Debbie Herd

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

2012-01-01T12:45:00.004+11:00

It has certainly warmed up quickly here after lovely balmy days. Eating, drinking and making merry over Christmas and New Year and with the heat of summer, it makes one feel almost as sleepy as these dogs that I took a photo of in the Paharganj in New Delhi.

After twelve years of severe drought here it is so wonderful to have a flourishing garden again. You can almost sit out in the vegetable garden and watch it grow before your eyes. Lots of produce is ready to eat, fruit trees are laden with fruit. but the almonds are almost at the perfect stage for the Yellow Tail Black Cockatoos to remember the address of last years feast! The countryside looks wonderful with the lakes all full again. But with rain comes lush growth and the threat of bush fires is certainly on the minds of those living on rural properties and high bushfire zones.

It is difficult to concentrate to weave in the heat, but I have LOTS of weaving to do this year so I am trying to weave, even a small amount each day. I am using only mercerized cotton in this tapestry and it certainly behaves differently compared to wool. The black warp does not seem to be showing as the cotton packs down better than wool does. I have a deadline for this tapestry so rather than do the usual and rush to get it finished on time I hope to even maybe get it done early. If the heat allows that is? Wishing everyone a happy and creative 2012.

FindingHome@tapestry.ca/au

2011-12-18T15:51:00.003+11:00

Debbie Herd Australia, Yvonne Piggot Canada

It’s a quiet rainy Sunday afternoon here so I have been spending some time looking through some of my old digital photos. I have been looking a lot lately at how different exhibitions are hung and what work seems to sit well beside others. I am not certain if our group exhibition will be hung by the Gallery staff or if we will be expected to have some input about how we want it to be displayed or even help physically with the hanging. I have not been involved much in hanging exhibitions but I did help at the Ararat Gallery with the findinghome@tapestry.ca.au exhibition. This exhibition toured Canada and Australia in 2005 to 2007 The American Tapestry Alliance hosted it as their first on line exhibition and you can see and read more about it here. I thought that it is a shame not to share these photos as they show the postcards and artist statements together. It was pretty exciting receiving a tapestry postcard in the mail. Maybe there were some participants in the project who never got the opportunity to see the exhibition. Enjoy!

Val Kohler Canada, Pam Hutley Australia

Jane Kidd Canada, Ines Parker Australia

Sue Arvidson Australia, Linda Wallace Canada

Denise Stevens Australia, Bonney Nichols Canada

Marie Cook Australia, Anne Clark Canada

Chris Jakku Australia, Karen Leitch Canada

Lorraine Lamothe Australia, Margaret Moore Canada

Jean Farrington Canada, Elaine Gardner Australia

Antionette Carrier Australia, Sharon Cameron Canada

Elaine Duncan Canada, Dorothy Clews Australia

Barbara Heller Canada, Marie Clews Australia

Christine Rivers Canada, Joy Smith Australia

HAVE YOU ANY WOOL? NO!!

2011-12-03T10:59:00.005+11:00

It certainly did not occur to me earlier this year when I dyed 5kg of 100gm skeins of wool in preparation for our group exhibition that it would be the last time I would be able to source my favorite un dyed Australian tapestry yarn. Australia is sitting reasonably well in the world economic slide and we are well known internationally for our high quality wool, but I can understand that businesses everywhere are tightening their belts and looking at what sells and what does not. I have been buying my tapestry yarn from this mill since I began weaving tapestry in 1992, the yarn is only available through word of mouth really as the mill does not advertise the tapestry yarns on their product list or shade cards and it is not available through their website which sells a lot of yarns overseas. This makes me wonder that if more people knew that this yarn was available and overseas orders were made easy via their website, would a lot more people be buying it? I have always dyed most of my own yarns, sometimes this is due to the colours not being available through other sources but mainly because other yarns are so much more expensive. The current price for 100 grams of this yarn is $6.00 AU other available Australian tapestry yarns are about $16.00 or $25.00 AU per 100 grams so you can see why for large tapestries I dye my own. On a tapestry eg 100cm x 100 cm depending on the warp setting it can take over 250 grams just to weave the top and bottom hems and you may have another 100 grams in waste when you cut the ends on the back in the finishing off. So as you can see you can very quickly have (if you are paying the higher price) up to $65 and over worth of wool used that is not seen in the front of the tapestry! Internationally are many weavers dyeing their own wool, and what kind of prices are they paying per kilogram for their yarns? I have received many emails over the past few years via my blog asking me where I buy my wool. Most people in their replies seem to be put off by the fact that the yarn has been only available through phone orders as most of the inquiries have been form other weavers who live overseas. Your thoughts on the subject are most welcome?

TRYING SOMETHING NEW

2011-11-26T13:00:00.001+11:00

I have had a cop of black warp for over 20 years and never used it, until now. It has been suggested to me several times that I might like to try using a black warp when I interoperate into tapestry paintings that I have painted on black canvass. Scottish tapestry artist Jo Barker sometimes uses a black mohair warp, which I would love to try but as yet I have been unable to source mohair here in Australia that would take the tension required for weaving tapestry. Even though tapestry is a weft face weave, you can notice the warp when you use a coloured one! I tried a few samples using wool for the weft but I found that if the colour was a bit muddy it definitely showed in the tapestry. I also tried mercerized cotton but as the cotton packs down differently to wool it does not seem to show up the black warp the same. I remember reading a post on Meabh Warburton’s blog were she had used two different colours in the warp. If you look at the photo you can see in the tapestry on the far left that using two different colours does show up. The next problem is what do you use to ink the cartoon on with? I found that I had some liquid art spectrum in white, so after about 20 years I have dragged out my traditional pen and it works just fine as a way of marking the warp!

PLANNING

2011-11-21T07:24:00.004+11:00

Life has been pretty busy around here with lots of work in the garden and time spent thinking about up and coming exhibitions. Sometimes I feel that the act of thinking takes up more time than the act of making. When you make a decision to create a new body of work for an exhibition you need to somehow visualize what you are trying to express. Do you have a certain style of work? And is your work instantly recognized by others? What if you are trying to break away from that and create something that people who know your work maybe won’t recognize as yours the instant they see it? The late painter Margaret Olley always said “Be faithful to your own handwriting and don’t be influenced by others “I have been spending quite a lot of time writing a blog about food for one of my future exhibitions. So far it has been a rewarding experience as it has created a new dialogue between Coen and myself as number one he gets to eat the food, but he also helps to choose the photos and have some input into what I write. Coen did comment that what I write on my food blog is a lot more of what my personality is really like than what I write here. I have been priming canvasses and getting ready to start painting but after taking this photo in my kitchen for my food blog, it really made it stand out that I definitely have a certain style. So even after I promise myself that I would stop painting on black canvas as it it’s too difficult to translate into tapestry. Today I find myself ready to begin the day with a black canvass waiting on the easel!

SPRING, A TIME OF NEW BEGINNINGS AND SOME ENDINGS

2011-10-28T14:02:00.003+11:00

They say that spring is a time of new beginnings, when nature wakes from a sleepy winter. The local forest has been a beautiful profusion of wildflowers this year with what has been our second wet winter in the past decade. Spring flowers in my garden have been spectacular and the David Austin roses have outdone themselves with an incredible display, bringing spring’s bounty with sweet perfumes in every room of the house. September 1st, the first day of spring was also my only living Aunt’s 100th birthday! What and incredible achievement, my Aunt only moved into assisted care after Easter this year along with her husband and if the gods are willing they will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in January. When asked her secret for such a healthy longevity, as Aunty Rae has only been in hospital once in her life and that was this year. Her answer was, always keep busy and never waste your time worrying about things you can’t change.

Letting go….. Along with longevity comes to many an end to being able to live in their own home and surroundings. I bought Aunty Rae’s tea set and part of it sits here on a tablecloth that my mother embroidered. Aunty Rae later told me that it was given to her as a present for her 21st birthday. Their home is now up for sale and the household furniture and chattels have been sold, but to Aunty Rae’s credit rather than show any sadness, she simply stated that they are ‘done with’ what has been almost 70 years of life together in their own home and the hostel is where they are today. I commented to my cousin Roy that his mother is a true Buddhist, don’t form any attachments and live in the present.

This week also saw the true realization, but something that I have known in the back of my own mind for a very long time and maybe just did not want to give in to. I also am “done with’ something that has been an incredibly big part on my life and a way to live my creativity. The industry that gave me chronic tendinitis is now one that I know I am unable to return to. Looking back there are certainly many things about the trade that I don’t think anyone would miss. The incredibly long hours, hard work, working holidays and weekends, never feeling that you had your own life as days off where always during the week. Coen’s father always said that the only time we spent a Saturday night together was when he came and washed dishes at the restaurant! So I think that this is a time that I should focus on the positive things of the past, the friends that I have made. The most amazing and creative work that I was given the opportunity to do. The pride that I can take in some of the Winemakers Dinners and other events that we did, knowing how much effort was put into them but also knowing that it was certainly appreciated by our guests. So although I don't know what I will be working at in the future at present I am working on my art. Coen has shown an interest in following me into the hospitality industry; maybe he can have my uniforms one day. But sorry Coen you won’t be getting my knives!

'BUY NOTHING NEW MONTH' OCTOBER 2011

2011-09-23T12:56:00.012+10:00

I spent a wonderful afternoon last Sunday out at what was originally my Great Grandparents farm. My Great Grandparents migrated to Australia from Paisley in Scotland in 1854 and were a pioneering family and the first people to take up the land when the first allotments were sold off to the settlers. Two of my cousins were at the farm, so I was able to scan my Grandmothers hand written cook book as it is still kept in the kitchen drawer with the tea towels. The same place it has been for most of my life. Grandma had a new kitchen built around 1966 when the house was renovated and electricity was first connected. Before that Grandma had a small kitchen off the veranda and the breakfast room as it was called, a large room with a big open fireplace where Grandma cooked in pots that hung from iron chains. The room also had a large table where the family ate and an old fashioned rocking chair that Grandma sat by the fire in. An old clock ticked away on the mantelpiece and the old miner’s couch that sat at one end of the table had one arm worn flat where the kids climbed over it to get to the table to eat. My Grandmother had seven children over a period of 25 years and with no modern conveniences, I doubt that Grandma had a lot of spare time to sit when the family was all at home. Like many people who lived with little money to spend, most thing were reused and the cook book had apparently been used before as it had 'sheep book' hand written on the cover, then the year 1957, two years before I was born. Grandma Herd was born on the 4th April 1890 and died just before what would have been her 87th birthday in 1977 when I was 17 and was the only grandparent that I ever really got to know as the others had all passed away before I began school. Grandma was a tiny woman and none of the grandchildren were very old before we were as tall as her. Like most other women of her era, Grandma had little education and I am not certain if she received her ' Merit Certificate' But she was incredibly well informed about world and local happenings, had an amazing memory that she was well known for, and crossword puzzles, the larger and more difficult were her favorites. A dictionary sat beside her chair and was so well worn that it was held together with a fowler’s vacola rubber band. You were frowned upon if you gave her recycled magazines that someone else had begun the crossword in! It is difficult to imagine what her life was like as she had never ventured more than a 50 km radius from where she was born. My father commented often that his mother was a fabulous cook as she could make a family meal out of nothing. Because that is what they had some times, meaning very little. Grandma would go up into the sheep yards and pick stinging nettles to cook if they were the only available green vegetable. My father's youngest brother never married and returned home to the farm during the Second World War and lived there for the rest of his life. The original part of the house, three bedrooms and the lounge room was built out of mud brick in1907. The timber for the house was sourced locally and the door jams, skirting boards, architrave's and window frames were all hand cut using an adze. The trendy term now would be a "hand made" house. My uncle along with all of the rest of the family was a very simple type of person. Consumerism did not run in this family. Uncle Mac had about three changes of clothes, a pair of pajamas reserved for hospital stays and a suit to wear to funerals and not one other possession to his name that he did not need, use, or had not been passed down to him from his parents. The only changes in the original interior of the house apart from the electricity were that all of the rooms except Grandma's bedroom were re wallpapered in the 1930's. Four of the seven children were born in the that room, delivered by Grandmother's mother Julia, who acted as the local midwife.

In 2002 I took this photo of my son Coen standing in front of Grandmas bed, the bed that my father had been born in 90 years before. My cousin Yvonne commented to me after Uncle Mac passed away, how little there was in the house and that the kitchen dresser's bottom cupboards was only full of old washed jam jars, ready to be reused. Which by the way I am now using when I make jam. My oldest cousin Lindsay has celebrated his 80th birthday and I am the second youngest. We are blessed that as a family we can return to our Grandparents house and nothing much has changed, it is always the same as we remember it. Daniel Thomas in the catalogue of drawings by the artist Grace Cossington Smith says of ‘Cossington’, the artists family home ' The artist's own house, which like any long-inhabited home, had become a tribal sacred site for Smith family memories.' To the Herd family this farm and house are definitely our 'tribal sacred site'

This is a photo of my Grandmother sitting on the gate at the side of the house. I am not certain how old she would have been at the time but her oldest son was born just before the house was finished in 1907. The gate is still there and Rod was doing some welding on it to fix some problem with it while I was there on Sunday.

I took this photo of Coen down at the original orchard that my Great Grandparents had planted, and earned a living from. Coen is wearing a jumper that I knitted for him. I bought a cream coloured hand knitted jumper at an op shop for 50cents and un pulled it and dyed the wool to recycle into the jumper for him. It is amazing really how the world changed in the years after the Second World War. Manufacturing and consumerism rule now. Yvonne, Julia and I all agreed on Sunday that we were born at the wrong time, life for our parents was much simpler, there was more of a sense of community and having less is actually a LOT MORE!

I noticed after I scanned these photos that the bed on the scanner must have some of the flour that fell out of Grandma’s cook book onto it still. Somehow I think that it is nice to just leave the photos how they are.

ALL ABOUT FOOD

2011-09-06T15:40:00.005+10:00

I don’t know where the year has gone but I know that it is moving way too fast for the amount of work that I want to get done! I have two exhibitions planned for 2013. One will be a group tapestry exhibition with three other graduates of the Diploma of Art Tapestry and the other is a solo exhibition, “ All About Food’ This exhibition will include tapestries, paintings, recipes, a hand written cook book and the new blog that I am writing. I spent my working life since the age of 18 somewhere in the food industry so I suppose it is no surprise to me that most of my art is about food as well. The idea came about when everyone started asking me what I would do when I finally finished my diploma? My son Coen is keen on cooking but I am a bit of a tough teacher! I have been told that I am worse than a kung fu master as I think that if you do something you should always do it properly. I am concerned that in these times of change and technology that no one hand writes anything anymore. Coen has no cook book at school and recipes are searched on the internet and printed off and put in plastic folders. This all seems so impersonal to me and on the news the other evening they were discussing if they should stop teaching children how to write and teach touch typing instead! To me family cook books should be hand written and not A4 printed pages. So a project has begun. This is a post from the other blog that I am writing for the exhibition. At the moment it is author read only as I was planning to publish it at the time of the exhibition. Somehow I think that maybe I should publish it now as I don’t know who would bother looking back through the older posts?

After twelve years of drought and bucket only watering it is such a good feeling to be inspired to garden again. Life here has just been in survival mode for what seems to be the longest time. There are fewer great pleasures than growing and cooking your own food. The long days of summer bring with them time to enjoy being outside and the fruits of one’s labor.

I was in Ararat today and found these seeds and coriander and basil plants at Aldi. The beginning of spring always inspires you to begin planting for the summer. I usually buy seedlings but the prices are becoming more and more expensive along with fewer plants in the punnets. The pots of basil and coriander were cheaper than buying a punnet of them from the nursery although, when I worked full time at the restaurant we never had any success with planting them out in the garden. So I will see how it goes.

Although I have calendulas growing in the vegetable garden I was inspired by my time in India last year to plant some marigold seeds. One of my favorite memories of India is when we caught a rickshaw through the famous chandi chowk market. It was early in the morning and the farmers were delivering huge hessian bags full of marigolds to be made into garlands.

LOVE LACE

2011-08-25T06:27:00.003+10:00

The Love Lace exhibition at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum challenges traditional ideas about lacework.
Featuring 130 laceworks by 134 artists from more than 20 countries. The exhibition runs until April 2012

FRED WILLIAMS RETROSPECTIVE

2011-08-15T09:07:00.002+10:00

My friend Ruth mentioned yesterday that the National Gallery of Australia are holding a new retrospective exhibition of the artist Fred Williams. I was considering making the long trip to Canberra to see the exhibition but after searching on the internet this morning, I found that the exhibition will travel to Melbourne and Adelaide next year. Very tempting to just jump on the train and go, but maybe I should stay home and weave! Time will tell if I can wait till next year.

MARGARET OLLEY DOCUMENTARY

2011-08-01T19:33:00.002+10:00

With the passing last week of Margaret Olley, Art Nation replayed this documentary about the artist yesterday. Although many artists live and work in their environment, no one did it better than Margaret Olley. Never shy of speaking her mind, I like the way that Barry Pearce describes her politics as “right of Genghis Kahn” Donating over 17 million dollars worth of purchased works to galleries across Australia. I love the way that she said that she would rather go shopping with her money in her own lifetime. This documentary is a rare look at an artist working in their own environment. You gain a sense of her personality and wit. Painting up until the day she died, Margaret Olley lived her life to the beat of her own drum.

MARGARET OLLEY, A LIFE WELL LIVED

2011-07-26T18:53:00.003+10:00

Sadly today saw the passing of the acclaimed artist Margaret Olley, one of Australia’s declared ‘Living Treasures’
Known for her fabulous still life and interior paintings, Olley was also an incredibly generous patron of the arts.
Painting her surroundings in her famous Paddington home Margaret Olley will be remembered by her thousands of paintings, a celebration of life.

INSPIRING

2011-07-21T09:22:00.002+10:00

Recently I have been spending some time going through my large collection of books, photos and files of resource material, gathering thoughts about work for our up and coming group exhibition. I found three very interesting interviews on the internet of three very different artists working in the medium of tapestry. I though that I would share them here. The first interview is with Scottish artist Joan Baxter, the second Canadian artist Linda Wallace and the third with British artist Jilly Edwards. I find that no matter how often you look at art, it somehow takes on a whole new meaning when you can read about the artist. Their inspiration, choice of medium and see them practicing their craft.
There is a virtual tour of Joan Baxter’s studio here.

KATE DERUM AWARD 2011

2011-07-10T09:22:00.005+10:00

The Australian Tapestry Workshop have announced an award for tapestry in honour of the memory of the late Kate Derum. This award is for small tapestries and is open to international artists.

SILVIA HEYDEN

2011-07-10T08:47:00.003+10:00

A Weaverly Path Trailer from Kenny Dalsheimer on Vimeo.

