Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

I am very happy to be included in the 2019 workshop program at Studio CC. There are still places available for this creative workshop -   Now only  one day : 22 June 2019.   Please go to the  Studio CC website   for registration information . 

Source :  https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g3923/christmas-trees-made-out-of-books/ Advent Blog - Day 2  Books make great Christmas trees!  How appropriate to use the product of trees to create a spectacular Christmas tree.  And how convenient, just take a few volumes from your book shelf and you have your tree done for this season!  So many ways to stack books to make  the iconic Christmas tree shape...   Source :  https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/395190936048472156/ Source :  http://cuatroveintiuno.tumblr.com/post/106227291871/un-hermoso-%C3%A1rbol-de-navidad-que-encontramos-en Source :  https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g3923/christmas-trees-made-out-of-books/ While many of the  book tree displays use what is available,  there might be a few who choose the books by the cover, well at least, by the colour of the books to suit the season or their Christmas decor.  ...

In my most recent series of works, Garden Stories, I drew inspiration from a workshop I did  in 2017 with British textile artist Anne Kelly. These  new works are a series of folded stitched books in response to the exhibition challenge by NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists). We were challenged to print from wood blocks created by a local artist, Bob Seal. The blocks were stylised natural elements - a bird, a fish and a flower. When I saw the flower block, I immediately thought of a sunflower, so the plan was born... I have also recently become a fan of reverse applique so I knew I wanted to incorporate that as well as develop the layering and stitching approach we took in Anne Kelly's workshop. I used only one of the blocks  - the flower for this set of books, but added one other feature on each - bees, birds, or butterflies. The background is an old , recycled cotton table cloth  with a stamped, unworked embrodiery pattern)...

' What about a whodunit for holiday reading ? Who would have thought our much loved fruitcake could possibly be the centre of sinister murder mysteries? Here are three  of the many titles, I confess, I have not read, but all sound quite intriguing, especially when you love fruitcake. "The Fruitcake Murders"  by Ace Collins, according to the reviews, employs witty dialogue, historical accuracy and characters with spiritual sensibilities .... want  to read on? .... Set in December, 1946, feisty Chicago reporter, Tiffany Clayton is  determined to get the  scoop on the murders of three men. This is likely to be a sensational newspaper story for Tiffany, as one of the victims is none other than the District Attorney and wait for it... the murder weapon is a fruitcake! What each of the three murder cases have in common is the same lethal weapon -  20 year old fruitcake in  unopened tins made by a company no longer in business. The rest of the st...

Here is my interpretation of this week's theme for Tag Tuesday - Books. I found this image in Sunday's newspaper, in an ad for a Sydney Ballet Company performance. I immediately thought of " Wuthering Heights" and  Catherine and Heathcliff  ... For more details how the tag was made and to see all the amazing  artistic tags made by other participants in Tag Tuesday .... please click here

As the saying goes, you're never too old to learn something new - that includes tearing up bits of coloured paper! I am going to share some of the "tips" I picked up this week. None of them is related to one another, but I think perhaps at least one of these might be useful. Tip 1:  Play with paper to refresh design ideas whether you usually work with paper, textiles, clay and /or mixed media. I attended a mini-workshop with Judy Hooworth (NSW textile artist) at the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists . We started off with a postcard of someone else's art - I chose this one, called Pandanus and Pelicans Townsville Common by  Sylvia Ditchburn , I have always liked the subject, the composition and the colours. Then we enlarged the postcard to A4 size - black and white and made a tracing of the outlines on tracing paper. Here's the interesting investigative bit - divide the tracing in half both horizontally and vertically, and join up points of in...