At the end of April 2012…

I’m back in the studio at Sturt.  When I walked into the studio, it was very familiar territory.

Before I share what I have been doing, I’d like you to meet some of my Tuesday’s class. They are working on a variety of individual projects.

This is Tuesdays’ first warp. On her 18^th birthday she started a wonderful journey. It was the day she started weaving. What a birthday! This is her third day of weaving in the studio. Well done Tuesday!

Judy is preparing her loom and busily spinning wool at home to weave her rug.

Maureen is working on a hammock.

Judy is working on her first floor rug. She has also hand dyed her yarn.

I have two tapestry weavers in my class. Dimity Kidston has been their tutor for the last term. They are working on completing their tapestries. Both have enjoyed working with Dimity and are looking forward to continuing with her again. Sturt and those working in this medium are fortunate to have access to such an accomplished tutor.

Ann has been challenged by circles and lines.

Sara has interpreted her grandchild’s drawing.

What have I been doing on my residency? Firstly my exhibition continues. It is the last week next week. I have been enjoying company dropping into the studio after they have seen the exhibition: some are weavers, some are travellers, some have an appreciation of textiles and design while others just want to have a yarn. It has been fun.

I have been busy working in the studio and have completed a collection of woven shibori pieces.

 

The challenge for me while I weave at Sturt is to design using the looms that are here and most specifically design for a minimum of shafts. The maximum number of shafts available on any loom is 8. This image shows the progression of weaving with fishing line being woven in for the resist, a pulled up sample and then after dyeing has been completed. This series uses the absolute minimum of shafts for woven shibori : 3.

The finished sample has permanent pleats as well as a dye pattern.

For those who are going to Canberra, Travelling the Silk Road is on show at the National Museum of Australia. I caught the exhibition when taking a friend who had visited to the airport. A visit to Canberra also means I get to spend time by the lake. It is a very beautiful time to be visiting Canberra.

The gardens at Sturt are again spectacular. Here are some views of different sections around the studio.

March 2012

This month’s review will cover firstly the development and weaving of the last major motif. The source of inspiration is the spiral which I have selected as being representational of New Zealand. While I have been to New Zealand and think that the country is truly beautiful and I cannot wait to get back there again (perhaps next year), it was an encounter with a New Zealand lady at a particularly difficult time that had a very significant connection. She provided me with the information that the spiral can represent a new beginning and later sent me a spiral from a paua shell. It has a permanent place hanging in my studio. I have also come across spirals in many places including on an ancient site in New Mexico. The following images are of two of the interpretations of this motif into woven structure.

The last week in March saw me drive to Mittagong. Yes I am back! For those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning, you will know that this all started with a residency at Sturt as a means of recording my adventures.

At the end of March I set up my solo exhibition in Sturt Gallery with the opening on Sunday 1^st April. I was absolutely humbled and delighted by the number of friends who came from far and wide as well as the general public that attended. My friend, Glenys Mann spoke beautifully to open the exhibition. Thank you to those who came. I would also like to acknowledge the staff at Sturt who made it all possible. The exhibition will be up till 13^th May. If you do come, please make sure you come and see me in the studio. I am about to embark on another 3 month residency. The following are some images of the exhibition. For those who have been following the development of this work you will see some familiar pieces as well as some that I have not previously shared.

The following four views give an overview of the exhibition.

This set of images show detail of the motifs developed from a particular country and experience.

I thought that I’d also share the brief artist statement that accompanies the exhibition.

A Common Thread

Have you ever stood in front of an object and wondered: Where have I seen that pattern before? Maybe it was in another place, another medium, another time. I had this experience in full force when I was standing in St Marks Square in Venice and looked at the brickwork of the Doge’s Palace and was instantly aware that it was a weaving pattern. My research later uncovered that it was in fact credited as being inspired by textiles. Since then I have become increasingly aware of the commonality of design across tome and place. Patterns that had very local roots can also be found in another country and perhaps many hundreds of years earlier. The same pattern may appear extensively in several mediums and in relatively common usage across cultural groups.

It is this universality of design that is the focus of this exhibition.

