Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

I often use interesting plants as my inspiration and Bush Lily is no exception. This is a wet felted art doll with a polymer clay face. The face has been moulded from one of my own original sculptures and yes, it does have a  rather sad  and glum look.  No wonder, Nature currently has been taking a battering from  extreme climate events.  It is no secret that one of my favourite plants is the Gymea Lily . Botanically known as  Doryanthes excelsa, the gymea lily  is a flowering plant  found in the  coastal areas of New South Wales . They grow very well around Sydney and surrounding areas like the Newcastle region where I live.  It has sword-like leaves more than 1 metre long and it grows a flower spike up to 6 metres high.   The body of the doll was wet felted first as a hollow tube, with a plastic resist so there are no seams in the shape. Different coloured slivers of wool were introduced into the last layer of wool to bl...

These beautiful phalaenopsis orchids are happily blooming, growing in a pot on my dining room table. Sometimes they are referred to as moth orchids, because apparently a botanist from Sweden first saw them through binoculars in Java in the 1750's and thought the orchids were a cluster of moths ( probably not this colour). Such a mundane name for such an exotic flower, I think, but then moth lovers may think differently?   Coincidentally, I am currently researching aspects of Chinese art for an essay, and it appears that the orchid traditionally, of all flowers, has had a significant impact on Chinese culture and society. Confucius particularly had somewhat of an obsession with orchids. He gave the orchid a noble character, drawing a connection between his own personal situation and those of wild orchids  ....  Confucius was shown to have developed a special love for the orchid from an early age. It happened that he had been seeking a ministerial job with the ...

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 ...

Today, 12 December, is Poinsettia Day in Mexico and USA. In Mexico, the poinsettia is called La Flor de la Nochebuena or  Flower of the Holy Night and is displayed on Dia de la Virgen (Day of the Virgin) which is celebrated today. Today also marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, an American botanist and Minister to Mexico who in 1828 sent cuttings of the plant he'd discovered in Southern Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina … and thus began the introduction of poinsettia outside of Mexico where it is a native plant.  When did the poinsettia FIRST become a symbol of Christmas? Sometime in the 17th century according to legend…. A young girl wanted to honour the Baby Jesus in a Christmas procession, but was very distressed as she had nothing to offer as a gift. An angel told her that any gift given with love is a perfect gift. (There is another version of this story which suggests that her cousin was the one with the good advice). The girl picked s...

Rain forest babies - art dolls by Wilma Simmons 2017  " In the forest, the child. In the child, the forest. Dwelling well within themselves, children can right wrong turns, can find the clarity of a clearing in the woods. Breath deeply enough the scents of pine, mushroom, moss and beech mast and they will stay with you: listen to the forest attentively enough in childhood and the blackbird will still be singing seventy years on. (http://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2015/06/woods.html ) People often ask me what inspires you to make the things you do.... I draw my inspiration from many places. The little rainforest babies were made very late one night a couple of weeks ago. They are a response to a challenge 'inspired by May Gibbs" held by my doll making group, and while I wanted to pay tribute to May Gibbs' love of nature, I didn't merely want to copy her gumnut babies. However, I did want to capture her magical feel to her characters.... and I really loved the...