In from the cold

June thanks for your comment regarding my canvas. Photos of the party & more canvases will be posted on the 2QAQ blog during the coming week. We all had a wonderful ARTrageous party in the Gallery, the air conditioning barely coping with the heat & humidity of the day, in stark contrast to the snowy conditions in Siberia. Bob, in my orange hat, is back with some great photos of the harsh wintery conditions endured by the people living there. L-R Vladimir, Bob, Fyodor Aleksandovich.

ARTrageous party at Gallery 159

Consider yourself invited to the Creative Canvas Exhibition & ARTrageous Christmas party at Gallery 159 today. We kick off at 12 noon with an opening of the exhibition by Janet de Boer OAM followed by food, drink & merriment.
The canvases are by members of 2QAQ [Queensland Quilters Art Quilts] & will be on display from 11am-4pm this weekend only at the gallery, located at 159 Payne Rd The Gap, Brisbane. 'Drift' is my contribution to the exhibition.

Journal covers

The sewing between the stitching & stitching o the wash away, has been to make some journal covers for gifts.

It was a fun project & gave me a break.

Today the bidding for the Bid 4A Cause auction starts & your generosity will be greatly appreciated by Breast Cancer researchers, women & their families. In exchange you will get a wonderful Australian art work.

Stitching, stitching, stitching

I have been stictching, stitching, stitching on the wash away with more to go today. To get some relief from the monotony I have also been working on a few small things, using some of the luscious hot pink & green yarn [bought in New York State with Jeri in 2007] which I hung over the door handle for temporary storage. I will reveal what they are soon, when they are complete.

My posts are getting a little later each day as Bob is away in Siberia & Moscow for work & I have stayed up late, reading. He hasn't discovered any interesting textiles in the minus 40 to minus 25 outside temperatures. Now back to sewing with the fan & air conditioner if it gets too hot!

Bid-4A-Cause

Being one of the 14 artists who contributed an art piece for Bid-4A-Cause, I'm happy to announce the auction starts on Friday November 27. Above is a detail of 'Goddess Relics' with a paint stick rubbed batik background, rubbed & painted statuettes appliqued with beads & rayon jacquard fragments.
The art works can be viewed on the website & bidding will be in reverse auction style. Please dig deep for this worthy cause as all money raised will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for research into prevention & cure. All money raised goes directly to the foundation without administation or artist's fees deducted.
Other artists are Helen Godden, Lisa Walton, Wendy Bailye, Dijanne Cevaal, Jocelyne Leath, Caroline Sharkey, Sarah Louise Ricketts, Robyn Kennedy, Nic Bridges, Erica Spinks, Brenda Gael Smith, Dale Rollerson & Olga Walters.You can link to their sites via the Bid-4A-Cause button on my sidebar.
Thank you in anticipation of your support.

'What Tickles your Fancy' Challenge results

The 'What Tickles your Fancy' challenge of the Quilters Guild of NSW entries & prize winners are on the Template blogsite. Congratulations to Jocelyn Leath, first & Carolyn Sullivan, second. Judith Thomsen & Brenda Gael Smith were awarded a Judge's Commendation. A slide show of the 31 entries is also on the site.

If you are in Brisbane on Thursday Nov 26 & interested in the work of Andy Goldsworthy, a British environmental sculptor- he is giving a free public lecture at 6pm in the Gallery of Modern Art Cinema A.

Contrast

Although I have spent the last few days sewing, I have very little to show for it as the process of building up my design using thread on the wash away is a game of patience. It's a game of contrast- wanting to be at the next step, but knowing I need to put in the work now for the result I want.

Natural/man made, soft & rounded/hard & angular, dark/ light- these contrasts contribute to the drama in any work.

Sightlines exhibition

While I have been sworn to secrecy & can't reveal any images of my completed pieces for the SAQA Sightlines exhibition on my blog or website until after the opening in Houston at the International Quilt Festival Nov 4-7, 2010 [please note it is launching a year earlier than originally announced] I'd like to share this collection of beautiful gold, orange & copper threads that will find their way into my work.

I have them arranged in 3 rows, roughly shaded from light to dark. The test sewing is taking place now & some eliminations are occurring.

Australasian Quilt Convention

I'm posting a little information about AQC [Australasian Quilt Convention] in case you are interested & missed it earlier. The early bird, cheep cheaper payment ends on Nov 30, 2009 but you can still book after this time. Four & 2 day options are available.

I was a delegate at the first convention in 2005 & a tutor in 2008. I'm also a tutor in 2010 & hope you can join me for a technique workshop [Monoprinting Magic & Oil Stick Intensive] or Garden Trellis, a project workshop. It's such a special time of lectures, dinner & awards, information, exhibitions, shopping & learning. I'm getting excited just thinking about it! Melbourne temperatures will be perfect at the end of April for a Queenslander.

Design decisions

We all make design decisions as we start & work on our pieces & perhaps what started out as a good idea is changed along the way for something better. Don't laugh [my favourite colour is orange] when I tell you that these are 2 of my hand dyed cottons that I have chosen for the background of my Sightlines work. They have been selected as they will help tell the story of the work.