Universality of design will be explored by selecting design from across medium and cultures. While the selected designs may be found in textiles, the emphasis was on selecting those from outside my medium of the handwoven. In addition the initial concept must be informed by my experience. I must have been there. I must have seen and experienced.  My experience provides an extra dimension and level of meaning. For me each of these designs have meaning, often relating to others. The countries that I have sourced motifs from include: West Timor, New Mexico, Italy, New Zealand and India. In addition the motif of the concentric circle has significant meaning as representational of an aboriginal design for “meeting place”.

These designs have then been interpreted into woven cloth in diverse technical interpretations. The designs have been handwoven on a variety of looms from conventional 8 shaft loom to 24 shaft computer assist, draw loom and jacquard looms.

In the process of developing design, I have also referenced aspects of traditional cloth. It is not however my intention to recreate one of these traditional textiles but rather interpret several influences to achieve something totally unique, hand woven by me in a design that spans time and place.

Parallel to this is the awareness that when contemplating the universality of design, the underlying fact is that wherever a crafted pattern appears; it is always the result of someone’s endeavour. It bears the signature of the maker’s hand, expressing the universality of man (and woman), the creator…across media and disciplines- without boundaries.

 And finally some images of the studio where I am now doing the artist residency. On my last residency I recorded the passage of time with an image of a tree just outside the studio. This is an image of a garden at the back of the weaving studio. The gardens are beautiful. Maybe I will record the passage of time with this garden.

An exciting new development at Sturt

Sturt, where this blog began, is investigating implementing a weaving course. I have been helping putting together a survey. The survey is now available at www.sturt.nsw.edu.au.

The weaving course will be designed to develop skill in design, technique and presentation.  Students will be expected to attain and exhibit a high level of technical skill in many aspects of woven structure. Read more about the proposed course. Have your say. Complete the survey!

It would be appreciated if as many weavers as possible have some input so that Sturt can envisage the level of support that they may expect. In this era where textile courses are diminishing out of our educational establishments, it is very exciting to contemplate a new course being established.

I hope you do take time to complete the survey. A big thank you to those that do.

Central Queensland and the Southern Highlands of New South Wales

It’s a good thing that the airport is relatively convenient. I have just spent a week in Mackay and then a day in Mittagong.

It was a wonderful week in Mackay. I went there to talk weaving, dyeing and to spent time walking on the beach and in the rainforest with my friend Helen. Helen has a 4 shaft loom and wanted to investigate “holes” and textural fabrics, so we worked with overtwist wools, wool/lycra and her stash on a lace weave structure. I got this very excited email this week. The scarf turned out just as you said it would and looks great. The overtwist worked better on lengthier parts than shorter parts. So the small piece I have decided to turn into a U shape, pick up the edge and knit into the middle calling it “Captured”. Then I started to experiment with knitting with the overtwist – wow – what an experience. The overtwist wool looks delicate but the wool lycra worked on very large needles just goes nuts and sends the yarn around it into contortions – why haven’t I discovered all this before, it is great. I am looking forward to seeing how Helen will incorporate this into both her weaving and knitting.

Helen enjoys doing wall pieces that combine weaving and knitting. We installed this piece in the Sarina Library.

Then when I got home from there, I also couldn’t resist going down to Mittagong and having a look at an exhibition, Threads of Influence. Yes, one does have to be a bit crazy to go all that distance in one day, but I did really want to go. A flight and a car hire is all it takes. Elisabeth Nagel has been weaving and teaching at Sturt for 50 years and this exhibition celebrates that achievement. Other weavers who had also taught at Sturt were invited. The exhibiting weavers were Elisabeth Nagel, Jeannine Binoth, Julie Monro-Allison, Melanie Olde, Monique Van Nieuwland, Liz Williamson and myself. It was a very diverse exhibition.

The invitation for the exhibition with a detail of my work on the loom on the cover.

This is one wall of the gallery showing work by Elisabeth Nagel, Liz Williamson and myself.

Melanie Olde in front of her work.

Monique in front of her work.

As well as seeing the exhibition it was great to catch up with the friend that I had made during the residency. It was also amazing to see what Sturt looks like in summer. It was very lush and green. We celebrated the end of the day with wine and cheese on the lawn.

It was delightful: late afternoon, a cooler end to the day, drinks and chesse on the lawn,  and relaxed conversation.

How different it looks now. For those who followed the blog from my resisdency at Sturt I often included pictures of the gardens including this pathway to the studio. The grounds were so lush and green.

