Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Close up of fabric owl - Wilma Simmons, Empress Wu Designs 2015. Abigail Brown   is described as a creature textile designer extraordinaire, and having met Abigaill recently, I would add a very talented, generous, spirited  and beautiful artist. Her vibrant work rejoices in the amazing beauty of nature ... here is what Abigail says about her stunning soft sculptures .... I am excited by the opportunity to create life from these flat pieces of cloth, working with their weave to mould shapes, fraying their edges to form feathered breasts, creating stiffened tail feathers from something that was limp. That final placing of the eye and a new life is born...The Animal Kingdom is the inspiration behind all my work. I am fascinated by its rituals and language, a world of mystery and secrets on which we can but speculate. My fabric bird sculptures are a celebration of textures, patterns, colours and forms that delight me in nature. Abigail Brown with work...

From the   Newcastle Herald today Tactile textiles by top fibre artists BY AMY EDWARDS  Photo by Dean Osland 26 Aug, 2011 04:00 AM THE best of Newcastle’s fibre and textile artists have welcomed the opening of a gallery in Islington to show their work. Timeless Textiles, the brainchild of Newcastle fibre artist Anne Kempton, opened in Beaumont Street, Islington, last night. ‘‘I knew there was a niche and an important one for this style of art. This is high end work and it features 19 artists,’’ she said. The exhibition Revealed: Uncovering the Beauty of Fibre Art features the work of Newcastle, national and international artists ranging from natural fibre clothing designs, wall art, sculptures and 3D hangings. Wilma Simmons, a former high school principal, has created a series of dolls using natural fibres. ‘‘This is a really rare opportunity. There are so few galleries not only in NSW but Australia to promote excellence in fibre and textile art,’’ Mrs Simmons s...