Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

 Chatting with Anne Kempton , Timeless Textiles Gallery,  about my textile art portrait of artist friend , Margaret Adams  - exhibition re- opening on  4 November  .  ‘Ain’t the Archies ‘ Exhibition      https://youtu.be/rZKbzvjjsWA Timeless Textiles Gallery 90 Hunter Street , Newcastle NSW 

"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 ...

tea bag vest in progress...   It is now 47 days until the opening of my "textile and mixed media art " exhibition - so really I have only about 40 days left to finish pieces. Am I panicking ? YES!  So much still left to create.... Today I am putting the final hand stitching to a tea bag vest for one of the sculptures and sorting and stitching my collection of tea bags. tea bags being sorted.   Last weekend, I scoured second hand shops for the last of the props and found some fairly ugly tea pots,some beautiful teapots and all with character. I am sure you're wondering what I'm going to do with them - watch this space! A "cosy" of teapots? This close to exhibition deadline, I have now taken over the spare bedroom for finished items for the exhibition , cataloguing as I go... It is still rather bare, but I have packed up a box of samples, as the exhibition will also feature a glass case of  experiments, samples, drawings, plans and protot...

works in progress for 2014 exhibition    Today was the deadline for a publicity photograph for an exhibition I will be having in July 2014.  It seems such a long time away but with this week's deadline,  I have been thinking about the preparation required for an exhibition.  early PR photo for 2014 exhibition  I have been very naive about preparing for exhibitions. After the first one I had in 2012, I feel I know a little more, but am always seeking good advice. I found this article very useful . I used the headings  from this article to put together a plan for myself.  1: Objectives and expectations There are many reasons for staging a solo show. I need to  be clear in my  own mind what I'm  hoping to achieve from it. Be realistic about what to expect from it.   - sales?  - publicity?  - networking?  - new commissions?  - workshop promotion?   2: “Gallery” Space I am very fo...

Gundaroo NSW : Sally Paskins Store  Gundaroo, a village about 35km north of Canberra, takes you back in time. Most of the buildings  in the main street of the village are typical of 19th century Australia  - slab huts, wattle and daub, stone and local brick. What a delightful place! Although I lived in Canberra  for over three years, I am embarrassed to admit that I only discovered Gundaroo last week while attending a family wedding.  There are  a few arty places in Gundaroo, but I really liked the work of Leanne Percival of Clayhouse   and so Clayhouse becomes Arty Place #10 ( most likely the last arty place in this series for 2012).   I really like Clayhouse pottery ... I think there is an appealing simplicity and a  trendy cleanness  about the shapes and patterns in a "happy" colour range.  C layhouse is very much at home in Sally Paskins Store, a  slab hut,    built in 1886  wit...

As regular visitors to this blog know, I am preparing for an exhibition "Wise Women" celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March. I had a crazy idea to ask creative friends to contribute by decorating a string of paper dolls which will adorn the skirting boards of the gallery and I have been overwhelmed by the response, especially from the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists  (NCEATA) . All of these dolls will be silent auctioned  with the funds raised going to a local charity Penola House, which supports refugee women in our community. I thank all the artists not only for their talented contributions, but also for their generosity.  Please come to the exhibition  at Timeless Textiles  on 8 March -25 March to see these all displayed and perhaps make a bid for a good cause. There will of course be many other beautiful art works to appreciate. And not forgetting my tag this week for TAG TUESDAY   which had Valenti...

In my 2011 series of  blog posts on  inspiring Arty Places, I am very excited to  feature the newest gallery in Newcastle -  Timeless Textiles , a rare treasure amongst art galleries which is devoted to celebrating excellence in fibre art. When I first visited, I was stunned by so much beauty in one place and left reluctantly but feeling culturally and spiritually uplifted. Anne Kempton, the owner of this special art space, is committed to sharing her passion for textile art and has worked tirelessly for months to make her dream a reality of the finest quality... some images of the fibre art currently displayed in Timeless Textiles.     The first exhibition, Revealed:Uncovering the Beauty of Fibre Art will showcase  the finest work of international, national and regional  fibre artists  and the invitation encourages you to to "immerse yourself in the complex beauty of traditional and contemporary textile pract...