Bunnehs Dandy in the Nongs!!

Our 2018 adventure to the Dandenong Ranges begins with the Blonde Bunneh (BB) picking up a weary Pink Bunneh (PB), who stupidly stayed up watching music videos until 3am - why?! I manage to keep my eyes open during the flight to watch 'Swinging Safari', then mislead us on the way to the rental car pick-up point due to failing to read instructions... oh well, we need a bit of a walk! We drive straight to our burrow in Olinda, and find the cottage freeeeezing! Dressed in blankets, we try and decipher the heating system before heading out to obtain noms in Belgrave.

Fantastic mushies in Belgrave!

With the weather forecast not looking great, we force ourselves out once more for a walk, and explore the local roads - unfortunately for me, this becomes a road of relentless downhill (knee - ouch!) which can only mean one thing - relentless uphill on the return. Still part dressed in travel gear - dress and stockings - with some extra layers, I soon start to sweat as well as struggle to breathe. Not a good start!

Ear muffs!

We settle into our still-warming burrow, and Jenelle prepares the noms whilst I decorate my tired-looking ear muffs with felt scales. After an early night, we hit the road, stopping at the delightful King Henry for a coffee. Perhaps we can come back for lunch, or even....dinner?! HA! No way these Bunnehs will leave the burrow at night! BB has researched several places to visit, the first being Carribean Markets, which we struggle to find, (both shouting MARKET ENTRANCE when we finally see it) and are then sorry we did.  A few sorry tables of tat in a cold, cold barn... Off next to Market Fair, which was much more enjoyable, although no purchases made. We did see a book called The Bunnies in the Jam - quite fitting as we keep driving through Monbulk (although there is no evidence of jam).

Back to Belgrave for lunch, we head to a place offering 'German Deliciousness', but really appears to be sausage and sauekraut, so we head to The Blacksmith for a Buddha Bowl and Felafel Burger - happy Bunnehs. Time to explore, I ask Jenelle if she is ready, as her face 'noooo look ready'! After exploring Belgrave, we head to Sassafrass, and the rain becomes heavier! Jenelle finds a lovely pair of knee high boots to buy (yes, I was right, the first ones were better!) and some tea before we head back for a welcome shower and time on the couch. Much to my delight, the laptop rises from the dead, after a day of death screen - hurrah!!

On Saturday morning, the sun is shining and the sky is blue - although when I stick my head out the door it feels like I've stuck it in the fridge - and we head to the Dandenong Park to do the 1000 steps.

It is marked as 'steep and slippery', so we do the Lyrebird Track instead - a heck of a lot of relentless ups = Struggle Street for this Bunneh! The backpack wasn't helping, so BB took that, and we made it to One Tree Hill (covered in trees - any particular one?!) and begin the descent. Despite the whinging, this Bunneh's knees prefer ups to downs,  and for a few minutes, protested fiercely, and I thought I may have to send BB back for the car! Eventually it came right, and we picked up a coffee at the base before heading off to the markets at Mont de Lancey. BB started to have doubts, saying, 'um, doesn't it look a bit rural..?' whilst I maintained the faith with 'yes, but it is at an historic home', however, we arrived to a whole lot of nothing..... oh well....... Hangries loom for both, but we hold on for the next one, the Hills Art Market in Emerald. We encounter a sorry, cold field of pathetic stalls - disappointment has a name! Back in to town, we settle into Zest for a delicious brunch of sweet potato frittata and smashed avocado and enjoy both the food and the excellence service. Hangries suppressed, we have a wander into the Fashion Shak, where my appearance garners a  friendly but stupid 'and what are you?' When I reply with 'a Svenja', it is asked again, and starting to lose my patience, I turn to BB and say 'errrr, I'm not sure how to answer this', and she saves the day by saying merrily that 'She is a Pink Lady'. This seems to be acceptable.

This was the look, minus my big, black boots...

