Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

This week, I finally put the finishing stitches to these little dolls which have been on my work table for some time. You will see that for most of them I used fabric with a horse motif. These were all meant to be ready  for the beginning of the Chinese New Year  "Year of the Horse"  ... Here is the basic process I've used for making these  .... 1. Draw a basic shape,  2. Use it as a template   3. Sew around the outside of the template with the right sides of fabric together  4. Cut from the doubled fabric, leaving a small seam.  5. Turn right side out ( turning tubes are useful)  6. Cut a small slit where the polymer clay face mask will cover. 7. Stuff polyfill through the opening to fill the shape firmly. 8. Stitch up the opening  9. Embroider a  free form design and add beads.  10. Make a small face mask from polymer clay. ( You can use a commercial mould as I did or sculpt your own.)  ...

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Asian Girl portrait ( in the style of  Patti Culea )   By now, you are all most likely sick of hearing about my Wise Women Exhibition.  The opening was last week and it went very well - beyond my expectations. One little corner of the exhibition was my Asian themed  mixed media art works - not many of these have been seen before, so here is a glimpse. The image above is of a Patti Culea style  fabric portrait, and the others are photos printed onto silk and.or organza and  some have been distressed with heat The Denson sisters _ my grandmother second from left  Jan See : my great grandmother as an older and younger woman.  Stone Buddha : Cambodia Series #2   Temple Dancers : Cambodia Series #3 Here are some scenes from the opening night of the exhibition.  For more photos from the opening night, please click here  For photos of all the exhibits, please click here If you would like to se...

Display of a few of the artistic paper dolls donated for the exhibition  to raise funds  to support education programs for refugee women.  Opening night of Wise Women Exhibition at Timeless Textiles Gallery - Thursday night .   This was today's checklist.  1. Email final list with prices to the gallery  2. Put hangers on art works  3. Put backing on the last art work  - still wet last night.  4. Organise the paper dolls into lots , ready for auction on Thursday night.  5. Contact the recipient of donations from the silent auction to check if a representative will attend the opening.  6. Pack all the work into boxes for transport.  7. Organise a meeting with the person opening the exhibition.  8. Set up the exhibition  All done - but phew I'm tired!  Only a few little jobs tomorrow....  my best helper resting after a long day  Lovely Meredith who  displayed  th...

The Wise Woman Exhibition opens on 8 March. The invitations, advertising and the media releases are out . Here is a link to an  invitation - click here  . All that is left for me to do this week is to put the finishing touches to a few more pieces. Here is a beautiful art doll created by doll maker friend, Ann Maullin - one of her new dolls in her "Landscape" series. Ann has kindly donated this  beautiful doll to be sold during the exhibition to raise funds for Penola House  programs for refugee women. There are also very many artists who have embellished  and decorated "paper" dolls for the same cause - thank you all for your generosity. Hope to see you at the exhibition celebrating International Women's Day.

As regular visitors to this blog know, I am preparing for an exhibition "Wise Women" celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March. I had a crazy idea to ask creative friends to contribute by decorating a string of paper dolls which will adorn the skirting boards of the gallery and I have been overwhelmed by the response, especially from the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists  (NCEATA) . All of these dolls will be silent auctioned  with the funds raised going to a local charity Penola House, which supports refugee women in our community. I thank all the artists not only for their talented contributions, but also for their generosity.  Please come to the exhibition  at Timeless Textiles  on 8 March -25 March to see these all displayed and perhaps make a bid for a good cause. There will of course be many other beautiful art works to appreciate. And not forgetting my tag this week for TAG TUESDAY   which had Valenti...

I have been really busy preparing for the Wise Women Exhibition - I wish I didn't leave things until the last minute.... The opening is on 8 March with set up on 6 March and still so  much to do... To encourage myself, I am giving you a sneak preview of some of the works in progress. Reviewing what I have done helps me to refocus on completing some more of my many works in progress. This  mixed media piece is almost  completed... digital prints of some of my photos - the face on  organza and the other strips are on cotton with wrapped threads and clay embellishment. And here is head ( which by the way is attached to a body), and  hopefully with some hair and some costuming will turn into a wise woman - at least a young wise woman.? I was happy with the head, so hope now I can finish it off into a completed art doll. I still have one more Wise Woman workshop before the exhibition - please book here at Timeless Textiles. This last week I also finishe...

I woke up this morning with a shock - it is February! Not sure what happened to January.... It's been a busy week - top of  my "to do" list was to do some preparation for the Wise Women Exhibition, which I will be curating to celebrate International Women's Day. The opening is on 8 March and the advertising goes out this week. The photo above is of some "almost finished" art dolls which will be included in the exhibition. Participants in my "Wise Women" workshop will also be displaying their work. Here is one of them - a fantastic result from a beginner doll maker! To find out more about these workshops  before the exhibition -  please check  Timeless Textiles I have also just managed to keep up with the blog group challenge  Tag Tuesday . I struggled a bit with both the themes "White" and  "Vintage" but in the end was fairly happy with my tags.   I tried some different techniques with this vintage one - a ph...