CULMINATION OF A FABULOUS YEAR !!!

My year of residency is nearly over, and what an exciting year it’s been!

I hope you will all be able to come to my final exhibition at Richard Randall Art Studio from 6 – 14 November, 10am – 4pm daily.

Then from 16 – 18 November I’m joining The Botanical Artists Society of Queensland, in their exhibition “FLORESSENCE” in the Auditorium at Mt Coot-tha, 9am – 4pm daily.

Now, does anyone remember that one of my first blog posts was about 2012 being the Year of the Farmer, and I outlined my monthly plans for the year?

Well, here's what I said :

October …HARVESTING
... no doubt I’ll be working hard this month to get all the finishing touches completed.

November … DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRODUCE
... this will be a marketing exercise to encourage people to come and see the fruits of my labour during the year.

… and how true is that October entry!!!

Here are some of the collaborative projects that I’m still completing!

 

FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP HANGINGS

The original deadline for delivery of the flowers was 30 April, but after seeing them hanging in my June exhibition, lots of people said they still wanted to make one  … and I just got the last one two days ago!
So an eleventh hanging is now in the making … is there a subtle message here? … it's the eleventh hanging at the eleventh hour for the eleventh month!
There are photos in my previous posts (if you'd like to re-visit them) and here’s the latest update!

INTEGRATE / DISINTEGRATE

I am collaborating with the ladies from "Broadstrokes", a group of artists with a focus on creating work using fibres and textiles (Suzanne Marshall, Kate Oszko, Kathryn Iliff, Jane Rundle, Mel Forrest, Merody Buglar, Chris Jones and Sue Dennis).

Each member of the group layered various materials (which included paper, fabric, metal and organic materials) to form three similar bundles ….

• one was hung in their home garden
• one was buried in their garden
• one was hung in a tree at the Gardens

This is what was in each of my bundles.

Here’s me hanging and burying my bundles at home.

.. and I hung everyone’s bundles in a Scented Bells tree (Rothmannia manganjae) in the Exotic Rainforest area at the Gardens

The bundles progressively disintegrated over a three-month period from May until August.

These are my bundles in August …I’m not sure what I was thinking at the time!
If I hoped they would disintegrate, why did I wrap them in sturdy paper and write on them in waterproof ink?

At least the buried one (on the right) disintegrated well .. it was full of worms and had tree roots growing through it!

Each artist is now creating an A3 page from these fibres, and I will assemble them into a book which will be displayed at my exhibition (and have I already mentioned that it runs from 6 - 14 November?)
Here are some of the completed pages.

ENVIRONMENTAL EXHORTATIONS AND ELUCIDATIONS

I have created nine almost-identical books which contain quotes about conservation by the famous environmentalist John Muir.

These books have now been passed progressively to different people, who are responding to the page in their own way, using a variety of techniques (drawing, stamping, painting, collage, etc).   This should result in many unique and interesting interpretations of the same text, and I can’t wait to see the many wonderful interpretations.

So far I’ve received two back .. and each is a special treasure!

Carolyn Morrisey, my dear friend who now lives in Melbourne, is the talented lady who first taught me calligraphy, but she hasn’t picked up her pens this time – she’s now exploring digital art!
Carolyn has the most marvellous sense of humour, and you really must come and read this book in detail. Here’s how she has decorated the cover and first page.

Erica Michaux said she’d done ‘a few simple drawings’ in the copy I gave her.
Well … simple they definitely are not … and elegantly beautiful is what they indeed are!
You must come and see the other pages in this gorgeous book.
(did I already mention that I’m having an exhibition in November?)

FLORAL FOLDS

I invited the staff and volunteers at the Gardens to send me close-up photos of flowers.
I am printing these in square formats, folding them into origami shapes, then assembling them into kaleidoscope designs.
This photo shows a similar idea (but these photos were of Hindu offerings in Bali).

NATURALLY INSPIRED

My friends from "Pulp Action" (a sub-group of Qld Spinners, Weavers & Fibre Artists) have used paper they have made from various plant fibres to construct cones. These will be embellished with a variety of plant materials and other found objects.. and I’ll be putting lettering on some of them!
Joanna Faber, Ngaire Macleod, Sandra Pearce, Jill Brose and Nat Billing are the artists participating in this project.

BUTTERFLY CASCADE

I am collaborating with some of my friends from “Scattered Arts” (a Community Gallery at Camp Hill which sells paintings and unique handmade gifts all made by local artists, including me!)
Ailsa McEvoy, Pam O’Reilly, Barbara Merrin, Kit Thomas, Wendy Goode, Helen Reid, Patsie Wishart, Carolyn Morgan and Jan Steer are creating 3D butterflies which will be suspended from a metal frame.
Here are some of them.

TREE OF TAGS

The “Paper Princesses” are mixed media artists who work predominantly in paper. Marilena Stanton, Celeste Santin, Gaye Todd, Judy Timmins, Kasha Rolley, Margaret Cullen-Erickson and Marlene Lynne-Truman have decorated tags, all featuring a nature theme.
Here are some of them.

