Tum Tum Tree Designs

House Bound!

2010-04-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

After arriving hom from Ballarat, I had to go and have surgery on my foot. I had this horrible cyst, called a 'ganglion'. I named it Rottnest, as it was a similar shape and size. My surgeon had never seen one soooo big before.

Going in for day surgery, I arrive home a few days later. I had really poor oxygen levels and they wouldn't let me leave. My source of entertainment, was the old Italian lady in the room with me. It amazed me how good her english could be for one doctor and then for another, she could barely speak english. This amused me immensely, as I found it a game to pick which doctors she liked and disliked.

I have never heard such an interesting array of noises come out of one person. If the snoring wasn't bad enough, I was unaware of how loud, often and continuously, one can fart in their sleep. If only I had a recording device with me. She was a lovely lady and in very poor health, but she did provide me with some much needed smiles.

So now I sit at home, with my foot resting upon 3 pillows. Pain killers are wonderful inventions, unless your 20kg, 3 year old child, jumps on your foot. I think I taught him a new word or two.

I am bored, unmotivated and wait paitently for Ellen to come on at midday! Oh joy!

Pictures From Ballarat

2010-04-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ballarat was fabulous! These are some collective images of work that was in the final exhibition. I can't credit individual photos as I am not sure who's work everything is.

Bound for Ballarat

2010-04-03T04:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am spending Easter Sunday, travelling to Melbourne and then through to Ballarat. It's fibre forum time again (must be school holidays) and this time I will be attending Dorothy Caldwell from Canada. I am told she is amazing and she has travelled to Australia many times teaching. The workshop is called, Mark Making : A Book. Your guess is as good as mine!

It shall be nice to be just me, not a mum, wife, friend in need or neighbour trying to escape the clutches of a talk-a-holic......yes there is a story in there somewhere.

I am happy to report that Tango (weiro #4) has safely made about 3 weeks now......and his new buddy Peppy, is coming up for two weeks. I think we have this situation sorted now. Will take a pic of my boys when I come home......I hope they will still be here!

Have a wonderful Easter and may the bunny be generous.....if he isn't, I hear rabbit stew is good!!

Sculpture Walk

2010-03-28T15:48:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to uploading the camera today. This is how my work looked prior to the very large and aggressive storm that came through Perth. Don't really want to take any pics now.......only 6 pods came down, but lots are twisted up in the branches. The pods laid out in a colour aray, waiting to be hung.

I don't know why, but I keep making things objects which hang. I have learnt that it is very difficult to photograph well, a large scale hanging sculpture. These are about the closest I am going to get.

Welcome Tango

2010-03-18T05:34:00.000-07:00

Tango arrived last Saturday and has nearly lasted a week....woo hoo....that is the second longest time, a weero has lived at our house. If he survives another week I will post a picture of him.

Keep an eye out!!!! I sincerely hope to post a pic!

Endings and New Beginnings

2010-03-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

I made the choice to withdrawl from the uni course that I had started. Too much time away from my young family and not enough time to create my own work.

I know to keep myself mentally healthy I need to create. I need to be able to create my own work and not create what others tell me to. There is a huge difference between the two and I know which is right for me.

It bewilders me how people have such a negative response to my withdrawl. A friend emailed me and said she was proud of me for knowing myself and how much strength it took to walk away from something which is not right for me. Those words have brought me much comfort. You are a wonderful friend D!!!

So now that one door has closed, more are opening. I have started on a piece for an art award and am very happy with how it is starting out. Lord knows how it will finish, but at least there is a beginning.

After the monsterous installation for the Sculpture Walk...I have decided that hanging 42 pieces is a lot of work and probably won't do it again....in the near future.....would love to attempt another multiple installation....just not for a while!

Promise to post pics as soon as they are downloaded.

Life, Death, More Death and More Life

2010-03-06T02:51:00.000-08:00

We have had quite a bit going on in our home of late. Firstly Rocko, our beautiful weero entered our house, with much love. Then Monty (the husky) ate Rocko. Very sad indeed, especially since he did it in front of my boys. One of the boys left the door open and Monty ever being the opportunist....made his move. So at the end of day one of Uni, I had two very sad and tearful little boys, who where hatching revenge plots against the dog.

Rocko lived with us for a week and a half.

Rocko 2, came to our house, again with much love and joy. Today while I was at a workshop, my husband had let the boys have Rocko out of the cage and again......the door was left open and Rocko was eaten by Monty. I will defend myself, by saying, that the door man was coming on Friday to put auto closers on the sliding door, but got delayed and will be here on Monday.

I am no happy. I won't say what words were said (or should I say screamed) at my husband, as they are not G rated.

I was so sad, angry, pissed off, ready to throttle the first person to get in my way. I said I wanted the dog gone.....and meant it at the time....still thinking about it.

Anyway, Rex Ray has entered our home and is the last weero. If he gets eaten, then no more birds and I guarantee the dog will either be destroyed or sent to the Husky Rescue people. Rex Ray is one of my favourite artists and I though that a new name was needed for my new friend.

Wish us luck. May the force be with Rex!

Stitching and Magazines

2010-02-25T03:31:00.001-08:00

This is the mainly finished first piece from my workshop series with Michele Eastwood, Memories in Stiches. I have a few small things to finish, then I am planning on taking it to the Barbara Caldwell workshop at Ballarat and see what else I feel like doing with it. I want to do some mark making...not sure what yet.

Some nice fabric I found for my next project with Michele.

The latest, Cloth Paper Scissors (actually it's the Jan/Feb issue) had these great little people by Elaine Thomas. Not a magazine I would usually purchase, but it had a couple of things which peaked my curiosity.

Don't forget, if you live in Perth, The Thread Studio are having their first ever warehouse sale on Saturday and Sunday....something not to be missed. And just think of all the friends you are guaranteed to run into. I will be there early with bells on.

Garden Surprises......

2010-02-25T03:21:00.000-08:00

When I was watering the garden yesterday afternoon, to my surprise, these beautiful little flowers were staring at me. They came from my mum and I can't remember their name, but they were such a lovely surprise to see. Mango anyone!!! These are just a couple of fruit on our wonderful tree, grown by seed by my dad. We are having a good season, still to eat one, but I think we are up to about 12 on the tree. Our best crop ever. Anthony has rigged up his own special slow drip water system. I just refill the jerry can every couple of days.

Our pumpkins and bananas have gone a bit wild. The bananas have another big hand on them, but the pumpkins have gone out of control....think they came up by themselves....not sure...but they are definitely healthy!

One of my gorgeous frangipani's, this was a Qld import....all legal....had to have them sprayed and everything....just love them.

A sculpture that my husband bought me one year for my birthday. He has a lovely girlfriend to his right.

A Typical Sunday Late Afternoon

2010-02-21T18:47:00.001-08:00

At 5.39pm yesterday, I stopped to think how lucky I am.

I am standing in front of the stove, cooking chicken noodle stirfry for dinner, and here was Taj, plastering his hair with hair gel, looking so proud of himself (he smelt great) Kai sitting, staring at our latest edition to the house, Rocko the 'Rock Star' weero and me up to my armpits in sweet and sour sauce, with my Oscar (my white maltese) hard up against my heels, so if I move not only do I go down, but so does dinner.

It was so nice to able to stop amongst the chaos and see the happiness and joy in our house....not to mention the dirt. I am very lucky to have such great kids and a lovely place to live.

Brotherly Love and Lost Teeth

2010-02-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

I do love my boys when they are loving each other. Taj has learnt that if he sits nicely for a photo, he will get to see the picture on the camera. What did parents do to make their kids sit still, before digital cameras? The highlight of our day yesterday (18th Feb 2010), was when Kai lost his first tooth......or should I say teeth. He lost not one, but two, at school of course and not at the same time. He is so proud and has just run downstairs to check and see if the tooth fairy has left him some money! He has just come back with 2 $2 coins. He agrees that he must of looked after his teeth very well, to get $2 for each tooth. My baby is growing up!

These are a few of my favourite things.....

2010-02-18T03:22:00.000-08:00

Now I do hope you are singing this posts heading......channel your inner Julie Andrews!

I just loved this platter I found today. I already have the bowls to match........and possibly have already bought this.....or was it the large bowl......I actually haven't unwrapped the others and I did buy them a couple of months ago....was hiding them from the hubby. Oops! Hey it was on sale for $10!
The most amazing husband in the world, has let me have my 40th birthday present early this year.....not until July!!! I came home grovelling and he didn't even put up a fight, just told me to 'go and get it'. If only all purchases were this easy. So now I am in love with this amazing new toy. My gear is looking pretty damn professional now!

This is a fabulous original 1930's sewing box I found at a little antique store. It was filled with all kinds of treasures from over the past 50 odd years. Amazing old sales dockets from the 50's, Sheffield scissors (that Rosie very kindly sharpened for me.....she rocks), a gorgeous old apron, buttons and anything else you can think of. I gave most of it away, only keeping the scissors and the apron. I didn't think I would use the other things, so I passed them on to those who would love and care for them....not to mention use them.