When I was artist in residency, I use to always start my blog with a picture of the view from the front of the studio. It seemed appropriate to finish this update with the same view.

Week 16

 

This is the final week of the residency. You may have noticed that I haven’t put “at the end of week 16”. I finished up on Tuesday. That tree still has leaves hanging on. I did take a walk down and take a closer look. Yes, there are new shoots appearing, so obviously at no stage will it be completely bare.

There was the last bit of dyeing to do. What could be more appropriate to finish with the last of the bookmark blanks? I dunked them in the last of the indigo. Some were undyed previously, while others had come from the cineraria dye bath. It was a most appropriate way to finish off the residency as these bookmarks were the very first project woven at Sturt. And yes they will pass through the rite of passge with fire…. sometime.

It was a very busy few days with the final labelling of the art work which I’m leaving for the “50 years of weaving at Sturt” exhibition starting in October. There was also lots of packing and tidying up. I did somehow manage to fit everything in the car!

Monday night we had a celebration dinner in the cottage. Of course it was going to be a great night and it was! The celebrations continued onto the next day with the Tuesday group providing champagne and cake and they even lit the fire for one last time. Mind you the doors were also open as it was not a cold day by any stretch of the imagination! They launched me on my way in grand style.

It has been an amazing experience! Four months has certainly flown!

This week has also been a time for reflection. At the farewell dinner, I carefully selected some symbols of my time here and arranged them above the fireplace.

 

 I used these items (the log of wood, the sprig of Eucalyptus Cineraria and the glass with the wood shaving steeped vodka) to describe what the Sturt experience has meant for me.

It has provided a creative thinking place and space.

It has provided fireplaces and fire to think about, do stuff with and be warmed by.

It has provided woodpiles to experiment with.

It has provided trees with leaves and bark to experiment with and to be inspired by.

It has provided looms to be challenged by.

I have played, experimented and created. And as the result of all this, I have achieved some work that I am excited by and that will lead onto other new works.

And lastly it has been the means of discovering wonderful friends and working with great people in a truly unique and special place.

At the end of week 15

There are still some leaves hanging on! 

This tree is just outside the studio. It is magnificent.

I heard from Museum and Galleries services during the week that my work “Which way” which was acquired by the Redland City Council will be part of the Twelve Degrees of Latitude Exhibition, opening at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville and touring. I am absolutely delighted to be part of this exhibition!

On Tuesday night, 3 “Sturties” (Dale, Slavica and I) went on a wombat hunt. It was on dusk as that’s when you are likely to see them and we saw: 4 dead wombats, 3 feral cats, a hundred roos and…. 1 live wombat!  And we had a very nice country drive followed by a lovely dinner.

The week continued to be a very social one. On Wednesday night, H and David hosted a wonderful dinner in Ainsworth with Megan, John and Dale and me. Thursday night saw a gathering at a Thai restaurant in Bowral: great company fantastic food. Friday was a student exhibition opening with pre event drinks instead of our usual Friday night get together. Saturday I went wombat spotting at Carol’s farm. It was a dark, blowy, showery night and there trotting around the paddock with 3 humans in tow was a wombat. We followed it across the paddock, under the road (through a pipe), across to the dam and back again. It was a very obliging fellow and we got very close. Eventually we decided to leave him to it. I’m sorry that I wasn’t smart enough to take the camera as I could have got up close and got a beauty.

Work progressed steadily. The circles were discharged and redyed. The eucalyptus bath seems to make the discharge process slower. I also did a quick sample to check whether eucalyptus oil would achieve the same semi resist effect that can be got using the leaves to dye with. I immersed one edge of a previously dyed fabric in some oil then applied the fibre reactive dye. It was a very patterned piece, but I am reasonably sure that there was a slight difference in the take up of dyes even using this commercial preparation.

The following 2 images are details of “Meeting Place V” . The full view can be seen in the “Weaving at Sturt” page. I did have quite a bit of difficulty deciding which was the front as the back view had some very beautiful dye patterns.

The following 2 images are of the sister piece of the pervious one: “Meeting Place VI” There was no trouble with this piece deciding front or back as this was decided by the image.

Emily completed the weaving of her first 2 rag rugs. She had woven them side by side on the big loom. Now she is getting ready to weave full width.

Anne brought along her scarf that she’d finished. She is delighted with the result.

