One week until WOW 2016

Soooo, just over a week now and the annual WOW trip will be occurring - and what a whirlwind it will be! This being my eighth time as a designer in the show, we decided that we didn't need more than the three nights there. Subsequent to that, we now have a very full dance card! We arrive on Wednesday afternoon, and pick up the much anticipated show programme before attending the Preview. Thursday is Designer Day, where from 8:30-5:30 we are entertained with a behind-the-scenes tour of the show at the venue, presentations from members of the WOW team, and an interactive WETA workshop experience. Quite what this means, I'm looking forward to finding out! Hoping to meet up with Matt afterwards for goats cheese pastry puffs with honey at Avida.......and wine, of course......

Friday morning, we start with brunch at the Australian Embassy, with the new instalment of Ambassadors, then move straight on to the Wellington waterfront for the unofficial Designer Forum, hosted by Matt and Svenja at Mac's Brewery! Normally a recovery affair full of beer and chips on a sunny Saturday morning after the big night, we now have to squeeze it in here, and be careful not to get too relaxed before the Awards Show; the Saturday morning is now claimed by a media brunch at the glorious Art Museum Hotel. From there we will go straight to the airport!! GAH!!

I wasn't going to make a special outfit , as I have so many now, but just last week Spotlight had a sale, and a fabric which I have been eying off for some time was on sale. Can you spot why I needed to get that?! I've graded up the pattern from my model-sized Tropicobana skirt design, and should be able to eliminate the zip, as I'm using stretch fabrics, so it shouldn't be such a nightmare to sew! With an off-the-shoulder top with a wide band of the sequin material, and a matching choker (and possibly a detachable black silk cape affair as well!), I'm thinking this could be a bit fab. Will require matching bow-tie for Matt. And possibly a new vest. What happened to not making anything?!!

I've also been working on more pieces for Wearable Expressions, as I can put in up to three for the one entry fee. Found a bag of silk zja-zjoozhga's (as we call them - circles of fabric distorted by stitching fishing line on) and pinned them together into this neckpiece. Painstakingly hand-stitched the pieces together with silk thread before hand-painting dye on. Having made these five or so years ago for Morphology exhibition pieces, I didn't realise until then that the fabric was rayon/silk (why I used this devoré-perfect fabric for this purpose  I will never know), and having used acid dye on it, the best colouration is on the back of the piece. Again, sigh......

Sunday we got up early, washed the two Studebakers, and headed off for the Redcliffe Festival, where we spent a very enjoyable day in the glorious weather. I took my usual activity pack, consisting of inspirational art book, novel, sketchbook and diary, but sans blanket - luckily this shortfall was taken care of by a bunch of bean bags in front of the delightful IndiElla, a divine musical duo. Here I camped for an hour or so, sorted my week and designed my WOW outfit, before repairing to the Ambassador Hotel for some refreshments with Mr & Mr Studebaker whilst watching the Miss Redcliffe Festival Pinup competition. I ventured over, then back to report to the boys, where I mentioned that 'the purple one was good', and the guy at the next table said 'excellent, that's my wife!'. Phew!! Also turned out he was an alpaca farmer of a small flock, so I gave him my card and said I might be interested in some fleece. Around this time, his wife headed off for some post-catwalk photos - in our Studebaker!! Altogether, a relaxing and surprisingly productive day all round!

The Purple one and friend

Shifting Seasons

I visited the lovely Shifting Seasons selling exhibition at the Richard Randall Studio, Mt Coot-tha Garden this morning, to admire the work of Sue Ford, Lyn Baxter, Karoline Cumming and Tricia Smout. I didn't escape without succumbing to this beautifully painted silk scarf by Sue Ford, and these gawdjuss polymer clay earrings by Karoline
Cumming. The photos don't do them justice, and the scarf is a little crushed in the photo because I wore it out to lunch with beloved boy today! At the gardens, Janet and I enjoyed a quick catch up in the very diminished café there - so sad - no bubbles, so we were forced to be virtuous!

 I am now in the process of booking a weekend in Melbourne, a bit of a birthday treat for me, to see Annemieke Mein's exhibition at the Bayside Gallery at Brighton.