This is my new calligaphy brush holder....have wanted one for ages and finally found them on ebay. Am very happy, this one is about 40cm tall, so it holds pretty long brushes.

My First Laptop

2010-02-18T03:13:00.000-08:00

This is my new little baby.....my blue Acer laptop! She is just beautiful and I am actually managing to handle her quite well. I must admit she has no programmes on her, so that is probably why! All I have been able to do is change the background, as I need to load programmes and what I want to load, looks like it wants me to be online for that to happen. So now I sit patiently and wait until my husband comes back from his shutdown. I also wipe off my sons footprints, as he walked across the computer when he was looking for a straw on the breakfast bar.....yes I was upstairs at the time! They were perfect little footprints...could of nailed him is I was a CSI.

Now one thing I hate and despise about laptops, is that stupid little area where you are supposed to wiggle your finger to make the arrow scroll around......a major reason I was never interested in a laptop. Check out my funky little wireless mouse.

The wonderful thing about this mouse, is how it folds up when you aren't using it. This turns it off and makes it a hell of a lot easier to transport around. The boys are loving it and keep stealing the mouse! Have had a very threatening conversation with them, and hopefully it will stay put.....or I will have to start setting 'mouse traps'.....sorry that's a shocking pun!

Some people make your life go faster!

2010-02-17T03:44:00.001-08:00

Have you ever noticed that some people make your life go faster? I have some amazing women in my life and today I was thinking about, how by just having them in my life, it seems to go so much quicker. I am never bored or lonely......there is always someone to talk to.....no matter how much you think you are bothering them, they always have the time to stop and chat, even if only for a few minutes.

I am truly blessed to have found such wonderful people. And as I quietly head towards 40, I understand what it honestly means to have good women in your life. I didn't get this until well into my 30's, but now I treasure it. The great thing is...you don't have to name names....they know who they are and they know I love them deeply! XXX

My brain feels like scrambled eggs!

2010-02-13T19:45:00.001-08:00

My brain feels like scrambled eggs.......all mixed up with forgein elements and thrown into a hot pan!

I have been felting like a maniac, getting ready for the big sculpture walk. Surprisingly, the rigorous felting regime has not taken it's toll on my body yet!!! (She says with caution) I did go and have a massage yesterday and have learnt that I can do shoulder and back massages, but should not let, very strong little asian women, anywhere near my neck.....I am very delicate!

I have had to send in some photos for the sculpture walk and I must say, photographing felted sculptures, they move around in the breeze and seeminly have a mind of their own......is not the easiest thing to do. For me, finding a suitable background is the hardest thing, so my fence is the easiest thing I can find. I would ideally like a bush setting, with the pods suspended from a tree, but the logistical process of that, just for a couple of pics........ah......you get my drift. So these are the front runners. The above pic is my favourite......at this hour of the day......I hope it's the one they use. The main pod was the first of my series and honestly, probably one of the best pieces of felt I have made.

So far I have made 15 pods and am expecting to make........a revised number......of about 40 pods. Luckily I still have about 3 weeks up my sleeve. I find that making 5 a day is good, but remember that making 5 will take me around 7-8 hours......and that is if the little people in my life are not around. Try throwing in bickering, food prep and clean up, bathing, resolving life altering disputes "he took my lego".............that is pretty much an entire day.

Felting anyone??????

Amazing Sand Drawing

2010-02-09T03:10:00.000-08:00

My wonderful friend Rosie Whitehead sent me this link. Please take the time to go and look, you won't be disappointed. I won't ramble on.....for once.....but simply tell you that this is a clip of a girl drawing in sand on a light table. Just watch and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg#t=00

Michele Eastwood Workshop

2010-02-09T02:30:00.000-08:00

OK, I know the picture is sideways, but I have uploaded it twice and can't change it......so just deal with it. Or turn your head sideways!

Today was day one with the fabulous Michele Eastwood and this is the beginning of my first stitched memory. This was Taj at Christmas 2008. Lets see how it turns out.
Now if it wasn't for going to Michele's today, I would not of found those great mags or the super adorable bunny!!! Michele is a true gem and wonderfully generous with her knowledge and skills.........something which can be hard to find. Her workshop is running for 6 weeks and I will keep posting my compositions throughout this time.

Michele is teaching at the Orange forum later this year.....how lucky am I to be in a class of 4!!!!

Exciting New Finds

2010-02-09T02:12:00.001-08:00

Oh what a wonderful day!!! Today I have found 2 magazines which are new to me. The first is Inside Out. A wonderful design mag, with the sub title 'Inspiring Homes With Heart'. Well the editors have my sort of design style and I have found amazing little things in here to inspire me. at only $7.95, this is an affordable and great mag to check out. It comes every two months, this is the latest March/April issue. My favourite of the two new mags is this one, 'Dubo feather, pass it on'. My local newsagent doesn't stock it, so I will probably just do a scubscription, which is about $40 for 4 issues for the year. This publication is more book-like than mag. Superb quality printing (& paper stock) made me think it was English or European...but no, it is Aussie. I would highly recommend a look at this if you can find it.

My favourite, non magazine for the day. This is just the funkiest little guy I have seen for a while. Michele Eastwood found him (or is that her) down in Albany and I am in wraptures over this fellow!!!

My amazing Etsy find, Megumi has two online shops (Etsy and Ebay). Follow the link!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pomadour24

I had everyone who saw this book today, drooling like a baby and I have to admit, I was right in there with them. This book is soooo fabulous, I will take some pics from the inside to show later. The only downfall is that it is in Japanese, but Fiona who I met today has a friend who runs the Japanese School here in Perth......handy contacts. There is a follow up book to this....on my wish list. This book contains all the patterns and is too delish.

Three other books, which I ordered from Megumi. If you ever search 'japanese sewing patterns' on Etsy you will find the most wonderful stuff!! Now all of these books ranged from $18 through to about $25. A very affordable purchase, especially when you know how much a sewing pattern will set you back!!!

I am so seriously in a dress phase of my life.....I want to live in them and probably have enough now that I could for a couple of weeks. That doesn't seem to be stopping me making more though!!!

Today has been a very good day!

The trouble with depression.......

2010-02-08T03:18:00.000-08:00

The trouble with depression is the changes you have in personality, without any control of it. I have never been the most diligent of bloggers, but a five month absence and then a flood in one day, may seem a little to strange to those who don't know me well.

When my depression is out of whack.....I close of to the world and isolate myself. This is one of the first signs of depression and one I know very well in myself. I have been sitting back, reading blogs, thinking to myself ' I have to get going again'........yet nothing happens for months. Then I blog and feel great.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do......is simply to start. Once you start, you don't know what all the trouble was about. I do that a lot......I mean a lot. I think to myself 'all you have to do is create and you will feel good......just do it'. But then I do nothing and feel even worse.

So if you see a disappearance......you may understand why. I'm still here!

Taj.......I want to look like white bear!

2010-02-08T03:05:00.000-08:00

This is my new frangipani 'Lipstick'. It is a new flower out this year and is just gorgeous.......and it smells pretty damn good too. Yoda has survived a lot, being hit by cars, moving house too many times to remember, being invaded by puppies, kittens, budgies and fish, and her last challenge of loosing a leg. But I do think her biggest challenge is TAJ! That little fellow of mine just loves her. This is her after the great orange sticker challenge. She has managed to pull the stickers off which were placed inbetween her eyes and directly on the end of her nose. She was covered in them, but just laid so still and placidly, whilst my monster plastered her, very gently, in the orange stickers!

Ziggy on the other hand, has learnt to run from Taj, that is after he has bitten or scratched him. This is Ziggy tonight, as I am trying to take a picture of my latest stitching......he truly is my studio cat.

And this is the monster in question!!! Taj on Saturday! He loves to pick the frang flowers and I put one behind my ear. Little did I know what I started. Kai's beloved 'White Bear', was sitting out the front with us and had one flower placed inside his ear. (Kai used to chew his bear's ears when he was little and they are vey 'holey') White Bear ended up with about 3 flowers in each ear, I had to have one behind each ear and of course the master of the universe had to as well. If only you could hear the screams of 'my flower fell out'. I could just hear the neighbours dialing real estate agents. Of course the following line was "I want to look like White Bear".

Promised Pods

2010-02-08T02:59:00.001-08:00

Ah............the promised pods. These are the first five, drying on the rack. Oh look, I need to bring the washing in too!

I am hoping these will look good on mass. I have choosen an earth palette and have a large range within which to work. I shall try my best to continue the pics as they come along.

My first major public exhibition!

2010-02-08T02:17:00.000-08:00

I am about to take part in my first MAJOR public exhibition.