I completed the series of scarves that I’d been weaving the previous week. This series involved double weave with the layers attached at one edge in the same grid. After weaving I stitched circles and bound these before dying one in the Eucalyptus Cineraria (Argyle Apple) dyebath. This time as it was wool, I finally got the red brown that I knew was possible.

I also finally got to try the wood shavings which had been soaking in alcohol. Remember this was started in week 6. I used one of the wool scarves. It was a spectacular non event! No colour at all, but it certainly has been fun to do and a talking point of course. The scarf went into the Cineraria dyebath after it’s mate. It isn’t quite as dark as the previous one.

A second series of scarves was completed on the same theme.This one uses cotton and acrylic for both the warp and weft with a panel of double weave grid. I drew circles in a devore chemical and removed the cotton component.

The Saturday class proved a hive of activity. The morning was spent weaving and evaluating what had been covered. But the afternoon was strictly play. We experimented with a potato dextrin resist, playing with deb potato. We scrapped it out and then scratched back into it, even with fingers. It would be a great activity for kids: they could even lick their fingers! It took a long time to dry in front of the heater but finally we applied some procion dyes. The fabric was then wrapped up for batching. Some of the fibre reactive dyes were also used for shibori pieces, some on commercial fabric, others on hand woven.

In addition we had a special dye activity. I put on an indigo bath. It was a lot of fun! I got to work on a previously naturally dyed fabric and folded it before dunking. And because I had one bit of white fabric left, I quickly tied it up with rubber bands. I just couldn’t resist that indigo!  Others had stitched, and tied fabrics with one even having grains of rice tied in. It was a great way to finish of the Saturday classes.

This fabric had been previously dyed the week before in bark with alum mordant .

At the end of week 14

That tree still has red leaves! And all around Spring is happening. There are wondeful clumps of daffodils and all manner of spring bulbs.

This has been a busy and productive week, in spite of the fact that it was shortened by my arriving back from Darwin on Monday.

The studio has had some wonderful alterations. There are now wide benched to use the table looms on. One of these provides the most beautiful place to work in as it is positioned in front of a huge window which looks out on a magnificent flowering pink tree. New storage shelving has also been installed in the back room. Everyone is very excited with the improvements.

Some of the Saturday class weaving with tables looms on the new benches under the window.

From the point of view of “work”, the circles have had their initial dyeing in argyle apple and are currently pulled up awaiting the next stage.

I am also in the process of weaving on another warp which is following the same theme as the circles, but is much more loom controlled doubleweave. It is being woven at a much faster rate than the circles. Thank heavens for that!

I have had more fun “playing”. The bark from the eucalyptus tree which had been boiled and left to sit while I went to Darwin, has been used for the second layer of dyeing on commercial fabric. This fabric had been dyed using argyle apple with the extended mordant process. This time around, I remordanted using the overnight process. I’m sure that there is little difference in the amount of dye that is taken up. It now waits for another process; mmmm I wonder what that’ll be. All I do know is that I want to do another layer of dye to add to the complexity of the piece and as well as that, as much as the dye pattern is currently interesting, I’m not all that keen on brown.

While I was dyeing this I also put a couple of bookmarks in the dyebath. I pole wrapped them around a broomstick. I had carefully selected the end that was pink and used it for wrapping. I hoped that the dye would transfer from the broom so that the fabric against the wood would take up that colour while the natural dye would colour the outside. It happened as planned with quite an interesting pattern. It is a little difficult to see the pattern as the colours are very similar in tone.

Saturday saw an informal gathering of where both groups, the Saturday and Tuesday groups, were invited to afternoon tea followed by a showing of the Peter Collingwood DVD. It was a lovely afternoon. Some of the ladies had brought along the most scrumptious food which we had on the veranda before going inside to watch the DVD. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The gardens are so exceptionally beautiful. The magnolias are just starting to open. I am so fortunate that the weather is warmer than usual so I am getting the spring colour before I leave. I am still complaining though that I didn’t get snow!

And a postscript to the week: I was invited to the most scrumptious afternoon tea. The afternoon tea was an event, but what was really exciting was that I saw my first wombat in the wild as we were driving home at dusk!  

At the end of week 11

Those red leaves are still hanging on! The gardens are lovely.

A view to the otherside of the front of the studio. It was early morning and the light was beautiful. There’s a wonderful clump of jonquils there.