PAIRED PRINTINGS

My friend Helen King produces amazing textiles (Paluma Prints) and she has printed her grevillea and wattle designs for me on fabric.
I am writing descriptive words (again composed by Alison Horsley) over these and embellishing them with embroidery.

GREVILLEA GRANDEUR FROM THE GARDENS

Joanna Faber, an art teacher and my friend, photographed the grevillea flowers in the gardens at Mt Coot-tha, and she has printed these on the lovely paper she has made from the plants in her backyard.
I am now lettering descriptive wording around these images and they will be framed and displayed in November (remember that exhibition I mentioned before, 6 -14 November?)

FLORAL FANTASY

Jill Brose created three abstract flowers in fabric, wire and beads, and I lettered the ribbon of descriptive words which link them together.

NATURALLY COLLABORATIVE

My friends in the “Book & Paper Group” (a sub-group of Qld Spinners, Weavers & Fibre Artists) created pages with a nature theme, using their own choice of techniques.

Each person received a page from everyone else to make into their own book.

I used green Nepalese Lokta paper for my cover, and I stitched the pages using a Japanese stab binding technique. I also included a page at the back describing the techniques everyone has used.
My book was on display at my mid-year exhibition in June, so if you didn’t see it then, you’ll have another chance in November.


TANGLED NATURE

This same “Book & Paper Group” joined me in another collaboration.
Inspired by leaves and flowers, we doodled on pages using only black pen and graphite pencil.
The pages were progressively passed around the group, and each person added their contribution to enhance and expand on what was already on the page.

These are some of the pages we created that day.

Jill Brose then kindly took charge of all the pages and added her own brand of designer magic to fill in any gaps and unify the designs.
I then assembled the pages into a book. I decided to continue the black and white colour scheme by using black Unryushi Japanese paper for the cover, and I stitched the pages in white thread using a Japanese stab-binding technique.
This book, finished for June, will be displayed again in November.

... and there are other projects on the drawing board too …. I’ll include some of these in another post (soon!)

So please come to Richard Randall Studio (6 - 14 November), and/or the Auditorium (16-18 November) to see how many of these are fully completed!

SEPTEMBER ACTIVITIES

In amongst all this frantic last-minute panic finsihing projects for my exhibition, we had some great fun in the Japanese Garden during the recent school holidays.

In “Fascinating Fibonacci Fun” on Tuesday 25 September, children and adults created books based on the Fibonacci number sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8…) and then they wrote and drew on the pages.

 

On Friday 28 September we had a “Spring Celebration” when we made light-catchers and  bookmarks incorporating flowers and leaves.

 

“Water Dragon Dalliance” happened on Thursday 4 October. We made finger puppets and  decorative wrist-bands, arm-bands and head-bands to celebrate 2012 as the Chinese Year of Water and the Year of the Dragon .. and a real Water Dragon came to join us!

So ... that's it for now ... please stay tuned, as they say ...

More Flower Power

I hope you can find time this week to check out the ATASDA exhibition at Robyn Bauer Gallery, 54 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington. It’s open 10am to 4pm each day until 13 October.

ATASDA is the Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association and we are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the formation of our Queensland Branch.
There are some gorgeous wearable, wall & 3D Artworks artworks on display created by leading Queensland & Australian textile artists in a variety of textiles, fibres, yarns, fabrics, papers and  mixed media.

I hope you’ll read to the end of this post to see some images!

Now, back to the Flower Power theme …

I have mentioned the ‘Swishy Swathes’ previously. These garlands of flowers and leaves are strung up in shelter sheds near the Tropical Dome, in the Fragrant Garden, and also in the bus stop.
Now there’s even more!
They are hanging on the fence at the entrance to the Gardens near the Café.

There’s a garland at the Garden Room (under the Administration building, outside the Auditorium)

They are even draped in the tour bus.

TROPICAL PROFUSION ... yet more Showers of Flower Power!

My cousin Gay McEwan had made many of the fabric flowers and leaves in these swathes, so I asked her to help me construct a garment for Catwalk Botanique, the nature-inspired fashion parade that Volunteer Guide Bettina Palmer organises.

I had previously made a tabard which we decided would make a suitable basic design for our project, so I wore this when we went shopping for some filmy fabric.
Then Gay set to work making flowers in all shapes sizes and colours.

I made flowers and leaves in crochet and knitting, and I then wrote quotes about flowers on the fabric.

• All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today (Willa Hoey)
• As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life (John Lubbock)

      … and other similar sentiments

It provided a colourful, cheerful contribution to the fashion parade!

I was thrilled when it was one of the images chosen to be featured on our invitation to the ATASDA exhibition!

You can see my garment on display at Gallery 54 until Saturday.

I have another piece in this exhibition too. It’s the square blue collage on the wall in the photo on the left.
At right is a view of the shop area where we are have a great range of gorgeous merchandise.

