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What I achieved during the week. (front only)

Well forum is over for me for another year. I had a wonderful time is so great to be with so many women who love to create. It was unfortunate that not many locals where there and suprising to see such a large WA contingent. So for me it was great to be able to catch up with lots of familiar faces. Above is my work for the week. I did a Masterclass workshop with Glenys Mann and we got a new project to do every day so I was flat out to try and keep up and no I did not manage to complete all the days works.

The above 2 pieces which are kinda dark are 2 seperate projects. In the front is my scroll which is pieces of calico which have been used as paint cloths then rust dyed and shellaced and drawn onbefore being stitched together into a long length which is rolled up and tied with handmade silk string and finished with clay beads.
At the back is Day 1's project which was a book which wasn't a book, ( at this time I didnt know there would be a scroll project later in the week). It comprises a series of 9 scrolls, each having 3 sheets to the scroll all tied together with silk string.


These 3 pieces and the one below where from a rebirthing project, where we had to create works and then destroy them to make new works with them.

No 4 in the rebirth project and above it a handmade book.

And this is my series of six long thin pieces which came from the rebirthing project.

Now I just have to try and keep the inspiration alive as I go back to the studio and dream about what I might do at the next forum. Some of the above may very well turn up in the upcoming group exhibition at Artisan Gallery in Robigana. I will get the details up really soon. I will, I will.

Fibres Tas

FIBRES TASMANIA
THE BEST TIME YOU WILL EVER HAVE ON AN ISLAND!!
To be held at LAUNCESTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL
LAUNCESTON
13th – 19th SEPTEMBER 2009


Trading Area. Traders will be set up in the area near the classrooms. Trading hours will be 7.30am - 8.00pm (dependant on the amount of people about) Visitors are welcome at Trades during any of the trading times, it’s only the classrooms we ask them to stay out until the afternoons of Thursday and Friday and then from 2pm – 4pm and only with the permission of the Tutor.
Make sure you don’t miss THE BAZAAR..
FRIDAY EVENING 18th from 5pm and SATURDAY MORNING 19TH from 9am PUBLIC ALLOWED!!

For more info about how you can be involved in future forums visit www.glenysmann.viviti.com

Busy, busy, busy

On Sunday begins the next big adventure my class with Glenys Mann at Fibres Tasmania. This is to be held at the Launceston Grammar School and there will be a Trades Area and a Bazaar and at the end of the week the public are allowed to come an see what everyone has been doing in their classes. So at the momnet I am scurrying around gathering the flotsam and jetsom needed for my class as well as getting ready for the Homespun Market on Saturday.

I have finally finished my business plan and submitted it so am waiting to hear that all is well and I dont have to do any of it over again. Coz that was an absolute pain ion the kazzie, big time.
Didn't get the exhibition that I put in a proposal for, apparently some people think that natural dyes are just too smelly for public consumption. Hmmm if only they had asked.

At the momnet in the studio I have been painting, experimenting with skim milk, soy milk, yoghurt and silken tofu with pigment added. It is a great deal of fun and very environmentally friendly unlike those nasty acrylics. I will post pictures later so you can see. Hopefully one of them will be good enough oit put in the group exhibition coming up at Artisans Gallery in Robigana in October that I am to be a part of.

Oh and I am making a swipe at tidying up as my best friend Naomi will be arriving on monday to stay and go to the forum with me as well, though she is doing a different class. Shoe making with Luna Newby from Hobart. Maybe I will score some cool new shoes, hey anything is possible.
Best scoot lots to do............

Snow Day

One day I will get the hang of this and post in the right order. I sure as heck aint going to type the post again which you will find at the bottom!

Somewhere out there are mountains???????????

Beautiful day for walk?

Walking or rather standing and freezing in a winter wonderland

Pine Lake

Lone Pine

On wednesday we went to visit the snow, some of you may think big deal, but for us who originally come from Western Aystralia where it never snows its a thing. Thinking back the last time we saw snow was about 15 years ago when we lived in North east Victoria and took the kids up Mt Selwyn.

