Street Art

Had lunch at West End today, in a Turkish restaurant. West End is a multi-cultural inner Brisbane suburb, south of the river, with some interesting street art. At night this alien is lit up. It is on the footpath at the intersection of Mollison & Melbourne St.

The photo, snapped by Bob, as I couldn't get the angle right, may not give a good impression of scale, but it is high enough for pedestrians to walk under comfortably. On the skyline to the right you can see the Sky Needle which was part of Expo 88.

Inspirational Dragon fruit

At my local green grocery, which stocks a lot of Asian vegetables & fruit, I came across a box of Dragon fruit on the counter. Curiosity got the better of me & I had to try one. The beautiful rose petal texture of the red & green exterior was enticement enough, but imagine my surprise after cutting the fruit!

A white watery flesh with small black seeds greeted me. Wow, what a fabulous contrast & totally inspiring for a colour combination. Taste was neither overly sweet or delicious.
2QAQ have a Journal quilt challenge -"A Splash of Colour" for reveal at the April 25 meeting- hmmm.. I think I know what I'll do!

2QAQ meeting

What fun we had with the Live Art Project at 2QAQ [Queensland Quilters Art Quilts] http://www.qldquilters.com.au/ meeting yesterday! Members were asked to bring along some black or white or b&w flat or dimensional things & a red heart. Once these were spread out on the central table, 2 tables of people at a time were asked to participate by putting up a display on the design boards which were covered in black fabric. A 5 minute time limit applied to each exercise.

The first exercise was to create a focal point. As you can see all sorts of things were used- undies, socks, beads, handbags, lace, feathers & lots of hearts.

Line was the next exercise, with shape the last one. Comments from members were given on each composition & we finished with table centres.

Creating fabric with needle punch accessory

I've just discovered the ease of creating fabric with the needle punch accessory from Bernina http://www.bernina.com I have been using synthetic organza as the base & punching in wool fibres. It's so easy & quick to get a new felted fabric which can then be cut & stitched onto something else or used as is or....

There are special embellisher machines dedicated to this technique & many textile artists have been indulging in wonderful creations. Jeanne Williamson is one who comes to mind who has successfully used the technique in a year's worth of weekly mixed media pieces. http://www.jeannewilliamson.blogspot.com/

The felting attachment blends edges & you can achieve painterly effects. Will be playing around with this one a bit more. Will have to find a place for all the lint coming out of the machine too when the needle punch tool is used- why just put it back into the next piece!

My Country- a land of extremes

Today is a National Day of Mourning for the Victorian Bush Fire Victims & time to remember & reflect on the destructive power of nature, the wonderful work of the volunteers- fire brigades & support services & the stories of survival from the many people caught up in the tragic circumstances of these fires. With great sadness we remember the horrendous loss of life due to this event in our national history.

Further north we have the extreme of floods covering vast tracts of grazing land & cutting roads & supplies to many communities.

This seems very small in significance but during the week a fairy circle formed on my footpath & the wonder that is nature captivated me.

Photos from the opening of SAQA: Oceania Art Textiles

Thank you Janet deBoer, L for opening the exhibition. Jennifer Brakensiek's

"Extractons of the Species" is in the background.

Kathryn, on the right, & I discuss Deb McArdle's silk piece titled "Mending My Ways". Small stones are sewn into the top & bottom panels. On the right is my quilt " Anthills- Study in Brown".

L-R Yvonne, Sue & Trish, dressed for the Valentine's Day opening.

In the background L-R you can see work by Alison Schwabe, Thelma McGough, Sue Dennis & the wonderful second silk piece of Deb's hangs from the upstairs balcony so both sides can be viewed.

SAQA: Oceania Art Textiles

This weekend is the last time you can view the Studio Art Quilt Associates: Oceania Art Textiles exhibition at Gallery 159, 159 Payne Rd, The Gap 11am- 4pm. The exhibition opened on February 14, Valentines Day so we dressed in red & Janet deBoer OAM editor of Textile Fibre Forum magazine & Gallery 159 Director did the honours.

The 12 art quilts are from Oceania [Australia & New Zealand] members of SAQA http://www.saqa.com/ an international organisation for art quilters based in the States. Membership is growing constantly with more than 2,000 members worldwide.

Down Under Quilts magazine http://www.downunderquilts.com.au/ feature the quilts in Issue129, 2009 pages 78- 81. Great colour reproduction- it's like being there in person!