Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

  Magpies are always around  in our garden , strutting, poking about for insects and having a splash in the birdbath.  They often call if the water is at a low level in the birdbath until one of us replenishes the water supply. It is no coincidence then that they have figured prominently as part of  recent little works in the stitched garden series.  I also like to include human figures in my gardens, especially taken from old photos of family members. This "impressionist ' stitched garden features  my husband's great aunt,  Sarah Ann Bath.  I like to think of her in this abundant garden , when in reality,  she grew up  in the early 1900s in rather cramped living conditions in Birmingham UK  See more and read more about my stitched gardens - other posts:  How does your garden grow with stitch?  How does your garden grow with crayons? 

#100gardenthreads / 14 & 15  African daisies and Gerbera  Materials:  hand dyed and print cotton fabric, threads, coloured pencil  Techniques: applique, fabric collage, hand colouring, free motion machine stitching, machine and hand embroidery.   

Pages 12 and 13vcan be viewed as one....  #100gardenthreads / 12 & 13   Materials : assorted cotton fabrics and threads.  Techniques : fabric collage, free motion  machine stitching and hand stitching.   

  Having completed #the100dayproject in 2019 and 2020, I wondered if  I would do it again this year and thinking I had lots of time to think about it , I didn't think a decision would be imminent. And  surprise  - this year, the starting date was brought forward to 31 January - TODAY. I  hadn't really given it a lot of thought and there wasn't a lot of planning... However, I had decided I didn't want to go another 100 little things, but still wanted to feature the garden, or my neighbourhood somehow. Not to go into the long story  how many projects I thought of  and how many times I changed my mind, my project will be #100gardenthreads .   in many ways, this is not dissimilar to many of the other series of envelopes and  stitched pins  (#100envelopes and #100pinpoems ) . In this project, I am   using both meanings of thread 1) as in sewing - a fine fibre and 2) as in a book - its story or the way it develops , one part con...

Stitching a 'garden' background - Wilma Simmons  Using gardens as inspiration for art is long established practice in the fine arts, including textile arts. Monet's painting are amongst my favourite artworks and there is no shortage of  treatises about the gardens in art.    https://www.booktopia.com.au/monet-s-garden-in-art-debra-n-mancoff/book/ Some of my favourite textile artists ( like Anne Kelly) turn to gardens as a source of unending inspiration.  https://www.textileartist.org/small-worlds-recycled-textile-art-by-anne-kelly In a considerably more humble way, I have recently been featuring plants from our garden in my small wearable art pin series for #the100dayproject. Although we are in the winter phase of the garden where the colour palette is a more subdued, there are still some beautifully bright flowers, like the purple black eyed African daisies, late summer marigolds, tiny native violets and their potted cousins, violas. Even the p...

I love making little stitched items which are useful but have a touch of whimsy about them....  I don't make them often but I have released this one for sale in my Etsy shop.  The beautiful spring garden colours of this floral print make this little pouch a perfect gift for someone special. The pouch is small but surprisingly roomy - enough space to hold a few keys, money, secrets, or those special little treasures or it can hang as a decorative item on a wall or dressing table . The pouch and lining are made from quality cotton fabric, with a double drawstring and hand stitched fabric beads. The feature of pouch is the folded fabric flower and suffolk puff embellishment, enhanced by the fabric covered button, hand painted face. Size height 10cm/4 ins; Width when closed 5cm/2ins when open 13cm/5ins Contents of pouch pictured  are not included. Free shipping within Australia. 

Art Doll - Wilma Simmons  Happy Australia Day... Although there is some controversy over when "Australia Day" should be celebrated. ( see this ABC commentary ) , for this year, Australia Day remains 26 January, with its official holiday tomorrow, 28 January.  Generally, I am fairly politically outspoken, but on this matter, I am still undecided. However, like many Australians, I am leaning towards the movement for changing the date...  I feel for indigenous Australians for whom this date is very hurtful. Whatever the date, we will most likely celebrate Australia Day in our usual way -  very quietly - either doing something in our community or just enjoying our native garden.  Anigozanthus Big Red - Kangaroo Paw  Grevillea juniperina - Pink Lady  Corymbia ficifolia -Summer Red  Syzygium ( possibly Resilience)  Chamaelaucium uncinatu - Gerladton Wax 

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)...

Today is the first day of Spring in Australia and somehow, psychologically, it has put me in a better mood. I've opened the windows to let the sunshine in the house and declared that we will no longer be sick ( having had a couple of weeks of colds and flu).  I've been out in the garden this morning, celebrating the new season.  Spring euphoria is not an illusion — it can be scientifically explained.  Three German researchers in different disciplines were asked to describe the relationship between good weather and  happy moods. ( from    World Crunch  )  The psychologist . Human beings are programmed to rest when it’s dark, and to be active and in high spirits when it’s light, says Peter Walschburger, professor emeritus of biopsychology at the Freie Universität Berlin. “We react massively to light,” so conscious experience and human behavior change radically on fine spring days.  Scents and bird song also influence u...