Any way we set off a day the wether people on the TV had assured us would be fine but we soon found out that thye lied as we drove through the rain to Deloraine. Perhaps we should have taken this as a siogn but no after buying our lunch we pressed on. Hearts full of hope. We turned off towards Meander and somehow missed our turnoff and drove all the way to Meander which we were not supposed so then had to turn around and drive all the way back to the turn off to the Lakes Highway. It wasnt too long befoire we started to see white lumps by the side of the road and the anticipation began to build as too did the rain. Drove past a lookout which I am sure was very nice but considering visibility is now about 10metres we didnt see the point in stopping. Apparently as I have since been told we were at this time completely surrounded by mountains but who knew?

We got out at Pine Lake and took the boardwalk amongst the very old little pines some of which are a thousand years old and related to the giant Redwoods. It was quite magical though extremely cold as we walked enclosed by the mist.

New Journal

Over the last few days I have been working on a new visual journal and now it is finished and ready to work in which is just as well as the old one is all finished. It takes me a about 6 months to use up a journal so, I love to spend my time making something I will be happy to spend half a year with. This one has 6 signatures of 5 pages each, 4 of cartridge for writing on and in the centre of each signature some more specialer paper for drawings. The covers are heavy card covered in calico then I glued on threads and fabric which I coated in a starch mix. I then made up my paints with milk and pigment and finally it was all coated in a beeswax mix. The stitching on the spine is all silk thread with small semi preciaous stone bead attatched. i am mot happy with the result. Perhaps I will make up a few and add them to my etsy shop.

The front.

The back

The spine

a close up some texture

Eclipse

I stitched through the eclipse and then added my new lovely to my etsy shop.

Not much else happening, I am supposed to be doing paperwork but well I'm not. My excuse this time is that I am feeling poorly. I have a cold in the dose, which is slowing me down abit. and stitching is so quiet and soothing.

We had us a lovely time in Hobart. Dan ended up working till 4 on Friday so we didn’t get going till 5 which meant it was a dim dark trip down so didn’t really appreciate the scenery!! Arrived out our destination after going up the hill and a couple of hairpins at 7.30 meted and greeted made up our bed etc and then had to go back down the mountain to pick up some takeaways for dinner. Ok we settled for Dominos which was not an auspicious start but food is food when it’s late.
Saturday we went first to see the exhibition with India’s stuff in which was fab there was several things which I could have taken home. India’s wrap was truly splendiferous. Then we went to Salamanca (with Shirley who I met at Bunbury and she lives at Boomer Bay an hour from Hobart) which while nice was not the fabulousness I was expecting after the all the hype. But we picked up some dinner supplies, a lovely loaf of fig and pear rye bread, some marinated green olives, some sheep cheese, a jar of red pepper relish and a pear. The yummy donuts we ate there. Also had a wander amongst the Galleries which was a fav for me and into the Bookshop where we bought a book for Dan’s pressie. Then off to Mure’s for a lunch of fish and chips. Then Dan decided he needed to go for a drive and see some fish farms so we stopped at the tourista place and asked for some directions and off we went for a lovely drive we saw the Bruny Island Ferry coming in and then we went further and further south with nary a sign of a fish farm in sight until we got right to the bottom of where we could go and realised the sill woman had sent us to the wrong bit coz off in the distance we could see the sea cages and if we had gone the other way we would have been able to get to them but as it was they were just off in the distance being elusive. So anyway it was about 3 so we had to head for home, so up to Cygnet where we bought our non winning lotto ticket, had a cup of coffee and shared a piece of cake and picked up a dinner menu from the restaurant which we talked about enthusiastically all the way home well nearly. Sunday we went to themarket you know the one that didn’t want me or my stuff and it was really rather good. I think if I work on my presentation maybe I will get in next time. I bought some lovely local olive oil soap. Another wander through the galleries and then the drive home. In the interest of seeing as much of Tassie as poss and not going back over the same tracks we went home via Sorell and up the coast to Swansea before driving back across to the highway and home. We really liked Swansea and esp a little beach just before we got there called Spiky Beach where we were very much taken by the fact that someone’s privately owned land went almost to the beach itself now that’s something we aspire to. Went for a lovely walk on the beach and climbed the rocks and filled my pockets with treasure till me pants nearly fell down!!!!! And then we had to come home as the skies got grimmer and the wind increased.