Driving to Kallista, we spot a Tardis, many beautiful red and yellow leaves, bark dripping off trees, and a sign for some 'Clip-Clop Plop'!! Passing Kallista, I spy a large felt Octopus in a pram, and am intrigued.

Bunneh searches, and searches for Wombats....

 We walk around the lovely Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens, although we do at one stage do our usual wander down a path which peters out into nothing... After visiting the large pigs and some

The Piggery Cafe next to the gardens

newly-shorn llamas, we travel towards 'Seaforth, Shakespeare, Seascape, Sherwood' AKA Sherbrooke, and continue on to Olinda. We wander, PB gets engaged in conversation with crazy lady in craft shop - BB fails to rescue - then we head back to the burrow for the evening and a lovely antipasto platter.

Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens

On Sunday, we hope to redeem our market fails of Saturday by visiting the 'Big Dreams' market at Belgrave, however, we are now wary, and prepared for Big Dreams to become Shattered Dreams. And they pretty much were, except for some truffle salami and a ginger sesame snap. OK. We remember the Upper Fern Tree Gully Markets, and as Siri is telling us to u-turn to reach them, we look over and see a coffee cart and a 'Pain Pod' tent. Worst markets EVERRRR!!! OK. Let's go to Lilydale. At least there'll be chickens!! All looks promising as we turn into the packed carpark at the Lake, and BB gets seriously excited as she sees the tents......of the Mother's Day Classic. So not markets, and we can't even walk around the lake. OK again. Let's check out Lilydale itself. Fail again. Back down the road to 'Hunted' - a warehouse of many stalls of stuff - not bad, but not fabulous, and no coffee, so PB is advised to 'eat the muesli bar' - a reference to previous travels where a hangry loomed and a muesli bar was necessary to stave it off! Back to Lilydale to go to Mt Evelyn, which has a total of 2 cafes, and this Bunneh loses her cool, refuses to get out of the car except to go to Wolies to get noms and wine then go home! BB craves exercise, and drives back to the 1000 steps, and PB gets a little therapy moulding some leather, before heading over the road to the Piriana Gardens and being delighted to find some magical-looking mushrooms and beautiful trees.  

I have such a good time moulding leather that I stay up late (also drinking bubbles) so feel a little secondhand when BB brings me coffee in bed on Monday morning!! We begin the plan of the day by driving to Grant's Picnic Ground to do a 7k walk, which soon turns into - you guessed it - relentless ups! However, I survive, and we are delighted to come across a very fat and happy wallaby, as well as a lyrebird, in the magically misty forest - bliss! This success continues as we arrive at Brunch for - brunch! BB struggles to finish her chorizo and beans, but wins in the end! It is freezing cold but I drag BB next door to the William Ricketts Sanctuary, which is cold, dark and not to BB's taste - we stumble upon a video in a hut of the man himself looking quite mad and talking about becoming 'the essence of God'....... perhaps he smoked a few herbs during the 70's?!! I crack myself up by referring to our next stop as 'not a tumour, but it might be Tecoma', and we do a little op-shopping, before I get the major post lunch + I-stayed-up-too-late snoozles. Looking for a sunny grotto, we go to Sherbrooke park - BB strolls to the falls whilst PB snoozles in the car. After a fuel and food stop, it was back to base for yet another delicious antipasto platter, and plans to visit Marysville on our final day.

William Ricketts Sanctuary

WOW Crate 2018

The tenth, and possibly final, WOW crate send off - an annual photo tradition with celebratory bubbles in hand!

This year we had a disgruntled Trumptopussy joining me on the crate, very upset that he is not also going to the show. After a small struggle, we made our peace. Creep. He kept singing, "What about me"......

I've spent the week making a few adjustments to the accepted work, due to it being placed in a different section to the one I intended it for. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do a new photoshoot with the changes, but that's just the way it is. If my mannequin could wear the shoes it could almost work, but she can't!

