April 2015

Unfortunately, I wasn’t home with enough time to continue the exploration of looms from Laos. It will have to wait till another time.

This month was a month for teaching away from the studio. Firstly there was Fibres Ballarat organised by Glenys Mann. The class was titled Ties: Decorative, Functional and Unconventional. There were four in the class. They worked extremely hard experimenting with the many aspects covered and ended up with a collection of well documented samples and designs. For those who chose to, there was also the opportunity to start a project on the end of their warp. The following are some images from the class.

It was a great space with plenty of natural light and lots of space.

The samples with tags. There’s lots of information here.

The following images show more detail of samples.

The class of 2015: Wendy, Jeanette, Di and Denise. Five days and several late nights resulted in great results.

Each day there were additions of wonderful installations. I was particularly taken with a grouping of altered books suspended in a tree. Deb McArdle was the artist responsible.

And another of her installations.

For next year’s Fibre Arts at Ballarat’s offerings go to http://www.fibrearts.jigsy.com

Then it was immediately off to the USA and teaching at the Fiber Forum hosted by the South East Fiber Forum Association at Arrowmont. http://www.sefiberforum.org

It was a delightful destination.

Around the garden some interesting sculptures could be found.

The title of the course was East Meets West where students explored traditional backstrap techniques interpreted into shaft weaving. As there were twelve in the course, there was a great variety of work produced. The following shows some of the student’s work.

 

At the end of three days, this was the result. Somehow, I am missing three students work above. My apologies to those whose work is missing. I am very proud of what all achieved.

Each day I walked under these. It was only on the final day it registered how clever these were: a very appropriate entrance to the painting studios.

Then it was off to visit my friend Judith. She’s currently studying printmaking at Georgia State, Atlanta. I was fortunate to be asked along as a visitor. I wonder what the motorists thought of this. Here we are on a traffic island with the traffic whizzing around while the sun worked to develop a solar screen. This is was the most convenient location where good sunlight was possible.

When we get together, we usually have a play with some sort of technique. This time we took the opportunity to work with cyanotype. It was used in the creation of blueprints. Chemicals are mixed and applied, in this instance to paper. The moment it is exposed to light the chemicals start working. In the following cases we explored using stencils, plants and shadows. Once the sun has activated the imagery (time is critical), the paper is washed. The imagery turns blue; a process in some ways very reminiscent of indigo. The following shows the process.

The treated paper with images is exposed to sunlight. The places where the sun can’t reach will stay white.

We hope enough time has elapsed. We timed it for 15 minutes. This is how the paper appears before washing.

After washing off the chemicals. The paper was hosed. The images turn blue and it’s quite like magic.

At some stage I’d like to return to this process and explore applications on textiles. It has potential.

Next month will have a focus on exhibitions. While I was in the USA, I was approached by Gatakers Artspace to hold an exhibition. The exhibition, Interlacement, opens in Maryborough next Friday and will be open for May.
311 Kent Street, Maryborough
Phone: (07) 4190 5723
Email: gatakersartspace@frasercoast.qld.gov.au

The following month, Pattern: A Universal Phenomenon will be hosted by Emerald Regional Art Gallery. 5th June – 17 July.

Plans continue for the opening of my school. Check out the details on either this blog or my website.