The internet has changed the way that we can access so much new information and imagery....no matter what the subject. This short trailer from‘A Weaverly Path’ a documentary about tapestry artist Silvia Heyden is certain to inspire. How privileged we are to see artists at work and share their source of inspiration and be able to view parts of the process of making.
If you click here you can download a podcast interview with Silvia Heyden talking about her art and life.

KEEPING QUIET?

2011-06-23T07:55:00.008+10:00

My only reason for beginning writing this blog in early 2007, was to find a solution to the difficulties I was experiencing handing in my progress reports to my lecturers at South West Institute of Tafe.
I never really expected other people to be reading it, or even find it very interesting? Since those early days as most thing always do it has changed shape, grow in it’s own way and for me on a personal level made the world of tapestry a much smaller place. It will be one year next month since our Graduate Exhibition, so once your days as a student are finally over, life and your art changes once more. When I first began writing my blog I could only find two other tapestry weavers blogging. Meabh Warburton, living in rural France and Lyn Hart, living in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona. How geographically different can you get? yet we are all similar in so many other ways. Since then there have been many other tapestry weavers writing blogs, so now you can visit a little piece of life, art,creativity, frustration,disappointment's, joys and all other things that go with working as a tapestry artist right across the globe.

This all leads to my current thoughts. In recent months four graduates of the ‘Tapestry Diploma’ have decided to form a group and work towards an exhibition planned for 2013. That date to some people may seem like half a lifetime away but in terms of planning and creating all NEW tapestries it will come around very quickly. Yesterday we all met in Ballarat to look as a group at some venue options, which in itself was surprising as each venue led to different possibilities,and in one instance something that we did not consider at all could completely change the entire dynamics of what we had originally planned.

So to SHARE or KEEP QUIET?

As much as I myself enjoy reading other tapestry blogs, watching tapestries quietly progress into a completed work of art. I also like going to a new exhibition.....never knowing exactly what I am going to see and look at the work with the excitement of seeing it for the first time. A bit like finding an unexpected parcel in the post and the excitement of finding what is inside. Unbeknown to me, someone who’s opinion I value, later told me that they had seen our Graduate Exhibition in Warrnambool. They made comments on some of the works and their view of the overall success of the show. Along with the comment “ of course I had already seen all of yours” Well almost one year later I am still not certain if that was a complement or just a statement that there was nothing new!

So although I will be working away, I don’t at this stage plan on showing any finished tapestries that I will be making for this exhibition. But I will talk in a very quiet way somehow about what I am doing. I also need to consider the fact that although we will all be working on our own individual tapestries, this exhibition will be a group effort and other members of the group will also not be wanting to show their tapestries before the exhibition is hung.

I am certain that everyone else out there who regularly writes a blog will have at some stage addressed these questions themselves.I would LOVE some feedback on your thoughts on the subject?

AUSTRALIAN TAPESTRY WORKSHOP

2011-05-30T09:45:00.001+10:00

This is short and interesting program that was aired on the ABC yesterday.

GERDA VAN HAMOND

2011-05-24T10:25:00.004+10:00

Inner and Outer Searching 1994. Woven tapestry; wool cotton 179 x 158 cm

To anyone who knows me very well it is no secret the the work of Gerda van Hamond is high on my list of favorite contemporary artist working in the field of tapestry weaving.
Gerda’s tapestries are often large scale and incredibly detailed, showing a long commitment to the discipline that it takes to produce large studio woven tapestries. A process which is often so painstakingly slow.
Gerda has begun writing a blog, you can visit here. I am so pleased that Gerda has decided to share her fabulous work with a larger audience. I will certainly be looking forward with anticipation to her progress. ENJOY!

AUSTRALIAN TAPESTRY WORKSHOP

2011-05-23T15:27:00.007+10:00

I had the rare opportunity yesterday of viewing an exhibition of tapestries at the Australian Tapestry Workshop in South Melbourne. The workshop was open over the weekend which gave many people a chance to view the tapestries outside of working hours. We asked permission to take photographs and I asked if I would be able to publish them here on my blog.
I am grateful for permission, as I can share them with others who would never have an opportunity to visit the workshop.

Sally Smart’s ’Eye Desire’ has been completed but not yet cut off the loom. The tapestry measures 4.85 x 2.75 meters, commissioned to hang in the Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne.
You can see the original artwork that inspired the tapestry in the left hand side of the photo. I am not certain of the warp setting for this tapestry but I have never seen such a thick warp before. I don’t think that I would have the body to beat it down. The tapestry is certainly bold and should command attention when it is hung at the Hospital.

Christine Johnson's 'Mutabolis' 110 x 202 cm is a stunning tapestry.

One of the strengths of the A.T.W’s tapestries is their use of colour blending. This tapestry is certainly a fine example of that.

The colours here are just gorgeous.

Ross Moore’s ‘Williamstown’ tapestry 197 x 300 cm is an absolute riot of movement and colour.

Detail of 'Williamstown' tapestry.

A smaller tapestry on the loom by Australian abstract painter Yvonne Audette.

Mark Schaller’s tapestry 'Interior 2002' 82 x 58 cm

John Young’s ‘Kenneth Meyer Tapestry’ 2.3 x 3.02 meters, commissioned to hang in the National Library, Canberra Australia.

Weaving samples for the 'Kenneth Meyer Tapestry'

Detail of the Kenneth Meyer Tapestry. I love John Young’s work, it translates so beautifully into tapestry. This is the second large John Young tapestry that I have seen on the loom at the A.T.W

Four small tapestries by artist Belinda Fox I like the way the tapestry in the top right has been woven. Unwoven warps have been painted to blend in with the tapestry. I also liked the way that the tapestries were mounted directly onto the wall. Somehow it was less distracting to view small tapestries this way.

Tiny and incredibly finely woven tapestries of Andrew Cooks on the left, alongside tapestries by Nusra Latif Qureshi

Beginnings of a new tapestry. I am sorry that I did not write down the name of the artist so that I could share it here.

The Australian Tapestry Workshop has a new website and you will find them on Facebook here where the workshop often shares news and photo's of works in progress.
Along with a huge range of tapestry yarns The workshop has several publications showcasing their tapestries including Sue Walkers Artists’ tapestries from Australia 1976-2005 You can read the review of the book I wrote for the American Tapestry Alliance Newsletter on her website here.

MANY SHADES OF GREY

2011-05-05T15:53:00.005+10:00

Although definitely not my normal colour palette, I have been inspired by the Henry Moore tapestries to try something different from the normal choice of bright hues. I often listen when tapestry weavers get together and talk about the important need for different shades of grey? Blue greys, violet greys, green greys. plain old grey greys? I almost feel embarrassed to say that in my HUGE stash of wool that I have dyed over the years out of 160 different colours the only thing that I could find was 1 ball of white and one ball of black with nothing in between! There are a few more shades to dye which will happen over the next few days. I love the way that the shadow’s across the wool in the photo are grey as well. Once I wind the skeins into balls I can begin to weave some colour samples and decide how I am going to approach this new adventure.

'WEB OF EUROPE' TAPESTRY EXHIBITION

2011-05-02T10:40:00.006+10:00

This is a facinating project. I wish that I had the time to go and see it in person. There is a website giving detailed information about the project. Each participating artist shares insites into their background in tapestry weaving. I love the studio pictures, it is so wonderful to see where other weavers work.

The exhibition opening is on
19 May at 18:00
Royal Museums of Art and History Brussels
Parc de Cinquantenaire 10
1000 Brussels
20 May 2011- 14 august 2011

Budapest
Museum of Applied Arts
13 October 2011 – 27 november 2011

YARRA REFLECTIONS

2011-04-19T09:19:00.001+10:00

I am hoping to get down to Melbourne to see this exhibition before it closes. There has been some confusion about the dates, as a newsletter that was sent via the internet had the year as 2012.
The dates here on the invitation are correct.

LYNNE CURRAN

2011-04-11T19:48:00.006+10:00

I have long admired the tapestries woven by Lynne Curran since meeting her in Warrnambool in the early 1990’s. Her work is autobiographical, inspired by her surroundings and interests at the time. Lynne gave some wonderful talks about her working process and had the most fabulous sketch books. Sadly there is little of her work to be found on the internet so this video is a rare treat. Lynne discusses the process behind designing this tapestry for the Uffizi Exhibit, Self-Portraits of “Invisible Women” Lynne shows her extensive research for the project and how she decided the way that she wished to be portrayed.
During all the years that I had been a student many of the other students were intimidated by keeping an artists journal. One of my teacher’s, Graham Brindly would give us a new sketch book at the beginning of the year and announce that it was to be handed in for assessment at the end of year, full and worked on both sides of the page!!! I have many journals from my years as a student and find them to be a invaluable resource. It is good to look back through them from time to time as see what you were thinking about. Often they can inspire new work. I know many people who are too frightened to work in a new sketch book as they are so clean and pristine when you acquire a new one. My advice is just leave it laying around and let someone else be the first to spill something on it for you! The cost of good hard back journals has come down in price over the years. I had a friend years ago who was a very poor artist who used to buy hard covered story books that had been printed on good quality paper from opportunity shops for less that a dollar. Mark would then gesso the pages, sometimes he would tint the paint and then draw in them. I have often thought that my two most valuable resources as a tapestry weaver are my journals and my dye recipes.
I hope that you also can be inspired by Lynne’s fabulous journal’s.

ONE PLANT, MANY COLOURS

2011-03-23T15:44:00.001+11:00

I never cease to be amazed by the different range of colours that you can get from the one plant!

UNVEILING

2011-03-22T18:32:00.003+11:00

If ’time is your friend’ and you should resist opening your dyed bundles for a few weeks while they ‘sit’ it is a good idea to leave home for a while!

One dye bath many different colours. From left to right, silk and cotton mix hand stitching thread, silk tied with silk, cotton muslin tied with wool, felt stitched with silk and tied with wool.

Wool. different silks and the darkest one is silk and cotton hand stitching thread.

Somehow I think that this one is the biggest mystery? Look at the difference between the colour of the silk and the wool that it was tied with!

CANBERRA AND THE BALLETS RUSSES THE ART OF COSTUME

2011-03-22T13:53:00.005+11:00

I have just come back home from a trip to Canberra that I made to see the Ballets Russes The Art of Costume exhibition and to attend my friend Ruth’s birthday party. The exhibition was spectacular. The National Gallery of Australia holds a significant collection of Ballets Russes costumes. The exhibition comprised of 150 restored costumes and accessories from 35 productions with 50 costumes making their exhibition debut. The exhibition which was to close on March 20Th has been extended due to it’s huge popularity until the 1st May.

The National Gallery of Australia has an extensive sculpture garden, but I somehow find the floating heads a bit spooky!

The last time I was in Canberra the Great Hall at Parliament House was closed. This time I was able to see Arthur Boyd's’s tapestry up close. Believed to be the world’s second largest tapestry it measures 20 meters wide by 9 meters high.The tapestry took the equivalent of fourteen full-time weavers over two years to complete the tapestry, which was woven in four separate pieces and joined together with industrial Velcro.

This is a detail of the bottom left hand side of the tapestry. You can see the different colour blends and the use of mark making in the tapestry, but it is only when you view it from a distance that you can see the depth of the design.

TOURING TAPESTRY IN EUROPE

2011-02-15T09:50:00.008+11:00

Internationally known tapestry artist Cresside Collette is hosting a tapestry tour of Europe beginning in London on the 15th of June and concluding in Aubusson on the 2nd July 2011. I invited Cresside to write an article about the tour. All text and images have been kindly provided by Cresside.

When Pauline Tran, of Tran's global tours asked me to outline a tour of what I considered to be the most important and appealing tapestry destinations in Europe I was really delighted. I realized, when I started putting it together, that I had done a lot of the groundwork for this tour a couple of years ago when I revisited the UK and France to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones, all passionate practitioners of the art of tapestry. These selected sites have held deep personal interest for me in my area of study and I have had first hand experience of all of them. So what better way to enhance my own knowledge than to share it with others interested in this field?

We will start in London, exploring the renowned Whitechapel Gallery and the Geffrye Museum and of course the incomparable Victoria and Albert Museum, home to the
15th C. Devonshire Hunts and the Raphael cartoons (which themselves embody the turning point between Medieval and Classical tapestry.) A visit to the West Dean tapestry studio in Sussex will witness weavers of our generation entering the mind of the medieval craftsman in their re - interpretation of the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries, destined for the restored Queen's bedchamber at Stirling Castle.

In London we will also visit the studios of contemporary tapestry artists, including the masterful and innovative William Jeffries.

In Paris we will visit the Musee du Moyen Age, home to the gorgeous Lady and the Unicorn suite as well as wonderful collection of important Medieval works. Then a trip to the Gobelins Tapestry Workshop, set up under royal patronage in 1662, to see the longest running workshop in the world. The Musee des Arts Decoratifs shows the very best of the decorative arts, an overwhelming display of skilled craftsmanship from the very old to the very new set in the spacious Tuileries gardens alongside the Louvre
.

We will also experience the oldest surviving suite of tapestries, The Apocalypse, housed in the castle in the town of Angers, a treasure of the Loire valley. Within this imposing fortress the enormous, poetic tapestry illustrates the book of Revelations in seventy surviving panels. Angers is also home to the Cathedral St. Maurice that contains eleven Gothic tapestries and the St. John's Hospital, a collection of 12th C. buildings that displays the work of modern tapestry artist, Jean Lurcat, including the magnificent Song of the World series inspired by The Apocalypse.

Travelling by bus to a Manoir in central France we will settle in for a six day workshop to learn and explore tapestry techniques. I am designing this to accommodate the skills of the participants - from beginners to professionals. Our stay will be interspersed with visits to Aubusson, which is a twenty minute ride away. This picturesque town has survived on the weaving industry since the 14Th C., its individual ateliers open to public view as well as its more formal tapestry centres.

I hope that this visual feast of tapestry will inspire its appreciation on many levels, and consolidate the participants' knowledge and practice of this timeless art form.

If you are interested in taking part of this tour the detailed program can be found here. Or I am more than happy to send the details if you email me a request form.

FELIX HASPEL

2011-02-01T10:42:00.003+11:00

I was not familiar with the work of Felix Haspel until I found this video on You Tube. It is a fascinating look at the process of making a tapestry and how other weavers work. I love some of the colour blends, they work so well together. It makes me want to weave something soft and subtle. I always sew my slits as I weave, it is interesting to see so many large slits sewn after the tapestry is off the loom.

BANGKOK AND CHIANG MAI

2010-11-12T15:19:00.002+11:00

We had been watching the political situation in Bangkok for weeks before we left Australia, uncertain as to whether we would go to Bangkok or go on to Laos or Cambodia. The plan was to catch a train form Butterworth to Bangkok but after our boring experience we booked a flight from Georgetown to Bangkok. We caught a bus from the airport to Khao San Road, great street food and market stalls. Although some young British backpackers were a bit squeamish about the thought of eating scorpions or silk worm pupae!
We walked from our hotel down to the river early in the morning. Gerard practiced his tai chi forms while others were taking classes in yoga and aerobics. Walking back we came across a fabulous shop selling handcrafts from all over Thailand. I bought a beautiful hand woven silk shawl in the most amazing magenta that you could ever find. I doubt if a photo could ever do justice to the colour. The redshirts rally seemed to be heating up and there was a protest planned for the following day. We booked an overnight train for Chiang Mai as we did not want to stay much longer in the city.

The markets are fantastic, selling everything that moves or keeps still. We walked past a basket of what I think were some kind of strange fungi, but Gerard was certain that they moved! We took the ferry up the river and walked to the famous Wat Pho Monastery to see the reclining golden Buddha.

Years ago I was reading a book about Marco Polo. There were pictures of statues of him at the Wat Pho Monastary. Gerard had mentioned that he had seen the statues there and wondered who they were of as they were so out of place compared to all the other statues at the Monastery.

The last night that we spent in Bangkok things seemed to be heating up and there was a heavy police presence and tanks on the streets. We filled in the following day by taking a ferry up the river and sitting anywhere that we could find air-conditioning.....wont say where though! The overnight train to Chiang Mai was great, comfortable sleepers and the food was good. We woke in the morning to the sad sight of a region in drought, it seems like you cant escape that anywhere much at the time as parts of India were the same. The city was very smokey probably a result of their slash and burn agriculture. We found a beautiful hotel with a lovely garden but if you go be aware of the mosquitoes. Chiang Mai has a malaria center and with the mosquito population I can understand why.

We were staying in the old part of the city and every Sunday night there is a market. Many of the Hill Tribes People come down and sell their handcrafts. I have to say that I have never seen such a fantastic market and it was huge... street after street. The quality of the goods was high and nothing that had been mass produced, unlike the markets in Delhi where the items for sale were the same as you could buy here in Australia.

We walked home to our hotel past the famous Wat Chedi Luang and walked to see the famous jade Buddha lit up at night. The Chedi was built in the 14th century and it is worth looking at the link to other photos. We went back to the temple the following day and had a good walk around.

We walked down to the fitness gardens in the morning, a nice park where a group of people were doing tai chi, others running and a group of people taking a yoga class. We watched as some people came in a Ute, scaled the coconut trees in what seemed like a few minutes and took off to who knows where with the coconuts! We were fascinated with a man and his young daughter as they turned up with these small cane baskets with birds in them and set them free. When we walked back past the market there was a stand selling these birds in baskets. We asked why they were selling them? to be told that it is good luck to make a wish and set the birds free. Ingenious recycling really, they sell the birds, someone makes a wish and sets them free. Then they go back catch the birds again and the chain of events continues.

I walked up to the cultural center one morning to find half the population there. It was clean Chiang Mai day! everyone gets together and then they go home and clean the entire city ready for the water festival the following week. We had been to look at an amazing exhibition of photographs of the Hill's Tribe People at one of the hotels. The photographs were part of an exhibition at the cultural center called Songs of Memory, Traditional Music of the Golden Triangle.

The exhibition was just fantastic I was so lucky to be able to see so many of the Hill Tribe’s costumes that I have studied in books for the last 30 years and had longed to see in real life.

I took a lot of photos........maybe some time in the future they may turn up in tapestries???

I cashed in my travelers cheque's in Chiang Mai as I had found a wonderful shop in the street that we were staying in run by a woman passionate about keeping the crafts alive. So I had my retail therapy and left Thailand with 4 TBH! Because of the situation in Thailand being so uncertain when we had left India I had booked a direct flight from Chiang Mai to Singapore before we went on to Malaysia so as to avoid any problems in Bangkok as we had no idea if the airport would be open, Gerard had been there during the coupe in 2006 and had only just got through the airport before it was closed. My flight back to Oz was booked from Singapore.