Each morning I walk down this path at the back of the studio. There is a lovely combination of spring flowers here.

Most of my week has been spent doing doubleweave. I have finished the circles and am now onto the next image on this warp. It is just slow.

This is the last loom I intend to “fix”. I started with getting some woodworking done in repairs to the shafts and then replaced all the cords before balancing. It is functioning beautifully.

This is the studio with all looms functioning beautifully: All 14 of them in this photo.

 

There’s another mordant recipe been put on the recipe page. I am in the middle of the process. I hope that it’s worth the effort as it is a 3 day process. I’m looking for stunning results! (I hope)

At the end of week 10

 

The view from the studio. When is that tree going to lose all its red leaves? There’s very little change.

I arrived back at Sturt after a very full weekend in Brisbane raring to go. It has been a very mild week with much happening in the garden. There’s also been much happening in the studio.

 I decided to “open” the studio to outside visitors when classes weren’t in progress and to also open the studio so that students can come at any time. The studio has been humming. We’ve had a constant stream of very interested visitors and the studio has had more than one student in each day. In fact it was nearly a party atmosphere on Thursday. It is a very exciting place to be.

Judy, one of the Tuesday ladies, maintains a beautiful bunch of proteas on the shelf above the fireplace. There has always been a  bunch since I arrived.

I have had a productive week and have also done some serious “playing”. The doubleweave circles continue to grow. It will be great to finish them. I’ve also done a run of 3 scarves, bumping my knee on the loom for most lifts. This warp had been dyed several weeks earlier using a variation of a procion dyebath. After I had dressed the loom, I discovered that it was made for short legged weavers. I just don’t fit into that category! I did manage to get them done in the one day though and was very pleased to see the end of them.

I did the last dyeing over the red fabric that I’d dyed using commercial dyes on the wrapped “Silver Dollar” tree which is really “Argyle Apple”. I completed the final stage in the circle over dyeing with its leaves. I managed to get a reasonably deep tan using an alum/tannin mordant and am reasonably satisfied with the result.

Inspired by the open fireplace, I continue to explore burning the silk/stainless steel bookmarks. This time instead of burning the fold edges, I put the folded bookmark’s edges in a flame proofing mix. I remembered that a treatment could be applied to cloth that would inhibit burning from my textile teaching days, many years ago. It took some digging to locate the formula in an old textile text book. It involves the use of borax and boric acid. I’ll put the recipes in a separate page. I was sceptical whether it would work. The first test where I folded and held the bookmark in the brew, worked but as I hadn’t performed an absolute resist I was not totally convinced. The second one involved the use of a clamp and immersion into the brew. As I put it in the candle, I could see that these areas didn’t burn. I wouldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t burn in a proper fire though!

The top bookmark shows portions of unburnt fold lines. This one was held and emmersed into the “brew” and as a result the resist wasn’t totally effective.

The bottom bookmark was clamped and then emmersed resulting in very clearly defined negative space where the flame retardant chemical didn’t access.

At the end of week 9

This week was an extremely busy one. I had 7 students in the Winter School and they really worked hard. I had set up a “round robin” with 12 looms dressed, each exploring a different aspect of woven shibori, both warp and weft. They also had the opportunity to explore shibori on a variety of yarns and in a variety of techniques including differential dyeing, discharge, permanent pleating and devore (though no one got to this). A large number of samples were produced: some quite beautiful but all with potential. One weaver, Belinda, took the opportunity half way through the week to apply the knowledge she’d learnt and complete a project. It turned out to be a very beautiful scarf combining woven shibori and huck lace. It was a great workshop with a great group of people.

There were maany samples produced. These are a selection of some.

Belinda set up the loom and wover her scarf in huck lace using alpacca with weft shibori in 2 days. She dyed it with a crammed pot method on the last day. Luckily it was a cold day as the scarf cooled quickly so she could undo it quickly. There was great excitement in the undoing. While the shibori effect isn’t greatly in evidence in the photo, it certainly had an effect on the way the dye sits on the surface. The end result is exciting: interesting fabric with a great handle and interesting colour patterning.

All week, I watched and waited for the daffodil to open. Each day there was a bit more colour and  finally it was.

The gardens are beautiful. This is the path to the back door of the studio.

I did manage to get the 3 scarves dyed that I’d woven the previous week, thanks to surplus dyes and discharge paste.