-three artists (national and international) participating in this exhibition.

My small installation took some time to develop…. Although I knew about this exhibition for some time, I kept procrastinating, going from one idea to another and not settling on any.

Recently, I came across the word “mercator” and while a vague notion of maps was recalled, I really needed to research. Besides the modern commercial connections, Mercator has its origins in cartography, which Is often a source of inspiration for my artworks.

The term Mercator most commonly refers to Gerardus Mercator, the 16th-century Flemish cartographer who revolutionised navigation with his world map projection.

Mercator Projection: Created in 1569, this cylindrical map projection allows sailors to plot a course as a straight line (rhumb line), making sea travel much easier.
Size Distortion: While excellent for navigation, the projection famously distorts the size of landmasses far from the equator. For example, Greenland appears nearly as large as Africa, when Africa is actually about 14 times larger.
Web Mercator: Modern digital maps like Google Maps and OpenStreetMap use a variant called "Web Mercator" for their street-level displays ( Wikipedia)

While the maps of the time were fascinating subjects; I simply had run out of time to stitch a map …. So I began to think about stitching islands onto a background fabric…. I even bought a circular board which was going to represent a world map projection. This was until, a conversation with the curator about this idea, and a suggestion and ideas flowed with the creation of stitched landforms, to be mounted directly on to the gallery wall in a random fashion.

I chose a colour palette inspired by “Farmer’s Market” , hand dyed thread by Cottage Garden threads and from then, it was serious stitching until nine “meditations” took shape.

Meditations on Mercator: As I stitched these small meditations, my mind wandered into unknown territories where ancient maps took shape as if lands had been there since the beginning of time, but had eluded human definition. These stitcheries ae imagined “terra incognito”.

More information about Mercator:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerardus_Mercator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection

Embroidery Threads : https://www.cottagegardenthreads.com.au/

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...

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...

"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