It's been a quiet week

Well it has been a quiet week. Mostly spent waiting for tradies - cleaning windows, fixing fans. All done, all happy, but little work to show for it.

Hubby and I managed to fit in a film, on Friday at the last minute. I had tickets to the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick and so we hopped on the train to head SOUTH of the river. It was a strange documentary film: Frankofonia. The story of the pictures in the Louvre during WWII. Very bleak from the Russian director, very arthouse, but great archival footage and reenactment. Only two couples in the cinema and we both loved it!

I did manage to get to a good stage with my prototype of the next set of work based around the fabric play that I did.

Will do some tweaking, but also start on the next one. The REAL thing!

What do you make from fabric yarn?

So I've found a couple of ways to make yarn from fabric, but "what", I can hear you say, "do you do with it?"

You knit dishcloths from the woven cotton fabric. They work really well, but not so easy to squeeze dry....still working on them!

Knitting dishcloths from fabric yarn.

My first dishcloth!

You stitch and use lazy squaw stitch to make little baskets to hold those errant keys!

Little bowls from fabric yarn and fabric strips.

Lovely little fabric bowl.

And you make coasters from the knit fabric which work really well and you knit more dishcloths.

More dishcloths and stitched coasters.

A finished coaster

And, what is it all for? To start my next sculpture! This is my prototype started!

My next sculpture!

tsbtextile in the project space at the Textile Art Community

Oh boy, yes I know it's been awhile....so I'm not going to fill you in! :) I'm going to tell you about what I'm doing in September at the Textile Art Community where I have a studio till the end of October.

My studio, after I moved in...it's still tidy!

The Textile Art Community now has a project space and a workshop space. The project space is where an artist can have the month to work on a project or idea. The first month was August and Karma, Samy and Gail worked on Hessiats.

Ready for the celebration party, hats, scarves and more!

September is me! I'm going to be playing with fabric, making it into yarn and using the resulting yarn in basketweaving. A bit of research into techniques and possibilities. I do have a final project in mind, but more on that another time.

The first week was a bit slow as I went with my dad to the Degas exhibition. A great day on a day I would usually be working. 

Beautiful statues at the Degas Exhibition at the NGV

I have made a start and created some yarn and knit a little dishcloth.

Fabric yarn, cut, spun and plied. The knitting is fun!

As part of the project I have to run some workshops, so on the next two weeks, I'll be holding a make fabric yarn and make it into a dishcloth or coasters, and then I'll follow that up with making little bowls, when there will also be a party. These will be on Saturday the 17th and 24th from 1.30 till 4.30pm. Check my TSBtextile page on facebook for details.

And finally, I'm going to set up my display with fabric plinths. I've started but still have a little way to go.

My first fabric plinth!

Will work hard next week. Come and visit and see how I'm going. I'll be there Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, just give me a call!

The Art of Gardening Sustainably

What have I been doing in all this heat? Nothing you might say, but you would be wrong....I have been weaving some pieces for the above exhibition. The exhibition is to support Sustainable Gardening Australia, and is being put on at my local gardening centre, which, instead of the usual coffee shop, has a gallery, run by Meredith Plain who is a ceramicist. One of her amazing birdbaths (with frogs) is in my garden and I would have one of her dragons, but that is a long story.

I've chosen the theme of recycling, so all the knitting needles are orphans from the opshop, which is where most of the buttons have come from, recycled plastics, and the neverending spool of nylon wire. Who knows what I'm going to do when that runs out.

I've given you a little sneak preview of the six works. I'll post the full lot when I have pictures of them hanging, but if you want to see them live....



The Art of Gardening Sustainably

An Exhibition to spread the word about sustainable gardening and raise funds for SGA (Sustainable Gardening Australia)

7th February to 8th March 2009

Exhibition opening: 6 to 8pm, Thursday 5th February
To be opened by Mary Trigger, Chief Executive Officer, SGA.

Bolin Bolin Gallery at Bulleen Art & Garden
6 Manningham Rd W., Bulleen. 98505155.
www.baag.com.au

SGA (Sustainable Gardening Australia) is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation whose mission is to promote the benefits of sustainable horticulture. (For more information about this ground breaking organisation and gardening sustainably go to http://www.sgaonline.org.au/).
Funds will be raised by donating Bulleen Art & Garden’s normal commission to SGA; small artist contribution donated to SGA (which would cover exhibition & opening costs which will be met by BAG); and sundry other donations.

The Gallery

The exhibition will be held in the Bolin Bolin Gallery at Bulleen Art & Garden, 6 Manningham Rd West, Bulleen. (For more information about Bulleen Art & Garden, go to http://www.baag.com.au/ or www.baag.com.au/gallery/)

Recycling business shirts

Yesterday was our 3D5S meeting, where we explored recycling fabrics. This was inspired by our trip to Ceres in Brunswick. We had fun cutting up fabric, running it through the spinning wheel and knitting to create some really interesting fabrics. Good rugs, bags are in the making.

My partner's old business shirts were sacrificed to the cause....he now has a reason to buy those bargain priced good quality shirts he's spotted....I didn't get as far as knitting, but I'll get there!

The Australian Sheep and Wool show project is progressing well and slowly coming together. The next few weeks will be a flurry of activity to get pieces made. All very exciting and pictures will be posted after the judging takes place.