Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Art tags - "Caged" series : Wilma Simmons  For Tag Tuesday this fortnight, the challenge is to use a favourite stamp. I don't own a lot of stamps, but I think this open bird cage is one of my favourites which I had not used very much. So here was a good opportunity.... I used a magazine page to stamp on . It already had the blocks of blue and leaves printed on it. I also collaged a few extra leaves, and stamped the cage. I then collaged over the top pictures of birds from the magazine - really very simple!  Pop over to TAG TUESDAY   to see the fantastic tags designed by Tag Tuesday team member, Joan  and all the other art tag contributions to this challenge.  Caged #1  Caged #2  Caged #3

Take a carved wood block, print , sew, cut and stitch.... this is what I did to create some simple but arty flags.  The wood blocks were carved by a local print maker, Bob Seal, for use in works for the annual exhibition of the Newcastle Creative Embroiders and Textiles Artists.  You can see my other work here, in a previous post.   I had three prints left so I made these decorative  flags. The technique is my version of reverse applique. Firstly, I printed onto a cotton fabric and then appliqued it on to the background. Then, I layered other fabrics underneath and cut out shapes.  Usually, in reverse applique, the edges are neatly turned under and stitched by hand, or if raw edges are left, they are embroidered to ensure that no fraying occurs. I did a blanket stitch around the outside edges , but on all the other edges, because I used a strip of fusible adhesive on the edges, I just machine stitched to secure. In fact, I did a lot of ...

Until you spread you wings you have no idea how far you can fly. ... Day 23 of the 29 Faces Art Challenge.... we are on a countdown now with only 5 more days to go! Hope you have been enjoying following my progress this month?

"As the sun sets" - charcoal,ink and watercolour sketch . Copyright Wilma Simmons   The "woodland" creature  as a trend in  fashion and home decor and  bespoke design was (and in many places, still is) very popular. Dashing deer antlers, awesome owls, and then fantastic foxes.... I know I am often behind the times with trends, but I was surprised to hear that foxes have been "in" for well over 3 years! Perhaps a year I thought, but it seems that foxes have been on the rise as a popular design motif for some time. At the well known  international Renegade Craft Fairs  there were reports of items with "fox" images to be the best sellers as early as 2011 and then followed the predictions...  " Trendspotters  called it   back in February. (2012) More and more, foxes are popping up on the radar as stylish elements in design, outfoxing the omnipresent owl as the  It  thing in woodland animals. Could foxes be the new owls in hip...

It is now a month since the Flying Free Project was launched. Four free workshops have been held, averaging twelve participants each week. This project has been developed to honour and remember the women who tragically have died as a result of domestic violence. All  the proceeds from the sale of bird kits and completed birds on International Women's Day 2016 will be donated to women's refuges in our local area.  Unfortunately in the month we have been making birds, two women have been added to the sad statistics of 43 female domestic violence deaths in Australia this year... However, we have sat peacefully each Wednesday at Timeless Textiles Gallery stitching birds and I would like to share with you some of the  wonderful  moments and creative achievements of "Flying Free" in the last four weeks. Thanks to UK artist, Abigail Brown who gifted Timeless Textiles a basic pattern for a bird. .  Another 15 + birds fle...

Close up of fabric owl - Wilma Simmons, Empress Wu Designs 2015. Abigail Brown   is described as a creature textile designer extraordinaire, and having met Abigaill recently, I would add a very talented, generous, spirited  and beautiful artist. Her vibrant work rejoices in the amazing beauty of nature ... here is what Abigail says about her stunning soft sculptures .... I am excited by the opportunity to create life from these flat pieces of cloth, working with their weave to mould shapes, fraying their edges to form feathered breasts, creating stiffened tail feathers from something that was limp. That final placing of the eye and a new life is born...The Animal Kingdom is the inspiration behind all my work. I am fascinated by its rituals and language, a world of mystery and secrets on which we can but speculate. My fabric bird sculptures are a celebration of textures, patterns, colours and forms that delight me in nature. Abigail Brown with work...

 I love working with blue .... much of my recent work is blue. In the latter part of last year I saw blue everywhere - I stitched a series of blue temari (embroidered thread balls) and felted dolls in shades of blue.  - Blue Temari  - "Layered" exhibition ,January 2014.  Blue felt doll - Bonnie  Blue felt doll - Maribel  I love the colours of the traditional Willow Pattern… these blues induce a sense of calm and peace and the sight of a blue bird is often seen as a symbol of happiness and contentment…. One of the works in the current "Layered" exhibition by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists is  Blue Bird which was completed in December. I  covered a  wire frame  with different fabrics, which have been felted, stitched by hand and/or machine, painted and stamped, dyed. This textile art is a derivative of an earlier collaborative work created for International Women’s Day 2013. Bl...