ONE YEAR ON ....

Where did 2013 go?

Just in case I still have any readers who are still vaguely interested in my Residency, here’s an update.

 

It’s really hard to believe a whole year has gone by since I wrote my last post! At that stage, I had the best of intentions to totally complete all my unfinished projects ASAP.

Early in 2013, I told myself that I needed some down-time … but really … twelve months is a bit excessive!
I said at the end of 2012 that it had been my ‘annus prodigiosus’, so in that case 2013 has been my ’annus inertiae’!

However I guess some things did get a bit further down the track towards completion … here are some details ...

FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP HANGINGS

Even though these eleven hangings had been completed for display by the end of 2012, I wanted to ‘finish them off‘ by securing the squares to their backing. Rather than hand or machine stitching elaborate quilting designs, I decided to tie them. I stitched colonial knots in gold thread in each corner. These ‘golden knots of friendship’ symbolised my links to the 355 people who had so kindly made flowers for me. It actually took quite a while to sew all of those one thousand, nine hundred and eighty knots!

During this year the hangings have been travelling round to various displays and presentations (see below) and they have been greatly admired.

I’m still in the process of finding a prominent, easily-accessible venue where they can be on permanent display so that all the contributors, as well as members of the public, can see them.

I’d like them to stay together, so if anyone has contacts in high places (council, government, public buildings) please put in a good word for me. I have composed a flyer to send out for Expressions of Interest, with which I would include an accompanying letter.

I’ve now made a book about this “Flowers of Friendship” collaboration which describes the project from its initial beginnings, through the construction process to its culmination. It has photos of each flower and the names of all the contributors. I hope to make more of these books, and give one to each of the craft groups who supported me.

WATA THE WATER DRAGON

2012 was the Chinese Year of Water and also the Year of the Dragon. It was also the Year of Reading and the Year of Cooperatives … so right at the beginning of my residency year I decided to make a collaborative book about Mt Coot-tha’s ubiquitous water dragons.
My sister Alison Horsley wrote a children’s story for me in March, but by the end of 2012 I had only made one of the seven water dragons, and the rest remained as pieces of fabric.

The other six family members are now completed. There are three more the same size as the first one, and also three smaller ones. The original one has now become Grandma!

They have been photographed in pairs to illustrate each page of the story.

While Alison was helping me photograph them at Mt Coot-tha, a real water dragon chose to get into the act!
How cool was that?

I have now made a prototype of ‘The Book’, which will eventually include the pattern and instructions for making the dragons, finger puppets, facts about water dragons, and much more!

Ideally I would like to find a commercial publisher to get this story to a wider audience … so any contacts in the publishing field would be most welcome!

FLOWER POWER

In January 2013 I made a small quilt using the left-over fabric and flowers from the "Tropical Profusion" garment that had been created for the Catwalk Botanique fashion parade during my residency.

I made the quilt as an entry in the Queensland Quilters ‘State of the Art’ competition, but it wasn’t accepted!
However this rejection was a blessing in disguise, because the quilt was then available to be included in my various talks and displays during the year.

These were collaborations with my cousin Gay McEwan, who made the fabric flowers and leaves while undergoing chemotherapy … and not just for the "Tropical Profusion" garment and this "Flower Power" quilt. She also made many squares for the "Flowers of Friendship" hangings, as well as for the "Swishy Swathes" garlands (some of which are still hanging in the Gardens)
Dear Gay died on Christmas Eve, so these will always be special treasured memories for me.

ICON CREATIVE EVENT

On New Years Eve I farewelled 2013 by watching eight of my garments modelled at a fashion parade. The "Tropical Profusion" garment was one of them.
What an honour to be featured on a big screen watched by 10,000 people at Robelle Domain at Springfield (even though it was only a two-minute slot in the many hours of music, dance and fireworks!).
Channel 10 was there all night filming footage for “The Project”, so there was a real buzz in the air.
(apologies for the poor quality pikkie of the actual parade .. my camera didn't cope too well!)

