Set up

A bit of fun at set up day for the Beautiful Australia exhibition at Gallery 159. Diane on the ladder and Annette.

Ian was a great help adjusting the gallery hooks and we had the exhibition up in a short time.

So lovely to see the work again. It is colourful, fresh and tells a story. Hope you can see it.

Spring

Spring is bursting forth with new green growth on the bushes in my garden. What glorious colours abound.

Planted a couple of lavender bushes  and the flowers and scent are divine. A pinch and a punch for September 1. Getting in early as I don't blog on Sunday. 

Reverse garbage

Reverse Garbage is a business in a large warehouse selling industrial discards, fabric and bits and bobs for creative re-use.

I visited the Brisbane store at 20 Burke St Woolloongabba open Mon-Sat 9am-5pm. Some small rubber discs caught my eye and came home with me. I later used them as a resist when I sprayed dye onto a silk scarf [forgot to take photos]. I now have a polka dot scarf.
There is a small gallery at the store selling items from recycled materials.

 This coffee/lunch spot is a few doors down the street and serves lovely fresh sandwiches.

Beautiful Australia exhibition

I know many Australians will be busy this coming Sunday for Father's Day, but if you feel inclined, you are invited to the Brisbane opening of the Beautiful Australia exhibition at 3pm. Details below. This is the first showing for this touring exhibition in Queensland.

Beautiful  Australia

Sue Dennis, Margaret Edwards, Annette McRae, Diane Sheard, Jennie Short, Marilyn Tucker

You are invited to the opening of Beautiful Australia

September 1, 2013 at 3pm

Gallery 159

159 Payne Road, The Gap

The exhibition continues from August 31- September 15, 2013

Open Sat-Sun 11am- 4pm

Weekdays by appointment, please ring Janet de Boer 07 33006491

 

Egyptian tentmaker exhibition

Egyptian Appliqué in Wagga Wagga

‘Khayamiya’ is Egyptian Tentmaker Appliqué, a rare and spectacular Islamic art form that is rarely seen beyond Egypt. “Khayamiya: Khedival to Contemporary”, curated by Dr Sam Bowker, is the world’s first exhibition to reveal the story of the Egyptian Tentmakers from the Late Ottoman Empire to present-day Cairo.

 This free exhibition will be shown in Wagga Wagga from August 26 to September 12, 2013, in the HR Gallop Gallery (in Building 21 off Carpark 2), Charles Sturt University Campus, Wagga Wagga, NSW.

For hundreds of years, Egyptian Tentmakers designed and made hand-sewn appliqué screens called ‘Khayamiya’.  These intricate artworks adorned the spectacular tents of the Ottoman Empire and the Egyptian Khedives. In Cairo today, magnificent screens still form colourful backdrops for street parties, weddings, Ramadan celebrations, political rallies, funerals and religious events. Sadly, these screens are now made of cheap printed fabrics that imitate real Khayamiya appliqué. The historic hand-made art of the Tentmakers now faces extinction.

 The exhibition “Khayamiya: Khedival to Contemporary” is part of an international project to recognize the work of the Egyptian Tentmakers as skilled craftsmen and artists.  Dr Sam Bowker, an Art Historian at Charles Sturt University, is one of several Australians supporting this collaborative project. His research seeks to discover and reveal the art history of Khayamiya.

 Visitors will see how the Tentmakers found new audiences as Egyptian society changed. Dramatic suspended tent panels, some covering entire walls, contrast with charming Egyptian souvenirs from the 1930s. A series of short films further explain the context of Khayamiya, including a preview of the Australian documentary by Kim Beamish, “The Tentmakers of Chareh el-Khiamiah”, to be launched in 2014.

Sam Bowker will host a public conversation in the HR Gallop Gallery at 1pm on Tuesday August 27, followed by a lecturing tour of the UK. His book, “Khayamiya: The Art of the Egyptian Tentmakers”, will be published in 2014.