I spent a quiet night in Singapore, staying at the Hostel where I had left some of my luggage. I left Australia with a back pack that weighed 11 kg's came back to Australia with a pack that weighed 10 kg's and carry on luggage that weighed about 3kg's but the thing that weighed less was actually ME! my weight had dropped from 56kg's when I left Australia and I was 50 kg's when I came home. After a chronic case of amebic dysentery that I had picked up in India that has been difficult to get over, the next time I go I will be taking antibiotics with me!

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SINGAPORE AND PENANG

2010-11-01T18:45:00.003+11:00

I am not certain which way the cultural shock happened here! After 3 weeks traveling in India, which can be your best friend and your worst nightmare in the same minute, it was actually a shock to the system to be in such a clean and modern city.

I took this photo out of the bus window. The building is to be a new casino. We spent three nights in Singapore going to Little India, China Town and looking around some of the colonial buildings. There was a brochure at our hostel about the Changi Museum, I some how could not bring myself to want to go. I knew several men who had been prisoners of war there. The underground train system is fantastic and I liked the way that you got a refund on your plastic ticket if you recycled it at the vending machine.

We caught the bus to a shopping center that just sells everything electrical. Talk about consumer overload! I took 11 kg’s of luggage with me for over five weeks away and I never missed not having anything. The thing that gets me is that more and more of this stuff is being manufactured and next time I go there it will all have been replaced with the latest gadgets!

One night walking back from the train station we came across these dancers. We booked a train from Singapore to Butterworth, the most boring train trip I think that we have ever had!!! After traveling on the trains in India where there is just so much going on all the time, it seemed to take forever. The one good thing was that I got to see a fair bit of Malaysia. Sadly though it brought home the effects of deforestation and the impact on the local environment. So much of the country is planted in palm oil plantations. You could see small villages along the way but you had to wonder what their agriculture entailed. It really made me think about how as a consumer I contribute to this? as it really was just row after row of palm oil plantations.

Georgetown is an interesting place, a mixture of many different cultures. The street food is fantastic! The streets are alive at night with Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and many more different cuisines. There are many different temples in Penang, some South Indian others more Chinese and an interesting Tibetan Buddhist temple that we spent some time at. We caught a bus across to what used to be a small fishing village, just to find it as built up as the rest of the island.

With the island so built up to the waters edge and positioned so close to Sumatra you wonder how they survive a tsunami?

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WELCOME TO INDIA

2010-10-28T16:35:00.007+11:00

Our flight arrived in New Delhi at 2.20 am, after exchanging our Australian currency for Indian Rupees we purchased a Government pre paid taxi ticket which is supposed to get you to the hotel of your choice and not one that the driver is on a commission to! From the back seat of our taxi I had my first introduction to how determined some people can be. We asked to be taken to the Paharganj but the driver was not very cooperative but we eventually got a hotel room there. This was my first glimpse of Delhi form our room in daylight.

After a couple of lazy days exploring Delhi we caught an early morning train to Mathura, one of the 7 most holy cities in India and the birth place of Lord Krishna.We spent hours at the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple but security there is so tight that we had to hand in bags, camera's, phones and anything else electrical and go through airport style security to get in. The temple is beautiful and the grounds are much larger that I thought they would be. We caught an auto rickshaw to Vrindavan and paid a guide to walk us around some of the temples. At the Rang Mahal Temple we walked through Krishna and Rhada’s garden, walked to the amazing Jaipur temple
built by the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Madhav, in 1917 after thirty years of hard labor. We walked through the grounds and Sri Bagwan Bhajan Ashram. Vrindavan is nicknamed the 'city of widows’, this temple is where they sing bhajans for food. I found this blog and it is well worth reading and looking through the photos. It will make you realize how hard other women have to live.

This is my all time favorite bhajan Jai Radha Madhav sung by Jagjit Sing.

We took the train to Agra for the day to visit the Taj Mahal, probably the most photographed building in the world. Sometimes when you have seen images of something and then see it in real life it can be a bit of a letdown. Unless you are on the other side of the river you can’t see any of the building from the outside as it surrounded by a high wall. You have to enter by the Great Gate which is quite dark inside.

When you walk through and look up before you walk down the stairs it is right in front of you. It was almost like staring the full moon in the face. It took my breath away as it is so beautiful.

The Indian women in their brightly coloured saris looked like jewels against the white of the building.

Back in Delhi I could not resist taking this photo to show Coen what the electricity connections are like in India!

More cups of tea at our favorite Chai Shop before taking the underground to the Old Delhi Railway Station to catch an overnight train to Ajmer in Rajasthan. I think that one of the things that I like the most about Indian people is their casual attitude to life.

I watched this group of women arrive at the station. Taking rugs out of their bags and placing them down to sit on. Next came out the tiffin carriers, a feast was shared, stories told and then everything was packed up. Out came blankets and they all covered up and promptly went to sleep while waiting for their train!

We woke in the morning to folksingers singing on the train, so much nicer than an alarm clock. Caught the bus from Ajmer up through the hills to Pushkar, famous for its annual camel fair. If you look in the center of the photo you can see that the Lake is dry, this must have an enormous impact on the town. We stayed at the Hotel Everest, the cleanest hotel in India! It was such a nice place situated in a quiet car free area. The only thing that you had to worry about was a local cow with large horns who took pleasure in giving people a bit of a nudge every now and then. Pushkar is a holy city and there is no alcohol, meat or eggs. The bazzar is quite amazing and you can buy rugs and textiles that I did not see in other parts of India.

As in all other parts of India the cows just roam where they please. We came across a group of women doing puja in front of a temple. The cow just came along and ate a previous offering. My nicest memory of our stay there was walking early one morning down into the farming area where they grow the most perfumed red roses to make into garlands. Children were walking to school and women were cutting lupins to feed their cows, working together in groups. It was so quiet and peaceful with the occasional camel loaded with goods passing us bye. We stopped at the Saraswati Music School, Gerard was invited to play tabla. When asked where we were going next, we said that we had a ticket to go from Jaipur to Haridwar on the 15 th March. Ahh very auspicious was the reply...you come all the way from Australia to go to the first day of the Kumbh Mela. Held every 12 years it is the largest human gathering on earth. And we had a ticket to it!!!!!

Back in Ajmer we found an auto rickshaw that would take us to the The Dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti, the place of the most holy Sufi pilgrimage in India. The fantastic thing about rickshaw drivers is they are usually happy to take you to these impossible to find places and wait for you while they go off and have a snooze for a while! There was a large crowd gathering outside before we were able to go in. To our absolute delight the Kawalli singers were playing. It was just magical and we were so lucky to be there at that time.

In Jaipur where the traffic is just unbelievable we took an auto rickshaw to see some of the city. The snake charmers were outside the Jaipur Palace. I somehow think that they must remove the snakes fangs, as the one in the center kept striking at it’s owner while he just gently patted it on the head! We spent a long time looking around the Palace, so many beautiful things to see. We were not able to take photos but if you go here you will see some fantastic photos.

We found our driver who was of course asleep. I took some videos while we were driving around Jaipur to show Coen just what the traffic was like. We changed our ticket as we did not want to end up in Haridwar and booked a train back to Delhi the on to Amritsar.

Gerard had cut an ad out of one of the papers advertising a classical music concert in Delhi. Because we had changed our plans we were able to go. It was quite hot sitting in the sun but the music was fantastic. The train through the Punjab, the bread basket of India was so nice. Green fields everywhere with entire families working away. I had booked a first class ticket and I think that they fed us about six times. Amritsar is only about 30 km from the Pakistan border and about 60 km from Lahore. You can go to to the changing of the guard, which oddly seems so British to me.

It was very busy the day that we went to the Golden Temple. The temple is immaculately kept, on any day they serve up to 40,000 free meals in the lungar. We did not eat there but I could hear the stainless steel thali plates being washed. There is a museum at the temple that charts the sad history of the Sikh religion.

Later that night we visited the Durgiana Temple, modeled similar to the Golden temple it is surrounded by a moat. The Temple has the most beautiful doors and paneling. We were at the Goddess temple the night before Navarati began.

We caught a train to Pathankot then a bus through the hills to Dharamsala. You could see the snow on the Himalayas from our hotel window. Dharamsala is a nice city, we walked around the housing area a few times. We both got sick while we were there but Gerard’s only lasted a couple of days, mine 5 weeks till I got antibiotics. We went up to McLeod Ganj the home of the Dalai Lama.

One could only hope that one day Tibet will be free. It was nice and peaceful walking around the roads in McLeod Ganj. Steep hills with lots of areas of natural forests of pine trees and red rhododendrons out in flower. We did move fast though when a large pack of fighting monkeys came running towards us.

In days of internet cafe's I could never work out what this shop was, but it was open every day!

Back to Delhi again,we caught a rickshaw through the famous chandni chowk market. It was early in the morning and the farmers were delivering huge hessian bags full of marigolds to be made into garlands. The next day we went out to Gobind Sadan. We spent two nights at Gobind Sadan walking one day to my friend Priya's for lunch. The last night we were there it was the last day of Navarati. Big celebrations were held with a special feast that night at the lungar. Special puja is held over the nine days to the goddess Shakti. Fireworks went on in the distance for hours. Leaving Gobind Sadan before 5 am and still dark we came across two elephants walking down our road. I left India with the knowledge......always expect the unexpected!

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NEW TAPESTRY

2010-10-21T14:10:00.005+11:00

I have been planning to weave this design for what seems ages now. If I don't start something new it feels like I won't ever weave again! The tapestry will be the same size as the 'Teapot with Lemon' that was in my Graduate Exhibition and I have a frame the same size to mount it in.

This is the page from my painting journal from when I was planning the painting. The background is the ottoman that matches the couch in my studio. There is no obvious repeat to the background design and you can almost drive yourself stupid trying to find one.

I drew up the cartoon, almost started inking it on but realized that I was not happy with the placement of the fruit. I began drawing more of the pattern around the outside of the design and fiddled a bit with the angle of the fruit. I also cropped out some of the top of the tapestry and added more to the bottom. I am happy with it now but I know that the gold thread that I am using for the pattern is going to DRIVE ME MAD!

My bookshelves are overflowing and when visiting a friend in Ocean Grove recently Brenda sent me home with two bags of art books. How can you say no? These are two tapestry books that I bought in the last couple of weeks. The Henry Moore I have been waiting on for a while as it was in reprint. The new publication 'Contemporary Australian Tapestries' form the Australian Tapestry Workshop is available from their website here.

FLOODS

2010-09-09T09:52:00.002+10:00

After thirteen years of drought we are now experiencing floods. Rain over the weekend was enough to see the Wimmera River flood at the highest levels in decades. A few weeks ago we walked out at Lake Londsdale enjoying the lake beginning to fill with water but it was amazing to see how quickly it filled after the weekend rains. Coen and I drove out there on Sunday, the first time Coen has seen the lake with so much water in it. Coen is thirteen now and only has memory of droughts.

This is a photo of the water level last Sunday, with the Mount William Creek still running the lake will have more water in it by now.

A SNEAK PEAK !

2010-07-25T20:04:00.004+10:00

Our week in Warrnambool is finally here and we drove the two hours to Warrnambool today just in time to sneak a quick look at the Graduate Exhibition before the Gallery closed.
I felt a bit apprehensive as we walked into the Gallery wondering how the exhibition had been hung, if each artist would be given a space, or if the work was intermixed around the Gallery. The exhibition looks fantastic, each of the ten Graduating Students showing their own unique style which builds in the later years of study. My heart went in my mouth as I saw that the Velcro on the battens on my two large tapestries had began to unstick allowing the tapestries to hang forward at the top........something to resolve first thing tomorrow!

'A MATTER OF TIME' AUSTRALIAN STUDIO TAPESTRY 1975-2005

2010-07-08T18:02:00.007+10:00

Thursday, 12 August 2010 to Sunday, 26 September 2010.
The exhibition surveys tapestry created over a thirty year period by leading independent artist-weavers.
Major works from the Ararat Regional Art Gallery's permanent collection along with tapestries form the Victorian State Craft Collection are augmented with selected loans to explore the emergence and evolution of this eminent field of Australian textile practice.
Artists represented from these collections include Marie Cook, Merrill Dumbrell, Belinda Ramson, Cheryl Thornton, Sara Lindsay, Kate Derum, Kay Lawrence, and Tass Mavrogordato. Significant large works loaned from other public galleries include tapestries by artist's Valerie Kirk, Gerda van Hamond, and Catherine k. Works created from 2000 to 2005 will represented with loans by selected artist's.
This exhibition is the first of its kind to be held, showcasing 30 years of studio tapestry in Australia.
You may like to keep up with other Exhibitions and Events at the Gallery by reading their blog here.

Location: Town Hall, Vincent Street, Ararat
Open: Mon, Wed-Fri 10am - 4.30pm
Tuesday by appointment
Sat, Sun and Public Holidays 12-4pm
Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day and Good Friday
T:(03)5352 2836, E: gallery@ararat.vic.gov.au

JENNIFER SHARPE EXHIBITION

2010-07-01T11:59:00.000+10:00

'MIXED THREADS' GRADUATE STUDENT'S EXHIBITION, WARRNAMBOOL ART GALLERY

2010-06-28T08:02:00.010+10:00

Mixed Threads
Alan Lane Community Gallery
Warrnambool Art Gallery
July 24th - August 9th 2010

Featuring tapestries woven by graduating off campus students from the Diploma of Art, Tapestry at South West Institute of TAFE.
Consequently the ten exhibiting students come from a variety of locations. Pat Scholz, Ruth Bray, Elizabeth Archer and Debbie Herd from Victoria; Stephnie Cantoni, Western Australia; Sue Atkinson, Queensland; Betty Wolf, South Australia; Jane Allertz, Maggie Cooper and Penny Auburn from New South Wales.
The works on show address issues of memory, the environment, significant events and places, travel and personal journeys.

The exhibition is to be opened by Tim Gresham on Tuesday July 27th at 6pm.

Entry to the Warrnambool Art Gallery is free
Monday - Friday 10.00am - 5.00pm
Saturday - Sunday + Public Holidays 12.00 - 5.00pm
26 Liebig Street Warrnambool
gallery@warrnambool.vic.gov.au
[03]55594949

ALMOST OFF THE LOOM!

2010-06-22T13:46:00.008+10:00

It seems like a long time since I posted about this tapestry! I have been home now for almost a full term of school and here I am just about to cut this off the loom tonight.
I came back from Singapore still with my 'Delhi Belly' but as I got sicker we discovered that I had picked up 3 different types of amoebic dysentery in India....must say that I got sick in Dharamsala and not Delhi. My weight dropped down to 48kg ...I was given a course of killer antibiotics and am now slowly on the mend. The skin on my hands blistered and peeled off so I was not able to weave for weeks. Gerard broke his arm just after he came back home when the wheel on his bike locked up and he went over the handlebars, so we have been a couple of geriatrics complaining about our illnesses. We have laughed a lot though that it was safer jumping onto moving trains in India, or traveling from McLeod Ganj to Dharamsala in a bus when the driver thinks he is racing in the Grand Prix, crossing at pedestrian crossings in the street in Bangkok where the traffic stops for NO ONE and driving around in a tuk tuk in Chiang Mai that pulled out in front of 4 lanes of oncoming traffic!

Here is the tapestry finished but still on the loom, will cut it off tonight and celebrate! I have two weeks to get all my work finished for my Graduate Exhibition after that I will go through the almost 900 photos that I took overseas and start to show parts of our trip.
If you would like to read about the design process for this tapestry you will find it here.

LAKE EYRE

2010-04-16T14:53:00.007+10:00

While we were in India Gerard asked me about the possibility of planning a trip together this year to Lake Eyre, a normally dry salt lake in outback South Australia?
News from home was of flood waters reaching the lake.

Today while I was spending time deleting my emails that accumulated while I was away, I came across an email from the ABC featuring a program shown on Artscape titled 'Salt' Murray Fredericks is an internationally know award winning photo artist who makes an annual pilgrimage to Lake Eyre. The photography is breath taking, and you can watch the entire program here.

GRAMPIANS

2010-02-19T13:45:00.008+11:00

It feels odd to be spending this weekend at home as we have been out somewhere camping every weekend since the end of November! Only just last week we found a beautiful new place on the Mount William Creek not far from Halls Gap. It is difficult not to just feel like a gypsy after you get into the rhythm of being constantly on the move, and this is the first weekend that I am staying in one place....almost! This weekend is Grampians Texture a week of workshops here in the Grampians. Time for me to catch up with old friends and get my fill of creative spirit! We have been walking or bike riding almost every day, as I am trying to get fitter for our trip away. Plans for our holiday are a bit up in the air at the moment with forecast problems possible for Thailand. It is 5 weeks from today that Gerard and I had planned to go from Singapore by train into Thailand for two weeks. Things change but unrest is always uncertain. I have been a bit slack with some of my blog posts. But if you would like to read about our holiday in Tasmania, just scroll down a bit!

A PASSAGE TO INDIA

2010-02-04T08:46:00.008+11:00

I am flying to India on the 5Th of March for three weeks, then on to Singapore and Thailand. A present for finishing my Diploma of Art Tapestry, after all that work I need a long holiday! I hope to have an opportunity while I am staying outside of Delhi to catch up with my friend and fellow tapestry weaver Priya as she lives only 5 minutes away. Gerard has been regularly visiting Gobind Sadan since the early 1990's, I always think it is so odd that the one friend that I have in India lives in the same street and buys here vegetables from there!

HOLIDAY IN TASMANIA

2010-01-19T16:37:00.024+11:00

A planned holiday for three became a holiday for four after I invited Gerard's son Sascha to join us on a camping and touring holiday to Tasmania. Sascha flew to Melbourne to meet us as we sailed at night across on the Spirit of Tasmania. Both Coen and Sascha were concerned about becoming sea sick so before we sailed Coen took one motion sickness tablet and Sascha took two. Poor Coen the tablets seemed to keep him awake and he could not settle and wandered around the boat some of the night where as Sascha climbed up onto his bunk and barley surfaced for the rest of the trip. It was getting dark by the time we sailed and Gerard and I stood out on the deck watching the night lights of the city disappear behind us. We were up early the next morning to watch the sunrise over the first glimpses of Tasmania. The photo was taken from the boat as we arrived in Devonport.
Our first day was spent at Port Sorell, a beautiful beach with a tidal river. We walked along the river for hours slowly exploring but not thinking about the fact that the tide was rising and it was almost impossible to be able to walk back the same way. The river was so beautiful the next morning at high tide with the water and mountains in the background.

Sascha was keen to go back to Cradle Mountain as he had been a few years before on a hiking trip with Gerard. We walked the Pencil Pine Track, a two and a half hour walk along a track that is not maintained and at times difficult to follow.

