a studio respite

Amidst a busy year where computer and committee tasks seem to dominate, and struggling to find room to work in my overcrowded home studio, I decided I needed some extra motivation if I was ever going to start a new body of textile work. So, with my painter friend Di Taylor, I applied for a temporary studio space which had become available in the city as part of an initiative by Artsource and the City of Perth to bring working artists into the city. Much to our delight we were the successful applicants and we have the use of this wonderful space for two months, courtesy of the building owners the Hawaiian Group.


Our studio work space

The studio is huge, over 200 square metres, and in a prominent position in Parmelia House. The front five metres of the main studio space is glass street frontage, so we are using this as display space.


The front display area of the studio with my works 'Patch Work VI' and 'Aftermath' on the left and Di's painting 'Pink Lemonade Evening' on the right.


Again, my textile work juxtaposed with Di's painting


Yes, that is ALL our studio as far as you can see!

What we did NOT anticipate was the stripping of the opaque film from the 17 metres of internal arcade windows, exposing our work space, and work habits, to the world! We have hung more work in these windows, but there is plenty of room to see us work nonetheless.



We leave the doors open to encourage people to visit, and gradually they are feeling more comfortable about doing this.


The view through the side door

The studio is providing me with the luxury of physical space to spread out, but even more important is the mental space it affords to escape from my other commitments and focus on exploring ideas and processes as I contemplate commencing a new body of textile work. I don't need much space to MAKE work, but I need a lot of space to think and plan.


That activity requires me to spread fabric out all over the place as I play with various possibilities, and even just rediscover what I have in the way of resources.


My portable foam pin-up boards are proving very useful


and my vintage clothes airer is perfect for stacking ironed fabrics

It's early days yet, but if at the end of the eight weeks I feel I have some idea of where I am headed, then the time will have been very well spent.

An afternoon of discovery

Following on from my previous post, here are further images from my Jetty Series , some of which appeared in the "Connecting Threads" exhibition.

My work evolves from my life experiences. Walking the length of the Bussleton Jetty on a bleak grey afternoon, I was drawn by the unfolding stories in the jetty’s surface.


They spoke of life.

The jetty is aged and weathered, bearing the scars of hard times and makeshift repairs.

There is evidence of the occasional left hand turn

and even a little blood letting.

The jetty wears all these marks with dignity and grace. A lifetime of hard experience has enriched this wonderful old structure, ensuring that an afternoon spent in its company is a deeply rewarding experience.

Jetty Suite

In the "Connecting Threads" exhibition I followed a path to which I am increasingly drawn, of showing both textiles and photographic images. Usually the relationship is subtle, but in this instance they spoke more directly to each other.



"Jetty Suite 3", 40 cm (16 inches) square

The photographic images show old and weathered surfaces,

so it seemed appropriate to use old recycled blankets as the base for the related textiles.

"Jetty Suite 1", 40cm (16 inches) square


This detail shows the use of hand stitch to build up depth of colour.


"Jetty Suite 2", 40 cm (16 inches) square
Look for the photographic partner to this piece in my next post, when I talk about my source of inspiration.

connecting threads

My first post for 2008 delivers an untold tale from 2007. Marjorie Colemen, Margery Goodall, and Cherry Johnston live and work in my home town of Perth, Western Australia. I count these women among my closest friends and colleagues.

While our art practices are independent and varied, we have formed a strong bond through our shared focus on working with stitched layered textiles. We meet regularly, taking advantage of the opportunity this affords to exchange information, share ideas, and engage in lively and stimulating discussion.

All of us exhibit internationally and have travelled extensively, but we are happy to be based in Western Australia. We don't see Perth's isolation as a disadvantage in a world where communication is so easy.

After working together over the years on other people's projects, we realised it was time we mounted our own joint exhibition. Connecting threads was held in September 2007 at the Gallery at Ellenbrook, as part of Artopia, the biennial festival celebrating the talent of Western Australian artists.


I exhibited both textile works and photographic images. This installation view shows stitched textile works from my Jetty Suite.


My work again, photographs and a quilted piece.

I will show more detailed images later.

Australia Wide

My days have been so full of compelling activities that I've been slow to find the rhythm of writing, and my jottings have been somewhat more occasional than intended. As the year draws to a close and life calms down a little, some retrospective jotting seems in order.