The rest of the exhibiton is stunning too. I hope you can get to see it.

ARACHNID ARTISTRY – a different type of website!

Gorgeous webs (some with accompanying spiders) now grace the trees near the entrance of the Gardens at Mt- Coot-tha.

Several months ago I invited my friends (and their friends) to make spiders’ webs in whatever techniques they preferred. I was really thrilled with the amazing response … I didn’t expect nearly so many.

I received webs in multiple shapes, materials and colours, and some from people I’d never met.
How good is that!!!

♫   The trees are alive with the sights of webbing!   ♫

I know I have already mentioned this collaborative installation previously (in my blog-post of 24 July), but now it’s reached its final culmination…

• the spiders have spun
• the trees are twined
• the webs have warped (yes, this is meant as a weaving term, not that other kind of warped!)

There are several distinct sections ….

1. MULTI-COLOURED MAYHEM

(in the areas marked with the two purple spots)

Some of the makers helped me hang the webs.
I hadn’t specified sizes, or pre-allocated particular trees, so I anticipated that we might have problems (or even arguments!) finding suitable places for each to be hung … but it all went well without a hitch, except for some deliberate hitching (of the tethering variety).
Thanks Floss, Jill, Nat and Bettina for ‘hanging around’.

These webs are hanging in the trees in the forest island (just down the hill from the Auditorium)

Of course mine had to have some lettering hanging from it!
Then I decided I needed to make a more brightly-coloured one.

Annette Waraker (from QSWFA - Qld Spinners Weavers & Fibre Artists) really excelled herself and made six webs! They are all really gorgeous – knitted, crocheted and twined in different types of yarns and many colours. She also made some cute spiders as well!

Jill Brose (from QSWFA) and Joanne Jayne (from ATASDA) created these beautifully delicate webs.

These lacy webs were machine-knitted by Myra Keay and Margy Newman (from QSWFA).

Tess Murray (from QSWFA) and Dorothy Hurford (the mum of Merody from ATASDA) made filmy webs.

Floss Wainwright (from  QSWFA) created a fine red web complete with large spiders ... and
The Gumdale Group (Mary Kamols, Sharyn Merkley, Jill Glenny, Shane Bailey, Val Zammit and Conchita Hurst) each made a web to complete an eye-catching installation on tree branches.

Lorraine McAlister and Ailsa McEvoy (from Scattered Arts) used their crocheting skills to great effect in their webs.

This wondrous purple web, machine knitted with a hand-knitted centre, was made by Joan Apthorp (from QSWFA). It is hanging on the outside wall of the bus-stop. 

2. WHITE WONDERLAND

(in the areas marked with the yellow and green spots)

It was a great privilege to be able to include webs made by Jude Skeers. Jude is an internationally-recognised ‘knitter extraordinaire’ and ‘web-master’ who has installed webs in many locations throughout Australia.
For this project he collaborated with Peter Wojciechowski, respected bamboo artist, to create some amazing sculptural installations.

Jude and Peter went to great lengths (and heights) to install the webs!

These large knitted webs make a really eye-catching display just as you enter the Gardens off Mt Coot-tha Road (the area marked with the yellow spot)

The stunning installations further up the road (in the area marked with the green spot) are receiving widespread praise.



This triangular frame with its funnel-shaped webs sits shrine-like over the rocks.

 
Vertical funnels hang suspended from the trees.

The radiating ribs of the horizontal funnels are so very elegant.

Beautiful webs are suspended from bamboo ‘fishing poles’.

The piece de resistance is a striking hexagonal pyramid with webs on three sides and a funnel suspended in the centre. These webs are knitted in sequinned yarn and they are a truly awesome sight as they glisten in the early morning sunlight.

3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

(in the area marked with the orange spot)

This web project was launched in early August when members of the public were invited to ‘get in the spin’ and weave some magic for themselves.

We set up a table under the red umbrella outside the Auditorium.
I made myself a web headpiece, and I wore the lovely spider brooch Tess Murray gave me.

Lots of people wrote messages on strips of fabric.
Some of the themes for these ‘woven’ messages included …

• The Web of Friendship (how we all need companionship from other  people)
• The World Wide Web (how we are all now so easily connected to each other)
• Web sites, web design, web links
• The Web of Life (environmental interdependencies)
• The Family Web (the connections between relatives)
• Weaving (the intricacies of linking thread together)
• Spiders (and their amazing silk)
• Webs of Intrigue (curiosity and secrets)
• Networking (how we relate to our colleagues)
• Netting (trapping and protection)

Then the messages were threaded through blue netting to create a community web.

It looks very bright and cheerful. Check it our near the large letterbox, just across the road from the Auditorium.

Providing they survive intact, this message netting, as well as all the webs, will be left on display until after my exhibition in November (6 - 14). I hope you’ll be able to come to the gardens and check them out.

Play a game and see how many webs you can find … and how many spiders!

Please enjoy!