Another garment shown in the parade was a collaboration with Jolanta Szymczyk. This outfit was inspired by the origami flowers I had made for the "Floral Folds" project during the residency (image below on left). This time the folded paper flowers were attached to a large collar on a felt dress made by Jola.

DOWN UNDER TEXTILES

In the current issue of the Australian magazine “Down Under Textiles” there is a six-page story about my creative journey.
What a privilege to be featured in this prestigious magazine!
As well as images and descriptions of some of my residency projects, there are photos of some of my other artwork.
Issue 13, December 2013 is in the shops now.

PRESENTATIONS AND DISPLAYS

These are some of the places I've visited this year to re-live my Residency ...

QLD EMBROIDERERS' GUILD

In February I was invited to be the Guest Speaker at the Qld Embroiderers' Guild half-yearly AGM.
Many of the Guild members had made squares for my “Flowers of Friendship” hangings, so it was a great chance to show them the finished results and thank them for their beautiful contributions.
They seemed to enjoy seeing my slideshow of all the other activities from 2012.

TOOWONG LIBRARY

After much positive feedback from my display at Toowong Library during the residency, the staff invited me to do a retrospective display in March 2013.
I managed to squish quite a lot into the two cabinets.

SAVIOURS OF THE LOST ARTS

BrisStyle combined forces with Brisbane City Council in 2013 to present Saviours of the Lost Arts. In May and June 2013, displays and talks were held at various venues in Brisbane to
promote the resurgent interest in hand crafts.

at Inala I presented a slideshow of my residency, as well as a display of my work.

at City Hall I mounted a large display on both sides of the Ann Street foyer. I put the “Flowers of Friendship” hangings on tables on one side of the room and set up a display of many other projects on the other side. I also had a table in the Sherwood Room for the ”Fragrant Flags”. I spoke to lots of people during the day. It was a real buzz!

at Hamilton I had a prime spot in the foyer of St Augustine’s hall for my display, and I had a chance to speak about the residency in one of the ‘feature artist’ slots during the day.

at Northgate, as well as displaying my residency projects on tables, we managed to drape the hangings on stands as a backdrop for the interview area.

SHERWOOD STITCHERS

In August I was invited to speak at a meeting of the Sherwood Stitchers. Many of these ladies had made flower squares for my hangings.

AUSTRALIAN TEXTILE ARTS AND SURFACE DESIGN ASSOCIATION

Many members of ATASDA had contributed to quite a few of my residency projects, so this was a great chance to show the finished results to those who hadn’t managed to visit my 2012 exhibitions.

In Brisbane, at the meeting in September, I had AV facilities so I was able to show my slide presentation. I hung the flower quilts on the windows, and displayed other pieces around the room.

In Toowoomba I spoke about my residency at the ATASDA meeting in October.

RAINBOW BEACH

In November I had the pleasure to finally meet the six ladies from the local area who had made flower squares for me, and show them the finished hangings.
Members of the Rainbow Beach Craft Group and the Tin Can Bay Quilters and Craft Club welcomed me and enjoyed seeing some of the projects.

BOTANIQUE

In November I had a sense of déjà-vu as I hung “Flowers of Friendship” in the Auditorium at Mt Coot-tha. It was almost a year-to-the-day since their last appearance there (during "Floressence" 2012).

ICON PHOTO SHOOT

In December I set up a display under the Administration building at Mt Coot-tha, using the Swishy Swathes (which are still hanging there) as a backdrop.
This was a great setting for filming a segment about my work, ready to be screened during the fashion parade at Springfield on New Years Eve.
 

SOME OF MY RESIDENCY PROJECTS WERE INCULDED IN VARIOUS GROUP EXHIBITIONS IN 2013

THROUGH EMERALD EYES

Zela Bissett’s exhibition at Gatakers Artspace in Maryborough in January was sub-titled “Visions of the Natural World” and she invited me to display the nine books created in the “Environmental Exhortations and Elucidations” project. In each of these books I had hand-lettered well-known sayings (by environmentalist John Muir), and I had invited other collaborators to creatively decorate these pages.