What are your favourite colours? Do you find you change a design as it progresses?

Design studio

This is a [rare] view of my very tidy cutting/planning table in my designing studio, a tiled repurposed dining area.

My table & floor are now covered in the materials for the SAQA Sightline exhibition panels I'm working on. I'm making work to fill an approximately 2.5m wide area. All the selected artists have the same area for their work, with very specific size & hanging specifics.

The large floor to ceiling cupboard in the background is storage for my quilts, journals, beads, fusible, wadding etc.

Canberra #6

These beautiful tapestries were commissioned by the Australia National University & hang in the foyer of the Great Hall at University House. Valerie Kirk, Head of Textiles at the School of Art, ANU designed & made them. The blue one is in honour of Dr Frank Fenner who has worked on eradicating smallpox.The set of 3 celebrate Nobel Prizes associated with ANU.They are 240 L x 120cmW.

Canberra #5

Canberra, being Australia's capital city has many institutions with 'national' in the title. Before our flight back to Brisbane we stopped at the National Portrait Gallery which houses 400 portraits of people who have shaped Australia. Temporary exhibitions are also on display. The orange sculpture at the entrance greets visitors. The gallery opened in December 2008.

Canberra #4

More exterior photos of the National Museum of Australia- colour, shape & repetition. Quirky angles made us question, "how did they do that?".

Canberra #3

It was a grey morning, as we walked to the lake & the National Museum of Australia. The museum surround and building itself held many possibilities for photographs & challenges your concept of achitecture.

Canberra #2

I love ducks & had 1 as a pet when I was young, so imagine my surprise when I captured this moment in Canberra.

Faces in Places exhibition

I went to the opening of the photographic exhibition 'Faces in Places' last night to see the work of my daughter Sally Dennis. She was 1 of 4 Queensland University of Technology visual art students invited to participate in a project to document the people of the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, around the uni.
They all worked on the collection of portraits below & then their own expression of 'faces in places'. It is showing in X Block in the QCAI Gallery. Great work Sal!

Canberra

One of the joys of travel is waking up in a new location & going out for a morning walk of discovery. We stayed at University House, the hotel at the Australian National University. University House is a heritage building with furniture from the 1960's in the room & a large green, treed central courtyard complete with pairs of ducks in the long curved fish & waterlily pond.

Just across the road, Mr Churchill surveys his domain of gum trees & chin up bars exercise frame. We walked down to Lake Burley Griffin & the Australian National Museum to catch this glimpse of the flag on Parliament house.

Art Quilt Australia- the opening

Following the Ozquilt Network conference at which we heard speakers Valerie Kirk, Head of Textiles ANU School of Art, Bea Brickhill, Director of the Australia Business Arts Foundation & Barbara Macey, founder of Ozquilt Network, we went to the opening of Art Quilt Australia at Craft ACT.

Many of the quilts were hung away from the wall allowing the viewer to walk around the pieces & through the installation style setting. Those with transparent delicacy of silks & sheers glowed under the lights & we appreciated both sides equally.
Catalogues are available from Ozquilt Network & the exhibition shows until December 19, a powerful, thought provoking exhibition.

Art Quilt Australia

I'm off to Canberra ACT today for the Ozquilt Network conference tomorrow & the opening of the Art Quilt Australia exhibition at Craft ACT. Don't know if you can make it, so I'm sharing the full image of 'Spirit Land', my quilt in the exhibition. Will be back to blogging on Monday- have a great weekend!

New baby

What can I say? I just couldn't resist this new addition to my machine family. And what a cute name- Siena mist, from Babylock. Isn't she a beauty?

But what does she do, you ask? Siena is a dedicated embellisher machine for all those things you want to needle punch together. She'll be coming on Xmas holiday with me for some play time. [available from Sewco, Mt Gravatt Brisbane]

Be Creative by the Sea

I'm happy to announce that I'll be 1 of the 5 tutors for Be Creative by the Sea next year in Coffs Harbour. We will tutor the May 8-15 session. I have 3 day master classes on offer & the image above shows some of the techniques covered in Whole Cloth Design.

Rosalie Dace, Brenda Gael Smith, Robyn Alexander & Lorraine Parker are the other tutors for May.

Garden View will be the other workshop. The weather is beautiful at that time of the year & the location of the resort offers sea & mountain views. I know because I taught at Creative in 2008. Hope you can join me.

Inspiring

I admire many quilt artists in blog land who post about their work. I find it inspirational to see the process & progress they make as they work on their pieces. Kate Themel was commissioned to help celebrate Yale University's 40th anniversary of the Afro-American Cultural Centre. In all 7 quilts were made showcasing different aspects of the history of the centre.
Kate & I are both SAQA members & we shared a ride to Columbus airport earlier this year.

Jacarandas

The jacaranda trees have been in full bloom around the neighbourhood & truly magnificent. This tree is Heritage listed, I'm told. It's on a busy intersection & creates a spectacular natural display each year.
For lovers of purple/violet, it's the best time!