Morley Grainger

Morley Grainger is a narrative visual artist who gave a great talk about her art practice at a recent Queensland Quilters Quilt Study Group meeting. She focused on the recycling of materials & had a jacket made from zippers, made well before the current zipper trend. I was too slow, so sorry no photos but you can get an idea of her extensive, thoughtful work via her website.

Rainy days

We are receiving lovely rain & my garden says 'Thank you'. I am stitching on my first Quilt National entry & have almost finished the quilting. As the piece is approximately 50" wide by 65" long it is taking some time. Entry deadline is mid September & I have 2 others to complete. 'Focus' is my word of the moment!

Australian floral fabric range

Yes Jane, I have a small exhibition of my work & also give a lecture at the Pacific International Quilt Festival. Francie, I'm very happy to hear you have enrolled in my workshops, looking forward to meeting you in Santa Clara.

I couldn't resist the fabric above & bought a few pieces from the new  Under the Australian Sun range designed by Leesa Chandler for Robert Kaufman. A range of background colours are available & the prints are highlighted with gold. The flowers are Australian natives.

Pacific International Quilt Festival XIX

I'm very happy to announce I'll be teaching at the Pacific International Quilt Festival XIX in Santa Clara, California in October. This festival is held in the San Francisco Bay area & it will be my first visit to this part of the USA. My workshops are Oil Stick Intensive, Leaf it Alone & Divide & Conquer. You can view them by going to the blog bar above & clicking on the workshop icon. Hope you can join me for some creative fun.

Yes, Kate 'snap' for the image from yesterday's blog post!

Friday night in the city

Another thing I discovered about Friday night in the city, is that I see my city with fresh eyes when the lights come on & have discovered some exciting views. This sculpture in in the centre of the breezeway in the Telstra ? building on George Street. Along with the great imagery below.     

  

Friday night in the city

The last 2 Friday nights have seen us going to exhibition openings, in various parts of Brisbane city. Our daughter Sally had work in both, therefore the interest. Above is a detail of her work on paper, from the exhibition last  night. The exhibition was for 1 night only, as was the previous one.

Sally also had 3 video installations. The exhibition was held in a damp, dank basement - very atmospheric, with the most interesting patina of time on the brick. Congratulations to the young artists embracing the opportunity to show their work.

Continue to work

Thanks for the suggestion Dale, on another way of using the nylon ribbon. I was going to give it away at first but thought better of it. I certainly have some accumulated 'stuff' in the cupboard! The photo above shows the work of Rosalie Gascoigne 1917- 1999, who used the most amazing materials [lino, road signs] for her designs which reflect a patchwork aesthetic. These are postcards I bought when I saw her retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria & I have pinned them to 1 of my design walls. They remind me that no matter what doubts I have about my work in progress, I should push forward, continue to work to say what it is I want to say.

Studio find

Something which I never thought I'd find a use for, is this nylon ribbon, inherited from my mother in law, who used it for knitting clothes hanger covers. I discovered it the week I was working on my Australia Wide 2 entries & have used some of the black in my small 16" quilt. The black is sitting on a scrap of  the fabric I ended up using in the quilt.

Sunnybank quilt meeting

This large Dear Jane quilt was made by Pat & shown at the meeting yesterday. Unfortunately I had to dash off early & didn't get her permission to put the photo with her holding the quilt on my blog.

Studio time

Thanks for your positive comments on yesterday's charity quilt post, Jan & Diane. I'm taking it to the group meeting today.

I have also been working on 2 entries for the juried touring, Australia Wide #2 exhibition, so unfortunately can't show you the entries yet. However I took a few studio photos- the top photo shows part of my hand dyed fabric/rusted/printed/commercial fabric collection waiting for reinterpretation into work. I have quite a good colour selection of metallic threads  & use rubber bands to hold the thread in place. I store them in drawers away from dust.