Work continues on the paper piece for 'paper on skin' in Burnie Due to my going off on a tangent towards a whole new colourway which turned out not to be suitable in the end, I had to order some more gummy silk cocoon strippings from The Thread Studio. This also gave me the chance to order some gummy silk carrier rods, and some more Starburst Sprays - I just love these! I've mainly used them on leather - this is the first time I have actually used them on paper. Look at that lovely subtle purple glow on the edge up the top there!! Of course, having just ordered, I've now nearly used that one up - it never even appealed to me before! A little bit of action with the heat gun and the whispy bits get burnt out, and a nice bit of colour appears as well. I'm doing a bit of free motion embroidery in the middle for some texture, as well as for a little extra stability. I'm using hand dyed crochet thread in the bobbin, so am sewing with the silk paper upside down on the machine so that thread sits on the surface. Then I'm stitching on some silk cocoon pieces, dyed and painted with gold around the edges, to represent the cupola shaped often found on lichen.

And here's a little taste of the silk lichen pieces pinned onto the headpiece - there's also a couple of pieces of the paper string I am using for extra texture. I'm looking forward to seeing the piece completed soon.

WOW Preselection 2018

Having completed my three entries with time to spare (due to the decision not to attempt the fourth!) I assembled the faithful team for the photoshoot.  A week later, I submitted the photos for preselection, a preliminary step for International Designers before we ship the pieces for initial judging. Another week later, to my utmost horror, I received the first email beginning with the fatal words "Thank you for entering...". ( The good ones begin with "Congratulations!") Okaaaaay. The next one was a good one, but with a change of section, but to my further horror, the third was yet another rejection! Nooooooooo!! I was truly stunned, as I honestly thought the pieces were very strong.  The one entered in the Avant Garde section was a reprisal of my first entry, 10 years ago. Same concept, of a beautiful moth emerging from a cocoon, just interpreted differently, utilising the many new skills I have acquired over that time period. It's the most couture piece I've ever done - I really nutted out

the patternmaking, made toiles, and hand finished lining. The wing pieces were made by painting gel medium onto organza, then painting, then free-motion embroidering. The 'window' panels are a textured cellophane. The tunic (created from 5?6? layers) is covered in motifs that have been created the same way, before being cut out and applied to the bodice, then hand beaded. The chestpiece of the tunic has been tambour beaded - it's been a few years, but it was great to practice it again - and includes cellophane pieces, large rhinestones and ostrich feathers. The shoulder and head pieces have wire bases, moulded leather covers, painted and embellished with rhinestones. It is a personally significant piece, so it was a bit of a body blow to not have it accepted. I keep questioning if it would have made a difference if I had sent more detailed shots, but I figure if they wanted to see more, they would have asked for it to go through to the next stage. These are just the basic shots - I hope to share the more quirky ones sometime soon!

The second entry was a Bizarre Bra that I thought would be greatly appreciated! The description of my work 'Trumptopussy' read: 'Originally just a quirky idea for a bra based on a beautiful octopus, the surrounding political climate offered an alternative story. The 2016 Trump campaign became notorious for the phrase ‘grab ‘em by the pussy’, and searching the phrase ‘‘hands like an octopus’ online now leads straight to articles on Donald Trump. His presidency has sparked an incredible protest movement, with women finally taking a stand against sexual misconduct. I have always thought of the Bond film Octopussy in connection to the animal (the character actually a powerful, impressive woman). Trumptopussy of course, had to be orange.'

His awful hair is made of felted merino wool, his body is satin off-cuts stuffed with pillows, his suckers are made of window blind material from Reverse Garbage. He too, sparkles with rhinestones, and has a creepy, beady eye, which looks at you whilst one of his tentacles creeps down to the groin area.....

I'm sure Trumptopussy has a future out there....
Many thanks as before to Matt, Jenelle, Chantal, and Edwina.
Fingers crossed the third makes it on to the stage!!

Introducing Mama Banana

The WOW 2018 Shoot was pretty epic – 4 solid hours of hard work, teamed with a fair bit of frivolity!! We were all exhausted when it finished. Big thanks to Chantal Brennan - photographer, Jenelle - helper Bunneh, Mama Banana AKA Edwina Tait- model extraordinaire who also provided great atmosphere with her music and her banana, and of course, Matt Pettigrew - Patron of the Arts, for providing the venue and oh, gee, the unwavering support over the last 6 months, living with beasties all over his house!