Habitat: Annemieke Mein
24 September – 6 November 2016 
Annemieke Mein, Dance of the Mayflies 1988, high relief wall sculpture, 110 x 180 x 10cm. Courtesy of Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale.

Acclaimed Dutch-born Australian artist Annemieke Mein is recognised as one of the world’s foremost textile artists.
Habitat brings together a significant collection of Mein’s work that demonstrates her lifelong passion for raising awareness of the need to protect our natural heritage.
Her interest in insects, especially those which might not usually be considered beautiful, and her drive to capture the character and personality of her subject in its environment opens our eyes to its unique place in our world.

 Seeing her amazing work pretty much started my textile art journey, over 20 years ago. Although I could have gone down to meet her at the gallery on October 15, it's pretty important to me to celebrate my big birthday with my sister and mother on the Friday 14th, which was Dad's birthday, and he would have been 78. Here we are in 1997 - him in the process of destroying the garden, me off to work at the markets. As a botanist and biology lecturer, Dad also played a great part in my appreciation of the wonders of nature. I wish he were here to see all the mad stuff I make now! He thought I was crazy then - I had hardly begun!!

Absolutely Fabulous

Did not disappoint. As a hard core fan, it continued the magic completely. Patsy was as simply awful as ever - bless! Prior to the movie we enjoyed a lunch of (largely bubbles) and the other gals had these amazing looking and apparently tasting, Barramundi Wings! Lyn also brought along the doll she had decorated for our Australian wedding celebration at Gallery 159 which, due to many reasons, didn't eventuate. With purple hair and hand painted purple shooz, she's a bit fab!

 It led into a fairly festive weekend - on Saturday afternoon we were at Gallery 159 celebrating Peter's birthday (with compulsory hats, no problem for us!), on Sunday we saw them again, as well as the lovely Barb Thoms of Common Threads fame, for a relaxed luncheon on the deck. As well as bringing me this fabulous banner to flaunt as much as I can, she also gifted me this lovely adornment of machine embroidered pink goodness, made by her sister-in law, Lulu Tissu.
 

Hat Party - Sunglasses from Japan - crazy!!

Janet et moi!

Birthday Boy Peter

Janet, Matt and Svenja. Hats left and right by Svenja.

 I've now finished the leather, kelp-inspired neck-piece I've been working on - I'm quite pleased with the fastening solution at the back. As well as gilding, I ended up using gel medium to create the textured look, before painting over it and highlighting it with gilding wax - still not exactly the look I'm after, but I can't quite figure out how to get what I actually want. I can't even seem to find any images of this thing that I see so clearly in my head to show anyone!

I indulged in a big studio tidy up on the weekend, which led to the discovery of more unfinished pieces. I was inspired by these pieces I had made for a bodice, which I painted up brighter than their current dark state, and matched to some feathers. Inspired by the previous UFO (Un Finished Object) I discovered in silk paper, I made a few pieces of silk paper in colours to suit to see if they were the answer to finishing it. Along with some shot organza and dyed silk, they just might be.
This afternoon I was tracing off some patterns in the now tidy studio when I heard some strange sounds, and looked up to to see this little face. Very cute, but very destructive - they go to the toilet on everything!








My Sunday evening has been made by the lovely Anna Von Hartitzsch, whom I met several years ago at WOW, for  her posting these pictures of last years WOW entry, Return to Earth 4545, currently on display at the World of WearableArt Musuem, Nelson New Zealand. I am really pleased with the way they look.

Just over four weeks now until the WOW 2016 experience!

This morning I took off to the local nature reserve for two purposes - a bit of exercise, and the gathering of eucalyptus leaves for a natural dye pot. Success on both accounts -  a few kilos of leaves and a few kilometres. Darling boy lit a fire on which to put the pot that he rescued for me several months ago from the skip at the pub. With the addition of some ferrous sulphate, I think I might get just the shade of grey I want on my wool roving for my long term WOW project.
Because of the different way I was looking at the landscape today in my search for recent windfall leaves, I not only found all sorts of undiscovered paths to lose myself down (and I've been walking there for years) but I also spied this love note, which the camera has unfortunately not captured too well. It said something to the effect of "Charlotte, I wish you the best in life. I will always be here for you and love you." I love that they just put it out there, for a chance sighting, no guarantees.

