What makes me is a project developed by the Australia Council for the Arts and invites us all to think about what art adds to our lives. They want us to show what it is that we like about art by creating our own art cube using images, text, audio and video. As everyone’s cubes are combined, they will gradually be building Australia’s largest collaborative digital story.
Looking through the gallery, I saw this cube created by the botanical alchemist India Flint. I’ll make my own soon!
As some of you may be aware, the Artful Quilters Web Ring has moved to a new platform which offers a more friendly user interface and allows for easier surfing from blog to blog. If you are already a member of the Artful Quilters Web Ring, or would like to join, then follow Diane’s instructions for setting up in the new location.
If you are a blog reader, try out the reactivated “Next”, “Previous” and “Random” buttons and see where you end up!
I’d also like to mention a couple of new, non-quilting blogs that I am following. Bargain Betty is the alter ego of my friend and freelance personal finance journalist Diana Clement. Diana was the garage sale queen when I met her at university 25 years ago and family life seems to have sharpened her eye for a bargain and her creative ideas for saving a dollar.
Dancing with Shelarose is a new blog set up by my host sister Kerie to share her experiences as primary caregiver for her mother-in-law who is in the later stages of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. Thanks to the internet, you can get a sense of how it is to dance in her shoes. Kerie dances with Shelarose every day…feel free to join them or just sit and listen to the music for a while
“In the dance between control and serendipity, the wise artist discovers when to lead and when to follow. Explore these pages, techniques and enjoy the unfolding of your own art cloth path.”
This quote from Jane Dunnewold’s latest opus Art Cloth neatly sums up the spirit of the book. In clear, direct language, Jane guides the reader through the fundamentals of workspace, tools and materials and the concept of building up layers contributing to the intricacy, beauty and interest of the fabric. Then she discusses techniques and processes including:
Adding colour: Fiber- Reactive Dyes and Textile Paints
Removing colour:Discharge Methods
Making Tools: Stamps and stencils
Print & Pattern: Water-Based Resists
Metallics: Foiling and Leafing
It’s the kind of book that you can read from cover to cover or dip into relevant chapters. It’s a fantastic resource and great value at less than A$35 from The Book Depository (free postage!); US$35 from Jane’s website; and US$17.79 from Amazon. (Or you can leave a comment on Gerrie’s blog and go into a draw to win her giveway copy.)
I found these paints on sale in Sydney yesterday and look forward to putting some art cloth techniques into practice. As Jane wisely says: “Making reigns supreme“.
Today I received the most thoughtful gift from my youngest sister Delia (who is a grown up doctor now and doesn’t keep a blog to link to). A CD of images containing all sorts of glorious colours and patterns including lots of inspiration for my continuing grasses series. Thanks Delia!
Even though I can’t make it (I’ll be at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne), I thought I would share this announcement that I received:
Dorothy Caldwell is visiting Australia at the invitation of The Australian Forum for Textile Arts and teaching at their Orange Forum (NSW) in April. She is also presenting a free public lecture at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney at 7pm on Thursday, 29 April.
Venue: College of Fine Arts Main Lecture Theatre (EG02), Corner of Oxford Street and Greens Road, Paddington
One of the wonderful qualities of cloth is that it wears out, breaks down and is continuously being re-made into something new. Stitching, mending and patching create a surface of unintended beauty and the sense of “lives lived”. It is from these ordinary practices that Dorothy Caldwell has developed the vocabulary of marks that she uses in the making of her large fabric constructions. The talk will address this aspect of traditional textiles and how it has been used as a basis for Caldwell’s work.
Dorothy Caldwell is a graduate of Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and maintains an active international exhibition and teaching schedule. She has carried out research in Japan, India, and Australia on textile traditions and is the recipient of grants and awards including the prestigious Bronfman Award given to one Canadian craftsperson each year. Her work is included in many permanent collections including the American Museum of Art and Design, Canadian Museum of Civilization, The Carlton and Reta Lewis Collection in Washington D.C., The Canadian Consulate Bangkok Thailand, and the International Quilt Museum and Study Center University of Nebraska.
As you will have noticed, I like to take photos especially when I travel. Even if the resulting photos are not great compositions, a camera is a great tool for capturing shapes, mood and colour. Over on Art and Quilts, cogitations thereon, Elizabeth has an interesting post showing how you can use your computer to reduce the resolution on your photos as to distil the basic colours and the proportions that they are used.
I went through a similar exercise (but without the aid of a computer) when creating one of my few hexagon quilts as part of my online City & Guilds course:
This weekend I will be back in Denver, Colorado. Let’s see if the winter colours yield new inspiration.
Yesterday the Laundry King and I separated - a strategy I heartily recommend when you are travelling and otherwise in each other’s company 24/7. He went shopping and met up with some former work colleagues for lunch and I caught the 1 California bus to vist Joe the Quilter at his lower Pacific Heights studio.
I’ll write more about the visit when I next have access to broadband. Today I’m off to the de Young to take in the Amish Abstractions quilt exhibition (for which Joe wrote a catalogue essay). A feast for the eyes I’m sure!