Sunnybank charity quilt

I have finished the quilting & binding on one of the Sunnybank charity quilts, which will be given to a hospital for patient use. The orange, blue & brown colour scheme worked well in the 5 x 7, 9" block quilt.

The 2 other things

You may be wondering what the 2 other new things were that we did in the 2 hours, or maybe not! After our walk/photographing in the forest we rewarded ourselves with coffee at 'the rare pear', a cafe we had not been to before.

They were very busy & we went back the next day for the all day breakfast. Eggs Benedict is a personal favourite & this one was with smoked salmon- perfect. Kate mentioned this cafe on her blog so it had been on my radar for some time.
Then we were off to the Scattered Arts Gallery at Camp Hill for a photographic exhibition. A great little gallery with many beautiful objects.

Toohey Forest #2

What I really loved were the bark textures & leaf litter patterns. Nature is so inspirational.

Toohey Forest

Last weekend we went to 3 new places in 2 hours & I'd like to share them with you. The first was Toohey Forest, a nature reserve very close to where we live. It was beautiful for walking, so relaxing & we got some great early morning photos with the filtered light through the trees- more tomorrow.

More Melbourne views

The last glimpses of Melbourne city on the skyline from Truganina [?] Park near Altona. Wonderful windswept views & an interesting sculpture.

Suffolk puffs

My daughter in Melbourne is working on a baby quilt for a friend. We were able to do some sewing together during our recent visit. Mostly the quilting conversations & hints have been over the phone,  when she has been making quilts for gifts. The Suffolk puffs are stitched to 4" blocks with a running stitch in embroidery thread, for the design detail.  It looks so lovely & fresh & her friend loves purple.  

Donna, I'm happy you have found my blog & the Altered Views exhibition is great.

Altered Views exhibition

Last night we braved the Brisbane peak time traffic & drove to Redcliffe for the opening of "Altered Views", an exhibition by members of the Reddy Arts Textile Group. Above- Donna Davis with her interpretation of the Gayundah, an old ship that was used for shore stabilisation.

The exhibition is in the large foyer of the Redcliffe Cultural Centre in Downs St & is divided into 2 themes- Gayundah & 'time'.

Susan Pietsch, coordinator of the group & owner of Essential Textile Art supplies, above with her textile piece also based on the Gayundah. The exhibition continues until July 31 & will amaze & delight visitors with the wide interpretations, techniques used & high standard. The artists are hosting an Open Day on July 20 in the Shillam Room at the Cultural Centre.

Coffee Melbourne style

A favourite Melbourne coffee spot for us, is Haus Frau in Yarraville. Warmed Ginger Pudding with caramel sauce....heavenly.

A great variety of cakes can be ordered & you have the choice of having them presented on one of the glass cake stands.

Graffitti

This eye-catching graffiti was on a building undergoing urban renewal. Size & proportion add to the visual texture.

Melbourne views #2

Diane, I have more photos for you, to stir the memory. We spotted these swans grazing. They are usually out numbered by the sea gulls.

Melbourne views

Williamstown, Melbourne is a great place for photos & we were there for a brisk [insert cold] walk in the later afternoon. The light & clouds were perfect with'line' & 'repetition' dominant factors.

More of Cockatoo Island

I was impressed by the sandstone blocks used for construction in the convict precinct of the island & began photographing the textures. Luckily this was before my camera stopped working. Fiona Foley had her work, 'Bearing Witness' featured in this building.

Cockatoo Island

The Biennale art was spread around the various parts of Cockatoo Island, which had been a penal colony & ship building facility. Several tunnels go under the hill on the Island.

The video installations were spread throughout a number of sandstone buildings on top of the hill. No attempt had been made to 'clean' up so buildings & interiors were in a state of disrepair. Ghosts of past lives seemed to haunt the corners.

A beautiful wedding

We were wedding guests last week & had a lovely time. It was held at the Pavilion at the Alan Border Field, home of Queensland cricket & the weather cooperated beautifully. The bridal flowers were tulips.