Eggciting times!

Sheena

Matt and Ginger

Matt and two chooks!

There have been a few egg-citing things that have happened in the last few weeks - the biggest being the addition of Ginger and Sheena to our family! They are a hoot - I love talking to them - book book book boook!! They have totally ruined what garden we had, and there is poo everywhere, but you know, they are just so gawdjuss! (and they make EGGS!!!! Food of GODSSSS!!!) Of course, Matt, King of the Animals is head Chicken Whisperer - Ginger loves him! Here he is after grabbing the two of them in one go!! Handfuls of chookens!!!

Kelp me!!

The next most fabulous thing was that I submitted all the assessment for my TAE qualification! Oh, thank goodness! I'm free, free, I tells ya! I just hope I don't have to resubmit anything, as my brain has already moved on.... to designs! I have spent the last week at the drawing board (It's a cliché, but yes, really! ) and it has been fabulous! Sadly, there's a lot of work I can't show you (yes, WOW again), but I can show you this wee piece made of leather that has emerged from some of it. Based on kelp (I think we've all seen my

fascination for that) - I can't wait to add colour to it. There's a related piece that I'm working on and I had some interesting times working on the design in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop - it's so true that if you don't use it you lose it, so it's great to throw myself back into it every now and then.

Apart from enjoying the Absolutely Fabulous marathon this weekend (can't wait to see the movie this Friday with mah gals!), we emerged to have a lovely breakfast at Lock n Load this morning, (ohhhh, Haloumi - how I love thee) and on the way home saw the designer markets at Southbank. Due to our tremendous luck, we scored a nearby park, and so I got to browse, and found this lovely silver wing by Coochie Mudlo artist Richard Moon. Happy Svenja. We enjoyed a drink at the Plough Inn, watching the passing parade, with me reminiscing over my time there as a marketeer. Hilariously watched a country mother pull her children protectively towards her as I passed by!!

Watch her, she looks a bit 'arty'!!

 Came home and base painted the leather piece, currently watching more Ab Fab. Tough. Tough weekend.

An Afternoon With Svenja 2016

Although my major work did not get accepted in to the World of WearableArt this year, my work in the field continues, in my association with the marvelous Western Australian Showcase and Exhibition, Common Threads. I am pleased to say I will be judging again next year, and as part of my involvement, I am again hosting An Afternoon with Svenja, with bookings available through Eventbrite. Click on the link to see time, date, venue and costs - and to book, of course!

During the afternoon, I will be presenting a brief history of my own textile work over the years, an outline of my successful WOW entries over the past eight years, an overview of what wearable art means, and the many fields from which it springs. I will also include some detailed breakdowns of the processes involved in some of these pieces, give you some really practical tips on what needs to be considered when entering a work, and taking you through a design exercise to get your imagination firing! It doesn't matter if you can't draw, you can still design. The afternoon is designed for those who would like to design and create wearable art, but are not really sure where to start, as well as those who have some experience in the field, but need some inspiration and some problem solving techniques.

I am also presenting a short introduction to Common Threads at TAFE Brisbane this coming Wednesday 27th at 1:30pm, so students, come on down! Find out what it's all about, stimulate your imagination beyond the constraints of fashion design, and test the boundaries between fashion and art.

Flutterbye by Deb Hiller
Photographer Michael Kelly

Common Threads also has a new project -  Wearable Art Whispers. The Whispers project offers six wearable artists the opportunity to collaborate on the unique creation of a wearable art garment. The finished product will be an acclaimed exhibition piece for the Wearable Art Showcase, held in June 2017 in Mandurah, Western Australia. This amazing opportunity is open to experienced wearable artists living in Australia, able to connect and collaborate with other wearable art artists from around the country, grow the wearable arts community and enhance the artistic reputation of wearable art. If this sounds like you, be sure to apply before 4pm, August 12, and keep an eye on their facebook page for information and updates.