I have been accepted as one of the artists in the City of Melville Sculpture Walk 2010!

I wasn't going to apply, but was persuaded to, and now......am in! I been busily felting away and am planning on having a larger number (20-30) medium sized pods, hanging from one tree. I am planning on the same size and shape, just different colours.

I have madly been trying to upload the invite, but think I need someone a bit more geeky than me to do this. Have some pods drying downstairs and will take a pic soon.

So if you live in or near Perth and have nothing planned on the 12th of March, circle the date in your diaries and calendars........and come on down and have some great food and wine........and maybe even look at some sculptures.

Biting off more than one can chew.......

2010-02-08T02:10:00.001-08:00

Oh my friends, I do fear that I am biting off more than I can choose.....but I see it as a challenge. Check back with me in a month or two.

At the end of last year I was a bit lost....actually very lost. Not knowing what to do with myself, not caring that much either. I met with Elizabeth James Taylor and wonderful artist here in Perth and before I knew it, I had applied to Curtin Uni to study textiles. I didn't know exactly what I was doing......but after an interview on the 6th of Jan.....I received an acceptance letter on January 20th.

I am now enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts Textiles at Curtin University for 2010 (part time). We just had our info session and I was only planning on attempting 2 units, but have enrolled in 3!! I am either insane or am up for the challenge. Lee Anne Davis, who is another textile artist and only lives a suburb away (is a fabulous felter and teaching at Ballarat this year), is also doing the course, but full time. Her kids are older than mine.

This time around I can honestly say I am a matured aged student. When I did my teaching degree I was 23 and classified as mature aged......boy were they wrong! So now, I can happily say that I have studied at university in my 20's, 30's and 40's (if I make it to July).

Uni starts March 1st. Wish me luck....I just hope I can get the kids to the right place and me too....not to mention remembering to collect everyone at the end of the day.

Indigo, Rust and Tannin......oh my!

2010-02-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

Flipping through folders labelled "Kai's Birthday", I came across some dyed felt that I did at the end of last year with my good mate Trudi Pollard. We had an Indigo and Rust and Tannin day up at her house and I was keen to experiment with my felt. The pic below has been thrown into every dye pot we had except the indigo.
This is a piece of nuno (merino and muslin) which had been stiched (shibori) and then placed in the rust bath. I am not overly keen with the texture of the felt once it has been through the rusting process.....a bit harsh for my liking....but something nice to stitch into now!

This piece of cotton, went through the rust and tannin and didn't thrill me, so we rolled it up and threw it into the indigo. A nice combination of colours and textural effects. I gave this one to Trudi, as I didn't know what I would do with it and have toooooo much stuff laying around the studio.

A piece of satin, which was the first time I had put satin in the indigo. This is after all the rinsing and you can see the colour difference between the section that came into direct contact with the indigo. The colour before rinsing was so intense, and I was rather sad when I saw how much colour came out. Again, it is important to learn your fabrics, man made versus natural.

This was my favourite part of our dyeing. I had various white felt, some just felt, some nuno with silk, some with muslin. It was fascinating seeing he outcome. The colours were lovely and intense, but the felt very clearly took on a side. By this I mean, one side of the felt looked as it does below....whilst the other side (which you would expect to look very similar) looked very different. It was nearly all blue from the indigo. I can't explain it and quite frankly, have no idea what is going on.......but it was the same for every sample.

McSweeney's Open Letters Revisited

2009-10-15T04:59:00.001-07:00

I found this site about a year ago I think and I just love it. Wanted to share a couple of my favourites with you all.

AN OPEN LETTER TOMY LOST BIKINI BRA.
September 6, 2006

Dearest Lost Bikini Bra,

I wish I had the words to tell you how keenly I miss you
.
We met at a hole-in-the-wall togs shop in Bondi Beach, Australia. The woman behind the counter took in my 34Ds with the cool appraising eye of a jeweler.

"This is what you need," she told me flatly. "It's this one or nothing."

You were a feat of engineering to rival the Great Pyramids. Your genius was in your simplicity. With two wires, two teeny strings, and two triangles of cloth, you and I violated the law of gravity together. Fuck off, Mr. Newton. These apples are never falling down.

Look, Lost Bikini Bra, I don't hate my body, but let's be realistic: love handles here, a bit extra on the tummy there, and breasts that haven't been able to pass the pencil test since junior high. But when you were with me ... oh, boy, were my tits perfect. Nestled so close against my tenderest bits, you made me look and feel so sexy, like nothing and nobody had ever done before.

Sometimes, if I was feeling particularly cheeky, I would let a boy untie you before I sunbathed. They always liked that part. Then you would lie by my side as the warm Australian sun slowly turned my nipples from pink to brown and erased the white marks where your strings caressed my neck.

When I took you home to Texas, we swam through clear springs and rivers together, and you still looked as good as the day we found each other, unmarred by a single snag or fade.
And then ... oh, it's all my fault, Bikini darling. I should have taken better care of you.
My ex-boyfriend says he lost you in the move. A likely story. Where are you now? In a dark U-Haul box, stuffed between that ridiculous automatic bread maker and last year's bank statements? Or are you stashed guiltily in a sock drawer, stiffened and stained by his sticky secret juices? Oh, that sick bastard. I don't know which scenario is more heart-wrenching: you forgotten or you defiled. At least in the latter you're getting a bit of attention.

You deserve my honesty: I went shopping for a new bathing suit yesterday. It's not that I wanted to replace you, darling, but I gave up hope that we'd ever be reunited. Can somebody tell me why it's so damn difficult to find a reasonably sexy bikini that fits me? Talk about four torturous hours of my life that I'll never get back—much like my $100, which is also gone for good. Your replacement will do in a pinch, but it doesn't hold a candle to your glory.

I have a photo of you that sums up how right we were for each other. You and me on the purest white sands of Sydney's Pacific coast. We look so happy together, and, holy shit, did you make my tits look good.

So goodbye forever, my darling Lost Bikini Bra. We'll always have Australia.

Love eternally,
Jen BiundoAustin, Texas

- - - -
AN OPEN LETTERTO THE LEADEROF THE ANT NATIONRESIDING IN MY BATHROOM.
July 20, 2005

Dear Sir or Madam,

We've been warring for nearly a year now. Although my side hasn't lost a single life, let me be the first to say it: it is time to put a stop to the fighting.

I've emptied bottles of anti-ant spray and tolerated the resulting offensive odor. I've laid out bait-style poisons, which are specifically designed to trick your populace into carrying fatal toxins to your very own door, but your people consistently evade them. Eventually they organize parades that march directly around the deadly morsels in mockery of my attempts. I admit, the hyperintelligence of your military leaders is baffling. Thus, I've resorted to a multi-pronged and less obvious attack strategy: I've maintained tidiness, I've swatted at your troops with newspapers, I've smashed them one by one with my mighty thumbs, I've carpet-bombed them with Windex, I've blown them out the window with my breath of fire as they crawled across the neighboring tiles. I've even left mass graves open so that you might recognize what devastating havoc I'm capable of delivering.

Still, you send recon teams out. I spot them regularly, sometimes a team of two or three, sometimes a lone wolf crawling across the floor or the shower walls.

The leader of such a tenacious tribe must be both very proud and very wise. It is my sincere hope that you can set aside your pride and exercise your wisdom to the fullest extent for the purposes of this conversation. The cycle of violence can't continue. You must withdraw every last one of your kind from my apartment.

It's not fair. I pay rent. Don't give me any crap about being indigenous. It's not about that. The comparisons you will surely draw upon are nonsensical and you know it. You are ants. Don't make this something it's not. Have some couth.

Do not take my suggestion of peace as a sign of weakness. If you don't vacate the premises, I will continue to crush you and your soldiers on sight, without mercy or hesitation. My heart is remorseless at the thought of the lives I've destroyed and the families I've broken.

Annoyance is the driving force behind my hope of armistice. I grow tired of spotting your spies creeping around on the tiled shower walls as I stand in the buff. The endless removal of your dead after battle wears on my nerves. You make me late some mornings because I get lost in thought about our clash.

But my biggest frustration, the reason I am graying, lies in the question of purpose. Why do you want to be in my bathroom? What do you seek? There is no food there! Not a morsel. Were you to attack my kitchen, attempt a coup there, I would kill you with the same abandon, but I might be more understanding of your plight. Maybe I would be quicker to draft a solution to win the peace. Perhaps I would take to eating out more often, despite my ongoing fiscal crisis. As the situation is, though, there's not much I can do. I need to habitually bathe. I'm unmovable on this matter. It's not really even my choice.

Frankly, for several months I assumed I was dealing with madmen. But you must have some goal; your efforts surely have a purpose. When your troops tread across these countertops and tiles, they are consistently killed. Even a loony would realize that by now. Your ants are dying for something. Please, pray tell, what is it? Perhaps I will willingly surrender it to you if you help me to understand.

