Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

This time last year was a frantic time of preparing for the "Stitched Up" exhibition opening at "The Lock Up" Newcastle, NSW , Australia.  Here is a beautiful visual record of the memorable experience of being involved in this exhibition and honouring 193 previously forgotten girls from The Newcastle Industrial School 1867-1871.  Thanks to co curator, Anne Kempton from Timeless Textiles Gallery,  Nancy Crawford for the narration of this video ( Nancy is one of the featured artists in this exhibition ) and Konrad Breuers for the video imagery.  Thank also to all the artists who participated in this project and to Jane Ison, whose research made this project possible and real.  Wilma Simmons ( Co-curator, Stitched Up ) 

For once, I have actually made tags for Tag Tuesday on Tuesday...  Wendy  has  challenged us with this fortnight's theme  "Locks and Keys". For my first tag, I chose a  pre-cut "person" shape and simply pasted a page from a magazine which coincidentally was an advertisement for an event, called "Finders, Keepers" , I added some eyes behind some spectacles also cut from the same magazine, and a little lock embellishment to the ties. I originally was going to collage the shape with images of locks and keys but couldn't find enough but I thought the words were apt for this theme. My second tag for this theme is also a cut out from the same magazine.... the background "mansion" and the key ring. While the metal ring looks metal in this photo it is paper, and the key is a plastic one, made to look a little antique. While both these tags are super simple and were very quick to make, I enjoyed the almost accidental creation of these  t...

At Tag Tuesday this last fortnight , Michele    chose the theme "Baby Love" with the idea of Mother's Day on the calendar.  Thank you Michele, great idea!  I drew and collaged this tag on Mother's Day last Sunday. It is such a simple idea - I sketched and coloured the two faces, looking wistfully out of a window, or at least that is the impression I was aiming for. The pot plants are cutouts from a magazine, and I re-coloured them with pencils. Their dresses are also paper cutouts from the same magazine. I may have stretched the "baby" into "toddler" but hope this interpretation fills the brief. I made a tag quite a few years ago for Tag Tuesday and some of the TT regulars will recognise it, but thought it was worth pulling it our of the box again... yes it's me as a baby.

"Remembering" - Wood, Clay and Cloth Sculpture : Wilma Simmons  Thank you to all who voted in the  recent People's Choice - Brooching the Subject Competition  held at Timeless Textiles Gallery ( Newcastle NSW Australia) . Special thanks if you happened to vote for my entry, 'Remembering',  a wall brooch pictured above. The winner with the most votes online was a beautiful felted piece, another wall brooch, entitled "  Papevero (Italian Poppy) " by Becky Williams. Papevero : Becky Williams from  https://timelesstextiles.com.au/past-exhibitions/ The competition in the gallery was judged by renowned Queensland artist, Sylvia Watt - Here is  a video of what Sylvia decided and  said about the brooches...  1. Water Guardian : Alysn Midgelow-Marsden ; 2. Amelia : Judith Bee ; 3. We are Connected - Trudi Nisbet  All of the brooches can be viewed on the Timeless Textiles Gallery website here . Congratulations to all the artists ...

This Sunday 6th May, I will be running a workshop, 'Making Messenger of the Peace Dolls' in conjunction with the "Stitched up in Sydney" exhibition. With the  exhibition being a huge success,  this workshop is nearly booked out! If you can't make the workshop,  I  will also  be hosting a curator's talk afterwards from 4-6pm.    If you are interested in  securing one of the last spots in the workshop or coming to the curators talk, please give  The Embroiderers' Guild NSW a call and they can give you more information on requirements and pricing! Phone 02 9743 2501 or 02 9743 2293 Workshop requirements: Please bring: a stick ( approx. 25cm-30cm long. However, size is not important -we can always cut it down to size) , small quantities/strips of favourite fabric (this can be any type - new or old , cotton, polyester, wool or felt), threads in coordinating or contrasting colours, a small quantity of alfoil (about 1 metre). If you are ...

April 21 - Tea Day - Amy pouring herself a cuppa.  Sometimes, it is just fun to celebrate a week of special days when nothing very special is happening. This last week was one of those weeks for me. Starting off last Saturday, 21 April was "Tea Day" - a celebration of the amazing drink tea is.  Tea is a wonderful drink that comes in a wide variety of different flavors, each of them having a distinct personality and character. It’s been used for everything from a simple morning libation to the central element of certain social and religious rituals.   April 22 - Sunrise at Hall's Gap, The Grampians , Victoria 22nd April was Earth Day  which is not only a celebration but a call to protect our natural environment. it is customary for  groups and individuals to mark the day with community environmental activities.    April 23 - English Language Day - Watercolour drawing and collage: Wilma Simmons  Monday 23 April was the United Na...

At Tag Tuesday, this fortnight Sandie  is hosting the Steampunk/Mechanical challenge. Although this isn't a theme I usually tackle, Sandie's tags are so fantastic and inspirational that I was motivated to create a tag this afternoon. I had some fabrics on my desk which I discharge dyed last week.and this piece with the addition of a few copper cogs reminded me of " industrial and mechanical" . The way the background fabric was created was by applying bleach gel with a roller over the top of a plastic stencil. The fabric was originally a  bluish dark grey   cotton, When the bleach had removed the colour, the process was halted with a commercial  neutralizing solution  called AntiChlor. I have been told that a vinegar solution  will also stop the discharge of colour and act as a neutraliser. The metal cogs were stitched on to the fabric by hand. Here are  a couple of great resource sites for discharging colour with bleach. - Threads ...