On a personal note, I am trying to make an entry for Wearable Expressions, but swiftly running out of time as I focus on my academic studies - I've been feeling like I'm constantly in front of this computer! Only a few weeks left for one of them, scary, but fantastic! It's an exhibition / competition that went on hiatus for a while, but one which certainly made an impression on me many years ago, and I would like to be part of it as it progresses once again. I have been ferreting through the UFO's and have some nice silk paper and free-motion embroidery motifs to play with....

I'm hoping tomorrow to have a play with making another sample wrap for a workshop I have in November - I made one in white, but I'd like to do a lighter version. My print table is set out with dyed wool, silk and other fabric pieces in colourways so I have a head start whenever I have some time to felt - for this piece the mulberry silk organza and purple fabric scraps caught my eye. I was dyeing some blingy bits for it this afternoon and came upstairs and forgot about it - amazingly, only one small bit seems to have fried! And no fire. Good to have no fire! I did install fire alarms down there this week, by which I mean I threw one in each room - they don't have to be specially mounted, do they?

Sorry about the photos, but this is my camera, in a critical condition, so it is phone photos only for the moment!

WOW 2016 rejection

It's finally happened. To me. A thanks but no thanks from WOW. That show that is my life. A rejection. Failure. Noooooooooo!! Hours and hours of work will return to me in a box, never having seen the stage. As I battle with my first rejection from WOW (and I am aware I am in extremely good company here!) I find that this is the saddest part - I will never see the piece I designed specifically for the stage gloriously up there in lights. Or in this case, lighting it up! (put your sound on too!)

My entry, Aoteoroa- the long white cloud - 'is an interpretation of that white cloud, which is not always bright and white, but can darken, and bring spectacular storms - the storms that keep New Zealand lush and green. Raindrops and hail stones glisten in the darkening forms, and lightning flickers ominously throughout the roiling mass. Imposing and beautiful, this show from nature commands admiration and respect.'

Progress in the lounge

The beginning inspiration

aaaaand, this is what we lived with.......

Having initially decided not to enter WOW this year, I convinced myself that I could fit it in if I kept it simple. I still had many bags of bridal tulle offcuts, and I'm not sure how, but these turned into Aotearoa! Wire armatures were made for the skirt, bodice and headpiece, padded and covered in satin bridal scraps. More scraps were shaped with tubing and sewn onto these structures to create the sense of  roiling cloud mass. Tulle scraps were stitched into shape and attached, and spray painted to create shading. Metres and metres of LED's were woven through each piece, and laboriously connected. I know. Bloody lights. We said we'd never do it again!! 2 hours before the shoot we were still trying to figure them out!

A tense moment as we ponder what connects where, and dare not speak!

 Looking through the photos has cheered me up a great deal, as I am still very proud of this piece - I'm just sad that everyone involved in it doesn't get to see it have it's moment of glory. In particular, one Scotty Murdoch, who took the role of Cloud Lighting Consultant, and supplied ALL the lighting components! We'll show it somewhere, Scott!! For the boys who lived with it, taking up the lounge and blocking the TV for months, and wore it for the shoot. For Chantal Brennan, fabulous photographer, Jenelle, support Bunneh extraordinaire. For the entire Svenja support team, and for this guy, who puts up with it all, engineers it, provides sheds to shoot it, goes to bed alone whilst I stay up sewing it, but is so proud of me - my Matt.

I now know what it feels like, and this does not feel good. I think I am only surviving because I had a second entry which did make it - my first ever Bizarre Bra! So I'm still part of it, I still get to see my WOW family. If I didn't have that, I'm not sure how I would be doing. On the positive side, I can now truly empathise when entries don't make it, and know how much of a personal rejection it feels like. Fellow designer Fifi Colston just wrote that it is getting tougher every year as WOW opens up further and further to the world stage, making us up the standard every year, making us world class. She's also just written a note to console those who did not get selected "Many people say 'I should enter' and never do. You did! You rock". Yep, that's right, we rock! You're a wise woman, Fifi! See y'all in Wellington!!