January 1st, 2018

Today has been filled with destruction and creation - all inside in the air-conditioning, of course! It took several hours to turn Aoetearoa, my rejected 2016 WOW entry, from this

into this.

Metres of plastic tubing, a pile of LED light strips, a bag of sequins, 4 wire structures, a pile of silk and sequin fabric, and disturbingly, 13 pins! I've never de-constructed one of my pieces before. It wasn't too sad - I think because it was largely made from scrap satin and tulle, the fabric loss didn't break my heart - I just won't think about the hours. I was impressed with my construction - some firm stitching there, and the tubing joins were excellent! I had put it up as our Christmas decoration, the first time I had touched it since it returned, but was saddened to find that none of the lighting worked. There was a stripped wire, a missing connection - it was a mess. Matt couldn't get one bit to light up. So I'm guessing that's the reason it didn't make it on stage in 2016 - I just wish they'd have said.
The rest of the day was spent working on some iron age leather shoes for Matt's next  visit to the Abbey Medieval Fair in June. Thanks to a brilliant 'Instructable', it was pretty simple, and the sample was successful.

 Every New Years Day I felt a new cover for my diary - I laid out this one yesterday whilst Jenelle was researching our Bunneh Adventure for the year. No textile workshop options appeal to us this year, so we're just going to have a holiday! In the Dandenongs!! We'll miss catching up with our textile friends, but I'm sure we'll be back - until then, we'll keep in touch on Facebook. This 'cracked earth' technique was featured in the latest FELT magazine, in an article by Dawn Edwards.

I'm very happy with the result, and it was great to be playing with wool again. There are some ideas bubbling away, and over Christmas I ordered some delicious English Leicester fleece - 3kg in fact - so there's a great reason to re-connect with wool. Just got to get through the next 3 months of WOW creation first!

2017 - What I did - the highlights

In the wee hours when I couldn't sleep, I started to worry - what had I achieved this year? Had I done enough? So began a slightly desperate search through the diary and the year's photos, in an attempt to mollify the questioning beast inside.
January:
Completed Anthozoa

Liam's Family Crest Leather book cover

Felt photo shoot

February:
Display in TAFE windows of WOW garments




















Continuing work on Cordycephila and Freyja until shipping in April

Work on Bubble Drift - unselected for WOW

Studies at TAFE in Digital Design and Swimwear resulting in Fighting Fish outfits for graduation parade, and two commissioned watercolours of design.

March: TAFE photoshoot for marketing

March 12 - Matt's son turns our world upside down by landing in Intensive Care for several months......

April: Jewellery Workshop at Fibres Ballarat, working with Aluminium and Titanium

May:  Flamingo Kit dress pattern drafted and made

Begin making 4 top hats, two out of hand made felt.

June:China holiday

Graduation, and display of Return to Earth at TAFE

 Felted wrap made for Beatrice for her 80th birthday, out of silk shibori pieces she had gifted me

Experimented with making several half scale mannequins

 Dress altered and headpiece made for Miss Chrissy

Dress made for Matt's grandaughter

 August: Ekka Natural Fibres Market - some new works made

New website created.

Practice painting for Traffic Signal Box before actual painting in September

 September: World of WearableArt

Jimmy Choo Symposium and ABC footage - Fimbria Figura and Forest Floor paraded at 2 events

Seat covers for Ziggy and Bruce the Studebakers made

October: Leather cover made for nephew, Antony

Odalisque on display at TAFE graduation

 Work begins on new WOW pieces Emergence and Coccinelle

November: Isolda on display at Reverse Garbage Queensland

Work continues on WOW 2018 pieces

TEXTILE Fibre Forum #128 Cover!!

November has been a fairly consistent month of working on WOW pieces. Funnily enough, the two details here are from two different works, yet they have ended up sharing the same colour palette, and therefore quite a few paints and materials. Lots of leather, beading and irridescence, but no feathers this time. Oooh, except for a few floaty purple ostrich feathers!

 And because I clearly don't have enough sequins and beads, I simply had to visit Bead Trimming and Craft this week for more - funnily enough, managing to duplicate some!

 These are the inspiration boards for some of my current works.

I was delighted to receive an email in late October advising me that my garment Anthozoa was to be the cover image for TEXTILE Fibre Forum magazine Issue 128. What an honour! Although no longer edited by founder Janet de Boer, it is currently safe in the hands of Moira Simpson. TEXTILE Fibre Forum has always been a huge inspiration to me, and at a time when we didn't have the internet, was THE place to find out about workshops, suppliers, and inspiring artists and exhibitions. My copy arrived today, and I am still grinning!

Last night I attended an induction at The Edge for using the Laser Cutter.

"The Edge’s Fabrication Lab is an open access community makerspace with equipment and tools available to anyone with a creative idea. If you have a hobby, project, assignment or an idea for a business that requires specialist tools like a laser cutter, soldering station, 3D printer, sewing machine or CNC Routers, The Edge’s Fabrication Lab can help".

That's pretty awesome. I don't have any particular project in mind, I just thought I'd check it out - and it turns out that you can use Illustrator files - yay!

I end this post with a very sad picture. This here is the tragedy of a broody hen, which I get to see every time I walk downstairs to the studio. It's pathetic. She has spent more time like this than she has as a normal chook this year! Oh Ginger, what are we going to do with you?!

Mirror Mirror at Melbourne Cup

Nearly a month since my last blog, when I announced I was back on the WOW hamster wheel! That month has gone quickly, as I have indeed been treadling hard, making the foundations of many components, moulding leather, and sourcing materials for the four garments I have settled on making. Reverse Garbage has been brilliant for this, especially with my limited travel options  - however, the licence is back in action as of tomorrow!! Apart from having the ability to visit Trad's again, I'm also really looking forward to accompanying Matt on a job to Maroochydore this Thursday, and spending time at Johno's Fabric Centre! Better check the bank account has available funds....

Gel medium and paint on organza - the starting point for Emergence, the evolution of Beyond Chrysalis, from 2008

Textured and painted leather to match fabulous fabric!

Wet-look lycra over a boned and padded foam understructure. Countless hours, many more to go.

The studio is an absolute mess, of course! MUST tidy up!!

This morning I dressed the amazing Sandra Girvan for a Melbourne Cup luncheon in my Mirror Mirror outfit, a finalist in the 2012 Art U Wear competition themed 'The Fairest of Them All' and later exhibited in the ATASDA Palmhouse Exhibition themed 'Fragment'. Mirror Mirror was inspired by the idea of a shattered mirror, and the dynamic and explosive lines  and fragments it creates. This was expressed through silver lamé crush ironed onto interfacing, crushed black organza and wired pieces.