FIBREFEST

In early March “Fibrefest” was staged in the Auditorium at Mt Coot-tha. This is the biennial exhibition showcasing work by members of Queensland Spinners, Weavers and Fibre Artists.
Some of my residency projects were displayed …
"The Importance of Trees" – handmade natural-fibre paper scroll
"Forest Fusion" (in collaboration with Sue Ford and Lyn Baxter) – textile collage
"Woven Words" (in collaboration with Jill Brose) – paper basketry
"Japanese Garden Reveries" (in collaboration with Alison Horsley) – book of haiku poetry and photos

 

SPECTRUM

In June, at Gallery 159 at The Gap, there was an exhibition of works by tutors from the Textile Art Academy. I included some of my residency works as part of my contribution.

QLD BOOKBINDERS DISPLAYS

“Japanese Garden Reveries” was in the display cabinets at both Carindale Library and Brisbane Square Library in August and September.

COMMON THREADS

This exhibition by members of Queensland Spinners, Weavers and Fibre Artists was at Matthew Flinders Gallery, Bribie Island in August and in Brisbane Square Library in September and October.
Two of my residency works “Biodiversities” and “Seasons” were on display.

ARTISAN BOOKS

In September/October my “Seasons” book was selected to be in this 8th Annual Artist Books Exhibition at 'Artisan Books' in Fitzroy in Melbourne.

PAIRED PRINTINGS

These two pictures were accepted as finalists and were displayed in the 2013 Moreton Bay Art Awards at Strathpine Gallery in October … but they unfortunately they didn’t win, or get sold!
In this collaboration my friend Helen King screen-printed fabric with her elegant wattle and grevillea designs (from her Paluma Prints range). My sister Alison (author of the Wata story and the Japanese Garden haiku) composed the poetic phrases which I hand-lettered and embroidered.

 

A MEMEMTO BOOK FOR THE GARDENS

I am still in the process of making a folder (or two or three) to present to the Gardens’ staff as a record of my residency. This will document what I achieved through the year (as well as all this ongoing follow-up).

Finally ….

Having said, at the beginning of this post, that I didn’t feel I’d achieved much in 2013, compiling this summary has actually been quite therapeutic, and it has cheered me to think that I did achieve some things after all!

In 2014, I will endeavour to ….

• Find a permanent home for the Flower hangings
• Find a publisher for the water dragon book
• Finish the "Nature in Focus" book
• Complete a Record of my Residency for the Gardens' staff
• Tidy up my ‘creative chaos’ … unfortunately my lounge room still looks much the same as in that photo from a year ago, so obviously my first 2014 New Year’s resolution should be to actually do something about that (but it's more fun to do other things!

Thanks for reading this far!

THE END OF AN ERA

Well maybe it’s not an era in the true sense of the word, but it’s definitely the end of this chapter of my life, the conclusion of my ‘annus prodigiosus’!

True to form, I’m continuing my tradition of chasing deadlines …. in a blog post just before my exhibition I mentioned that I was making the eleventh flower hanging at the eleventh hour of the eleventh month … so now I’m writing this post on the last day of 2012!

Ah well, as they say “if it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done”.
So, without further ado, here’s the story of my two final events.

FLORESSENCE

At the Gardens each year the Botanical Artists have an exhibition of their work and the artist-in-residence is traditionally invited to participate.
It was advertised in the Quest newspapers …

In past years this combined exhibition has been in early December, but this time it was moved to mid-November.
So there was to be no rest for the wicked ….

After ten wonderful days of talking to lots of visitors during my exhibition at Richard Randall Studio, I didn’t have time to feel sad, because the following day (Thursday 15 November) Jill, Nat and Dave helped me relocate many of my collaborative pieces up to the Auditorium.
I knew in advance that there wouldn’t be room for them all.

Unfortunately there was a lot of heavy rain (and hail) during the weekend which probably kept some visitors away.
Maybe I should invent a new career path for myself ... anywhere in Australia suffering drought can offer me an exhibition space and I’ll do the rest!

Nevertheless those who came were enthusiastic about my display (and of course they enjoyed the botanical art exhibits as well).
So I hope you (dear readers) will settle yourselves comfortably and virtually follow me round
the Auditorium (well, actually only the parts where my display was located).