The walk began in thick forest, dark and cool with trees covered in the most amazing moss, to high planes windy and freezing cold covered in alpine flora. Once again we descended into thick forest finally following the river and climbing up a narrow pathway to the top of the mountains again. We seemed to walk a long way along the top of the mountains before we came back to the forest near where we began. The walk was a challenge but I was so impressed by the way that Coen just went for it, he really got into the spirit of it and loved the challenge. This photo was taken from the plateau and you can see the canyon where the river runs along.

This is Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain. We walked the perimeter of the lake the following afternoon. The National Parks are so well kept in Tasmania, a lot of the walk is along a board walk.

This was a bird at Dove Lake drying off his wings. I took several photos that you can play as a slide show, watching him turning in the sun.

We spent three nights at Cradle Mountain and then headed off to Mole Creek so that Sascha and Coen could see the underground caves. The photo was taken in the mountains on the way down from Cradle Mountain, you can see how thick and beautiful the forests are. We spent two nights in Deloraine my favorite town in Tasmania before making our way to Hobart. Sascha and Coen get on really well together and Sascha is really patient with him and treats him like a little brother. Sascha flew home to Adelaide to return for work so we had the second week just the three of us.

Coen was keen to go to Port Arthur a former penal colony, part of Australia's dark past. Although both Gerard and I have mixed feelings about being in a place with such a gruesome history, we spent the day there so that Coen could explore.

The coast line around the Port Arthur area is spectacular and well worth spending a few days to have a good look around.

From Port Arthur we traveled up the east coast and stayed at Fortescue National Park. Tasmania has some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. This is the famous Wine Glass Bay, rated by Lonely Planet as one of the top ten beaches in the world. Gerard and I walked up to the lookout where this photo was taken from. You can only get down to the bay by continuing on down the mountain. We would have liked to have been able to do the walk and camp there the night but that will have to wait till next time. We stayed the night at Coles Beach, such a beautiful place and enjoyed an early morning walk along the beach.

We worked our way up along the east coast as far as Saint Helen's then headed across through high mountain ranges with winding roads and spectacular views, coming across a few cyclists doing it tough on the big hills. Gerard made me promise never to let him take his bike back to Tasmania! This is a photo of a rock just outside of Derby, painted to look like a trout. Derby is an old copper mining town quaint but quite remote, but with rivers known for good trout fishing. After travelling through more mountain ranges we stayed three nights with friends in Bridport. It was wonderful to reconnect and Coen enjoyed cooking cakes and brownies with Raewyn. Bridport is on the coast and we enjoyed some nice walks on the beach while we were there. Time to come home came around quickly and we traveled across to Launceston, spending the day walking around and just relaxing. Heading back to Devonport to catch the ferry home. The crossing was during the day this time and it took a bit of getting used to using your 'sea legs' we decided to drive home but after stopping for dinner in Ballarat we realized that we were all still feeling like we were still on the boat. We camped the night again at Mount Langi Ghiran, any excuse to put the tent up again! We all had a wonderful time and Tasmania is the place to go in January as it is about 10 degrees C cooler there than here at home. We hope to go back again next year.

CATCHING UP

2010-01-03T10:52:00.003+11:00

It has been a busy time weaving and weaving to get my work in so that my results could go through on time! After five days in Adelaide it is always wonderful to get the first glimps of the Grampians when you are returning home.
Mt Arapilies is separate from the Grampians Ranges just outside of Natimuk, and is a famous destination for rock climbers from all over the world. Gerard and I camped there overnight on the way home. A beautiful night as it was a full moon.

I only had one opportunity to go to Melbourne to see the Arthur Boyd tapestries, trust me to go on the 4Th of December, the final day that they were displayed in public. Arthur Boyd commissioned a suite of 20 tapestries based on his pastel drawings of the life of Saint Francis of Asssisi. Woven in Portugal before the Victorian Tapestry Workshop was founded the 20 tapestries measure approximately 260.5 x 342.5 cm each. The tapestries were sold to the National Gallery of Australia for their cost price by Boyd in 1975 and have never been show as an entire suite. My favorite tapestry was St Claire showing her shaven head to her family. Maybe that is because I have had waist length blond hair since I was a teenager and even now at 50 I still don't feel like parting with it! On the way home from Melbourne I met Gerard in Ballarat and we camped the night at Mount Langi Ghiran.

The following day we returned to Ararat to pick up two Japanese teachers that Gerard was working with in Ballarat and show them around the Grampians for the day, they were fascinated by the shape of the mountain. This is a photo that I took years ago from Montara Vineyard in Ararat when we were there to see the Scarecrows in the Vineyard competition. Known locally as the sleeping lady, she stands out on the horizon. We had a fun day and they enjoyed being show around such a beautiful place, and were excited but exhausted after their walk to the top of the Pinnacle, a lookout point that overlooks the valley of Halls Gap.

I finally finished my Diploma of Art Tapestry and we all went down to Warrnambool for my Graduation Ceremony. The day before I had sat through Coen's awards ceremony at his school, the most boring event ever!!! I found that I was the fourth to receive my Diploma at the ceremony so after my experience the night before I arranged to meet Gerard and Coen outside a few minutes later and we celebrated by eating fish and chips for dinner. While we were in Warrnambool we stayed at Gerard's cousin's.....I call it the 'Hotel Patterson' a bit of a private joke but Coen had his fill of Christmas spirit as Chris collects Santa's and Christmas cheer.....a far cry from my feelings of Christmas. It was nice to spend some time at the beach the next day before returning home.

Christmas came and went, spending the night camped at Lake Londsdale, our favorite place close to here. After 12 years the lake finally has water, although it is nowhere near full. The birds and animals have returned.....such a nice feeling.

SAYING THANK YOU

2009-11-19T18:50:00.002+11:00

Thank you Coen for being so understanding and giving your Mum some space and time to get her school work done. For someone who is only 12 it showed great maturity and love. THANK YOU! I know that having a student for a mother is not always easy and tapestry is probably the most time consuming subject that I could have ever chosen.
No more progress reports! break out the champagne!

TAPESTRY PROGRESS FOM OCTOBER 15TH

2009-11-08T22:53:00.009+11:00

This is where I was up to on the 15Th October. I decided that the white in the jug was too pale. Even though I usually use a pure white for highlights, this tapestry has a yellow cast to the over all tone, so I decided to replace it with a darker colour.

It was not difficult to un pull the weaving as it is woven straight up. If I had needed to un pull any of the rest of the tapestry, I may have decided to just live with it. But knowing me, the serial un picker I probably would have pulled it out.

Sometimes silly little details can take forever to resolve. I wove the highlight on the lip of the jug 3 different times trying to get it right. The stepping on the pear gave me a few headaches, but I am happy that I persevered to get it right as it is important that it sits well behind the jug.

If anyone is wondering why this tapestry seems to be taking longer. This is what my bobbins look like

This is how they pull through the weaving. The linen has NO GIVE and wont unwind off the bobbin the same as the wool. I have needed to correct it so many times it almost seems the normal way to weave now. I have not added the language that I that I have been using!

There is a tiny black out line between the lemon and the leaf in the design.
I felt strongly that I needed to keep it in the tapestry to create a shadow, so I have outlined it with soumak.

Some days when you are rushing towards a deadline it is better to look down, rather than looking at how much is left of the cartoon!

This is where I am up to today. I have woven 42cm across the entire 1 meter of tapestry since the 13Th October. I am uncertain about the shape that I am weaving now so I decided just to weave it up to the top without worrying about the colours. Just concerned about the shape at the moment. I have roughly outlined the shape so that I can decide what I will do. I think that it is good to show your failures , not just your success's.

I did un pull the shape and the one on the left as well. I wove it according to the photo and the cartoon but it appeared to have a dark line straight across, so I changed the shape. I un pulled the purple up the left side of the leaf and resolved the yellow shape as it looked odd in tapestry although it is fine in the painting, sometimes things just work out that way.
I have been away and resolving issues takes time so this is where I am up to this morning.

PLANS FOR A NEW TAPESTRY

2009-10-29T07:54:00.003+11:00

I don't know how this year has disappeared so quickly? I think that we spent most of it in a flu induced coma here. I always seem to have a panic attack the moment I see Christmas cards in the shops. I bought two frames the same size, one to frame the 'Teapot with Lemon' tapestry and the other with the intent of weaving this painting.
I have drawn it up on paper to paint in gauche but I need to spend time weaving, not painting. I have always liked this painting and so must others as it is the most viewed of all my small paintings that I uploaded on to flicker. I bought some gold metallic embroidery thread to weave the background pattern with. It has very little give in it. But considering the struggle that I am having at the moment with the linen I am using in my current tapestry, I think that I am up to the challenge! I like the rhythm on the background pattern and may change some of the green tones in the leaves in the center. The complexity of this tapestry should compliment the simplicity of the other when they are hung together.

TAPESTRY BLUES EXHIBITION ON FLICKER

2009-10-27T11:24:00.002+11:00

The 47 tapestries created by Australian and New Zealand weavers for the 'TAPESTRY BLUES' exhibition have been uploaded on to Flicker. The brief for the exhibition was to create a tapestry that contained the colour blue. View the exhibition to see how each of the artists responded.

REFLECTIONS AT ELLERY CREEK BIG HOLE AND SIMPSON'S GAP

2009-10-17T12:04:00.008+11:00

This photo was taken at Ellery Creek Big Hole, in the West Mac Donnell Ranges. We drove out there on a Friday evening planning to stay the weekend. Saturday morning the wind came up and our tent changed into so many different shapes before our eyes, we decided to take it down while it was still in one piece! The West Mac Donnell Ranges are spectacular just like the paintings of Fred Williams , with their colours and sparse vegetation. The waterhole was freezing, we laughed while we watched 3 young German girls deck themselves out in their bathers and barely hit the water before jumping out yelling and screaming about the cold. Gerard braved the cold and can be seen as the small dot on the water in the photo's. The first group of photo's were taken at Simpson's Gap about 27km from Alice Springs. Water is so rare in the desert and there are many dry rivers and creeks. A little rock wallaby came along while we were at Simpson's Gap and dug down in what looked like a dry creek bed to get a drink. Alice Spring is a wonderful place to visit but you would need to stay at least a month to have the time to explore all there is to offer in the area.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

KATA TUJA AND STANLEY CHASM

2009-10-17T11:35:00.002+11:00

Kata Tuja can be seen on the horizon from Uluru, spectacular with their rounded forms, but very different in the way that they catch the light as they are a conglomerate rock formation. The weather was kind to us as the days were mild, much better than walking around in the heat. It will only be a few more weeks before the tourists disappear, as the weather turns unbearably hot. Kata Tuja has such a nice feel to it, not as huge and imposing as Uluru. After walking around close to the rocks we returned to the car park to see an almost full moon rising. Quite spectacular! There is a viewing area where I took these sunset photos from. Altough taken only a few minutes apart each one is different.
Stanley Chasm is in the West Mac Donnell Ranges. Only a short and pleasant walk from the car park. The colour of the rocks are brilliant and I had never seen Cyclades growing in the wild before. The native eucalyptus have such white trunks and stand out against the oranges in the rocks. The last few photo's show the different textures that mother nature offers us.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

RAIN ON ULURU

2009-10-15T10:43:00.004+11:00

After five hours on a bus to Adelaide in teaming rain, followed by 25 hours on the Ghan I finally made it to Alice Springs the day before my 50Th birthday. We spent two nights in Alice Springs before driving in the heat to Uluru. Arriving early evening we decided to set up our tent, get some food and just relax. About 6am the next morning we woke to thunder and lightning, a storm in the desert is a rare event. Uluru would have to be the most photographed rock in Australia, one of the most popular destinations for overseas tourists. We were so lucky to be there in the rain as water flows from the rock forming spectacular water falls. Gerard and I decided to walk the 9km around Uluru. Taking our time to watch natures wonders. If I had not left home in teaming rain I would not have packed a rain coat, it would be considered the last thing that you would need in the desert. About half way through our walk the weather completely changed and it became dark like it was going to pour with more rain. Within minutes the storm completely passed over, out came the sun and we ended up wind burned by the time that we had walked all the way around Uluru. You can see the storm and change of weather in the slide show. I took so many photo's it was difficult to chose which ones to put here.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

TAPESTRY PROGRESS

2009-09-25T09:50:00.005+10:00

I know that this is not the best of photo's but I am in a rush to head out the door and will post a better one later. While plant dyed clothes are better left to slowly steep with gentle heat and little attention, a tapestry does nothing! This is where I am up to today. I am not sure about the white highlight on the jug. I may unpick it down a bit and start to grade the colour a bit darker? It will be good to see it with fresh eyes when I return.

SHOULD I GO OR SHOULD I STAY?

2009-09-25T08:20:00.005+10:00

You should always expect the unexpected! Gerard is teaching in Alice Springs till the end of the year. I had considered going up in December and driving home with him. The Northern Territory school holidays start this week and Gerard was planning to come home for my 50Th birthday. So with a change of plans, I will now be taking my land skin on that long train trip. The Ghan travels from Adelaide to Darwin, taking in the outback. My trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs takes 25 hours, that's a lot of reading and stitching. We have had the flu here again and I really don't have the spare time for a trip like this, but you only turn 50 once, so it is a wonderful way to celebrate. Last night I read Zandra Rhodes beautiful book, The Art of Zandra Rhodes. I bought the book in the 1980's when it was first published, it is a fabulous source of inspiration. It was interesting to read her response to Ayers Rock, Uluru as it is now known by it's aboriginal name. I also bought the book about Olive Pink, an unconventional anthropologist and advocate for Aboriginal rights, a while back at a second hand book shop, it seems the perfect time to read it now. There is a garden in Alice Springs named after her and they say that she still haunts Alice Springs.
So I plan on taking lots of photo's and spending time drawing.
I had bought some good quality white cotton clothes at the op shop, shorts and T shirts. Luckily I had dipped them several times in a soy then ash mordant months ago, so over the weekend I dyed them with onion skins and dried mistletoe, so now my clothes match the colour of the dreaded outback dust!

THE FINE ART OF UNPICKING

2009-09-07T08:22:00.004+10:00

You may think that I have arranged these photo's in the wrong order but, my mantra is if in doubt pull it out! This tapestry has been a challenge in every stage of creation. Trying to make a good cartoon from an out of focus photo. Dyeing all of the wool has challenged my skills as a dyer. All of the colours have been greyed down with a mixture of red, yellow, blue, and black. I wasted a lot of time that could have been spent at the loom dyeing 5 gram samples. But now I am loving the colours, very different from my normal pallet of bright hues. I even had the loom warp, so it has been taken apart with the warp on it to be fixed! I also decided to celebrate my Irish heritage by adding one stand of linen to my weft bundles. This ended up a disaster as the linen won't unwind off the bobbin the same length as the wool. I ended up un plying the linen by spinning it through my spinning wheel. The first time that I rang Marie I had only woven 15 cm and every single pass of that I had to correct by pulling the linen through separately. So you can just imagine what I was thinking about my Irish heritage at the time? For the last three weeks every Monday morning I have sewn a thread across the tapestry so that I could chart my progress each week. Last Wednesday I decided that I could not live with the jug the way that it was as you could see my turns and I thought that it would look better woven a different way. So I spent hours un pulling it.

This confirmed my opinion that you must be crazy to work in tapestry, if you aren't it helps to be. It took me two days of solid weaving to weave the section back in. I am glad that I made the choice to un pull the equivalent of a small tapestry, 36 X 14 cm. I am happy with it now. It takes courage to unpick your work, but living with what you think is not working is a lot worse.

This is where I am up to today, the beginning of another week. It is difficult to get a good photo of this tapestry as the loom is taller than the ceiling fan so I am not able to push the loom far enough back. Best get on with weaving!

HOUSE BOUND

2009-08-20T16:00:00.003+10:00

Yesterday was the first day that I have walked in the Ironbarks Forest in months. We have had the flu here again, the second time in 3 months. Coen has been home from school more this term than he has been at school and is still not well. It was wonderful to feel the coming of spring with warm sunny days. The green hood orchids are out in flower now. Only growing to about 1 inch high, they are easy to miss amongst the litter on the forest floor. I was saddened to see that the mining company are doing exploratory work looking for gold in the forest. Although the forest was mined in the gold rush of the 1800's much of it has been taken back by mother nature.
Australia has many unique wildflowers that mainly bloom in spring. The slide show is a small sample of the flowers that grow in the forest beside my home.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

TAPESTRY WEAVERS BLOGGING ESSAYS

2009-07-27T09:05:00.005+10:00

BLOG TECH
Are you curious about what drives artists to blog? Are you considering starting your own blog? The American Tapestry Alliance's latest edition of the Educational Article series offers technical and inspirational insights into artists' blogs. It is hosted on the ATA website.

Mary Lane recently invited six tapestry weavers who write blogs to share their experiences.
Janet Austin, Elaine Duncan, Lyn Hart, Tommye Scanlin, Kathe Todd Hooker and myself contributed articles.
It was wonderful to read every ones response. If you have ever considered writing your own blog now is a good time to start.

The Ararat Regional Art Gallery recently launched its own blog and I urge you all to take a look or even better subscribe using Google Reader so that you are notified when the blog is updated.

The Ararat Gallery holds an important place in the Australia textile world as it is one of only two Regional Galleries in Australia that holds significant collections of textiles and fibre art. The Gallery has a strong commitment to tapestry and recently purchased new works by Sara Lindsay and the late Kate Derum. The tapestry collection includes works by Marie Cook, a suite of 4 tapestries by Canadian artist Marcel Marios, along with tapestries by Joy Smith, Kaye Lawrence, Valerie Kirk, Jess Brook, Cheryl Clark Thornton and too many more to mention here. Last year the Gallery celebrated it's 40Th anniversary by showcasing 40 artists from their permanent collection.

The American Tapestry Alliance memberships are due this month.
I would just like to say here that no matter where you live in the world it is well worth while joining.
I have enjoyed immensely finding a new newsletter in my mailbox. The newsletter is published four times a year and is full of inspiring articles written by weaves world wide. Each newsletter is written around a certain 'theme' and although produced in black and white, colour photo's and a condensed article is uploaded onto the website to coincide with each newsletter. Australia has no forum for tapestry, but I would recommend to everyone joining the American Tapestry Alliance, I have found it very inspiring.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye

2009-07-24T16:14:00.008+10:00

Even if you don't have a keen interest in Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art, I urge you all to watch these programs.
On Sunday at 1.30 pm Message Stick will air the first in two programs about the genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of the Australian Aboriginal art movement.
Born in 1910, Kngwarreye, who lived at Utopia Station, 200 km north east of Alice Springs, did not take up painting seriously until she was nearly 80.
The women of Utopia Station are famous for their production of batik and hooked rugs. Even in Emily's own lifetime there was a lot of publicity about her exploitation and you can read a good article about her here.