I'm reaching out here. Let's put an end to this.

Sincerely,
Joshua W. JacksonPresident of the Bathroom

Back From Geelong

2009-10-06T16:13:00.001-07:00

A very weary little felter has arrived home from the Geelong Forum. What an amazing week, there are no words to describe it, let alone pictures. I don't think I have ever had so much fun and all I can say.......is do it! Some of the knitters were doing guerilla knitting (I know that is probably spelt incorrectly, but am too tired to care!) or grafitti knitting. You would walk around campus and find interesting things everywhere. This was the last day and the main fountain in the middle of the school......remember this is at Geelong Grammar School, one of Australia's most prestigous schools. Luckily they are used to a bunch of weird women running wild.
I made a wonderful new friend Tania Spencer, a fellow artist from WA, down in Lake Grace. Primarily Tania knits in wire and makes amazing sculptures. Two of her pieces have been at the Sculptures By The Sea, in Cottesloe and next year she will have another piece entered. We shared a dorm room and had a hoot.....so nice to make new friends.

This was Gillians little dog she made.........such a lovely piece. I became a word natzi.....what is she talking about you ask???? I am so sick and tired of people referring to my and others work as 'cute', there was a blanket ban and anyone who said that something was 'cute' when referring to anothers work.....well they got told what cute actually meant. Mind you Alice the Camel, who I made....really is cute.....it's her eyelashes!

This was a piece that the gorgeous Teresa did....just loved how she combined the flower ends with the looped bag. This was one of my favourite pieces for the week.

This is actually a photo of a photo of Sandy Elverd's work....our illustrious tutor. This was Sandy's first gig as a tutor at such a big forum and she did a wonderful job. It was great to have the freedom to do as we wished. She gave us demos on techniques and basically inspired us and let our creativity come to the front and would assist us when we got into trouble or just plain old needed help. A wonderful tutor who I would highly recommend to anyone wanted to some fibre work.

I have a feeling this is another of Gillians pieces. Everyone took to coiling so quickly, but then random stitching took over.......we had too much fun.

We were very lucky to have a couple of very experienced basket makers in our group. Wendy Golden, who will be teaching at the Grampian forum in March was there. How ironic that when I got home, I found her website written on my notepad and I had been looking at her site before I went and met her. Now that is Karma! We also had the gorgeous Lyn Dickson, another very experienced basket maker.....who along with Wendy brough along a great amount of fibre matter for us to share. Soosie Jobson and I both could bring nothing as we were travelling from interstate. All of the girls shared their stash with us, which Soosie and I were both very appreciative of. I managed to bring home some of my work, but gave some away to some of the local girls.....as quarantine back into WA is super strict and I didn't want to bring anything harmful back into WA!

Ken Smith....What a Man!

2009-09-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

Today I have been busy with textile artist Ken Smith. Ken is based in Tasmania and is a renowned machine embroiderer, with many years experience. He has learnt under such people as Constance Howard.....that really impressed me!
Ken has been in Perth and Bunbury running a series of workshops on machine embroidery. His techniques are superb and have resparked an interest in my sewing machine.....not that I had ever lost interest.....but hand stitching has sort of taken over lately.

The workshop I am taking part in is Holeyer Than Thou.....and yes, that is a made up word! We have been creating holes and stitching them, you forget how quickly you can do things on a machine. I want to try doing some of the bobbin work that Ken has been showing us.....a bit scared, but am going to be brave tomorrow. He showed us moss stitching, which I never thought I would be able to do..........only to discover that it is super easy and I am a natural!

One of the things I love about Ken, is that he is very generous with his knowledge. Many artists wouldn't share the amount of skills that Ken does.....so to Ken.....I say thank you. This is a link to his website and I would recommend a look! http://www.bennett-smith.com/

I am scheming to get Ken to come back next year and do one of his week long workshop on fungi! His fungi is so realistic, he got picked up in customs in NZ when they caught sight of it in his bag.....they thought it was real and he had to explain himself. I just need to do a bit more nagging and see if I can get Jenny to agree to arrange it....something to have a chat about over lunch tomorrow I think!

I will share my samples when I am finished...they are all safely locked away at Craft House for the night. If anyone broke in there, they could make a fortune on stealing all the sewing machines....mine along is a couple of grand!

Alpaca Anyone???

2009-09-21T02:52:00.001-07:00

OnFriday and I went for a drive with Taj, we went visiting Caroline, from Windella Alpacas. I should of taken some pics of the alpacas....they were beautiful. Two gorgeous girls are pregnant and 3 stunning boys were ready to go to the Perth Royal Show.

Caroline, along with 2 friends have built a business, where they breed, sheer and process their own alpaca fibre. I am terribly interested in their processing, which is much more minimal that sheep fibre. We are planning a visit to the processing plant in November.....can't wait.
These are some of the gorgeous bumps that have been produced from the alpacas. The colour range is wonderful, ranging from a clean white, thru to cream, light brown, a chestnut brown, a darker brown still, brown black and finally blue black. They are sooooo soft....you just want to hug them.

I bought 3 of the batts, which have been created and they felt beautifully. I know some girls who would love to spin and weave with these. One of our girls at Feltwest, asked me to get her a black batt, sight unseen........she's a bit excited.

I had never felted with alpaca before and had no idea how it was going to turn out. It felts very easily and has a very different texture to the merino I usually work with. Because of the different scales on alpaca (Caroline said they sit more flat), they have a different finished look. Even though it is fully felted, it still has a lovely textured look to it, more like hair than fibre. I have felted two shades of the brown I have and am currently working on a piece for Cervantes with them. Will take some pics as I go along the process. It will also show you how I go about planning (or maybe my lack of planning) process and just how I work.

I Promise........

2009-09-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Now that I have been playing with my page and am happy with everything......I promise.......that I will not post in blue text, as it will blind all of my friends. I promise........that I will try and be a good blogger and blog more often. I promise.........to update interesting blogs which I follow! I promise......not to bore the pants off you!!!

Don't You Just Love To Play

2009-09-17T14:56:00.001-07:00

Don't you just love it when you take the time to play!! I had never really customised my blog...mainly because I hadn't taken the time. So with it being before 6am, the kids still asleep, my urges were bubbling to the surface.

It was so simple, I could kick myself. So now that I am able to be creative with my pages......I apologise for the colours that may confront you from now on.

To Photograph......or Not to Photograph???

2009-09-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

A very interesting dilema arose on the weekend. Do we photograph another artists work or not??? Karin Kortenhorst would not allow us to take photos of her work, but was happy for us to sketch them and make our own samples of her work.

Apparently in Europe, it is common practice that you do not photograph other artists work. I can totally understand why and think that this practice shall start to be used more here in Australia. As an artist, you always put yourself out to the public for scrutiny. Unfortunately, there are people who are more interested in replicating others work, than tapping into their own creative energy.

I suppose the underlying thing to remember, is that other people may have different morals to you. Do your own work, develop your own style and this will be recognised by those around you. If someone replicates your work, firstly think......my work is good enough to copy. Then approach the person and tell them this is not on. My wonderful friend Trudi has had this happen to her and she dealt with it immediately and it hasn't happened since. Word got out, not to mess with her and her work. You go girl!!!!!

The message I am probably trying to say.....is think before you snap! Do you have permission to take photos....or have you even bothered to ask?? What is the photo actually going to do for you? Why not just enjoy looking.....savour the moment.......let inspiration take over you........and then go and create your own masterpiece.

Think about it.....let me know your thoughts!

Karin Kortenhorst

2009-09-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I attended a two day workshop with Dutch jeweller, Karin Kortenhorst. Karin is a very fine jeweller, who has come to teach at the Geelong Forum and we were lucky enough at Feltwest, to have her stop over and workshop with us.
It's always fantastic to work with an international tutor and especially one, who isn't a felt maker, but someone who can show you different ways of using your material of choice. Wire was heavily used, with the use of many different types. Copper wire was popular to use, as it is very soft and maliable. Heather Davis had some copper sheeting and made this lovely lotus flower inspired piece. And yes....the photo us upside down!

This is a piece of copper sheeting, which has been hammered. I love the organic flow the occurs after hammering. The fact that something which is so rigid, can produce such soft lines intrigues me. I am keen to start incorporating some of the new techniques we learnt, into my work.

Sue Swain brought along this bulb, which is from a watsonia plant. Apparently they are a weed here in Perth, but boy do I love their bulbs. In the UK there are people who work in an area which can best be described at living plant sculptures. Willow is their plant of choice as it grows so well there. They plant the willow and train it to form these amazing sculptures. A large cathedral has been built in Germany. http://www.davidgosling.com/40000/info.php?p=5&pno=0 Go and have a look at this website and you will see what I mean.

Natural Dyes

2009-09-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have learnt how to download pics from my camera! Actually...that's not quite right....I made Anthony learn and he hasn't yet shown me....but hey....same diff!!!