The “Fragrant Flags” were displayed on three panels near the front door.
Several people commented that the flags looked totally different when pinned on display boards … they had been strung in a line under the picture rail in Richard Randall Studio … yes, some of my dear friends actually came to BOTH exhibitions – such dedication!

A small garland of the “Swishy Swathes” was pinned on the end of these boards and linked into “Tropical Profusion”.

 

The “Flowers of Friendship” hangings were also displayed on this wall near the entrance, and many of the exhibiting botanical artists, as well as the visitors, were very effusive in their praise of this community project.

 

The rest of my ‘stuff’ was displayed near the kitchen area.

My visitors’ book, raffle and merchandise, including a rack of gift cards, were on the left.

On the front table, from left to right, were

“Japanese Garden Reveries”
“Floral Folds”
“Tangled Nature”
“Integrate/Disintegrate”
“Plants bookswap”

Then the display continued with

“Environmental Elucidations”
“Seasons bookswap”
“Naturally Collaborative”
“A-I-R mail Project”

On the table at the back, from left to right, were

“Wata the Water Dragon”
“Grevillea Grandeur”
“Floral Fantasy”
“Woven Words”
“Biodiversities”

“Naturally InSPIREd” was displayed at the end of this table.

On the back wall were

“Paired Printings”
“Forest Fusion”
“The Importance of Trees”
some of “Fascination with Foliage”

Most of “Emergence” was in an alcove to the side.

The remaining “Emergence” pod and some more of “Fascination with Foliage” as well as my display poster were tucked around the back, hopefully providing a drawcard to visitors returning from the refreshment area.

Then, all too soon, it was time to dismantle everything.

I’m trying to put on a brave face, but Jill and Dave look very relieved and happy!

The last stage of the dismantling process took place in early December when I took down the webs … the trees looked very bare, and (like the blue netting web) I felt quite deflated!

TREE DRESSING

On 2 December, as a final activity for the year, we decorated the Shaving Brush Tree near the Visitors’ Kiosk at the entrance to the gardens.

The ‘Hug me Tight” that was tied around this same tree for the Winter Solstice celebrations in June again saw the light of day, this time draped over some glitzy fabric.
This knitted blanket was originally made for the Jumpers & Jazz festival in Warwick, so it’s had a few airings in different guises!

.... and people still all come and voluntarily hug it (honestly, I truly didn't stage these photos!)

Fortunately I was able to set up the activity under the shade of the large red umbrellas, so we were somewhat protected from the summer heat.

People of all ages enjoyed decorating cut paper shapes.

 

These were then tied on strings hanging from the branches.

Originally these were dangling down in long strands.

However, by the next day, they were getting overly-twisted and looking unruly ...

 ....  so Dave helped me loop the strings around the branches out of harm’s way.

 

 
By Christmas the wonderfully-variable Shaving Brush Tree had decked itself in glorious new foliage which perfectly matched the colours of the ‘Hug me Tight”!

Margot joined me as I gave the tree a final farewell hug – yes, it really was the end of my ‘annus prodigiosus’.

                .... what a truly fantastic year it’s been !!!!

WHAT’S NEXT?

Once I fully recover from my ‘post-exhibition malaise” I need to sort out some of my mess.
This photo shows just the overflow into the lounge room … and the rest of the house is even worse!

Then I plan to finish some of the collaborations that I didn’t get done in time for the exhibition.

My first priority is the "Focus on Nature" project in which people from all over the world emailed photos of plants.

I also want to make the rest of the family members for "Wata the Water Dragon", then photograph them in the gardens and make the book.

The final stitching in the "Flowers of Friendship" hangings needs to be finished … and then I hope to find it a ‘good home’ where it can remain on permanent display, and be seen by lots of people … a rather tall ask for something that is 4.5metres long and over 2 metres high.
So let me know if you’ve got any good ideas on solving that conundrum!

Watch this space (but don’t hold your breath) for the updates!

Thank you, dear readers, for following my journey throughout my amazing year … an ‘annus prodigiosus’ indeed!