Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

  I couldn't have hoped for a more suitable theme set for this fortnight's Tag Tuesday ..... "Add a Postage Stamp". I often use postage stamps in my collage work, and I admit I really enjoy working with these miniature artworks.  The two stamps I've chosen for this exercise are both Australian.   The first one depicting a white tailed kingfisher is from a 1980 issue and this series is amongst my favourite "bird" series. The second is from an Australian animal series issued in 2019  .... who doesn't love a wombat?  The tags are both paper collages - with some stitching and  in the second, I stitched a real dried eucalypt leaf. And just to add a but of interest, I also decorated the backs of the tags, complementing the theme on the front.  I hope you enjoy this glimpse of  the natural world in Australia... 

I t's that time of the year again when I participate in the global art challenge #the100dayproject .... I have done this for the last five years and I love doing it. Sometimes, the idea of creating something for 100 consecutive days just seems ridiculous, but I've learnt over the years not to do something too ambitious, and to have an idea or theme which is entirely achievable. Today it all seems easy - it is only Day 3.  This year, 2024, I have decided to follow colour prompts curated by artist, EsteMacLeod. - Este publishes these colour palettes each week, and I thought  using these means that half the work is already done. My 100 day project will be then to make responses to these prompts and work on each palette for a week for the duration.    1/ #100daysofcolourcombo - Bubblegum Cat  Day 1 Bubblegum Cat .... a Laurel Burch print , overstitched in bubblegum coloured thread. This particular technique follows these steps:  - stitch around the shape ( two ...

 Today's Christmas card features a vintage postage stamp issued in Australia in 1968 . It is a collage with paper, fabric,  gold  foil and thread.  The Stamp celebrates the Christmas Hymn ' " Adeste Fideles " - Oh Come all Ye Faithful and here is some information about this well known  Christmas carol....  "O Come, All Ye Faithful" is a Christmas carol that has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade, John Reading, King John IV of Portugal, and anonymous Cistercian monks. The earliest printed version is in a book published by Wade in 1744 ( Wikipedia) 

 A small selection of pin poems from the collection #the100dayproject have been released for sale on ETSY ....  Link to my Etsy shop :  https://www.etsy.com/shop/empresswu Link to #the100day project:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/empresswu/albums/72157713803669781

  This is my tag for the current theme at Tag Tuesday - Book Print. I like using text as a background for tags and today, I reduced one of my recent  line drawings and printed it on a small book page .... as you can see,  the book's chapter is entitled "Of Holy Living and Dying ( from The Book of Books) .  I thought this was appropriate as this 'Covid man' drawing depicts Nature happily thriving while man appears to be "unravelling " at the edges of body and mind...  Original drawing - Wilma Simmons   Silk screen print on fabric  : Wilma Simmons  Silk screen print on paper : Wilma Simmons  And here are some other tags on book print backgrounds - these are free motion stitched "Nature" portraits done earlier in the year.  

For the current challenge "The Sea"  at Tag Tuesday, I made a couple of  painted/ hand drawn tags . These were created from a piece of watercolour paper which had been sprayed with acrylic paint - blue, yellow and quinacridone gold. I then sketched over the top  , trying to follow some pattern created by the splatter and then add some felt tip pen lines  watercolour pencil to highlight the shapes. The tags represent the fantasies of the hidden city of Atlantis and a mermaid.  With this theme in mind, I also add a free motion stitched  tag I made  earlier this year for 29 Faces - 

I have missed Tag Tuesday ...  When the theme chosen by Sandie was "Wings" , I thought I could add to one of my series as well as practise my machine stitching skills for #The 100 Day Project which seems to be monopolising my time currently. For my "wings" tags, I created two on the theme of butterflies. Both are free motion stitched on my trusty Bernina sewing machine . I then applied "heat and bond", a double sided fabric adhesive and cut around the stitched "portraits". The cut outs were then applied to prepared tags made from cardboard,  covered with  book text and painted with white gesso. The red cheeks are coloured with Inktense pencil.  Here are the first two in the Red Cheeks series ... and they fit the "wings" theme too. 

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/770185973749441338/ Advent Blog  Day 9 - In the Dark  Who turned off the light?  If you find your lamps dismantled, it may mean a creative person in your household is making a Christmas tree.  'Tis the season of the lamp shade Christmas trees! https://theanamumdiary.co.uk/2012/11/27/i-love-mondays-o-christmas-tree/ http://101ideer.se/vintagetips-i-juletid/ https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/770185973750590822/ https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/770185973750590895/ A more subtle approach can be taken ...  https://www.pianetadonne.blog/allinsegna-del-riciclo-piu-estremo-20-fantastiche-idee-natalizie/ And if you have some antique pieces , add some candelabra  to enhance the theme ...    http://101ideer.se/vintagetips-i-juletid/  Typically the contemporary DIY  Home Decor TV shows are all over lampshade  Christmas trees. If this style is for you, the accompany...

"Remembering" - Wood, Clay and Cloth Sculpture : Wilma Simmons  Thank you to all who voted in the  recent People's Choice - Brooching the Subject Competition  held at Timeless Textiles Gallery ( Newcastle NSW Australia) . Special thanks if you happened to vote for my entry, 'Remembering',  a wall brooch pictured above. The winner with the most votes online was a beautiful felted piece, another wall brooch, entitled "  Papevero (Italian Poppy) " by Becky Williams. Papevero : Becky Williams from  https://timelesstextiles.com.au/past-exhibitions/ The competition in the gallery was judged by renowned Queensland artist, Sylvia Watt - Here is  a video of what Sylvia decided and  said about the brooches...  1. Water Guardian : Alysn Midgelow-Marsden ; 2. Amelia : Judith Bee ; 3. We are Connected - Trudi Nisbet  All of the brooches can be viewed on the Timeless Textiles Gallery website here . Congratulations to all the artists ...