Let me walk you through some of our pics from July.....

These were the results of natural dyeing which we did up at Trudi Pollards studio. When we dye, we try to dye different threads and materials. It gives us a good record of how the dyes effect different substances. We will use different types of silks, threads, wool and of course felt.
A collection of the various threads, with the leaves that were used to dye alongside each. This helps in the recording process.

These threads have been dyed with chilli bush, a native Australian plant, which looks nothing like chilli, but has a similar taste. You can get anything from a pink through to purple with this plant. This is a lovely subdued taupe colour. Every batch is different.

The next two pictures are the wrong way around....they should be the undyed version and then the dyed version....but hey....you can figure that out. This was a dye pot at my house, using Eucalyptus Cineria....otherwise known as Silver Dollar. I just love the deep, rich colours I get....my personal favourite.

The dye pot, before cooking. It's a good idea to photograph each stage for documentation.

The result of some other dye pots using the same plant. Each dye pot will always come out differently. It depends on the amount of water, the number of leaves, which tree the leaves come from etc.

Some of the results from steaming, instead of boiling using plant material. These are wet, so the true beauty of the colour isn't seen yet. This is us as we unwrapped them, straight from the steamer. They were burning our hands!

These two were a piece of habutai silk and a wool/silk blend piece of fabric. The plant material was placed in between the layers, so we get the same pattern on two different pieces of fabric.

One of my round vessels, which was steamed. This is the leaves as we are peeling them from the vessel. Again using my favourite plant.

Finally a picture of my two favourite ladies. Trudi Pollard on the left and Lorna Hindmarsh on the right. Lorna is such an inspiration. She has been naturally dyeing for much of her life. I will blog about her later. Lorna very kindly had Trudi and myself to her house and went through some of her work. We are planning to do more work with Lorna in the near future. The felt piece that the ladies are holding, is all dyed using natural dyes from the local Perth area.

I Suck!!!

2009-09-06T02:37:00.000-07:00

As it has been pointed out to me....I suck badly. Firstly I am going to blame my camera for all my troubles. My faithful old Fuji, died a very sudden death. Of course on the day when I needed him most. Notice how I have decided it was a male.....they always cause trouble!!

I had to rush out and buy a replacement.....not an easy thing to do...........especially when I loved old Fuji so much. Now I have my first Cannon and am loving him (still a male), but.... I now have a problem. I need to learn how to download the pictures. Can you imagine how many pics I have sitting on that camera. It will take me a week to sort them into folders and if I am lucky, I may print a pic out....notice I can't commit to when that may be!

So.........what's been happening you may ask??? Lots, lots and lots more! After our exhibition at Mundaring was a great success, I was asked to join the WAFTA Exhibition Committee. Now that was busy. Our exhibition went for a week and was one of the most successful to date at that gallery.

Now I am getting ready to have a body of work completed, as I am one of the featured artists at the Cervantes Art Festival in the end of October. The works need to be submitted by the end of September.....gettin close......eeeeekkkkk!!!! I have upcoming workshops with Karin Kortenhorst from Denmark, Ken Smith from Queensland, Chungi Lee from Korea and I am off to Geelong for the fibre forum at the end of the month!

Anthony has just arrived home with the boys, so now I am going to see if he can teach me to download those photos.......lets hope there is something interesting in there!!!!!

Bush Brew

2009-07-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well we are at it again..........more natural dyeing. Trudi Pollard and I are working together on a joint piece for the WAFTA Exhibition, I have made the felt pods and she has dyed and stitched them. They are looking fab, all I have to do now is download the pics.

These are another set of pods and vessels which will go up to Aspects Gallery in Kings Park. Trudi is the artist in focus there in September for Wildflower Month! She will be demonstrating natural dyeing and giving some talks. So we again, are working together and showing what can be done with nature.

These are half the pods and vessels which have been dyed.

As well as using a conventional dye pot, we have also used the steamer. To achieve this, we tightly bind the plant material with either silk or the felt, and let it steam away. The results which we have are fabulous....and again, I just need to download the pictures. It is truly amazing what can be created from plants and steam!

Natural Dye Day With Trudi Pollard

2009-06-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

I have been having too much fun recently! My wonderful friend Trudi Pollard is the most amazing artist and natural dyer! I have been doing shibori, indigo and natural dyeing for the past 7 weeks and yesterday was our natural dye day!

I am soooo hooked on natural dyes, have a look at what we did. We used brown onion, puff balls, fig leaves, silver dollar and chilli bush! And before you think of hacking your chilli plants in the yard, it's not that sort of chilli bush....the aussie native one! Chilli bush is my favourite and I want to do more and more and more. Of course I want to put my felt in, but this was a rather large communal class, which I am not a fan of....nothing worse than your pieces of silk being taken by others.....and of course you find out later!

Going from left to right the colours are: Puff balls, chilli bush, fig leaves and brown onions. The silver dollar will be coming tomorrow, it needed a longer cooking time! The beautiful thing about natural dyes, is that they all work together, no matter which way you put them. How amazing that these colours all come from plants. Trudi has so much knowledge, far more than anyone else I know of. We are all getting on her case about writing a book, as the Inida Flint book Eco Colour is good, but she doesn't give away many of her secrets. Trudi is so generous with her knowledge and skills......I haven't met anyone quite like her....she is one of a kind.

Retreat, Recipe and Reactions

2009-06-06T02:50:00.001-07:00

I could always start listing the excuses why I haven't blogged in a while....but no one really wants to hear that. So lets catch up!!! I am in love with my own japanese soup I have created, our exhibition is going well, art awards went well, retreat was sensational and am getting over the flu!

My Japanese soup: Enoki mushrooms, soba noodles, japanese soup stock, spring onions, nori roll sliced thinly and some cooked chook. Chuck the noodles and mushrooms into the stock and cook for about 5 mins. Put into a bowl and add the chicken, spring onions and sliced nori roll. Man it's fabo and so good for you. Even my kids eat it!

I woke up on yesterday and decided to go and get my second tattoo. I have had a tat for 13 years now and this one is pretty special. It is a symbolisation of my family. My husband is the single star and the other stars are for my boys who roam this gorgeous planet and for my two babies who watch us from above. The single star hurt like hell.

Have had all positive reactions so far, my hubby liked it, my kids had their stars picked out at first sight and happily tell everyone who has which star. Am waiting for someone to give me a bad reaction.....sometimes I love to able to use my vast vocabulary to it's fullest extent!

I am the luckiest daughter in law in the world. This is my wonderful birthday present from my wonderful inlaws, Ted and Jan. I actually got 2 of these stands, in solid jarrah. I asked Ted to make me one in pine for the market stalls, so I can hang my bags and bits and bobs......so of course I got 2 solid jarrah. You have to love an architect.

The first edition of Felt has just hit the stands.....a damn good magazine, about to send an email to the editors and let them know that. Go and find this at your newsagent!

The most gorgeous letter box in the world. What you don't see, is the antique spoon on the back, which is the handle to open the door. This is made by a local cabinet maker in the hills.....he is about to make some bird houses too!!!

How happy was I when my shipment of water balls arrived from Germany. And it didn't hurt that I was on my way to a felting workshop I run on Thursdays. The girls were all too happy to grab one and start squirting away. They are soooooo hard to find, but after a year of persistently annoying the right people, I found a source.

The following pictures are all from our retreat at Camp Simon in Roleystone. We had 26 Feltwest members come along and we had such a grand time. The location was stunning, the hall so big we had room to move and most of us had double tables. Food was good, company sensational and the opportunity to felt all day and night.....simply glorious.

I made a vow at the beginning of the weekend, not to make a 3D vessel or form. That vow was on Thursday night, by Saturday morning I was felting a vessel. I was enticed....Heather came back from a quick jaunt and starting waving my favourite natural fibre to weave and sculpt with, under my nose. She told me where it was and I was gone. Back in about 15 mins, and felting within another 10. Actually the piece is gorgeous and I will photograph it when it's finished.

I was very proud of myself though, I actually did a heap of nuno, which was a first for me. I really enjoyed it, but still love my sculptural work better. It's good to have some time off though and now I may incorporate some nuno into my sculptures.

Heathers scarf laid out.

An abstract design I was working on.

Lee Ann Davis, amazing felter and stitcher, a sample of some of her work.

Sharna's piece partially laid out.

Heather, our dye pot master, could not resist doing some natural dyeing. Lindy and Heather had two pots simmering, one a fungi pot and the other natural vegetation from around camp.

Nancy's rug after it was pretty much felted.

Sue Eslick, our tea cosie queen, with a great hat she made. We made her wear it sideways, as it looked better! Sue also won our name badge challenge with a lovely mini tea cosie badge! I got equal second place!!

Some of the name badges in our challenge. Mine is the funky purple and green one!