Regardless of these, I feel that the paintings are her legacy to the world of art.

If you miss the programs you can download the vodcast after the program has aired from anywhere in the world here.
If you think that it would be almost impossible to interpret one of Emily's paintings into tapestry and you have a copy of Sue Walker's book " Artist's Tapestries" turn to page 247.

Even though these are spoken in Japanese, you will still see the culture behind the works of art, and the absolute beauty of the paintings.

I feel that the one thing that saddens me is that this exhibition has never been shown here in Australia, although I feel very proud, as a non indigenous Australian, of Emily's achievements.
I hope that I have been able to introduced this most amazing Indigenous Australian to a wider audience.

Tapestry "Triumph of Fame"

2009-07-24T13:01:00.004+10:00

The internet can be a huge timewaster, but every now and then you come across something wonderful.

Sitting here in my home in rural Victoria, Australia I was able to watch a scholars talk by Thomas Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Considered an expert in tapestry, from late medieval to the baroque period. There was a lot of fanfare from the textile world when he was appointed Director last year.

'TAPESTRY BLUES' EXHIBITION, ADELAIDE

2009-06-29T14:58:00.006+10:00

'Tapestry Blues' an exhibition of tapestries from Australia and New Zealand weavers is now on display in Adelaide, South Australia.

Dates Wed 24 June - Sun 19 July 2009

Little Glory Gallery
Hand spinners & Weavers Guild of SA
196 South Rd
Mile End

Times: Wed & Sat 11am - 3pm
Sun 1pm - 4pm
or by appointment, phone 08 83524843

DOVECOT STUDIOS, A RICH TAPESTRY

2009-06-19T09:07:00.004+10:00

This fascinating video about Dovecot Studios gives you an insight into the practice of tapestry weaving in a commercial tapestry studio. Weavers Douglas Grierson and Jonathan Cleaver provide perspectives on the history and current state of tapestry weaving while discussing their own background in tapestry. Dovecot director David Weir talks about the Edinburgh studio's illustrious past. The Dovecot will celebrate its 100Th anniversary in 2012. There was talk at the Symposium in Canberra last year that there may be an International Tapestry Symposium organized to coincide with their anniversary.

INDIA FLINT, 5 DAY WORKSHOP WARRNAMBOOL TAFE

2009-06-04T10:42:00.025+10:00

After spending weeks winding 5 gram samples of wool and dyeing so many trial runs to get the perfect and difficult colours for my current tapestry, the thought of just sitting at the loom weaving for the rest of the year seemed a trifle TOO BORING!

Warnambool Tafe had organized a 5 day workshop with India Flint. ‘Botanical Alchemy: an introduction to ecologically sustainable dyes for textiles’ ‘Landskins’ a class combining felt, stitch and dye in the making of felted, stitched and dyed soft felt wraps. I decided that I needed to go and play at something different and this was an opportunity too good to miss! I took along with me a variety of metal pots, copper, brass, iron, stainless steel and tin. Dried mistletoe from the trees at home simmer slowly in the brass pot below. No chemical mordant's are used, the dye vessel acts as the mordant.

I was asked by one of the students what mistletoe looks like. Amyema miraculosa or red flowering mistletoe is a parasitic plant, spread by birds, it grows like a candelabra on gumtrees in areas of natural forest or roadside trees. I was surprised to drive all the way home from Warrnambool and not see any until the outskirts of Ararat. The hour and a half drive is through a region that has no natural forest or trees apart from what has been planted as windbreaks in farm paddocks or roadside plantings.

This mistletoe is growing on a peppermint gum tree opposite my house. I have never seen one before that looks similar to this, it is almost like a second species as the leaves and flowers are different from the rest of the mistletoe.
Samples simmer in an iron pot which proved too popular with students and was submerged in a larger pot, still giving the wonderful properties of iron to the dye baths.

None of the photo's do justice to the beauty of the fabrics. This is silk hot bundled with eucalyptus lehmannii leaves. The iron adds wonderful patterning to the fabric.

Pre felt batting, hot bundled with eucalyptus cordata and dryed mistletoe.

The felt on the left was dyed with the same eucalyptus as the silk bag on the right but with different metals and dyeing methods. A piece of one of my Archie Brennan copper pipe looms will share the memory of the leaves with me while I weave my next small tapestry.

Felt dyed with onion skins, banksia leaves form the resist pattern.

Silk dyed with a combinaton of eucalyptus cordata and eucalyptus sideroxylon.

I love the way that you can obtain two different prints by using eucalypts that give different colours and have different sized leaves.

Red and Gold onion skins shimmer on silk.

The first two days of the workshop concentrated on dyeing, Wednesday saw us all beginning to make prefelts, dyeing them with the techniques that we had learned. I have never made felt before and on the materials sheet that we were sent before the workshop India suggested we may like to purchase pre felt batting from Beautiful Silks So when a wise woman offers wisdom it is usually a good plan to take their advice.

I cut the batting into 3 pieces, one was dyed green in a copper pot with Choisya ternata, another with banksia cones and the third I tore into pieces and dyed with different eucalyptus and pieces of scrap metal. Silks were dyed and I did make some pre felts pieces that included merino sliver dyed in a variety of the many pots simmering away at the workshop. I took some of Ellie's beautiful English Leicester fleece to incorporate into prefelt pieces. India assured me that it would felt even though it is such a strong fleece compared to the soft, fine merino that we were using. The Leicester prefelts were over stitched with silk thread in patterns of fern fronds in different stages of unraveling. Other prefelts were stitched with wool and silk. The prices were then sewn together and running stitch in silk and wool were added over the entire surface to " tie the piece together "

This is one of India's landskins from the Planeta Exhibition at the Ararat Gallery earlier this year.

A rare and exotic India Flint models her landskin made at the workshop as a demonstration.

The felting process went ok, typical of me to make such a large piece for my first attempt. Sometimes it is good to just jump in the deep end after all I did go to this workshop to do something outside of the 'box" I feel I work in. A few pieces of silk did not felt, I added some more stitching during the felting process but this was not successful, never mind it is all about learning. I decided to dye my landskin with eucalyptus lehmannii to give a beautiful warm orange. Lehmannii and cordarta leaves along with pieces of scrap metal were folded through the felt and tied up as tightly as I could manage with leftover cotton warp.

India demonstrating nuno felting.

There were many early mornings and late nights but I was determined to finish my felt while I was there as I thought it would be too distracting to continue at home while I have a large tapestry to weave. I stayed at Tafe until about 6.30 on Friday waiting to finish the dye process. As I was to have dinner with a friend I ended up emptying the felt complete with dye bath into a bucket to take home with me. After resting in the bucket for a couple of days I retied the felt a bit tighter and steamed it in my large bamboo steamer for I hour hoping to get some leaf prints.

I used some of the dye bath that I brought home with me and divided it equally between a stainless steel bucket and a 'milo' tin. To each dye bath I added a skein of handspun white English Leicester and slowly simmered each one for the same period of time. The ball on the left was dyed in an wonderful heavy commercial aluminum saucepan given to me on the way home by my friend and boss of 10 years Suzy. (It seems poetic justice to use a saucepan from the restaurant as a dye pot now when you think of all the meals we made together in my past life as a Chef) The Leicester handspun wool was dyed with eucalyptus cinerea and the small sample on the top is a piece of handspun cross bred sliver that I bought from Bendigo Woolen Mills. You can see that handspun does not take dye the same as commercially scoured wool. The second ball is the eucalyptus lehmannii dyed in stainless steel and the third ball is the lehmannii dyed in the 'milo' tin, but the star of the show are the tiny pieces of Ellie's fleece shining on the surface of the felt.

The workshop was loads of fun, just what I needed. There are few things as satisfying as dyeing fabric and yarns, eco dyeing can give you lots of unexpected surprises with little impact on the environment.

I have to say with climate change and the world economic crisis ( I won't get on my soapbox here, I reserve that for my morning coffee with Gerard ) and following the Black Saturday fires here in Victoria I have felt very vunerable in the way that I source materials for my tapestries. I am almost totally dependent on two suppliers. I buy kilo's of specially spun un dyed tapestry wool from Bendigo, I know of only one other tapestry weaver who buys the same one as me. I had heard murmurings that they were not going to keep producing this yarn, probably just gossip but it makes me feel very nervous. Kraft Kolour where I have bought my dyes from since 1985 had moved their entire business to their home and were completly burned out in the Black Saturday fires. Bonney and Graham are trying hard to rebuild their lost business and hope to open again mid year. After 30 years of experimenting with dyeing and 17 years of dyeing wool for my tapestries, learning to dye with a system which allows any quantity to be reproduced exactly to my 5 gram samples. With hundreds of meticulously kept records, without those little jars of dye powder they are all totally worthless!
Last Friday was World Environment Day, my friend Helga organized a seminar titled ' The hundred mile lunch' The concept is to source your food locally, so as to have fresh organic food with less impact on the environment and low miles traveled. We seem to still import fresh produce from overseas at the cost of our local producers here in Australia, even though we are supposed to be the smarter generation?

So if you can have a hundred mile diet......without coffee.....ouch!

Can you have a hundred mile tapestry?

Medieval tapestries were woven using only plant dyes with a limited palette of colors. I have studied them, wondered over them, researched them and written many essays about them. Only last year I wrote a scathing essay about the demise of tapestry as the 26th December 1519, when Pope Leo X hung seven tapestries of a series of ten in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The first tapestries ever woven, monumental in scale that were slavishly copied from an artist’s cartoons. So after all that I have to wonder, am I trying to do the same thing? trying to replicate exactly the colours in my current tapestry?
Before I began weaving tapestries I was exploring rug weaving, using white and natural coloured fleeces purchased from local farmers and experimenting with eucalyptus dyes. My beautiful upright four shaft Stanley Dann rug loom has sat idle for many years while I have studied tapestry. So change is in the air and I can feel the wheel slowly turning backwards. Before I left for Warrnambool I had just finished reading Anahita's Woven Riddle by Meghan Nuttall Sayres and while in Warrnambool I borrowed and read her wonderful book, Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland, Taipeis Gael in Donegal. I found the book to be so inspiring and admired the tapestries woven in handspun natural dyed yarns.

In a world where our mantra should be Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle we should all be doing everything we can to have less impact on the environment, maybe reducing my expectations of how many colours and how I source my materials could be a good place to ponder.

India's mantra is 'time is your friend' eco dyeing should not be rushed, take things gently and slowly, don't be impatient and the results will reward you.

In a houshold that only knows slow food... slow gardening...slow weaving...slow dyeing should fit in just perfectly!

Many thanks to India for her wisdom and generously shared knowledge, only gained by years and years of research and practice.
I enjoyed the experience immensely. India writes a blog here and you can read a review with details of her fabulous book here and try to source it in your area.
If you ever have an opportunity to participate in a workshop with India, take it, nothing is more valuable than years of experience.....

As for my landskin, it needs a gorgeous young Maasai warrior to model it for me. It certainly looks like a skin. I have some dyed wool and silk yarns left over from the workshop and next time I travel on a long journey on the train I will add some stitching. Till then it is back to the loom.

Warrnambool Tafe often run workshops. If you are interested you can be added to the mailing list by contacting Linda at the details below.

Linda Johnstone, Department of Arts,

SWIT, PO Box 674, Warrnambool, 3280

Ph: 03 55 633 610

Email: linda.johnstone@swtafe.vic.edu.au

NEW BEGINNINGS, INKING ON

2009-06-03T13:47:00.002+10:00

I suppose that we all weave the way that we have been taught, but inking on a large tapestry can seem to take days!
Far more exciting things have been happening here. All in stages of creation.
Will show you all soon.

AS STATIONARY AS MY CAMEL

2009-04-28T15:00:00.011+10:00

I have been at a stand still with my current tapestry which is not a good feeling so far into the school year. Most of the wool is now dyed. the new loom was warped, hem woven and guess what?? The loom warped. I decided that rather than weave on it the way it was I would need to fix the problem. One of the difficulties with living in such a rural area is that it is often hard to buy materials. I ordered some adapters which took a week to get. We left the loom with the tapestry on it while we pulled the sides apart and took the thread out. A bit nerve racking but it was a success although next time I would put a couple of passes at the very top of the warp so that they don't slip as it took ages to get the warps back in the right place. It has been years since I did any spinning but I bought some beautiful English Leicester fleeces from a local breeder and have been spinning some yarn to take to a workshop in a couple of weeks. The fleece has a gorgeous lustre and should take dye beautifully. The only thing is that I cant decide if I should ply it or leave it as singles? The camel is a bit of a joke around here as Gerard is always on at me that I am really a nomad and just need to get a camel as you can never use the boot of my car because I permanently keep my camping gear in it complete with food and water. I bought him at a market in Pomonal at Easter, so now I have my camel, we named him Raj. Although it is not a Persian Bazaar here there are murmurings that it is looking a bit like a wool factory. I found this little clip on YouTube a while back. It will make you feel like visiting Iran.

If you enjoyed the taste of Persian carpets I cant recommend this highly enough. The documentary is by David Attenborough from The Tribal Eye series. Titled Woven Gardens and filmed in 1975 it is a fabulous account of the Qashqa'i tribe of Iran. I have to wonder how much has changed for these nomads since the film was made. If you choose to watch Woven Gardens you will need refreshments as it plays for around 50 minutes. Enjoy!

AT LAST!

2009-03-23T17:31:00.002+11:00

After what has been a weaving marathon, my tapestry for the 'Tapestry Blues' challenge, is now in the post, and on the way to Sydney, and then off to New Zealand on Sunday.
As usual the tapestries seem to take forever, new glasses have been a help and a trial, I am sure that they put someone ealse's lenses in my frames. It is weird as I only wear them to weave. I don't think that there are many other occupations that you need to LOOK at what you are doing as much as tapestry weaving.

I am glad to have it finished and now I should get on with beginning the next one.

'EARTH HOUR' MARCH 28th

2009-03-21T08:49:00.012+11:00

March 28th is Earth Hour and we are ALL being asked to show our vote for, or against, global warming. To vote against all you need to do is turn your lights OFF at 8.30pm for one hour.
Climate Change is affecting us all and the impact here where I live in regional Victoria is biting hard. The photo is of Lake Lonsdale, a former recreational lake a few miles from where I live. During the past 12 years the lake has only held water over the summer once! We are in our tenth year of severe drought and it saddens me that my 12 year old son Coen has not experienced any of the joys of relief from the heat that I did while growing up. Only one summer was he able to play under the sprinkler on the back lawn during a heat wave and has never been to the nearby lakes for a swim. Our town looks dry and barren with bucket only water restrictions over the past 4 summers. Our summers are getting hotter and this year all previous records were broken with what is now known as Black Saturday, our hottest and most tragic day, with bush fires that almost destroyed entire towns. Over two hundred people lost their lives, while floods ravaged Queensland.
Victoria has become a different state since the Black Saturday fires. Schools are now closed in regional areas on days of high fire danger, which include all the small country schools here. In an unprecedented move Victoria Police sent a text message on the 2nd of March to all Victorians with mobile phones, warning of extreme weather conditions and asking people to implement their fire plan. Decide if you are to stay and defend, or evacuate EARLY, to listen to the emergency radio station and not travel on the day. I fear that these warnings will become a more regular event in our future.

This is a photo that I took of Lake Belfield from the top of the Pinnacle in the Grampians in May last year. The Lake which now looks more like a puddle was 17% capacity in winter. Water from Lake Belfield is sent to the Mallee Region of Victoria for use by farmers in an area with less rainfall and much harsher conditions than here. Last year saw the beginning of the Wimmera Malle pipeline project. Water is now piped to the Mallee rather than sent in open channels to reduce loss from evaporation. If you think that this all sounds depressing, well yes it is. Global Warming seems to have become a concern for the economy in most countries, rather that something that we all need to address. The cost of living here has skyrocketed, impacted by crop failures and the rising cost of fuel. The trend here for importing cheaper goods from overseas still continues. Australia imports for example, bottled water from China, would you really like to drink water from who knows where in China? You can now go into any business selling cold drinks here in Australia and see the fridges stocked with at least 40% bottled water,(mostly Australian I should add) Planet Ark are asking people to stop supporting this industry by buying a reusable water bottle that contains a built in filter and filling it up at home. Just this one simple task greatly reduces direct impact on the earths resources. It is not quite all doom and gloom here. As a user of public transport I would find myself almost the only person catching the 6.30 am train to Melbourne, now you almost wonder if you are going to get a seat and be allowed on. The change to the use of public transport here is due mainly to the rising cost of fuel, although it is a positive move. Many regional and city areas now hold monthly and weekly Farmers Markets where small growers can sell their produce directly to the public. These markets have become hugely popular and are very well supported. Please take time to think about the goods that you purchase in the future. Without the support of consumers, many companies would have to change their products.
March 28th is a Saturday here and I shall celebrate it by camping in the Grampians and enjoying the stars!

'LAND EXHIBITION'

2009-03-19T09:27:00.007+11:00

For those who did not exhibit, or were unable to attend 'Tapestry 2008 The Fine Art of Weaving' in Canberra last year, the 'LAND' Exhibition is now online. You can visit the exhibition on the American Tapestry Alliance website, here.
170 tapestries from all over the world represent each artist's response to 'Land'
All tapestries were to be 10 centimeters high and as long as the artist chose to weave. The overall majority of the tapestries were pinned to the wall at eye level, other longer tapestries commanded a higher space, with Kristin Saeterdal
'Temperature Calendar' tapestry rolled up at one end as it could not be exhibited in it's entire length. Overall a wonderful exhibition, please visit and enjoy!

THE PLANNING BEGINS

2009-02-14T21:28:00.010+11:00

This photo will become my next tapestry. You can read about the image here. I love the way the photo is out of focus but it is causing many headaches in the planning of the tapestry. The whole image has a yellow cast over it so the colours are difficult to match. I decided that I would buy the wool from the V.T.W. instead of my usual practice of dyeing my own. After looking through my sample box I have discovered that the colours I need are not available, so this week has been spent dyeing samples.

The image on the computer screen is much sharper than any of the prints that I have had made from the photo. Each different place that I have the photo printed gives me a different colourway. Some copies are more detailed than others so I am going to have to decide on which one I like the best and go from there. I have been dyeing my samples with a grey that I have made from a large percentage of yellow, some red and black, to try to get the yellow look that I want. I had begun weaving a sample with a very dark navy mixed with the wools but we decided that that was not working and I would have to dye the colours rather than try to mix them. This tapestry will be woven on a number 18 seine twine which is a very coarse set for me, but will be much faster to weave, well you can always hope! I have started tracing the cartoon but it is difficult to get good detail so I think that the slow approach is the best. I sit down and work on it for about 15 minutes then leave it for a while before I go back to it. It is easy to get impatient and make mistakes that you pay for later. This cartoon is going to be my map for many long hours. This is the first time that I have used a photo for a tapestry design. I often take photos but then draw, or most often paint from them, so this is also a new learning curve for me. I don't want the tapestry to be a slavish copy of the photo.

