Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

A Chronicle  is a record of things that happened — told in chronological order. ..  The word is  related to and  comes from the Greek ta khronika , which means “annals of time.”  .      While we today blog or instagram photos of our travels,  I imagine travellers of the past might have recorded, on rolled scrolls, their journeys and their discoveries each night after a full day of adventures. This was the inspirations for my table top installation, called " Travel Chronicles : Charting the Unexplored".  The work comprises three mixed media scrolls of varying size and length, created from mark making with ink on papers and fabric,  collage and stitching.  The addition of a flat art doll, in the style of a traveller of a previous era gives a context to these scrolls.  While I have not included text in these scrolls, the mark making suggests that the language is universal.... I have even imagined t...

 Seasons - Watercolour and ink art tags by Wilma Simmons  I found this series of art tags in one of my boxes ( while searching for something else!)  - I made them in 2017, but have now released them for sale in my Etsy shop  ... These little art works can be used as  gift tags, book marks, decorative hangings, creative journal or collage elements, or even as an educational resource -  creative writing or story telling prompts .  Summer - art tag by Wilma Simmons  Autumn - art tag by Wilma Simmons  Spring - art tag by Wilma Simmons  Winter - art tag by Wilma Simmons 

We walk through  each day, with a  restless wandering.  Deep down craving  a different path.  A shining light.  A dream to hold on to.”  ―  Susan Bocinec Terry,  Moods and Musings   To start off Tag Tuesday for 2019 , our team leader, Valerie  has chosen the theme "New Beginnings", so I decided to work with  a new technique and create a new "path" .... The background of this tag is watercolour paper, spattered with three colours of watered down  acrylic paint ( blue, yellow, red) . Leaves and garden debris had been placed over the paper, creating masks. The "path" was where a branch had been placed. The idea is when the paint has dried, patterns seem to emerge. Using ink and coloured pencils, I defined the image. Shadows and lines were created by smudging the ink and drawing with coloured pencils.   Here are a couple of  images of the background without any work on it, and the beginnings o...

Collage: paper, paint and ink  - Wilma Simmons 2018  The tree knows four truths – earth, water, air and the fire of the sun. Collage: newspaper, ink, pastel - Wilma Simmons 2018  The tree holds four truths in one. Root, limb and leaf unfold out of the seed and these rejoice till the tree dreams it has a voice... (From Judith Wight : The Wattle Tree)  Work in progress - ink, paint, pastel - Wilma Simmons 2018

The team at Tag Tuesday choose the most interesting themes for our fortnightly tag challenge- Landmarks was chosen by Wendy from the design team, and when you see her two fantastic tags, you will see how I was inspired by them.  My tag is made using a technique I  learnt just last weekend, so I wanted to practise. The background is created by dry brushing three colours of acrylic paint on art paper, in this case, I used watercolour paper. Then, when the background is dry, with a fine rigger brush and white pigmented ink, I painted the outline of what I hope are recognisable representations of  landmarks - the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I added an Australian postage stamp, just in case there was any doubt. Although I don't live in Sydney, Newcastle is the nearest biggest regional city in NSW and only 168 km away, so these landmarks are almost local!  Please pop over to Tag Tuesday to see the other  tags submitted for this challenge - t...