Introducing Mama Banana modelling my Bizarre Bra, with her banana!

Amazingly, after a very looooong lie-in this morning, I unloaded the car, made lists of things to do, and tidied both studios - the post-WOW creation cleanse is complete! I have to admit, I was inspired after seeing Mama Bananas' under-the-house-open-studio, which was so impressively clean! It also sports a pool table as well as an amazing fabric stash, and I hope to hang out there and do a post on her fabulous space to share with you.

 As always, the studio is that little bit fuller, but I am blessed to have so many materials and inspiration around me. Now to complete the online entry with the photos, and hopefully pass the first round and pack them all off to NZ! Matt picked up the returned crates just this week, and there are a few repairs to be done, as well as the extra little stencils representing this years entries that I like to do. Hopefully, in a few weeks, we will continue the journey and ship them off!

Thanks again to all who have been part of this annual adventure!

New Horizons

The three WOW pieces fill the dining room, awaiting only small finishing touches before the shoot, then of course all the labelling and wardrobe touches like hanging loops, then dressing instructions, and packing. However, I have already mentally moved on, and today spent some hours cleaning the house and actual studio of bits that are no longer required (AKA the permanent chess game that occurs here in every corner of the property!) It's been a stinker of a day, which can help when tidying, as you get so shirty that you actually throw things out! It might not look much better to outside eyes, but it sure feels good!

The overlocker corner, utilised to hang samples

 By 1pm I had to retreat to the Oasis (upstairs, in the cool air) and Matt slithered in from the shed shortly after, having also achieved good work. My next priority was sorting out my entry to the Burnie Paper on Skin Competition, which closes tomorrow. However, as I don't have to have made the piece and send a photo yet, I could submit a sketch and description, along with images of supporting work. I was so pleased when I realised I could do this - a new goal in the calendar to work towards!

Recognise this lady? Isolda, my WOW entry from 2014 enters a new phase of her life! And what a long life it has been - WOW, a tour around Australia as part of the Craft & Quilt Fair in 2015, long holidays at TAFE, and most recently displayed at Reverse Garbage. Now, she has been cut down into a number of pieces which attach to each other - as the competition is in Tasmania, shipping is a very important consideration. Whilst walking one morning I had the epiphany of using Isolda as a base, then the shipping conundrum hit me. It felt a little weird to cut into her, but to know she will have a new life (and get the heck out of the house again!) is totally worth it!
It has led to me revisiting my old sketchbooks from my Morphology exhibitions - there are always many ideas which didn't have time, or sometimes, the skills to get explored. So it's back to lichen - here is my experimentation with making a silk paper piece, embellishing it with free motion embroidery, and silk cocoons, resting on the wire armature covered in tissue paper mache. The sketchbook underneath shows a lino print of lichen which may also get utilised.

 I dug out these silk cocoons which I have had for years, and sorted them out - cocoons, silk waste, bug waste, and the circles which have been cut out of them to let the moths out (clearly didn't work in many cases!) These little circles perfectly mimic the cupola shapes in the centre of many lichen. This picture I took 10 years ago of lichen in Hamilton Gardens, New Zealand is a major inspiration.

Speaking of New Zealand, this lovely 7 page article on WOW 2017 turned up in TEXTILE Fibre Forum Magazine! Oh hello, Spike!! (Official name, Cordycephila!) And hello Organ Farmer by Fifi Colston - here's a happy memory of her win over me last year!!

Another piece is already evolving as an off-shoot of a WOW idea, and whilst I still want to pursue that one, this one could be fab for Wearable Art Mandurah 2019! All of these new creations however are relegated to 'after hours', as my main focus is now to finish working on my much loved and missed kombi, Storm.

Never a dull moment at StudioSvenja!!