Australian Art Adventures

It is still incredibly sunny here, so the temptation is to be outside as much as possible.  However, I spent some time indoors yesterday at the inspiring Museum of Contemporary Art.  Unfortunately, I had just missed the exhibition about Game of Thrones - would have loved to see some of those costumes.

However, the immersive video art of Tabaimo more than made up for that.  It was really special to see the drawings that made up some of the videos, and to see those drawings further extended to become new drawings on the actual wall of the gallery.

The lower pieces were firstly an ever changing array of coloured cards, by Rebecca Baumann, mesmerising to watch, and then an array of tiny slippers decorated with shells, each one a different pattern.  Made by Esme Timbery, the story behind it is very sobering.

Walking in sunshine

The song theme resurfaces, with apologies to Katrina and the Waves, as I am in Sydney.  Lots of sunshine, chilly when the sun goes in, no stitching yet, but already lots of inspirations from water reflections

More Sussex experiences

My Sussex adventures continued last week, but I've been too pre-occupied with preparing lists for everyone's travel adventures this summer ( and with the tennis) to blog about them.  So a quick zoom about them.  First a visit to Architectural Plants near Horsham, which I had not visited for over 18 years.  It is even more amazing now, and is really worth visiting before they move to their new site near Pulborough, in 2016.  The vistas in the nursery are superb, and it is possible to wander for hours around the grounds.

Shapes and textures

Quirkiness ( spelling?)

Then to the Ditchling Museum of Arts and Craft, small, but beautiful and well worth a visit.  Some of the artists in that community had troubled and bizarre personal lives, but the museum focusses on the work they produced.  Lunch in the welcoming and interesting Mister Magnolia's fortified me for a walk on Ditchling Beacon, to see the large horizon and watch the swallows.  I got my sketchbook out to record being there - Kurt Jackson influences  coming through

Swallows

The next day, off to Sheffield Park Garden  to see huge trees and lakes.  The sequoia that exploded after being struck by lightning, is now just a stump, it must have been astonishing to see it immediately after it was struck.  Several trees in the gardens are succumbing to disease and are gradually being removed.  

I found the tag of one that had recently been chopped down ( my mind went back to the tree project and how to link that to identity tags of fallen soldiers)

Lots of feathers there as well

 And the last Morley session of the term on Tuesday, life drawing, daunting again, but I did manage to enjoy this session more.  It made me realise that I was missing my scalpel, so I calmed my nerves during Andy Murray's last match with the cutting board and some black card. ( The pencil lines were made while watching a match to see if anything interesting came out of the marks) - it didn't, hence the overlay with the paper cuts.

Younger son's end of term concert last night , always emotional as the 6th form leavers talk about their experiences in the music department.  Packing now as I am off to Australia tonight - trying to keep myself calm as the lists mount up.

Floral and arboreal adventures

I am in East Sussex this week transporting younger son to work experience each day.  Rather than trek up and down the motorway, I've stayed there and used it as an opportunity to visit National Trust sites that are new to me.  So far this week , that has included Nymans, Standen and Wakehurst Place.

Wonderful colours and shapes at Nymans

More colours and shapes at Standen

an old Morris favourite on the walls at Standen

and embroidered at Standen

wonderful Morris blues at Standen

more flowers at Wakehurst Place

and beautiful willow sculptures at Wakehurst, made by Tom Hare

 

 

Clearing out, stitching up and inspiration - (photo heavy)

I am using these few weeks before I go to Australia ( for 4 weeks!) to clear up and use some of my sample pieces that had been lurking unloved for too long.  I'm a member of an exchange group for textile postcards, which are a great way to use stitched samples.  Looking at these, I'm evidently in love with blue and orange.

Black Kunin felt, bonded fabric, hand and machine stitch

Indigo dyed fabric, hand applique and embroidery, machine quilting

Indigo dyed fabric, fish from a greetings card

Commercial fabric, wrong side, hand embroidered eyelets, machine quilting

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Commercial fabric, raw edge appliqué, buttons

Commercial fabric, machine applique and quilting, hand beading

Inspiration this past week has come from visits to

• British Folk Art at Tate Britain- good, but seemed incomplete to me as there was no scrimshaw, canal ware and very little ironwork.
• The New Georgians at Orleans House - interesting and bonkers combined non several pieces, on until 27 July
• Twickenham Carnical, where the best popcorn ver was on sale.  If Drum and Kernel are near you this summer, do try their wares.
• Matisse cut outs at Tate Modern - really lives up to the hype, but perhaps avoid going on a Saturday afternoon!
• Chelsea College of Art , BA Textile Design show - I found the textiles amazingly inspiring, particularly the weaving, printing and knitting.  Surprisingly enough, little of the stitched work caught my eye.  Some of the beautiful pieces are below

 

A fun interactive design scheme by Christine Kim - choose shapes depending on aspects of your life…...

then print the result in repeats

Drawings large and small

There is only minimal stitching going on at the moment, but a fair amount of art exposure nonetheless.  At the weekend, I helped out one of my friends with a community art project in Peckham, organised by Sustrans, with the aim of getting people out and about in unused spaces in the urban environment.  One of their projects for this summer is Pocket Places Peckham.  My friend Helen Peacock, has been working on a major project about Peckham, as part of her Textile foundation course at Morley, so it was great to see it developing in to this large, interactive piece.

Installation of the initial, huge poster

Passing-by

Taking part

More people

It was a real experience to assist in this and an opportunity to visit a part of London I don't know at all.

On a completely different scale, we were "en plain air" at the drawing course this week.  How difficult can it be to determine the horizon line?  In an urban park, I found it  very difficult, but I did manage to achieve one drawing I am pleased with.

As for the other - no, it's not an abstract, I was sitting behind the guns at the imperial War museum.  Perspective and foreshortening needs a lot of work.  The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day, there is a glorious poppy meadow in flower, so it needed some colour.

Hearts tombola

Sudden, but not unexpected changes at work have led to more time than planned for stitching.  However, those changes are also unsettling, so I am finding it difficult to relax in to a large project.  The hearts tombola has been the solution.  These A6 book covers, made from this tutorial, have filled the bill.  The edging foot really helped giving these a professional- looking edge finish.

Pieces of tie silk, lined with scraps of old duvets.