This is my design for the 'Tapestry Blues' challenge, chillies from my garden. The deadline is getting close and I have barley started.

I spent a few days last week working on this tapestry but I am finding it very difficult to see. I can't see to sew up the slits or count the turns, it is so fine. I am getting new glasses and they should be here by the end of next week. To get this tapestry finished by the deadline I won't be doing much apart from weaving. But at least I should be able to see it!

WE WERE TOLD TO BRACE OUR SELVES!

2009-02-08T19:24:00.006+11:00

The warnings went out near the end of the week that the entire State of Victoria could after the recent unbearable heatwaves expect the hottest day on record this Saturday. 48c or around 120f and strong winds have caused the greatest natural disaster that this State and Country has ever seen. We are safe here, but the toll is still being counted and fires are still burning out of control in much of Victoria. The statistics are too dreadful to mention. To think that many of the fires were started by arson, is just totally beyond me.

A NEW YEAR AND NEW BEGINNINGS

2009-01-29T07:51:00.004+11:00

We are suffering a heat wave here at the moment so brain activity is a bit on the slow side. I have just spent 3 pleasant but very hot days at camp in Halls Gap with lecturers and other students from the Diploma of Tapestry at South West Institute of Tafe. The time spent there is invaluable to students who study by correspondence as it is a time to catch up with old friends and make new ones. It gives you less of a feeling of working in isolation. The photo was taken from the top of the Pinnacle in July last year. The Pinnacle overlooks the valley and the township of Halls Gap. Norval where the camp was held is the first group of large buildings in the bottom right. Had I taken the photo yesterday it would look more browned off to a crisp as we are in our tenth year of severe drought and have had no rain at all since the beginning of December.

This is a time to make decisions about my work for the year and try to plan my time. While at camp many students discussed the fine art of procrastination. I mentioned to Sue a website that has fabulous advice on every aspect of art practice that we all seem very good at stumbling over and promised to find it, so here are the links. I have not downloaded any of the pod casts but I found this Pdf file invaluable and maybe I should read it more often while I procrastinate. The file is called Time Management for Creative People, Manage the Mundane and Create the Extraordinary. You can find the download here. There is so much valuable information that can be downloaded free from this website and you will find the home page here.

THE ART OF MAXIMO LAURA

2009-01-09T19:04:00.007+11:00

My favorite tapestry in the Land Exhibition at Tapestry 2008 in Canberra last year was the most wonderful, colourful and beautifully woven tapestry by Maximo Laura. Maximo's tapestry won the peoples choice award and you will be able to view it when the exhibition is uploaded on to the American Tapestry Alliance's online gallery.

It is a rare treat to hear such a well known tapestry weaver talk about the inspiration and symbolism used in his work. The tapestries have some interesting areas of texture woven into them and are such a celebration of colour. Often I come across real "gems" as I call them on YouTube and feel disappointed that they have been viewed so few times. This year I will post more of my treasures here.

If you can speak Spanish you may get more from the artist speaking than this English translation. The video's were produced by AMS Imports. I hope that you enjoy the colourful world of Maximo Laura. You will find the artists website here.

A GOOD WAY TO END THE YEAR

2008-12-31T19:54:00.002+11:00

It is a good feeling to end the year with a large project finished.
A tapestry can at time seem to take over your life and a feeling of great accomplishment comes over you when you realize that you are finally finished!!!!

Wishing everyone a 'Happy and Productive New Year'

2009 will be my final year at South West Institute of Tafe. Many new tapestries to make. Should start tomorrow.........

A TRIP TO THE FLINDERS RANGES

2008-10-26T16:39:00.012+11:00

After driving for three days through the Mallee country of Victoria and into remote areas of South Australia, this is the view that we woke up to on our first morning in the Flinders Ranges. The green grass would be dry by now as this was the last week in September. The Flinders Ranges are the most spectacular colours and these photo's dont really show that. Flinders Blue Violet and Flinders Red Violet are familiar names to Australian Artists.The photo was taken between Hawker and Wilpena Pound. an natural amphitheater formation in the Flinders. What we did not expect on our first day there was that the temperature reached 38c!!! dry and dusty.

These rangers are the beginning of Wilpena Pound. The day became very windy, with a heat haze appearing across the entire landscape.

The Flinders Ranges are renowned for their redgum trees, made famous in the paintings of Hans Heysen.These trees are huge and majestic.Only growing in water courses,they follow the flow of the land. Gerard is six foot two and this tree towers over him.

Sacred Canyon Aboriginal engraving site, begins with a walk along a dry creek bed lined with many redgum trees.

As you slowly enter the canyon you tend to get a sense of timelessness, nothing here has changed for centuries.

Aboriginal art of the Flindes Ranges in the form of engravings paintings and drawings is called Yura Marlka by the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges. The Adnyamathanha people are a mix of the formerly distinct but related Walpi,Kuyani, JadlIaura Piladappa and Palanka groups. The name Adnyamathanha is a collective term now used by the groups and literally means hills people Anya-stone, hill-matha group.

Sacred Canyon is a significant site for the Adnyamathanha people and is protected through the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988

Aboriginal rock engravings are found throughout South Australia. They were produced by repeatedly hitting the surface of the rock with a sharp object to produce a series of interconnecting pits or by rubbing the rock surface with a sharp object to produce a groove. Common motifs in South Australia include geometric circles or linear designs or animal tracks. Animal and human figures can accompany these designs. As you walk through Sacred Canyon you can see many engravings, including motifs depicting animal tracks, geometric circles,and linear designs. You can see emu and kangaroo tracks among the engravings. The age of the engravings is unknown but the Adnyamathanha people believe that the engravings were not made by people but were created for them by ancestral beings during the Dreaming.

The canyon opens up again into a creek bed. This old tree has continued to pass through time even though it has been divided in half, many years ago.

It is amazing that the inside of the tree reflects the same colours as the land and canyon.

This photo was taken on the road from Sacred Canyon back to Wilpena on the second day that we were there. The day was a much more pleasant temperature of about 23c and no heat haze so as you can see the colour is more intense.

On the main road we came across a male emu with his young. Although we see many emu's here in the Grampians we stopped while Gerard took a video to show his students in China. During the time we were in the area there were many art exhibitions on. A wonderful historic wool shed housed a fabulous exhibition of Aboriginal Artist's work. We were very lucky that the exhibition was being looked after at the time by one of the artist's. My favorites were simple stories of the Dreaming, painted in local ocre which the area is renowned for. The colours were just beautiful, soft and quiet. Gerard and I spent about 1 hour talking with him, taking in the local stories. We left the Flinders to return to Hawker and then on to Quorn.

Yourambulla Caves Aboriginal Painting Site.
The name Yourambulla is derived from the Adnyamathanha phrase "yura billa", meaning two men, in the language of the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges. Aboriginal paintings occur in caves, shelters and overhangs in the southern part of the Yappala hills. The age and purpose is not known but they are thought to relate to the Dreaming or ceremonies associated with the site.

While the caves were probably visited regularly there is no evidence that they were inhabited. These caves and surrounding area form a large part of the Adnyamathanha peoples culture and heritage.

Yourambulla refers to the two peaks to the east of the caves which represent two ancestral companions who camped at this place while traveling in the Dreamtime or time of creation in Aboriginal mythology. This story describes how the Adnyamathanha moiety or kindship system came into being. This follows two matrilenial lines of decent, Arraru and Mathari.

The description of the symbols here is too involved to tell but if anyone would like a detailed description feel free to email me and I will send it to you.
It was quite a walk to get to the caves although not difficult the last part was a series of very steep steps although they were more like climbing ladders, the site was very high up the rockface.
The drive between Quorn and the main highway to Port Augusta is one of my favorite parts of the Flinders as the road cuts many times between the hills. An historic steam train runs between Quorn and Port Augusta during holiday time. After driving through the Barossa Valley, a few relaxing days were spent with family in Adelaide. A pleasant day spent at the Art Gallery of South Australia where my favorite tapestry in the whole world hangs, the Adoration of the Magi by William Morris. While we were in the Flinders Ranges I celebrated my 49th birthday. Gerard bought me the cataloge from the Met Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence Although not my favorite period of historical tapestry the cataloge is fantastic and welcome addition to my library, a perfect birthday present. The five hour drive home from Adelaide showed how much the countryside had changed with the spring flush. The blossom of my crabapple trees welcomed us home along with the growth of weeds. We had a great time while we were away and Gerard left for China a few days after we returned to teach English at a University in Huainan for a few months, his second time there this year. If you would like to see some fantastic photo's taken by others of the Flinders Ranges click here.

SBS television here in Australia has produced a new seven part series called The First Australians.
The program begins with the first white settlers......our shame full past alas...
Seven years in the making with much never before seen footage the program will have you on the edge of your seat.
You can download the programs from this website for free, the day after they are aired. here in mp 4 format
I would encourage anyone with and interest in Aboriginal Culture to visit the website The First Australians

FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PENELOPE

2008-10-16T10:03:00.002+11:00

The year is marching on at a fast pace and I have been away from the loom for a few weeks now. A long awaited holiday to the Flinders Ranges was a well earned break from weaving and domestic life here. As usual I seem to un pull areas that I am not happy with. I wove the highlight in on the apple before I left, but realized that the coulour is way too pale. New colours were dyed before leaving, so that will be the next area to be un pulled and resolved. When Coen and I moved the loom around last night so that I could take these photos I noticed some ridging in an area of blue that I had just woven so that will go as well. Sometimes it takes courage to pull out your mistakes, but living with them I feel is far worse. So maybe Penelope was after all, just resolving her mistakes!

'MEMORIES OF A WONDERFUL LADY'

2008-09-03T15:05:00.005+10:00

It can be sad when you loose a friend, even when they are old. My friend Nina passed away last week, just short of her 89th birthday. We shared many interests, art, silk painting, knitting, spinning and weaving, but I think that our most shared passion was for gardening.
Nina had the most wonderful garden, it was always such a pleasure to visit, spending time sitting in her garden and enjoying her company. The photo of the Mermaid rose is from Nina's garden, it had a trunk as big as and apple tree! In spring the garden was ablaze with Flanders poppies, love in the mist, irises, roses and too many more flowers to mention. Nina's pride and joy was a large thyme lawn, total luxury to sit on! The long drought became a difficult time for us all and even more so when you are old and getting frail, as we can only water outside with a bucket or watering can now.

In 2004 I wove this tapestry in collaboration with Nina. The tapestry is a section of an oil painting that Nina had painted of her magnolia tree. The experience of the collaboration was very rewarding and time spent with a friend. For my work experience I curated a retrospective exhibition of Nina's work. Titled 'Fantasy Figure's' the exhibition included mono prints, collages and large paintings of Nina's love of ballet, literature and nudes. Vases full of spring flowers from her garden along with scarves of colourful painted silk decorated the gallery. This was the only time that most people had ever seen Nina's art and many were amazed by the contemporary feel of the work to find out that Nina was in her early eighties!
These are photos that I had taken of my son Coen in the garden at Nina's house. In some of the photos he is almost two and others almost three. You get a sense of the garden with it's riot of spring colour. Coen who will be twelve in January was always more engaged with talking to Nina than looking at the camera. I am so pleased to have these photos as they bring back some wonderful memories.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

A SMALL AMOUNT OF PROGRESS

2008-08-20T17:42:00.003+10:00

This tapestry seems like the never ending project! This time you can see how much further I have to go to the top of the cartoon. The finished tapestry will be 1 meter wide by 80 centimeters high. The warp is number 12 and I am using 6 strands of 2/16's 9tpi, which is very fine. I dislike the texture of tapestry woven on a number 18 warp but this is taking forever so maybe I should start liking number 18 in the future? I was not happy with the colours that I had been using in the beginning of the apple so I ordered some more wool from Bendigo and dyed it using a milling scarlet which is more of an orange red. I unpulled all of the apple and am now using the new colours. This has worked out a lot better and I am happy with the progress so far.

PROGRESS REPORTS FROM MAY UNTILL NOW!

2008-07-17T13:59:00.009+10:00

This is where I was up to on this tapestry in May. I needed to stop working on it to be able to complete my work for the Land Exhibition at Canberra. The weaving seems to be taking forever, alas I don't have the body to be able to sit at it all day.

This is where I am up to today. Only just past the half way mark! I spent a few weeks trying to weave for a minimum of four hours a day to try to get it finished. Four hours does not sound like a lot, but at times it is difficult to find. On the downside my hands are going numb again and that is the reason that this tapestry was not finished last year. When you wake up in the night with numb hands I think that I need to slow down my weaving time.

The red in the tapestry is looking good and I think that it will be well balanced when it is finished. I added one darker thread in the apple on the left hand side of the plate to try and make a little bit more contrast between it and the pear. I suppose that the only thing to do is keep working at it and hopefully it will be finished by the end of the year.

The downside to working on a large tapestry is that they are not at all portable. Last week I made myself a new little copper pipe loom out of the half inch copper. This one I have made freestanding and pulls apart for transporting. Sometimes it is difficult to clamp them to a table. Especially when you visit friends who have beautiful cedar dining room tables!
I needed a small travel project so here it is. The Australian and New Zealand tapestry project for next year is titled "Tapestry Blues" I had already began this design and may consider submitting it, but it may be need for another exhibition in February. Time will tell.

PHOTOSHOP IMAGES FROM A 5 DAY WORKSHOP AT SOUTH WEST INSTITUTE OF TAFE, WARRNAMBOOL.

2008-07-14T14:29:00.011+10:00

It seems like so long ago now but I had promised to upload these images. After only two days at home from the Symposium in Canberra, Gerard and I made the trip to Warrnambool on the Friday for the opening of the Graduate Exhibition at the Warrnambool Art Gallery. The exhibition was the work of students from the Diploma of Art Tapestry, who had finished the Diploma in the previous three years. I did take photos of the exhibition but did not ask any of the students permission to post them here. So for that reason there are no photos.The Photoshop workshop was run by Cathy Hoffmann, Cathy is an artist and tapestry weaver who teaches the Diploma of Art Tapestry at Warrnambool Tafe. The class of about 15 students was a delightful mix of other tapestry weavers, quilt makers, artists and photographers. The first image is a photo that I took after I came home from Warrnambool of capsicums from my garden sitting on a hand painted plate that I have manipulated in Photoshop.

This collage has been made from five different photos. Some parts of the collage have been manipulated in Photoshop and others have been left in their original form. The red background has been manipulated from a photo of some Asian fabric with a little beaded book in the top left hand corner. The Geisha is a manipulated image and the rest of the collage is made up for different photos that I have taken at home.

One of the exciting aspects of Photoshop is that you can copy your layers into new images that can be manipulated in a totally different way. I have used a portion of the blue vase from the Geisha collage, added different filters and a dragon to make a completely different image. I like the contrast of the two different textures in the one image.

My favorite little Spider Orchids did not escape some changes!

This is a photo that I had taken with my SLR camera a few years ago of Gerard giving a Tai Chi demonstration at a Chinese Festival in Ararat. The image had been uploaded onto a website so it is very small in resolution. I cut the image of Gerard from the original photo, re sized the image of the dragon and collaged the two together. At some point I plan to scan the original photo and redo this image as it is difficult to work with such a small resolution. There is no room for error.

The first few days of the workshop were spent working on exercises designed by Cathy to gain familiarity with the Photoshop program. Many of the tapestry weavers in the class questioned the possibilities of weaving a tapestry from images that had been solarized in Photoshop! The next morning Cathy brought in a tapestry that she had woven from an image designed and solarized in Photoshop. Cathy explained that the design had been made up from an image of a cross, raked into the wet sand at a beach and other photos of bones that had been taken at Lake Mungo ,an ancient dry lake in New South Wales.

Friday ended with a wall of 'show and tell' It was fantastic to see the diverse range of images that had been created over the week. One student had used some of her drawings and erased parts and added filters and new colours. Another student had used photos taken of the bitumen in the car park. Family photos and travel images received new life. I have taken part in other workshops in Photoshop but it was an absolute pleasure to do the workshop with an artist rather than someone who teaches Photoshop from a more technical perspective. Cathy has such a wonderful creative eye for design and it was a most rewarding experience for all of the students.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A HANGOVER FROM TOO MUCH TAPESTRY?

2008-06-03T10:59:00.020+10:00

An exhibition titled The Fine Art of Tapestry Weaving was held at the A.N.U. as part of the Tapestry 2008 Symposium. You can download a copy of the catalogue here.
I fell in love with this tapestry by Yasuko Fujino from Japan. Titled, Harmas de J.H. Fabre, a monumental 2 X 4 meter tapestry woven from an oil pastel drawing. Absolutely beautiful in it's subtle tonal changes, woven in yarns hand dyed by the artist.

Other artists included in the Exhibition were, Susan Martin-Maffei from the U.S.A.
Fiona Rutherford, England. Archie Brennan, U.S.A. Jane Kidd, Canada. Aino Kajaniemi, Finland.
Sue Lawty, England. Sara Lindsay, Australia, and Susan Mowatt from Scotland.

It is difficult to take in so much of the information that was given so generously by all of the speakers at the Symposium. This is an overview of the program.

Friday began with Annika Ekdahl who's amazing tapestries are often woven from images manipulated in Photoshop. It is well worth taking the time to read all of the pages on Annika's website. Be sure not to miss this fascinating interactive embroidered tablecloth that is exhibited with one of her tapestries.

Diana Wood- Conroy , an Australian tapestry weaver and archaeologist gave the most interesting and thought provoking paper on Tapestry as tesserae and fresco: the hidden weaves of Late Roman antiquity.

Fiona Rutherford spoke about the influence that traditional Japanese textiles and the designer Issey Miyake have had on her work. Fiona began a blog while in Australia and you can read it here

G.W. Bot, a Canberra based print maker, painter and sculptor, spoke about her work and a collaboration with the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, titled 'Glyphs' a large scale tapestry that measures 90 x 397 cm.

Nell also spoke about a collaboration with the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, titled "Let me put my love into you"

Sue Lawty gave a talk titled, Embedded and Released. Sue spoke about her inspiration drawn from the landscape, the influence of tapestries from the past and her Artist in Residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum. One of the tapestries that Sue exhibited at the Symposium was woven from lead and beaten flat. I am not too sure how toxic to the weaver this process would be?