Viewpoints 9

The first round of Viewpoints 9 is drawing to a close, with the reveal of the last challenge Unnatural over the next day or 2. Being a member in the Southern hemisphere and working with time zones in the USA gives me a headache even with all the computer conversions available, so please do drop in at the Viewpoints 9 blog to see more of Where's Jack? and the other great quilts.

 

Experimenting

I usually use Shiva brand oil paint sticks for my rubbings but wanted to experiment a little with oil pastels and a door mat I had bought some time ago.

I used 3 colours of oil pastel and then added a layer with paint.

A dip into a light verdigris dye colour to finish the piece.

And why not put the door mat on top while the fabric is drying for more patterning?

I didn't set the oil pastels until the end. Experiment 2 coming up!

Point Cleveland

It was a lovely sunny day at Point Cleveland, a small grassy spot with a big children's playground.
Winter weather in Brisbane has been beautiful this month.

A mob of noisy Corella's screeched from the trees. The café nearby has water views across to North Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island.

STATE of the ART 13

Visited the STATE of the ART 13 exhibition at the Redlands Art Gallery in Capalaba, tucked in between the library and Council service centre. What a lovely fresh space and such a wonderful exhibition of art quilts by Queensland Quilters members, to fill it.

Here are some glimpses of the work selected for this touring exhibition.

Detail of Linda Robertus's Make Coffee Not War using hessian and stencilling.

The quilts flowed along the white walls and into the 2 small gallery spaces as well as along the main walkway, picture above.

Detail of Garden Path by Lajla Nystad. If you have time this exhibition is well worth a visit- on until September 28, Noleen St Capalaba. As always seeing the work in person adds so much more to the experience and appreciation of textile work.
 

Little ones

With 2 young grandchildren visiting, this is the extent of my creativity at the moment- a new blanket and pillow for a Care Bear plus a bit of food fun.

Lots of baby hugs and gardening with Miss 3 is so much fun. They are enjoying the warm Queensland weather before they go home to a much colder clime.

World Quilt Competition XVII

It has been my privilege to have been the Australian coordinator for the World Quilt competition for the past 8 years. Many Australian quilters have taken part in the annual competitions and have won prizes on the world stage. This year is no exception with Margaret McDonald and Susan Campbell taking out the Traditional Best Use of Colour award.
Eileen Campbell was winner of Best of Australia and an Honourable Mention for the 2 quilts she entered.
The 10 quilts entered this year came from experienced, well known quilters and others beginning their exciting journey. It is a competition for all levels and the quilts tour to many USA venues for 6 months.
I am retiring as coordinator to spend more time travelling and am happy to tell you Brenda Gael Smith will be coordinator in 2014.

Tropical foliage

Some glorious colours at New Farm Park, Brisbane on a sunny day.

 

The next steps

The next steps in the water theme piece- I have decided to attach the created fabric front to a painted wadding background.

It was easy to stitch the 2 components together using the walking foot. I used simple wavy lines from side to side. Now I'm in the process of making machine cords for the final embellishment of the piece.

The shiny and cotton DMC threads, shown yesterday are being combined.
 

Threads

What a glorious selection of embroidery thread, waiting for me to use in project. I am the lucky one receiving these and will use some to make cords for my water theme work.

Luscious colours on hard cardboard cones.

 

Water theme quilt

All the pieces of fabric stitched with the wash-away still in place.

The magic happens when the wash-away is washed away to reveal all the colour and stitching.

 

Quilts across Queensland

Lovely display of quilts in the Quilts across Queensland competition. They are hanging in the hall of the Dairy Pavilion.

This is my quilt "Jali" which was awarded a third prize in the Art quilt category. The fabrics were rubbed in India and it is one of my quilts from India Adventure.

Best of Show was awarded to Margot Kitchen.

Some that caught my eye.

"Audrey" was from the Maleny Show Society and won first in this category.

Congratulations to all the prize winners.

Ekka time

I love Ekka time in Brisbane when the country comes to town. The show bag pavilion has a lot of choices with the iconic Bertie Beetle bag still a favourite.

These
 cakes are amazing!

They certainly impressed these young show goers. The Ekka is on all this week, finishing on Saturday.

Another cake and lastly, an overall view of the more traditional categories.