Some stitching and photos from 'that COVID year'...

Samplers for the TextileArtist.org online challenge - a double challenge being locked down in Tasmania without my stash and supplies. But with a few embroidery threads, a bit of wool, a handkerchief and badge from lost property, the lining of a torn cushion, a feather and even a COVID mask they turned out OK and I learned a few new tecniques. 

 

                                        Couching

                                                     Collage of  'my life at the time'

                                                                    Stitching eyes

                                                                 Stitching a shadow 

                                                    Overstitched collage of old fragments

                                                            Depicting lines without a line

                                                     Using one stitch to different ends

And these photos are from around that time showing great patterns, colour and textures, The succulents both bold and delicate, the lemon rich and full of juice, and not the way we usually see it, and the fungi, yet another fascinating variety -

 And a New Year begins. 

Well I thought it was early 2020 that I last posted, but apparently not! So a very brief recap.  Highlight for 2019 was becoming a grandma for the first time. A few other events included  a major birthday (I made it to 70!) and trips to Brisbane, Stanthorpe and Toowoomba in Queensland, and Canberra in the ACT for tulip time as well as a couple of trips to Tasmania.

Tulips in Canberra

A special birthday cake - with real flowers.

2020 was a mixed bag like for everyone - the huge, world wide impact of COVID19 and the doubts and fears with my family in different states, getting stranded interstate and having to quarantine on return, postponed/cancelled travel, cancelled meetings and exhibitions etc all so unexpected and unimagineable. Stitching, drawing, photography - they kept me busy but seemed so small in the grand scale of events. Also, my collecting of jugs and echidnas was curtailed due to having run out of storage. I have reconciled to the fact that with around 700 jugs and nearly 400 echidnas it was probably time to stop - that is apart from the odd one that I can't resist or receive as a present! The storage remains an issue... but I guess I still have plenty to show in photographs.

A couple of works from 2019

Machine embroidered folder cover. Sorry this is a bit dark.

Small quilt for SAQA auction

Woven rag (knit fabrics) floor rug about 1.3m diameter

My focus over the last couple of years has been on new techniques for textile art. I have joined with 2 like minded groups of friends, JACKARD+ and Half Page Textile Artists. (I have just realised that that is in addition to my 4 quilting groups and the Fibre Art Network!). For the Half Page group our work must be as the name says, while JACKARD+ likes to utilise more sculptural forms, and makes challenges to create 'repurposed art'. Here are my pieces for three of these.

Frida Kahlo challenge - mine based on her 'Family Portrait' painting

Red silk cocoon and old lace collar challenge incorporating red mulberry fabric on a recylced canvas

Old picture frame and wire netting challenge. Collaged backround  on a reversed frame, with fussy cut and machiune embroidered birds. It's called 'Aviary at Flight Central"

Our exhibtiion of work from the Half Page group is rescheduled for this year, so no pictures until after that. I did have something in the rescheduled FAN (Fibre Art Network) exhibition which has just closed, but more of that in another post.

Since last posting I have completed an Embroidery Basics course with the Embroiderer's Guild of South Australia, and I am just beginning their advanced Certificate Course. Yes, I have embroidered in my projects, but minimally, based on the 5 or so main stitches that my Mother taught me. However, I have always been interested in different regional and ethnic embroidery styles and this has been heightened by my textile tours in recent years. It seemed time to learn more. 

Sampler for the Basics class

I have begun writing up the family history that my brother and I have been working on for years. When do you stop researching? It seems time to make a start or we never will, but I don't expect it will be finished soon. It is quite time consuming and I find my notes are not always filed as they ought to be.

My newest activity has been to try decorative painting on my brother's wood turning. Some learning to do there yet.

A few photos from Tasmania  -

Looking into the centre of a treefern

An upturned (by wallabies) red mushroom

Two pictures taken in the Hobart native plant nursey, the lower one an old tree fern stump

So I have made a start and my resolution is to give more regular updates. 2021 is looking brighter as our cautious government(s)  response to the virus, along with the coming vaccines provides a better outlook for this coming year. My hope is that 2021 will be a Happy New Year for all.

 

A new year begins

Good wishes to all for a great 2019. I wonder how long it will take me to remember to write 2019...
What will it bring? I have been stitching yesterday and today - postcards and journal covers, but hopefully a good start to a creative year. Travel wise, apart from visiting Rachel in Tassie, I have nothing planned. I think I need to finish off detailing the last one here, before I think of any new trips.

So, back to Poland and Krakow. We stayed near the splendid Old Town in a lovely hotel called the Art and Garden Residence. That had an enclosed garden, and works of art in every room.

Thought the folk in this fine sculpture at the entrance might feel a little chilly in winter.

We had a little rain here, but not enough to spoil anything.

 Wawel Castle

  - gold topped dome on part of the Church

 - interesting paintings under the verandahs

Around the Old Town and Square

 

 

 - beautiful horse drawn coaches for the touists (didn't take one)

 

 - somebody startled the pigeons

 

 

 

 

 Us making traditional pierogi in a specialist pierogi shop/restaurant

 

 

 The Jewish quarter and the old Synagogue

 

 

We visited the class rooms of paper specialist Professor Buczek-Sledzinska at the Krakow Fine Art Academy and saw her students' final year work. It is all paper, but the techniques apply equally to fabric. These are sections of two works

 

 We did a Mark Making workshop with her, using stamps. I'll be trying it on fabric...

We visited the home and studio of mixed media artist Dorota Pietrzyk.

and painted icons and then enjoyed a superb traditional meal.

Next stop Zakopane. It is a popular resort for skiing in winter or walking othertimes. We were meant to visit one of the mineral spring resorts but it was closed for some refurbishment. We substituted with a great cable car ride to a snow topped peak in the Tatra aMountains.

 

 

 Around Zakopane - local cheeses with decorative moulds

 - timber fence tops

 - interesting fibre works in an exhibition

 

 - a huge hotel

 - nearby point to view the mountains. All the white lines are aircraft con trails!

 - my linen/burlap and lace find at the viewing spot - obviously a local parking spot. The bottle was empty

Lublin
- a superb public park designated about 1836 - as old as Adelaide!

 - beautiful autumn colouring

 - the Castle Museum

 - exhibition of East Poland crafts - included costumes

 - flaming icecream at a restaurant

 - restaurant decor

 - Ethnographic Park where we saw linen processing, spinning, thread and rope (made from the fibres discarded when preparing for spinning) making

 - thatch, Polish style

 - baskets hanging on the fences for waste bins

 - traditional costume

 In Lublin, an interesting Cultural Centre building has a garden and beehives on the top floor. This is a traditional bee hive

 Visited Lublin Catholic University to meet academic Pawel Adamiec - to see the fibre art learning space for the courses he takes - this is a joint student work using just seeds -

 and then to hear from Pawel about his own work as landscape architect, designer, photographer, wearable art and costume designer. One of his headdresses.

We then attended an exhibition opening of his photographs from an interesting cooperative venture with a group of seniors.

 Renaissance town of Kazimierz-Dolny

 

 - scene shows the town close to the river. The town survived the war unscathed, when soldiers turned back at the river. It is now home to many artists.

 

 - wooden flowers for sale

 

- close up from the building facade above

 

 

 chimney tops

That's it. Just a glimpse really, of a fabulous trip. Re-living it while selecting these photos, it probably won't be too long before I start dreaming of the next one...