Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Some of the 108 little polymer clay  heads I made and  have  stitched into one of my  exhibition  pieces, entitled "Pillars of Patience", depicting  the 108 suitors of Penelope from "The Odysssey - WS 2016  With only five weeks to set up , I have a severe case of exhibition panic. Very few pieces of work completed and to make the situation more complex, is the pressure I'm feeling embarking on my first collaborative exhibition.  There are lots of  warnings from artists about the pitfalls of collaborating for an exhibition. However, I am one of the lucky ones  ... I chose an artist friend, Bobbi Oliver who is not only talented but has an amazing work ethic and produces absolutely stunning sculptures quickly. Not sure how Bobbi feels, but I am suspecting she might be thinking she has stepped into a scenario a bit like this, described by Cissi Tsang  ... We haven't had a difference of opinion. we haven;t stamped around like rag...

"Worldly Women" series of pen and coloured pencil drawings on used tea bags for the 29 Faces Challenge in February 2016, presented to my daughter Naomi for her birthday. Naomi is Worldly Woman no. 29.

You're invited to: 'Flying Free' Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery will continue a five-year tradition of holding community-based art events to celebrate International Women’s Day, with the culmination of its Flying Free project featuring a huge flock of hand-made fabric birds that will ‘fly free’ outside the gallery in March this year. Timeless Textiles has collaborated with local artist, Wilma Simmons, to create the IWD art events, with local artists offering free community fibre art workshops, using techniques such as embellishing, screen printing, painting, stitching and dyeing. As well as the chance to learn new skills, the workshops allow people to brush up on their techniques and, of course, to enjoy themselves. The focus for IWD has varied each year including stitching 100 metres of white ribbon for 14 hours (2014) and creating hope flags. Seb, one of young creative bird makers with Wilma SImmons For IWD last year approximately 2,000 fabri...

I belong to a Rotary club and unlike many of the public misconceptions about Rotary being a bit stuffy, my club, the Rotary Club of Wallsend-Maryland is lots of fun and its members are great - generous community-minded people with hearts of gold and  tremendous senses of humour. Christmas 2015 meeting   However, we do have a serious side, and some of our projects are based in the local community - graffiti removal, supporting the homeless and needy, the local school's gifted and talented students' program and supporting local charities and other volunteer groups with catering for fundraising. Some of the catering team  enjoying a break....  (We also have other projects we support which are district, national and international)  This week we celebrated the 111th birthday of Rotary International but at a local level.  Being a club which enjoys any excuse for a celebration, we are having a whole month of bringing our Rotary club...

Martha from Ayala Art is the creative artist behind the 29 Faces Challenge and this was her message at the beginning of the month." Can you believe we have come full circle to the last leap year? 29 faces is 4 years old!! yaay! I have met so many wonderful artists, and so many people finding out and discovering that practising every day for a full month, even the smallest of months! They can grow so much better as artists! Thanks for participating and making faces with me ♥. " ....  I am not sure that I am becoming better as an artist, but I am thoroughly enjoying researching the noteworthy women I am drawing inspiration from .... These are all pen and pencil sketches done on used tea bags.  Day 5 : Marie Curie, French physicist and chemist, first female Nobel Prize winner.  Days 6-8 : Mother Teresa, Human rights worker  and Nobel Prize Winner; Sojourner Truth, African-American abolitionist and human rights worker; Jane Austen , English nov...

Happy Chinese New Year!  Gong xi fai cai! Kung hei fat choy!  Welcome, Year of the Fire Monkey.  Like Korean Seollal​, Vietnamese Tet, Mongolian Tsagaan Sarand Tibetan Losar​, Chinese New Year  in the northern hemisphere farewells winter and the year gone by and rings in spring and the fresh year. Making wishes for luck, prosperity and good fortune and warding off evil spirits are central to many celebrations, which vary across China and Lunar New Year cultures.    Many of my friends ask me how they can celebrate the New Year... I usually say, lots of delicious food with family and friends .... but there are some little customs which I follow - not sure whether they are just things I remember from my childhood or things I have read about or heard from others.  Things to do for Chinese New Year:   1. Clean  your house before New Year's Day - symbolic of cleaning away any misfortune, and preparing for the good f...

What is 29 Faces?  29 faces was originally created in 2012 to celebrate the leap year with art, 29 faces in 29 days in February. It was so much fun, we had to do it 3 more times though the year!  We start the 1st of the month, and it's all about a   face . Any medium, surface, size and techniques are welcome. Canvas, paper, wood, digital, journals, mixed media, acrylics, oils, pastels, clay, rocks.... you name it! I have done the challenge before and always enjoyed this challenge and the discipline of completing some art each day.It took me a day or two to decide a direction for this month... Inspired by the amazing tea bag art of Ruby Silvious ( who created art on tea bag for 365 days!)   and with International Women's Day soon on 8 March, I decided to do a tea bag art series inspired by famous women "who have made a difference". I have called this series of sketches "Worldly Women" and each is a quick felt tip pen drawing, coloured with pencils a...