Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

STITCHED UP is now in its third week of exhibition and breaking all records of visitors - such an overwhelming response - so it is inevitable that a few people have had their photos taken with Wednesday's children,  the stick doll installation.... First of all, Ben, a member of the amazing installation team at The Lock-Up. Thanks for taking such care installing 'the girls' - the digital laser level worked wonders and did I hear you talking to a few them?  Ben from the  installation team The Lock-Up  Wednesday's children up on the wall.  Then, of course , my own family - not all positive critiques, but you can't win them all!   Many of my friends have been really supportive.... they have even visited a few times. Here are some of my Rotary friends on the opening night. Members of the Rotary Club of Wallsend-Maryland - Clarice, Cia, Sandy, Wilma, Christine   Unexpected visitors even dropped by las...

Wednesday's child is full of woe...  In this ongoing series about the inmates of the Newcastle Industrial School 1867-1871, I have been sharing the progress of my proposed art installation for the "Stitched Up" project and exhibition. I have previously written about the background story on  March 1   and then a couple of weeks later on  March 16   about the process.I am using to create 193 stick dolls representing the girls who were at the school during those four years. Please refer to these previous posts to put everything into perspective  I am happy to report that since then, I have made more progress. Today, I am sharing more of the process, so that by the end of this series, these posts will serve as a tutorial as well as information about the project. In the last post, I ended with the sticks at the stage pictured below.... Sticks collected from the bush - covered with aluminium foil, two way stretch fabric and then cotto...

Work in Progress - 3 of the 193 for "Stitched Up"- Wilma Simmons   The work for the "Stitched Up " Project  continues. See the previous "Wednesday Child" post for the background to this art project celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Newcastle Industrial School. I have been documenting the progress of my work, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the early stages of the "stick dolls" ... Here are some of the beginning steps.. Sticks collected while walking the bushland in my neighbourhood  Drying and getting rid of any insects - oven heat 75 degreesC for approx 1-2 hours.  Trimmed and cut if necessary  Ends sealed with matte sealing solution.  Drying  - solution goes on white but dries clear.  First wrapping - foil to create a body shape  Second wrapping - stretch fabric.  Third wrapping - fabric strips  Some stitching - more stitching and embellishment to ...

Wednesday's child is full of woe.. ..  As on ongoing blog story, I will tell you about the many Wednesday children who were "housed" in the Industrial School in Newcastle , NSW, Australia between 1867 - 1871 and how their stories are being retold this year  to mark 150 years since this school began.  Background Summary . ..  The Newcastle Industrial School was established on 6 August 1867 in the former Military Barracks on the Newcastle Government Domain.  The school for females was established under the  Industrial Schools Act  1866.    From 1869 the site was shared with the Newcastle Reformatory School for Females. . It was Australia's first industrial school for girls; that is, an institution defined by legislation and paid for by the government as a place of detention for children charged with neglect, wandering, street-trading or being 'uncontrollable'. It used the convict-built Military Barracks building.   From 1869 the s...

Art Tag 2012 - Wilma Simmons January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day - a great opportunity to learn about and appreciate one of the few natives of Antarctica. Spend a little time learning about them.... a pictorial book or internet site is fun. Perhaps watch a documentary of these cute and popular, grounded birds?  Today is  also a time to wear black and white---penguin colours. However, wearing a tuxedo in their honour is optional. It is also popular today to tell a penguin joke or two, but  I think it is worthwhile considering what wisdom can penguins impart to us?  1. EMBRACE CHANGE While gradual change is easier to process, sometimes change comes suddenly and unexpectedly. Instead of shedding feathers here and there, penguins molt all at once and must stay on land for two to three weeks as their new coat grows in. If life brings you sudden change, embrace it, give yourself time to process, and get ready to return to life renewed and restored. 2. B...

" Some people make a difference, some people make you different" - Saleem Sharma make a difference to  have  an  effect   It is  exciting  to do  something   that   really   makes  a  difference  in  your   community.   People   don't   realize   that   their   vote  can   make  a  difference. Usage   notes:   often   used  in  the   form   make  no  difference :  It  makes  no  difference  to me if  the   game  is  televised  or  not. See   also:   difference ,  make Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms  Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003. Reproduced with permission. from http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/make+a+difference Can someone else really make you different? Or is it that some peopl...

"Wise Words Wednesday" is a new idea for my blog... I will still be posting my regular updates about my art work, but this will be a little extra post now and then.  I have been collecting wise sayings for a few years and wondered why I haven't shared them. Many of them have been included on wooden tags on my message stick dolls, but most of them are just written in a notebook. Here are today's wise words featured on this message stick doll, designed for Christmas. ' “Peace is always beautiful.”  ―  Walt Whitman ,  Leaves of Grass      tags:  peace ,  poetry Read more quotes from  Walt Whitman   (from www.goodreads.com)