Saturday began with Aino Kajaniemi. Subjects from the innermost heart ... a personal account of her work. Aino's tapestries are like diary pages. Beautiful soft and contemplative images of women. Telos have published a Portfolio of Aino's work, you can find more information here.

Brenda Goggs, A tapestry weaver based in Canberra spoke about Tapestry weaving .. a slow, self-absorbed, personal, space. You can read a transcript of the talk here.

Susan Mowatt gave an overview of Scottish tapestry and talked about the demise of tapestry weaving taught in Art Schools in Scotland.

Yasuko Fujino gave a spell binding account of her work. Tiny insect wings so fine in sett and woven on a traditional Japanese loom used to weave obi's.The tapestries were displayed in tiny glass fronted boxes with hinged lids.Yasuko brought with her some of her weaving tools. It is difficult to get a sense of the scale from the photo. The shuttle is only a few inches long, a tiny piece of rabbit fur stops the bobbin from unwinding too fast. The tiniest tapestry fork that I have ever seen, made so beautifully from timber and as smooth as silk.

Jane Freear-Wyld, presented a paper titled, Digital technologies, the design process and tapestry weaving: from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary. You can read a transcript here. For more information on Digital Manipulation of images by Jane here.

Kirsty Darlston The Loom as a Stage for Performing Community History. An account of Community Tapestry. You can read a transcript here.

Carol Cassidy gave an inspiring insight into silk tapestry weaving in Lao.Carol also gave a presentation on the Wednesday about a project that she has become involved in in Cambodia. Set up to try to give an incredibly remote village a sustainable cottage industry and a sense of independence and hope in such an impoverished community. Many of the women have been the victims of land mines and have no prosthesis limbs. Looms have been adapted for use by these weavers.I was so inspired by Carols words and have thought often about this community, worlds apart from what we take for granted in our lives in the West.

Jane Kidd, To Practice in the Middle: A Craft / Art Dialogue, An informative talk about this well known Canadian tapestry weaver. You can read a transcript here.

Nancy Arthur Hoskins, Coptic fabrics and the Fauves, you can read the transcript here.

The day ended with a round table discussion on the practice of tapestry weaving as a fine art in todays modern world. The comments made that resonated to me the most is the demise of tapestry now taught in Art Institutions. Edinburgh College of Art no longer teaches tapestry weaving. Monash University here in Australia has closed the tapestry department, which was supported by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. Other Eduction Institutions here also no longer teach tapestry. One of the few remaining places that you can study tapestry is South West Institute of Tafe, Warrnambool, Australia. The Diploma of Art Tapestry, is delivered off campus and has students world wide. If you think that it would be impossible to learn tapestry by correspondence I am here to tell you that it IS possible. All the work that you see here on my blog is actually my tapestry and research drawing and design assignments! All my progress reports to my lecturers are posted here and I no longer need to mail them. My only reason for beginning this blog was to give easy access to my assignment as my emails with attachments were not getting through to Tafe. Maybe I can inspire more people with an interest in tapestry to consider correspondences learning? There were very few young weavers at the Symposium. I would not like to calculate what would be the average age of a tapestry weaver these days? The slow process of weaving tapestry in todays fast world does not seem to appeal to the younger age group.

Sunday brought a seminar on Developing Professional Skills and a wonderful afternoon with presentations on Community Tapestry in Australia given by Marie Cook, Kaye Lawrence, Cresside Collette and Kirsty Darlston. It was fascinating to see so many different community projects that have been achieved over the years. Tapestry is time consuming and expensive to produce, the idea of giving your time and producing something that will enrich your community is appealing. Cresside spoke about the Tree of Life tapestry woven at R.M.I.T. you can read a blog about the production of this monumental scale tapestry here

Valerie Kirk has written a summary of the Symposium and the tapestry 2008 blog is still being updated, you can visit here.

Congratulations to Valerie Kirk, Monique Van-Nieuwland and everyone involved with the mammoth task of organizing the Symposium.

While at the Symposium I had the wonderful opportunity of seeing Valerie Kirks Nobel Prize Tapestries.
Valerie had given such an informative presentation about the background of the prize winners and the design process of each of the tapestries in Warrnambool at Celebrate Tapestry in 2006.

Parliament House in Canberra

1. Boyd backdrop, 2. Petrified forest, 3. Arthur Boyd Painting The Great Hall Tapestry's Based On, 4. Mine's bigger than yours!

If you click here it will take you to one of the best photos that I have seen of the Arthur Boyd tapestry at Parliament House in Canberra. Believed to be the second largest tapestry in the world.

1. www.flickr.com/photos/attraversolospecchio/2085587341/, 2. The Australian Parliament, Canberra, 3. Parliament House... Sort Of, 4. CIMG2451p
Parliament House in Canberra is the most amazing building. The week after I left Canberra it celebrated its 20th anniversary. Every part of this building has the mark of an artisan. Timbers from all over the country, commissioned artworks at every turn. This building is a monument to all of Australia.

You can only JUST see the Australian flag at the top of the flagpole from the inside of Parliament House in this photo.

I think that this is the cleanest building in Australia! There is something to see at every turn.

A tapestry was commissioned from Liz Nettelton to be used as a floor rug. Twenty years later the tapestry is still in perfect condition.

During my time in Canberra I stayed with Ruth, Daisy and Rosie. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality , great company and conversation!

After all of that do you think that I should have a hangover??

" LAND EXHIBITION " TAPESTRY 2008, CANBERRA

2008-06-02T12:19:00.006+10:00

This is my tapestry from the Land Exhibition held during the Tapestry 2008 Symposium. The exhibition attracted over 170 entries from all over the world and were a fascinating range of the interpretation of 'Land'. Some of the tapestries were meters long, one was even rolled up at one end as there was not enough space to display it at the tapestries full length. The American Tapestry Alliance is to host the exhibition on line later in the year. The colours in the tapestry are more intense than this photo shows and you can see the tapestry in progress and the inspiration behind the design here

"EXPLORING THE POETIC NARRATIVE THROUGH FINE WEAVING"

2008-05-29T09:48:00.007+10:00

My days at Tapestry 2008 The Fine Art of Weaving began with a two day Master Class with Aino Kajaniemi. Aino's tapestries are like no others that you see here in Australia. Woven on a close sett fine linen warp, some feel more like a textile than what I think of as tapestry. { Weft face, woven on cotton seine twine warp, tightly beaten down with no warps visible and wool used as the most common weft material }
The tapestries are just beautiful, poetic in imagery, weft yarns are carried like pencil marks across the tapestries. Limited in their use of colour , tonal values are often achieved by eccentric weaving or wefts not beaten down to completely cover the warp. Weft materials include cotton, linen, viscose, silk, hair, wire, ribbon, un spun fleece, hemp, jute and even hay!

I chose to take with me a brush and ink drawing of my son Coen that I had done when he was about two years old. It is difficult to see in the sample the areas that I chose to do some eccentric weaving. I don't think that I could leave any of the cotton seine twine warp showing especially as I always ink my cartoon on to the warps. It was nice to see other tapestry weavers that I know and to meet Linda Wallace in person, as well as some new weavers. I must thank Aino for the class and I hope that she is feeling much better as she was so sick during the time of the Symposium and it was very difficult for her as she should have really been in bed.

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS WORKSHOPS SOUTH WEST INSTITUTE OF TAFE 12th to 16th MAY 2008

2008-04-17T13:31:00.009+10:00

Workshop Program

All workshops are 5 day programs and will start at 9am on Monday 12th May and finish at 4pm on Friday 16th May.

Workshop 1: Oil Painting with Graeme Altmann

A five day painting journey where we explore the great experience of creating images inspired from our own ideas and that of others. In the workshop we will develop stronger visualization and compositional techniques, learn to work with multiple mediums oil / acrylic and watercolour, develop the skills required to work out in the landscape environment, explore the fundamentals of colour and line and how to use them, build a unique piece of work and develop your individual style and perception

Workshop 2: Small tapestries with Rachel Hine.

Designing and weaving tapestries based on diary drawings and drawings from personal experiences will be explored in this workshop. Rachel Hine majored in tapestry at Monash University where she gained a Masters degree in Fine Art. She has exhibited her work regularly and has also worked at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. Rachel completed a dynamic collaborative community tapestry project in Bendigo with Hilary Green titled Tag-Team Tapestry. You can read Rachel's blog post here.

Workshop 3: Photoshop as a Design tool with Cathy Hoffmann

Photoshop is an excellent tool for working with photographs and other images. This workshop starts with introductory level tuition and familiarisation with basic tools. You will need to bring some photos or drawing/designs you would like to work with. Cathy has been teaching Photoshop for more than10 years and often uses it to create her own tapestry designs. You will be able to print out your designs to take home.

Workshop 4: Drawing in the Landscape with Carmel Wallace

In this workshop students will be working in the landscape, along the Hopkins river, exploring a variety of traditional and contemporary drawing techniques and some printmaking.

Carmel's work is primarily concerned with connection to place and particularly the coastal sites around her home in Portland. Her work has been exhibited in New York and London and selected for major national exhibitions. Acquisitions include the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia and State Library of Victoria. She is represented by Gallery 101 in Melbourne.

Workshop 5: Sculpture with Deborah Halpern

Experimental Workshop Using Found Objects and Unfound Objects. Creating Stuff and Things to make an installation. Stuff and Things to look for: metal, plastic, mechanical stuff, eg. engines/pumps/ wheels/cogs, bamboo, propellers, dolls, remote-control stuff, inflatable stuff and any other stuff. Come and play with Deborah Halpern. You can view Deborah's website here

Workshop 6: 3D Textiles with Ilka White

There are many textile and basketry techniques available (and many more we can invent!) that lend themselves to sculptural outcomes. Beginning with an introduction to 3D Art Textiles of the World in Indigenous and Contemporary Arts, participants will sample a few techniques and then work on their own sculptures with Ilka's assistance.

Bring your own skills and experience. A myriad of methods and materials begin to suggest themselves the more broadly we think, and the outcomes can range from the miniature to the architectural. You can view Ilka's website here

Registration

Linda Johnstone, Department of Arts,

SWIT, PO Box 674, Warrnambool, 3280

Ph: 03 55 633 610

Email: linda.johnstone@swtafe.vic.edu.au

Other Events

Diploma of Tapestry Graduate Exhibition Alan Lane Community Gallery, Warrnambool Art Gallery

JAN LEISHMAN, COLLERAINE
The 2008 graduate exhibition will be opened at the Warrnambool Art Gallery Friday May 9^th at 6.30pm. This year we are showcasing 15 students who have graduated in 2005-2007. Graduate work will also be exhibited at the Foyer Gallery in the Department of Arts during the workshop week.

'The travelling show' woven tapestries by Joy Smith, George Lance room, Warrnambool Art Gallery

This miniature tapestry exhibition is the result of a lot of trips from Melbourne to Warrnambool. Almost 25 years worth of trips. Most of my family live in Warnambool & I have several trips down a year - the number of trips depends on how many birthdays, engagements, weddings & other family events !

The images form a return trip, down the Princes Hwy & back along the Great Ocean Road

Artist’s talk and opening for The Travelling Show, Sunday 11th May at 2pm, Warrnambool Art Gallery.

Visit Joy's website here

Joy's exhibition can also be seen at.

National Wool Museum, 26 Moorabool St, Geelong, Vic

June 26 - July 16 2008

Newnorth Gallery, 15a Railway Pl, Fairfield, Vic

August 7 - August 28 2008

SARA LINDSAY EXHIBITION

2008-04-07T12:15:00.004+10:00

I just managed to go back to the Ararat Gallery to view Sara's exhibition again before it closed. It was nice to spend some quiet time at the Gallery and be able to have a closer look at the exhibition. Sara's work is soft, quiet and contemplative, they invite you in to look closer at the subtle tonal changes. Most of the tapestries in the exhibition are woven from torn checked gingham. Cinnamon and Roses, scroll like in length, is a beautifully soft tapestry and mixed media construction that charts the life of the artist's mother. A highly personal work, tracing the life of her mother, the daughter of a British tea plantationer in Sri Lanka. Woven in different fibers that include muslin dyed with tea and turmeric each 5 centimeters charts a year in her mothers life. Works on paper and mixed media collage were included in the exhibition along with beautiful soft works in gouache and tea stains on paper. Overall a wonderful exhibition that invites you to spend the time to absorb all the soft tonal changes in the works. You can see more of Sara's work, in Art Textiles of the World Australia volume 2
Sara has been chosen as Australia's representative at the International Tapestry Symposium to be held in Canberra in May.
Thank you to Sara for providing me with the images.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE WIND..... HOMAGE TO ANDRE SOLLIER.....FURAI

2008-03-09T10:34:00.037+11:00

Reclining on the pathway of dream,
Singing a song without words,
Without music,
I dream of the past,
And all the future holds.

Andre Sollier in the introduction of "Portraits of Silence the Art of Andre Sollier"
Skepsi on Swanston Art Gallery is currently showing an exhibition titled 'In the Spirit of the Wind homage to Andre Sollier Furai' The exhibition includes works by Andre Sollier and his students and is open until March 15th.
Sadly, Andre passed away in 2007 but left behind a legacy which is shown by his students in the love and respect that they all hold for this Zen Master. Andre taught sumi-e painting in Melbourne for over thirty years and estimated that he had taught over five thousand students. Quiet warm and humble, with a wonderful French accent you can't not be drawn into the quiet beauty of Andre's paintings.
This is a trailer from the documentary 'Portraits of Silence The Art of Andre Sollier. It will make you want to see more and you can purchase the DVD here

Wisteria, is one of my favorite little paintings of Andre's. Often combining sumi-e with Haiku poetry, Matsuo Basho was a favorite. The wisteria is so flowing and beautifully illustrates Basho's poem. Andre's home and the Satsuma Dojo are set in beautiful Japanese gardens with the front of the house covered in a 30 year old wisteria that Andre had planted.

More paintings that combine sumi-e and poetry.

Gerard is teaching in China for two months so yesterday I went to Melbourne on the train for the day to pay homage to Andre Sollier for the both of us. Gerard and Andre had maintained a friendship for over 20 years. It was a great honor in my life to have met Andre and been invited into his home. I cant help but admire someone who has dedicated their entire life to one discipline.
It is my greatest wish that one day the National Gallery of Victoria pay homage with a Retrospective Exhibition of this Zen Master,
now with the wandering wind.

BUDA , CONTEMPORARY TEXTILES AWARD

2008-03-05T11:05:00.009+11:00

Buda Historic Home and Garden in Castlemaine Victoria is holding a Contemporary Textiles Award. The exhibition is to be open from June 7th to 15th 2008. This award is open to many different types of textile art and tapestry will be accepted in the category of working with yarns. You can download the brochure here by clicking the download registration link. The theme for the Contemporary Textiles Award is 'Gold' included in the brochure is a time line for entry's. Buda is a Historic Home and Garden from the days of the gold rush and is open to the public. You can read more about Buda and the family who once lived there here.

PAST HALF WAY !!

2008-02-26T14:10:00.028+11:00

Every tapestry weaver either loves or loathes a deadline! I am now pleased to report that I am past half way on my tapestry for the Land Exhibition to be held in Canberra as a part of the Tapestry 2008 the Fine Art of Weaving Symposium. The Australian National University has information brochures on there website for planned events and workshops for the symposium here. Yesterday I received conformation that I have a place in Anio Kajaniei's masterclass. I am looking forward to the workshop as I greatly admire her work. Anio's tapestries are like beautiful delicate drawings and have a wonderful innocence about them. You don't often see tapestries that are like pencil drawings and have a limited use of colour.

The title of the tapestry is 'Dancing Orchid's and Grampians Fire's ' In January 2006 we suffered fires that destroyed half of the Grampians National park in the area where I live. You can read a past post about it here. Areas of the park are slowly regenerating and families are rebuilding. The mountains in the tapestry is the view of the Grampians as I see it from the front of my house. The Spider Orchids are rare and grow in the Ironbarks forest beside my home. These photo's of the Grampians fire were taken by Gerard a few weeks after the fires.

You can see by the photo's how hot the fires were as the park was reduced to charcoal. These fires were at the height of summer and we received an unusual inch of rain the week that the fires were declared under control.The heat from the fire and the rain prompted areas of the park to re shoot in these tufts of green grasses.

Although the ground looks like sand in the photo's it is actually ash from the fires.

These photo's were taken in 2005 from the top of Boronia Peak after it took Gerard and I about 2 hours in the heat to walk to the top! Boronia Peak overlooks the valley and the township of Halls Gap.

From the top of Boronia Peak looking up towards Lake Belfield. Years of drought has reduced the lake to a puddle. Water from Lake Belfield is sent to the Mallee Region for use by farmers as the area has a low rainfall.To give you some idea of the magnitude of these fires, EVERY part of the Grampians that you can see in this photo apart from Boronia Peak itself was consumed by the flames.

The fires destroyed all the vegetation in it's path.
These are the Wonderland Ranges with the township of Halls Gap in the valley below.

The township of Halls Gap, even though this photo was taken a month after the fires you can see that all the vehicles are still carrying fire fighting equipment as the fires smouldered for weeks and were still a big threat in the area as they could easily ignite again. I have strong ties to the Grampians and have never lived anywhere that I cannot see the mountains. I worked for 18 years in Halls Gap, so I have seen the mountains in all that nature has to offer from snow to mists, fires and floods, rainbows that go up the mountains for miles and once over 2 nights, the Aurora Australis which I shall never forget it is so rare and spectacular.

These are the Spider Orchids that grow in the Ironbarks Forest. They are becoming very rare and are small and difficult to find.

Spider Orchids only flower for a few short weeks in September, the beginning of our spring.

From this photo you can see that the orchids are small and easy to miss.

So, as you can see I feel a strong sense of belonging to this land and the environment around where I live.

