Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

It is not a secret that I like making art with recycled materials, especially paper - newspaper, brown paper and tea bags especially. The Winter Book is a project that started when I  made the cover a few years ago - flowers past their prime , made of  torn newspaper and tea bags. I really enjoyed the approach - in a workshop we were given a piece of newspaper and were told to create something 3D out of it. I liked the spontaneity of this exercise and the "imperfect" results which seemed to have a beauty all of their own. And then, after deciding to make a Winter book , I lost interest in the concept after a few pages .... it sat in the unfinished pile for a long time, but I still liked the cover and the few pages I'd started. Every now and then, I added something to the book. Last week, I filled in two last remaining pages and here it is.. ..   " Winter plays a tune of isolation and darkness,  and curls up inside you only to challenge you...

"Christmas in July"  has been recorded as isolated events in the 1930’s in USA , but  with the release of the comedy, Christmas in  July in 1940, the concept began to become popular.  I understand a lot more why Christmas in July as a concept is popular  in Australia in the southern hemisphere rather than in the northern hemisphere. To capture some of the magic of ‘white” Christmas, mid-winter seems the perfect time to enjoy many of the traditional Christmas festivities.  Christmas in July  has become tradition down under. The story of the FIRST July Christmas in Australia is about some Irish visitors to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. They  saw a snowfall in July, 1977 . That's not out of the ordinary for mountains in the Southern Hemisphere, but the tourists were reminded of Christmas out of season. They requested a traditional Christmas dinner from their hotel, which they enjoyed so much they returned the following July...

A little rushed today but here is my Day 12 face for the 29 Faces Art Challenge - a Winter girl  on Santa Lucia Day. 

Great to be in control of the weather... Day 11 of the 29 Faces Art Challenge. If you are experiencing the extreme heat in NSW (Australia) , keep cool and be alert for bushfires - take care everyone!

Day 10 - I was trying for the chubby face ice princess look  - not sure I got it, but keeping up with 29 faces Art Challenge with a face a day!

Day 9 of the 29 Faces Art Challenge ... changed the season, just to counter the really scorching temperatures we have been experiencing here ... pretending to be cold!

 August  Instagram Photo Challenge - a photo a day challenge as a daily reminder to be well in Winter  #bewellinwinter.  left to right, top row to bottom row.  1. Stockpile - my stockpile of used tea bags, ready for art  projects.  2. Blankets - tidied up the spare bedroom - don't the blankets look great so neatly folded?  3. Animal - there's a bear in there!  4. Soup - my favourite soup recipes are from a very old recipe booklet  5. Social -  the Flying Free project is as much a social activity as a creative one.  6. Strength - my tai chi teacher demonstrating that there is nothing stronger than gentleness.  7. Refresh - the instructions said 'refresh your browser' .... so I did.  8. Flowers - woolly flowers on my friend's hat 9. To do list - "put the suitcase in the boot of the car" - only one thing on my husband's to do  list today - yes, it was done!  10. Fire - smoke alarms are ma...

red felt carnelian wrap - close up   I n May I had a wonderful opportunity to do a workshop with Sachiko Kotaka, renowned felt maker, origami and performance artist.   www.sachkokotaka.com Sachiko Kotaka workshop    I learnt a lot from Sachiko – her unique origami/kirigami and   weaving felting techniques    as well as the virtue of patience in creating art and   repeatedly practising techniques to develop competence.  This last week I think the winter blues got the better of me, so I practised some of Sachiko’s techniques and “felt” a lot better. I was really happy with the wrap I made during the week – so happy,  I wore it to a function on Saturday night. red felt carnelian wrap  It is a nuno felted wrap, using beautiful merino wool, a scrap of sheer fabric ( I cannot remember    what it is or where it came from)  and some disks of carnelian from my bead stash. I really like carnelian, not onl...

We have had such a happy week in the wonderful part of the world we live in -  a day and night at Salamander Bay, about an hour's drive away from home.  One of the best spots to be in Winter! The day was clear, cold and windy, but beautiful - perhaps not the description the owner of this washed up yacht might have used? Our garden at home is looking beautiful too with the bottle brush, dancing like red fairies in the strong winds,and our Robyn Gordon Grevilleas attracting birds, even in such gale force winds. What about creative stuff this week? Inspired by the day at the Bay, I finally named a couple of my   embellished felt pouches " Bayside Blues' and " Nautilus"  ....  And our lovely garden prompted me to play with my new Inktense pencils. I only bought six pencils separately, rather than a set, just so I could experiment with them. I think I'll be buying a few more ... These samples were originally a grey on grey p...