Mary Anne made this stunning baby jacket, and this was just a sample! I have been inspired, she so generously gave me the pattern and now I am going to have an attempt! You may never see the pictures of my attempt!

A pic of some of our work at the end of the weekend. Everyone went insane making hats. I said next year we need to have a hat challenge!

General Update

2009-05-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have been busier than a one legged man at a hopping contest! My entry for the Melville Art Awards is due in about a week.....so I started on the weekend. I was always one of those students at Uni, who started their assignments, a day or two before being due. I work well under pressure. I thought I needed a good start though and have the base of the felt and fibre sculpture completed. Now, comes all the stitching of fibre......will take some time.

Mondays I am now doing a porcelain jewellry workshop, Tuesdays sees me doing shibori, Wednesdays I'm trying to do some business work, Thursdays teaching felting, Fridays cleaning before Anthony comes home and weekends are usually art. I haven't stopped in about 2 weeks and am a bit tired, but loving every minute of what I do. Hence if I have promised something and not delivered.....you're not the only one!

I have to still post some pics of my fabulous hat I made with Sue Eslick...sorry Sue will get onto it...promised her pics! Everyone who sees it wants to make one!

A friend Sue Espie and I are going to be doing the Oxford Street Markets in June, July and August. They are being held on the last Saturday of each month, on Oxford St...will give the correct address when I find it. If you're around, come on by and say hello.

It's 5.48am and the kids are still asleep....thank god.......better go and start some work!

Castaway Sculptures

2009-05-11T14:27:00.001-07:00

For Mothers Day, my family took me down to see the Castaways Sculptures. This is an annual sculptural competition held on the beach at Rockingham. All the sculptures are made from recycled materials. (Or I should say....a component of each sculpture is made from recycled materials.) These were some of my favourites. The merecats were my fav......and strangely enough, the artist is a friend of mine, but didn't know that until after I saw them.

One of the funniest things we saw all day, was real seagulls coming and joining their rather 'still' friends on the sculpture. If the little brats didn't keep scaring them away.....I would of had a great picture.

Beautiful Puppetry

2009-05-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

I was luck enough about a week ago, to meet the very talented Leon Hendroff. Leon is a graphic artist, who is also into making marionette puppets. Some felt caught my eye at a local market and when I started to look at the stall, these amazing little guys where staring at me and wanting to come home with me. Now who am I to go against their wishes.

Leon is involved in the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre here in Fremantle. It's one thing to see his beautiful puppets, but to see him manipulate and move them is something different again. I am planning to have Leon come and run a workshop for us at Catalyst in August.

Cosy Workshop

2009-05-02T02:38:00.001-07:00

Today we had one of our Feltwest workshops, which was Cosies and Hats, with Sue Eslick. Hats and cosies are both made using the resist felting technique. Sue is the Cosy Queen and has perfected them beautifully. She also very generously shared all her patterns, which we all appreciated a great deal.

Two of these hats were made at a workshop with Judit Pocs, an amazing felter from Hungary, who has largely influenced many of us here in the west. The green hat is one which Sue has made for our Earth exhibition at Mundaring Arts Centre.

These are Sues coffee cosies, as every good coffee pot deserves some dressing up as well.

Sue does these rather weird, but strangely appealing little guys. Not quite sure if we should call them cosies or hats....or something weird that crawled out of the cupboard!!! One thing which you will either love or find gross....is the fact that their eyes are semi attached....they can come partially out of the head!

These are the traditional tea cosies which Sue creates. She has a lovely technique and uses both prefelts and fabrics in her designs. I think the dragonfly is my favourite, with it's wings being made of silk tissue. Very pretty indeed. Below is the link to Sues blog for more inspirational work.

http://suzcosies.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Finally.....Bungled!

2009-05-02T02:32:00.000-07:00

Well 'Bungled' is finally finished and ready to go the Mundaring Arts Centre. I didn't realise how sore ones fingers can get, if you are not a hardened hand stitcher. I shouldn't complain...it was only 2 fingers.....but it did hurt!

We have had a sad couple of days at our house...we think our beloved Yoda (gorgeous torty girl, 12 years old), has gone to kitty heaven. We haven't seen her for days, which is not like her at all....she loves her food and pats and loves too much to miss out. My friends cat ran away to die and sadly we believe this is what our Yoda has done too. I had her for 12 wonderful years, longer than my husband. Actually Anthony had seen Yoda before he even met me. For months he caught the shift bus to work, which happened to be across the road from my house. He would always see Yoda sitting in the window, watching the world go past. I miss her terribly and wished that we had a special place in our garden to lay her to rest....instead we have special memories in our hearts.

Bungled

2009-04-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ziggy has found a wonderful place to sleep....on top of the Bungle Bungles!!! What can I say..... my cat has good taste!

This is the second piece which is going into the Earth exhibition at Mundaring Arts Centre. It is obviously the Bungle Bungles and measures around 75cm square. It is being heaving stitched with machine and hand embroidery. I promise to remove all traces of cat hair before it goes in.

Recent Purchases!

2009-04-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

These have been some of my recent purchases. I am determined to be able to knit or crochet in wire.....even if it kills me and it might just do so! Need some help and hopefully have found it. It looks easy, but it's not! This was a little number I picked up on Etsy!

Ali Brown does some amazing fibre weaving. I was shown how to make one of her flowers, but credit was never given to her. Actually the person demonstrating let us believe that it was her design.....I won't comment any further. Hence when I found Ali's book, I had to buy it and now I drool over all the things I can make. I think it is very important to credit another artists work and also support each other. Below is the link to her book.

http://www.alibrown.co.nz/book-on-weaving-flax-flowers.html

Before fibres became embedded in my blood stream, clay was my art of choice. I have the opportunity to start doing some clay work again and hence I am adding to my library of resource books. Gotta love Amazon!

Everyone loves a Lark book, these are a few of mine.....have 500 Ceramic Sculptures coming soon....waiting on it's release!

Now how are these for drool over fabrics. Found them at my local sewing shop and fell in love. The red fabric was a ridiculous $5 per metre on sale, can't mention the chennilled fabrics price....my husband might see it! The chennille has been created on the bias, so beautiful.

Gardens, Pies & Shoes

2009-04-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Kai and I went to the Garden Show held here each year. Now these are the weirdest ducks or geese....some kind of large poultry....that we have ever seen. Very friendly little critters.....love those feathers......could pluck a duck!!!
Kai fell in love with the water lillies....we bought three and hopefully this is one of them. They were simply divine.

This is our new water feature.....and Kai! It is copper jellyfish, by a local artist Lee Potter. His work is great and I have loved it for years.

Chicken pies anyone??? I intended to make a couple of pies.....28 pies later....hehehehe....just had to take a picture of them....before they got eaten.

These are my new pride and joy!!! My wonderful new shoes. The middle shoes are by El Nature Lista and are made in spain. The outside shoes are from Joseph Sibel and are made in Bulgaria. The Joseph shoes are the most comfortable things I have ever put on my feet. That's why there is two different colours......I couldn't stop at one pair. I have this huge wide hoof and these fit me to perfection. I must admit my specialty shoe shop....Paul Carrol and Sons.....does good by me and my favourite person.....Ann.....knows my feet like her own. She always steers me well.

Great Local Designer - Unfurl

2009-04-16T16:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday when I was buying my fabulous new shoes...will post pic later today, I saw some markets on across the street. Being a sucker for markets, I dragged Kai with me, dodging traffic. Now how thrilled was I, that I took the time to head across the street. Here I met Moni who has Unfurl Creations. www.unfurlcreations.com You have to go and check out her designs.

I fell in love with all her clothes and am waiting until I shed some more weight and can fit nicely into them. She does all the designs here in Perth and then has the clothes made in Northern Thailand. She is very 'green' and ethical.....she doesn't use a sweat shop, unlike some other local people do. I have great respect for what she does and there is interesting info on her website about a few other things too. Take the time and have a look!

I found it interesting that here I am doing my Bungle Bungle piece for the exhibition and here I find this beautiful skirt. The dress is my favourite though!! Love ya Moni!

Some old....some new!

2009-04-16T06:19:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a couple of pics of some of my weavings I have done in the past. These were probably done nearly a year ago.......and I haven't had much time to weave for a while, but it is great fun.

I am a simple weaver......basically self taught from a book, but I love to mix the colours and the textures. I think if I tried anything complicated.......I wouldn't do it. I tell everyone I can't knit (and honestly......I can't knit properly)....I have this one needle sticking inbetween my legs and am all thumbs and fingers.....but I can create something.....noticed I didn't say something 'good'! But hats are always useful now.....aren't they??

This was a friends wedding present. She lives in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, about 600km from Perth and 400km from the beach...hence the desert colours in her piece. Never got a thank you...........so don't know if she liked it..........maybe the lack of thanks was the key to my question??

