Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

"Bohea" - art doll with tea dyed fabrics, tea bag paper and polymer clay   Here's another post in my series of tea thoughts on a Thursday... I had never thought I was fussy about tea .... I prefer tea made in a pot, but will happily drink tea bag tea of all varieties.   However, here are a few discoveries I have made about my tea drinking practices - tea does taste better when drunk slowly and even better when the preparation is not rushed. ( hence the quotation above) -   there are some  tea bags ( I recently purchased  them for dyeing) which really are not worth drinking and I don't! So it's definitely true -  not all tea is equal  despite the labelling. - tea taste does improve if the temperature of the water is right  and the period of steeping time is appropriate . I have included the table below for reference. Although it is suggested 175degrees F (79.5 degrees C)  for green tea , I must admit that I like about 86 degrees...

Towards Nobbys Lighthouse  In my series of blog posts about "Arty Places" the iconic Nobbys Lighthouse is the latest... right in the heart of the city where I live and I didn't really appreciate its beauty until I walked up to the lighthouse last Saturday. from Nobbys Lighthouse  Harbour entrance, from Nobbys Lighthouse The day was perfect - clear skies providing a palette for the occasional fluffy cloud, a sea breeze singing of Spring,and the lighthouse shining white at the top of the headland. The lighthouse is usually open to the public only on Sundays and is a popular tourist attraction, adopted as a symbol of Newcastle. It wasn't always ... Historical image fromlakescan.com.au  Captain James Cook was the first European to note Nobbys Island from the ship "Endeavour" in 1770,and was described by Cook as "a small clump of an island lying close to shore". It was not until the discovery of coal by Europeans in 1797 by Lt. John S...

Fifteen minutes ago (5.15pm  Australian Eastern Summer Time), an independent competition official put all the names of  the blog/Facebook  giveaway participants  into a quirky container. A little shake to ensure all the cards are evenly distributed.   Just making sure - a bigger shake  Picking the first winner who is .... drum roll... Super Jen . Congratulations, Super Jen! .   Second winner is ... Carolyn  Third winner is Lululiz ... Thank you to all who left comments to be in the draw for this giveaway. It was so much fun that I think I'll have a few more before  the end of the year - perhaps with a Christmas theme, so be positive you could be the next winner. I will contact the three winners and will try to mail the tag sets off as soon as I get your postal addresses... Congratulations

Visiting " Leaves of Distinction " Exhibition- Rebecca and Andrais from  the Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea  To say the last month has been busy is an understatement. This weekend, my work will be in three art exhibitions in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley. "Leaves of Distinction" continues at Timeless Textiles Gallery, 90 Hunter Street, Newcastle East until 12 October. I have been overwhelmed by the number of visitors to the exhibition already and the positive response. Thank you to all who have visited either in person, or the online virtual tour here  or  photographer Henk Tobbe's Flickr page  . Today, NCEATA (Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) opened a group exhibition at the Cessnock Regional Art Gallery, which will continue there until 26 October. I have two art works in this exhibition - Valley Girls - one depicts the colour of the tourist aspect of the wine industry in the Hunter Valley and the other, with eco dyed fabr...

As promised, to celebrate and thank you for over 500 likes on the Empress Wu Designs Facebook Page  , here is a giveaway of some of my art - three giveaways, in fact. I have chosen three sets of art gift tags as prizes because they are easily posted worldwide... These tags make great small gifts themselves or as an accompaniment to a gift, or you can even use them as bookmarks. All you need to do  to win a set is leave a comment here or on the Facebook page (or both) and next week on Monday, 6 October, 5pm Australian Eastern Summer Time, I will randomly choose three winners. The first person will have first choice (one of three sets of tags) ; the second person will have a choice of the remaining two sets, and I am afraid the third person will have whatever set has not been chosen before. Here they are:  Art Tags Set A - Marie Antoinette series  (mixed media tags) Marie Antoinette series - 1 Beehive tag( line drawing on tea bag paper, digital image wit...

"Leaves of Distinction" - a textile and media art exhibition  opened  at Timeless Textiles Gallery, 90 Hunter Street, Newcastle on 18 September. The exhibition was officially opened by Yvette Griggs to a happy crowd who enjoyed a nice cuppa while looking at the art works inspired by and created with teas and tea bags. The exhibition remains open until 12 October or take a virtual tour, by clicking on the "Exhibitions"at tag  on the header panel of this blog or click on this  link  http://empresswu.blogspot.com.au/p/exhibitions_18.htm l

Tomorrow is the opening of "Leaves of Distinction" an exhibition of textile and mixed media art at Timeless Textile Gallery. Yesterday (Tuesday) was setting up/hanging day. As this is a new and unfamiliar gallery space, it took a little longer then usual, but by about 3pm, it was all looking good. Five hours later , I was  at the GP Access after hours service. What had appeared to be an innocuous insect bite on my foot  a few days ago was turning into something a little more sinister. The doctor took one look, declared a staph infection and armed me with anti biotics. This morning, my foot is at least half the size it was last night so I think that's a good omen that the diagnosis was correct.   Today, Henk Tobbe and his wife and assistant, Anjes took photos. I am so grateful to Henk who is a great photographer whom I met through Rotary. Henk took so much care and was so enthusiastic about the work and about taking photos - and he has very expensive equipment! I ...