SERENDIP: TAPESTRY AND WORKS ON PAPER 1997 - 2006 BY SARA LINDSAY

2008-01-27T15:23:00.001+11:00

Australian artist Sara Lindsay is to have an exhibition of tapestries and works on paper at the Ararat Regional Art Gallery from the 14th of February until the 23rd of March 2008. An opening for the exhibition is to be held on Thursday February the 14 th at 6 pm. The American Tapestry Alliance hosted an online exhibition titled Between Two Worlds. An exhibition of tapestries by Australian artists Valerie Kirk and Sara Lindsay. You can see some of Sara's tapestries here

TEAPOT WITH LEMON TAPESTRY

2007-12-19T09:56:00.003+11:00

I did not want to end the year without trying to finish at least one tapestry. I have not done any weaving since September so I am slowly working my way back in to it. I only weave with bobbins never butterflies and I made the mistake of unwinding my larger bobbins off this tapestry so that I could use them on the large tapestry that I am weaving. I stupidly replaced them with small bobbins thinking that the finer sett would be OK with them. My bobbins are made by Michael Perry who makes the bobbins for the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. They have brass tips and come in two sizes, and they are beautifully made, you can see two of the small ones on the end of the picture here They look cute and feel nice in your hand when you pick them up but if you have tendinitis like I have or any form or R.S.I. please don't be tempted to use them. They are too small to grasp. Maybe if I had used a mixture of the two sizes it may have not ended up such a problem as I would have been grasping different sizes and not just the small ones. Never mind you live and learn and the most important thing is to listen to your body when it tells you enough is enough. I have had tendinitis for almost 13 years and I got it from working as a chef not from weaving. I know that it will never go away, you just need to manage it the best that you can.
I am often asked how I finish the warp ends on my small tapestries and I have written the instructions for people but it is better to be able to see pictures so I decided to include some here.

When you begin the tapestry you weave the floor as normal. The floor that I am refering to is just a few passes of tapestry weft and this gives you a surface to begin weaving your tapestry on. You can see a picture of the loom with the bottom rows of weaving here
You then do a row of double half hitches with about half the number of wefts that you plan to use in the tapestry. You then weave about 4 passes in another yarn don't weave around the end warps as this is later pulled out and it is easier if the ends are loose. Another row of double half hitches is then put in. Followed by 4 more passes of yarn that is later pulled out. Next is a row of double half hitches with ONE STRAND of fine 2 ply. This sinks into the next row and helps to support it when the tapestry is finished. Next is a row of soumak with less weft than you plan to weave the tapestry with. This soumak forms the bottom edge of the finished tapestry so you can make it a feature or do what I have in this tapestry and used the same colours as the beginning of the tapestry. You then weave a row of double half hitches and begin weaving!!!!!!!! A diagram would look like this.

AND WORK FROM THE BOTTOM UP AS YOU WEAVE.

BEGIN WEAVING;

ooooooooooo
ooooooooooo DOUBLE HALF HITCHES

>>>>>>>>>>>> SOUMAK

eeeeeeeeeeee SINGLE THREAD ONE ROW HALF HITCHES

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~ PASSES TO BE PULLED OUT LATER

ooooooooooo
ooooooooooo DOUBLE HALF HITCHES

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~ PASSES TO BE PULLED OUT LATER

ooooooooooo
ooooooooooo DOUBLE HALF HITCHES

START HERE AND WORK YOUR WAY UP

DON'T FORGET TO TURN THE INSTRUCTIONS

UPSIDE DOWN AND FINISH IN THE OPPOSITE WAY!!!!!

I have included a detail of the tapestry on the loom so that you can see what it should look like and a detail of the tapestry ready to have the extra passes pulled out. The other photo shows what the back of the tapestry looks like with the warps sewn down.
If there is anything that you don't understand feel free to email me I am happy to answer any questions. This method can be a bit tedious but what it does is it keeps the warp threads even on the back of the tapestry. I have used this method in different ways.Sometimes I use the soumak and not double hitches at the beginning of the tapestry and for my postcards in the Finding Home exhibition I used no soumak or double hitches.

If you are looking for a good Christmas present I don't think that you could go past Sue Walker's new book, Artists' Tapestries from Australia 1976-2005 you can get a feel for the book and read my Review here

CONSERVATION DESIGN AND TAPESTRY SAMPLER

2007-10-18T10:52:00.001+10:00

The brief for this tapestry design is to research a conservation issue that is of interest to you and the tapestry is to be woven using recycled materials.
Most of Australia is suffering from drought and the water shortage crisis. Here in the Grampians Region Victoria water storages are low and we are only able to water outside with a bucket or watering can. It seems just a memory being able to hold a hose and water the garden on a summer evening. All the water from my house is recycled onto the garden. The only water that is not reused is water that the dishes are washed in. The drought is impacting on the cost of living here as all produce has skyrocketed in price. Farmers all over are walking off the land, especially in irrigation areas where water allocations have been cut off and vines and citrus trees are left to die.
Water is like the life blood of the land. This painting is a response to a picture of the Thompson Dam that was published in the Age newspaper. In the painting the small stream of water is searching it's way across the land looking for it's home.

I have under painted the design in cadmium red with the intention of letting the red show through in some areas of the painting. I wanted the image to appear dry and parched with a small stream searching its way through the landscape.

I had some red crepe paper streamers so I decided to weave the tapestry and then paint the design on the tapestry thinking that the rough texture would show through the painting. The red paper also suited my idea of the lifeblood of the land and the red under painting in the design. I sealed the tapestry, or so I thought with acrylic painting medium before I began with the painting. This did nothing to seal the paper and every drop of paint turned pink! I thought that I had the paper sealed enough but every time I returned the tapestry was a pale pink painting. As a last resort and what I should have done in the first place, I painted the entire tapestry with P.V.A. glue. This then gave me a sealed surface to paint onto. The painted tapestry does not show the detail that I had hoped for because of it not being properly sealed. Although it does have a dried clay pan type surface now! It is always fun to do something different and you live and learn but here in Australia we wish that if would RAIN!!!!!!!!!

IT IS BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE A TAPESTRY

2007-09-10T14:07:00.000+10:00

There is nothing like a progress report due in to get you weaving. But I always wish that I had that 'BIT MORE' woven. I am happy with this tapestry so far. I feel that the colours sit well together. It is always exciting to begin a new colour and see the tapestry building up into a picture. The lemon now looks like a big shape in the design but the apple and pear will be larger.
I cant wait to get up to weave the apple and begin to add in the wonderful reds. Lots of hours weaving ahead.

This morning I was reading Elaine Duncan's tapestry blog. There is a wonderful on line exhibition titled ' The Tapestry Recipe Collection' From Tapis ( Tapestry Weavers of Vancouver Island ) It is a wonderful collection of Tapestries with an accompanying recipe. Well worth a browse.
Details of current tapestry below.

SPRING IS HERE AND THE WILDFLOWERS ARE BEGINNING TO BLOOM.

2007-09-03T20:31:00.000+10:00

Spring is here and the days are beginning to become warmer. The local wildflowers are blooming in the forest beside where I live. Spider orchids are difficult to find as they are so small and becoming more rare. The tiny green hood orchids are already finished and only seem to put on their wonderful display for a few days. I only managed to take one good photo of the spider orchids as it was very windy, so I have added a few photos of them that I have taken in the same spot in previous years. The orchids are so precious that they are covered with sticks by the Park Rangers to stop the kangaroos jumping on them. Small pieces of wire are placed into the ground where they grow to mark them and chart their progress and sadly their disappearance. These photos were taken at Three Jacks Flora and Fauna Reserve. A small area of the Ironbarks Forest that is fenced to keep out animals and allow natural regeneration and to preserve the local flora.

A SENSE OF PLACE

2007-08-08T13:26:00.000+10:00

I am currently working on a tapestry design based around the theme ' A Sense of Place '
What draws an artist to respond to ' a place ' somewhere or something that gives a sense of peace, familiarity, ease or a sense of refuge in our busy lives? It could be a response to a natural place, music or familiar objects.

The first picture may become my next large tapestry?? I have titled it ' A Quiet Evening ' It is a still life of a jug that belonged to my mother, a jug that she used almost every day. The embroidery that it sits on is the only piece that I have of my mothers that was made especially for me. The painting in the background is one of mine and the plums are from my garden. I love the light and the fact that the picture is out of focus. It takes a long time to 'know a house' and the different times of the year that the light inside changes.

My work has for many years been based around domestic themes and often swaps between the simple and the complex. I love pattern and have a self confessed background obsession. But there are definitely times when less is more and a simple approach is the best. The white jug contains limes from my tree and I love the way that they appear to spill from the jug onto the dresser. My red teapot features in a lot of my work, I love the colour and shape. Jugs are a definite favorite and feature often. There is something about a jug, it's shape and offerings.

Drusilla Modjeska in her fabulous book
' Stravinsky's Lunch '
talks about the use of a jug as a symbol in art. The book is about the lives of two early Australian female Modernist painters. Stella Bowen and Grace Cossington Smith. Modjeska talks about the jug and the way many artists accentuate it's shape often depicting it as a ' pregnant belly ' The jug like the mother has the capacity to 'pour' and 'contain'. This tea set is one of my favorites it sits on a piece of my mothers embroidery and the background is my favorite dress.
I plan to make this still life into a hand coloured lino cut at some stage.
These four small paintings are from a series of twelve and swap between the simple and complex.

I highly recommend reading the book Stravinsky's Lunch it is a fascinating look into the very different lives of two women artists and how they were able to practice their art.

WARRNAMBOOL TAPESTRY WORKSHOP 2007

2007-07-27T17:42:00.002+10:00

Last week was spent in the most pleasant of ways at a tapestry weaving workshop held by South West Institute of Tafe at Warrnambool and conducted by artist Gerda Van Hamond.

The theme for the workshop was ' Interpreting Your Work ' I chose to use a lino cut print that was produced from a pen drawing as I have never used of of my prints for a tapestry design before.
Gerda discussed different ways of using tracings of the artwork for the cartoon, ranging from the detailed to the very simple.

An area of the print was selected and traced to make the cartoon.
The tracing was enlarged and the weaving began.
I chose to add some colour to the original print to see what it would be like to weave a hand coloured lino cut.This is very much a sample and a play with
mark making in tapestry. Some lines were edged in soumac and then woven to give a sharp, crisp line. Different colour blending gives a much softer line and feel to the tapestry. In the green area one strand of green was added to the black and the plain black area looks hard and stark in comparison. Grey was added to the black in areas that were not strong black in the print but showed small specks of the paper through the ink. It is interesting to see the same image in different media. First a pen drawing, then a print and finally a tapestry. I would have liked to have kept weaving until I could put in the strong red's in the teapot but other tapestry weaving is more important at the moment and it gets a bit overwhelming when you have more than one loom with a half finished tapestry. So I have hitched off and now need to concentrate on trying to get the other two tapestries finished by the end of the school year.
It was good to go to class and work on tapestry from 9am to 4pm for 5 days, away from home and other distractions. It is a good momentum to keep up and my first day back home felt a bit odd as I felt like I should weave all day!!!

I would like to thank Gerda and the other students for a wonderful week. Gerda has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is such a giving teacher with a wonderful relaxed style.
But for now it is back to the real world of assignments and due dates and in my case at times overdue dates!!!

BUNJIL'S SHELTER

2007-07-24T16:03:00.002+10:00

Bunjil's Shelter
Bunjil created the land and the water, the plants and animals, the laws and religion of the Koori people.

Bunjil remains the protector of the natural world, his people and their beliefs.

Bunjils shelter was victim to the New Year's Eve Wildfire in 2005. On Saturday we spent the morning walking the hills beside this rock art site situated 10km from where I live. The bush is regenerating and covered in green grass after the rain. It is always good to spend time in this area and it is an attraction for artists to come an paint as there are many large boulders and wildflowers. The views are spectacular across to the Grampians and lakes. It is good to get away from the loom and move the body as sitting all the time is not a good practice. But I must admit if my partner was not so fit there is no way that I would have climbed to the top of the hill. A gentle stroll is more my style!!!!

COLOUR

2007-07-24T12:55:00.000+10:00

I don't think that you could weave tapestry and not be in love with colour. The intensity of colour and subtle blending is difficult to achieve in other media. People often ask me why spend hours weaving a tapestry just to produce the image in a different medium?? A tapestry can take weeks or months to produce from an image that only took a few hours. But when you make a mistake and UN pull a whole days work it can feel like you are getting nowhere. I was trying my best to get this tapestry finished and realized that I had woven a line across the leaf in the wrong place!!!! I always pull out areas that I am not happy with as it would always nag at me that I did not fix the problem. Tapestry is a huge commitment of time effort and for me bouts of frustration so I always feel that you should not get to the end and wish that you

did it differently. Maybe it would not have mattered if I had left the leaf how it was, as the shape and tone was OK but I did UN pull a reweave the leaf.This has set me back two days of weaving.(I am a slow weaver) I am happy with the way that It is looking and the colour is fantastic,
rich and intense and unable to produce in paint! So back to more weaving.

GRAMPIANS NATIONAL PARK

2007-07-11T16:39:00.001+10:00

Winter has now set in and the days are cold and WET! No more complaining about the drought for a while. The first of the wildflowers are blooming in the Grampians National Park.
The heath which is the floral emblem of Victoria is out in flower, although after the fires it is more difficult to find. Gerard and I walked up to Silverban Falls on Sunday it is one of the few walking tracks to be rebuilt after the fire. The trees are now starting to re shoot and the undergrowth has regrown in the most amazing
Kangaroo Apples

PROGRESS???

2007-06-04T17:01:00.000+10:00

Well this tapestry is not growing at a very fast rate and little problems seem to slow me down. I have dyed all of the wool for this tapestry and am having problems with the new blue dye that I have just ordered in to dye more blues and blue violet. Lots of samples and late nights ahead.
I would have liked to have more of this tapestry woven by now but I found the first 15 cm including the hem hard going as the loom is low to the floor and I had to sit on my feet to weave. I am now up to a height that I can sit on a low stool that I have borrowed from Coen to weave and this is much better and easier going. It feels good to work on a large tapestry but the decision making
process is quite different to the smaller pieces that I have woven in the past. I was a bit concerned about the blue in the plate at the bottom looked a bit flat in colour but I kept looking at the original painting and that is what it is like in that area. I feel happy now that I have begun the blue on the left side and started to vary the tones of of blue. The original plate is hand painted so the depths of blue vary throughout the plate. I wanted to show this in the tapestry to give the plate some life as the blue areas are large and could appear to look a bit flat and lifeless. When I look at most of my art I think that I have a bit of a background obsession as they are often more patterned than the objects that I choose to feature in the work. The lime leaf that I am weaving now is a large area in the work and I keep thinking that it is a bit too much one colour. But as
I sit and weave, I look out at the tree that the leaf came from and it is very much one colour with little or no variation's in tones. I had woven quite a lot more than the pictures show but after much anguish I pulled out a large area as I noticed some ridging that I had not noticed as the bobbins hanging covered it over. I decided that rather than regret it later as it would always bother me I decided to pull out and reweave the problem area that I felt that I had such a dislike to. Although this has set me back in the weaving I am not at all sorry as it would have always eaten away at me that it should have been corrected. Because I have never woven anything to this scale before I am fast running out of dyed wool. But it is all a learning curve and I am enjoying the weaving when I can get to it.

IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO BE IN BARCELONA!

2007-05-07T15:56:00.000+10:00

1. La Pedrera, 2. Casa Amatller, 3. Parc Güell, 4. Fairy Tale, 5. Drinking art, 6. Window, 7. Reflections, 8. Dragon, 9. Dragon, 10. Dragon, 11. Colours, 12. Religion, 13. Inside the beast, 14. The temple, 15. Sagrada Familia, 16. Colours, 17. Looking up the temple, 18. Two Towers, 19. More than words, 20. More than words, 21. Casa Milà, 22. Door, 23. Casa Batlló, 24. Casa Batlló, 25. Casa Coll i Regàs (Puig i Cadafalch, Mataró), 26. Casa Amatller (Puig i Cadafalch, Barcelona), 27. Güell, 28. La Pedrera, 29. Inside the tower, 30. Chocolate Shop, 31. Chocolate Shop, 32. Casa Baró de Quadras, 33. Casa Baró de Quadras, 34. Fireplace, 35. Casa Comalat, 36. La Casa Milà

MOSAICS

2007-05-02T20:43:00.000+10:00

After years here of little rain and the grim realizations of global warming, maybe this is the garden of the future. There is a beautiful simplicity to it. The raked stones and minimal planting gives one something to ponder over.

1. Lying Buddha, 2. Sea of Silver Sand, 3. Ryoanji, 4. Ryoanji, 5. Ryoanji, 6. Ryoanji, 7. zen garden #8, 8. zen garden #7, 9. zen garden #10, 10. zen garden #9, 11. zen garden #6, 12. dragon, 13. zen garden #6, 14. zengarden #5, 15. zengarden #3, 16. zen garden #4, 17. zen garden#1, 18. zen garden#2

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

MOSAICS

2007-05-02T20:27:00.000+10:00

After months of severe drought and water restrictions all of Spring, Summer and our Autumn so far, we are all a bit over bucket only watering. One can only dream of green gardens and the promise of rain. It is good to feed my soul with images of other gardens.

1. to kyoto, 2. sakura in rain, 3. the vanguard #1, 4. the vanguard #2, 5. sakura after rain, 6. the vanguard #3, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled, 13. Untitled, 14. Untitled, 15. zen garden#1, 16. Untitled, 17. zen garden#2, 18. zengarden #3, 19. zen garden #4, 20. zengarden #5, 21. zen garden #6, 22. zen garden #7, 23. dragon, 24. zen garden #8, 25. zen garden #9, 26. zen garden #10, 27. zen garden #11, 28. zen garden #12, 29. zen garden #13, 30. sakura at lakeside

MOSAICS

2007-05-02T20:02:00.000+10:00

BEYOND THE SMOKE

2007-04-26T11:30:00.000+10:00

BEYOND THE SMOKE
The Beyond the Smoke book and festival were born out of a desire to recognise the courage, tenacity and resilience shown by the people affected by the Deep Lead fire of New Years Eve 2005 and the Mt Lubra fire of 2006. These fires had an enormous impact on both the communities surrounding the park and upon the Grampians National Park itself. 11 Houses were lost in the Deep Lead fire and 41 in the Mt Lubra fire as well as many outbuildings, stock and native animals.
Sadly a father and son also lost their lives and half of our beautiful Grampians National Park became a victim of the fire.

DEEP LEAD FIRE NEW YEARS EVE 2005 NEAR BUNJILS CAVE

MT LUBRA FIRE GRAMPIANS NATIONAL PARK JANUARY 2006.

MT LUBRA FIRE GRAMPIANS NATIONAL PARK JANUARY 2006

As part of the festival two local artist, Helen Leach and Graeme Brindley held community based workshops working in pastel and charcoal.

CHARCOAL

WORKSHOP

This is one of the drawings that I produced in Graeme Brindley's charcoal workshop. The drawing is my response to the aftermath and destruction of fire to man made objects rather than the natural environment. The blue sky shows no landscape as it as well was destroyed. The dark shadows reflect my feelings of destruction and the void left between what was and what now is. My drawing represents no specific landscape or people who suffered the fires but it could represent anywhere and all who became victim to the fires. it leaves me with a sense of loss, a need to rebuild, replant and replenish.

BUNJILS CAVE AREA AFTER THE DEEP LEAD FIRE

This photos taken 16 months after the fires and shows new signs of growth and hope.