The Buskers Street Festival was on, in Fremantle over the Easter long weekend. We found a great balloon artist, who made the boys a balloon wristlet and this is little Taj's. We call him 'Buggy' and he is just gorgeous. Taj has dragged "Buggy" around for days now and he is till going strong. That was a good $3 spent.

Whilst walking to Bunnings on Easter Mondy, I found these great flowers, blooming on the side of the road....and I mean literally the side of the road.....so a couple followed me home. Don't you hate it when they do that???

Frustrated!

2009-04-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

I awoke at 5.00am today, let the annoying cat outside and went to check my emails. For some reason my yahoo account will let me sign in and very happily tell me that I have new emails, but the screen appears blank! So I try everything, log off, turn computer off.......still a blank screen. The only other thing I can think of............is a hammer..........not overly productive!

When a decent hour of the day comes around, I will call my Mum and ask her to log onto my email at her house and see if she can pull it up. Computer gremlins.................please leave me alone, go and bother some other nice person. I have important emails, which I do actually need to read.

MAC Exhibition Piece

2009-04-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

Well this is the finished piece for the Mundaring Arts Centre exhibition I am involved in.

Anthony had a lot of fun taking photos, even though he protested loudly....he had a blast. The piece is entitled "Sprouted".

Exhibition Updates

2009-04-01T15:40:00.001-07:00

Well what a difference a few days can make. My exhibition news has now gone from one to three!!! WOO HOO!!

My piece for the combined Feltwest / CAWA exhibition at MAC is nearly finished....will hopefully finish it this week and show some pics. Since joining WAFTA (God I feel like the acronym queen) I will be in another exhibition in August at the Moores Gallery in Freo and yesterday......I sent off my application for the Melville Art Awards. So now we have 2 exhibitions in May/June and one in August.

At least I have one nearly finished! The other two are causing me to loose sleep, their ideas keep running through my head....gotta get the first one finished first!!!

Have ordered some great books lately....gotta love Amazon! Richard Woldendorp is an amazing photographer here in Perth....google him and his books....they are simply stunning aerial views!

McSweeneys Open Letters

2009-04-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, what a totally bizzare title for a blog.....but what a great place to go.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/openletters/

Go and have a look at this website. I accidentally stumbled across it.......if only I remember how I did find it......there may be more wonderful gems hidden there. I have a large smile on my very tired face....and small chuckle has even escaped.

I think I need to write an open letter to our missing address book.......and possibly the phone my husband lost last October...........

3 Little Campers

2009-03-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

We headed for the hills this weekend with our good friends, Kim, Lindsay and Bridget. They have a property in York (about an hour out of Perth) and we went rough camping. I for some strange reason, thought that the 'shed' Kim talks about was half built.....that meant a metal frame. And because it was just metal frame, that meant that the electricity and running water I expected to be there.....wasn't!!! To Kim's defense, she did tell me 3 times that there was nothing there.....I obviously just had selective hearing that day!

We had a blast and the kids had more fun than us. Stalking sheep, catching yabbies, collecting sheep skulls and of course, peeing in the bush! Luckily boys pee easier than girls, so my boys were good! The wind kicked in at dusk and we thought we would get blown away. We packed up early this morning as it looked like rain and the wind was really bad.....but what a great time we had.

This is a pic of Kai, Bridget and Taj on their favourite granite boulder. Trying to get three kids to all look in one direction, let alone smile....is obviously a job left for a more patient soul!

One thing I did collect whilst I was there, was a huge bag of meadow grass. Don't know it's real name, but we call it meadow grass or meadow hay! I should be stocked for fibre for a while and when I run out, I know who to go to!!

Trudi Pollard & Minnawarra House

2009-03-24T04:11:00.001-07:00

Little Taj in the bath on Sunday night....he was just too cute not to put in!!!

I had the most wonderful day today and just need to share it. I visited with Trudi Pollard who was workshopping at Minnawarra House today. We did some bush basketry and I met the most wonderful group of people. It feels like home there....a great place to do some good work I think! Hopefully I will be doing some workshops there for them in the near future.

There is something so wonderful, in the way that people can sit and share time, doing something that they all love. I haven't known Trudi for that long, but she feels like someone you have known your entire life...someone you can be at ease around and not have any walls to guard you. I feel very blessed to have people like this in my life...my wonderful friends Elaine and Jenny are the same.

What a great day!

And to top it all off....little Taj is starting to toilet train himself. I won't describe what was going on in our backyard....I shall leave that up to ones imagination!!!

Elizabeth, thank you so much for your wonderful comments, I do so enjoy them!

I finally joined WAFTA!!!!

2009-03-23T04:02:00.001-07:00

Well I have finally gotten off my butt and joined WAFTA! I have known about it for a few years, but because of the meeting day....I didn't bother. After speaking today to the wonderfully talented and most gorgeous human being, otherwise known as Trudi Pollard, she sold me on the idea and I joined. Here I am chatting on the phone to her, bribing my kids with mini M&M's, downloading the membership form.

Trudi is one of the most open artists I have ever met. Some artists are very closed with their knowledge and are not willing to share. Not Trudi! She is a passionate woman who loves to inspire and help others learn her amazing skills. She is very into natural dyes and shibori and has just returned from the International Natural Dyeing and Shibori Symposium in France. If you ever get the chance to work with her, grab it. She regularly does workshops from her home in Bedfordale. And by chance I am now going to a workshop of hers tomorrow morning on bush basketry. It is right in line with the fibre work I am doing right now. And also a very convenient excuse to catch up also!!!

I have talked about my exhibition piece for Feltwest and finally took some pics of the early stages. My wonderful father in law made me the stand and this is my gorgeous branch and a sample pod. Haven't decided what colour the pods and leaves with be, but I am happy with the size and shape of the pod. Now I just need to get the leaves sorted.

It's hard to take a good pic, this looks sucky! It looks better in real life! Will try and keep pics up to date!

I am a bit excited, as WAFTA is having an exhibition this year also which I will be able to take part in also. It will be held in August, in the Mores Gallery in Fremantle. Apparently I can do one of two styles of pieces. Either a 3.5m x 50cm panel, which will hang from the ceiling. Or a 1m x 1m x 1m sculptural vessel for the foyer. I also spent some time talking to the sensational Louise Snook today, who very kindly has sent some workshops my way....Thanks Louise. Being President of WAFTA, I asked which piece she thinks I should do, and she said sculptural. So I've already got plans in my head of a large felt vessel, with my signature flax, but then cut apart and restitched with bush weaving. If you can envisage that.....your pretty good. I will start on some prototypes soon.....again will update with pics....halfway decent ones I hope.

The kids are alseep, the pets are fed and I am looking for some bad TV to settle in front of. Hope you all sleep (or have slept) well!

Successful Day!

2009-03-22T02:28:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a busy day. Firstly Kai wasn't too well and then in between demo's, I was puking behind my car at Canning Arts Group. We are not an overly healthy family right now...Taj has been sharing his germs with us.

I met some amazing people today, everyone super friendly, keen and interested. Luckily we had beautiful weather and my little friend Kai, decided he needed his mum and stayed with me. My super friend Jenny Abbott was set up next to me, also doing demo's, so I had someone to chat too....not that got much chance to chat!

Have been writing notes for my next workshop and am going to email my 'gorgeous girls' (you know who you are) about doing another workhop with me...if they are interested. I am off for some well deserved TV time now. Anthony has flown out to Melbourne for the week, so I am flying solo yet again!

Feltwest Toss-N-Tell Day

2009-03-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

Today was our monthly toss-n-tell and it sure was a busy day. The workshop I am running next month for Feltwest got booked out today. I took in heaps of samples and my class numbers grew from the standard 10, to being happy with 12 and then up to 14.....I was being a bit generous. Will be a very busy workshop.....hopefully everyone will be patient.

I have been working on my piece for the Mundaring Arts Centre exhibition "Earth" which will be running during May and June. I am happy with the progress....need to take some pics....and it should be finished well before the hand in date.....(I hope!!!). I have felted around a stunning scultpural branch...collected on the Cervantes weekend.....and my wonderful father in law has made me a stand with a metal pole for it to all be assembled with. I am now felting pods and leaves, which will be hanging off it.

I am also planning on doing a wall hanging, which I am hoping I will be allowed to submit.....we technically can only enter one item....depends on how many people put things in and the size of the work. I am going to try my luck anyway. The wall hanging will be of the Bungle Bungles and I am planning to heavily machine stitch it. Gotta make it first though.

I have also been practicing what I preach.......I have been sampling leaves and pods for my exhibition piece. Such a great thing to do, as I am still not happy after 5 leaves! My mistake was I drew a leaf from my head.....no no no.....get a leaf....look what it really looks like....then make a sample. My poor leaves were too European....not Aussie bush enough. I have learnt from my mistake though. Pod number 1 was a great success.....but only a sample......so now I need to make my exhibition pods.