The time leading up to my trip to India was especially busy. In between mounting two exhibitions here in Western Australia (more on those on a later occasion), I participated in the selection of works for an exhibition initiated by Ozquilt Network, Australia's national organisation for art quilters. Australia Wide was designed to showcase the talents of Ozquilt Network's members and to demonstrate the scope of art quiltmaking in Australia.

As a juror, I was also invited to exhibit. My quilt Jetty Suite 4 , like all works in the exhibition, is 40 cm square. Made from recycled blankets, it was inspired by the weathered wood and rusty painted surfaces of the Busselton jetty.


a detail of Jetty Suite 4


I always feel honoured to be invited to jury a show, a process which brings equal measure of pleasure and weighty responsibility. In this instance, the selection process was a long distance affair, with the three jurors scattered from coast to coast, across 3,000 kilometres and three different time zones. The cost of bringing us together would have been prohibitive, but with the wonders of modern technology we were able to view the images via a CD slideshow on our computer screens and communicate with each other via email.

This was an interesting means of jurying, much more protracted than my previous jurying experiences. A process which is necessarily confined to several intense hours when the jurors are brought together within the confines of one room was extended to days, as we each in our own time viewed the works and reported our initial response, then discussed, reviewed and negotiated until we reached a final consensus via numerous email communications. I appreciated having the luxury of viewing the works repeatedly over a number of days, so that decisions made were more fully considered than is usually possible.

As well as touring to venues around Australia, Australia Wide can be viewed on Ozquilt Network's website, www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au I urge you to take a look, there is a wonderful variety of work to be seen.

Najibabad

I am high as a kite, floating on the euphoria of savouring a wonderful experience.



I've just flown home from India, where I have been visiting a young friend. My friend Intekhab is a rafoogar, a darner of Kashmiri shawls. He comes from a long line and large extended family of rafoogars, who for generations have devoted themselves to restoring these old and precious textiles.

Our friendship was formed early in 2006 when we undertook a joint residency in Ballarat Victoria, along with Intekhab's fellow rafoogar Zakir, as part of the Common Goods project. You can learn about this project and discover what we did during our residency by following the links at the right to the website and blog respectively.

I speak no Hindi. Intekhab speaks a little English. He is of the Muslim faith, a young man the same age as my daughter. We would seem to have very little in common except our shared interest in mending old cloth. Even there, our attitude differs. Intekhab is trained to mend invisibly, to remove from the cloth any trace of the passing of time. My interest in mended cloth lies in exposing the effects of aging, allowing the marks to tell the story of the life the cloth has led. I am very happy for the mends to remain visible.

Yet this young man and I, as we collaborated on a work for Common Goods, formed a bond which has stood the test of time and distance. Intekhab has phoned me from India every few months, to ask about my family and my health, and even to offer me Christmas greetings on Christmas Day, each time urging me to visit him and his home town of Najibabad, 200 kilometres north east of Delhi.

How could I refuse such an enticing offer? So of we went, my husband and I, to Delhi, and to Rajasthan, and then finally north to Najibabad. We met Intekhab's family and friends, who made us very welcome. We visited Intekhab's workshop, and those of his extended family and colleagues, where we saw the results of the rafoogars' very special skills and creativity.







We were taken touring to visit local landmarks which spoke of the history of the town. Intekhab's family welcomed us into their home, where we experienced great hospitality and generosity. We shared a special meal cooked by Intekhab's mother. Intekhab's father kindly showed us some of his treasured old Kashmiri shawl fragments.



I was given a precious gift of two embroidered strips of centuries-old shawl. I am charged with honouring that generosity by incorporating these precious fragments into a worthy piece of work.



All too soon our special visit was over, but our memories will last a lifetime. Intekhab, how can we ever thank you enough?

Ashore

It seems my first missive did wash ashore somewhere. Thankyou Alison for your kind comment. Alison spoke of my 1998 quilt 'Tidemark, Cape Tribulation', which she saw in the book 'Quilting Masterclass' written by Katharine Guerrier. 'Tidemark' was inspired by a walk along the beach at Cape Tribulation in northern Queensland, where the rain-forest sweeps right down onto the sand. The tidemark is a crazy jumble of rainforest detritus such as twigs, seedpods and leaves which overwhelm the usual seaweed and shells.


Rain-forest litter is washed back up onto the beach by the tide.


This image taken at the high tide mark sparked the idea for my quilt 'Tidemark, Cape Tribulation'.


'Tidemark, Cape Tribulation'
72 x 92 cm (28 x 36 inches)
printed, pieced, appliqued, embroidered


detail