Tomorrow I am off to the Canning Arts Centre where I will be demoing all day long....oh my GOD!!!! Or at least for part of the day. They want me to run felting workshops and it is their annual Gala Day. I will put my happy face on and little do they know it, but I will be making my pods and leaves....gotta love a girl who can make something useful!

A Feltastic Day

2009-03-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

Another of my little creations. Merino with two types of silk. I don't tend to use a lot of silk and fabrics, as I felt my work so much...not my fault really....it's the hot hands!These are some of my little vessels, which I have woven with some natural grasses. I love doing these little things when I am bored....or some nice person has given me something great to play with.

This little guy was woven on my Cervantes weekend. I collected the dune grass from the beach at Ledge Point.....kids needed a break on the trip up.......and then sat and wove him, whilst the kids watched.

Ned is looking a bit different now......I kept changing the stitching on him about 5 times....but once I committed to doing the crewel work....there was no turning back. So I had to keep going. Kai still thinks that he is a letterbox with eyes though!!

A good pic of my rug/wall hanging. You can see some of the stitch work on it.....it will eventually be covered....will take some time though!

Cervantes was a hit.....

2009-03-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

This is my boys at the Pinnacles. We all had a great time, except Taj is a ratbag and this is the only time you can see him with a hat and shoes on. The little explorer thought it was better to rough it and threw everything away. If we would of let him go naked....I'm sure he would of.

Kai was a very happy little fisherman and caught a Trumpet Fish...whatever that is. It was rather pretty and we did let him go...much to his Poppy's disgust, telling us that it would of been a good eating fish and a good size. We on the other hand just like to catch and release.

I collected some dune grass from Ledge Point and made a small vessel, which was fun. My friends girls, thought I was very clever....I liked the praise. Need to go and do some work....am into some hand stitching right now...have done a bit on my rug and will take a pic and put it on.

Cervantes....here we come!!!

2009-03-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

WOO HOOO!!!!! It's 5.37am and I am excited, as we are off to Cervantes for a long weekend. Pulling the kids from school and hitting the road. Now it is only 3 days....... but 3 days of gorgeous weather on a stunning beach....what more can you ask from life. And my good friend and her kids are coming with as well!!!!

Have been playing with a lot of hand stitching, so am going to take some work along to play with. My rug is coming along......a stitch here.......14 thousand stitches there......it will take some time.

For now...........so long.....have a great weekend......the beach is calling my name!!!!

The thoughts of Ziggy!

2009-03-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

"Ah, thank you mum for making me such a lovely place to sleep.....do you mind if I scratch it up a little??"

Felted Rug Workshop with Liz Odd

2009-03-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to my workshop, taught by the very skillful Liz Odd. Liz has a depth of felting knowledge that would be hard to beat. As well as her skill, she has amazing design sense. Her work is very well known and she is a wonderful person to be around.

These two smaller works were done after the workshop, as I will still inspired. I have had this Ned Kelly inspired idea in my head for a long time and just needed the right time to get it out. They need a lot of work with stitching and embellishing, but hey.....most they are half made, so that is good!

This is the rug which I made!! I had so many different ideas and designs set for the day. And then I go and do something which was totally different. I went freeform and very organic. It was interesting working on such a large piece, the biggest I have ever tackled. I think you need to be at a workshop or retreat to attempt something like this....you need the motivation and extra hands....I would struggle to do this at home, by myself....I would loose momentum!

A couple of important things Liz taught us, was that when you have a design, always roll with the design facing downwards. A very practical idea, as when we roll our work up, you sometimes get creases, but with the design facing downwards, any creases will be on the back, not the front of your work.

Liz dry rolls her felt a lot before wet felting, like I do. This helps to stabilize the attached pieces and gives them a chance to adhere. Some of the ladies kept asking me how many times to roll? Well I don't count, I just roll. You get a feel for how long you have been rolling and as long as you roll the same amount in at least 2 directions, it doesn't really matter. When working on such large pieces, you really only need to roll in 2 directions, if you can do all 4 great, but sometimes size and space is restricting.

We also only rolled in plastic sheeting yesterday. I am not a huge fan of this, I still like a matt of some kind. I will not roll in my usual material (non slip matting) as it grabs too much and the base matt colour comes through too much. This again is experience and knowing what is appropriate for your project. For example, when I do any of my 3D pieces, I will use the non slip matt. If I am rolling prefelts, I dry roll in a yoga matt, then move onto non slip to wet roll for a bit. When I don't want the background colour to bleed through too much, I will roll in a bamboo blind, but have it lined with thin plastic sheeting. It's all experience and practice!

Some of the girls yesterday were big needle felters (not my thing), but they quickly needled their designs onto their bases, which helped them adhere quickly.......but the needle felting took forever!!!! Often I see the girls use those red hand sanding holders (with carpet protector attached underneath) and have never thought much of them.......until I used one yesterday. Well did I change my mind on that matter. BRILLIANT! Went straight to Bunnings and for less than $10 I was set up. I am converted...thank you ladies!

As you can gather, I had a great time and loved sharing the day with a beautiful bunch of girls. Days like these are just what the sole needs and now I am inspired to do some bigger and more amazing pieces!!!

Sculptures By The Sea 2009

2009-03-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

Sculptures by the sea is on once again and runs until the 24th of March. If you can make it down to Cottesloe Beach, go and enjoy yourself. It is well worth the effort.

Wogs....have taken over the house!

2009-03-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

Illness is now in control at our house! I have had two sick kids all week and have very kindly been infected also. This is the first time I have had all of us sick and I'm not enjoying it. I have been making prefelt for weeks now....well on and off when the feeling has hit....but I need to have it all finished for tomorrow. Am doing a felted rug workshop with the wonderful Liz Odd and must be ready. Have changed my design more often than underwear, so have no idea what I will end up doing. Will post some pics when it is done!

2009-03-01T01:36:00.000-08:00

Well the therapy of being by ones self has been very good for me. I am not yet sick of my own company...which I am hoping is a good thing...but I have been very happy to catch up with friends. Have been felting...something different I know.....but it has been wonderful.

I have been inspired by Judit Pocs, since I worked with her last year. I found some of her pieces a little impractical, gorgeous, but not quite sure of the use. Her jewelry is beautiful, but the tiny little openings, didn't make a lot of sense to me.....and I like things to be useful. So....back to the story......I love the design shapes, but didn't want to do them as a resist....I know, me not do a resist!!!! Pick yourselves up, it was a first for me as well. Anyway, I wanted the super defined shapes, but no resist. So I created my own technique to solve this problem.

Have a look at the pics....I think they have turned out well.The purple and green piece was my first, followed by the brown. If any of my 'Gorgeous Girls' are reading....we can do this new technique as a workshop if you want...let me know!

Today also saw the March meeting of the 84 Group and we had Pam Grima from Harvey come and visit us. She does a lot of free form weaving and I am hoping to run a similar workshop with Catalyst later this year. A couple of pics of the pieces I did today....these have been woven with fresh flax leaves and will obviously dry brown and stiffen.

Four days of freedom from my boys!!!!!

2009-02-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

I thought it was only a dream....but I have awoken and it is real.....I am about to have four days of peace and quiet....with only the pets for company.

Anthony is packing the car, Kai and Taj are running around like chickens at a KFC convention and I am planning my days of nothing! Well actually that is not quite true, I have heaps of things planned, but none of them involve cleaning, cooking or settling disputes between little people.

Today sees me joining a girlfriend for lunch...actually I may kidnap her and make her come look at some art stuff...which will be torture for her...sorry Trish! Saturday may see me off doing art, Sunday is definitely art and Monday will probably be felting...or maybe dyeing of wool if I get some wonderful info to inspire me....we shall wait and see.

I shall post photos of the weekends activities (all I hear is Anthony yelling at Kai to let Taj go.....LOL....), sorry it's too funny to listen downstairs....did I mention they are driving 580km today....all the way to Hopetoun. If you listen hard, I'm sure you will hear the screams of small children and one frustrated dad!

Blog #1......How Exciting!!!!

2009-02-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

After a much thought and no action, I have finally done the blogger thing!! I suppose the hardest thing about writing a blog, is not knowing if anyone else is ever going to read it. That doesn't bother me, as my rambling thoughts can run wild and free. If nothing else, this can be an online diary which one day my kids can either be ashamed of....or maybe enjoy!

I am Tanya Peters, an Australian Feltmaker who lives in Perth, Western Australia. Felt is my passion, along with all forms of textiles and fibre art. I have two little men (and one big one), who I am lucky enough to be able to raise, while my hard working husband works fly in and fly out. I am on the committee for Fetwest, which is our felting organisation here in WA.

Creating is a part of my life. I must create to feel well....it's just one of those things about me. If I am not creating art, I am cooking, rearranging the garden or teaching. I suppose we all have our callings and this just happens to be mine!

Hopefully this will be the first of many posts, so for now, so long....it's time to make the school lunches!!!