Beach Finds

Quite some time ago I did a course with Tara Alford - Inspired by Nature, as part of the Fibre Arts Take Two program. One of the activities in the course was based around a daily walk and collecting small objects that could go into a pocket. These pocket finds could then be used to make a small vignette or assemblage.

I love the simplicity of this arrangement, the contrast of the shapes and textures.

Shades of grey, I seem to be drawn to small stones.

And circular or round things

A fun way to spend some time

A few more vignettes

and finally a self portrait.

Just Make Art

Andy Warhol - Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art. 

With this quote in mind I set about the project that was presented in my mixed media class. We were asked to bring a tetra brick carton, glue, needle and thread and some papers. 

Gaye, our tutor set a project that involved rolling pages of magazines or our own gelli print pages around a bamboo skewer to create long straw shaped paper cylinders. These were to be the beginnings of a 3D piece of art. 

So we busily set to making our rolls. I opted to cut mine in half and then tie them up into small bundles. I used my milk carton to make a container. The carton was covered with a pattern sheet from a magazine and lined with some black paper.the same red thread was used to stitch into and around the container.  

It was good fun and an interesting challenge to create or make a small assemblage using very minimal equipment a discarded materials.

Are You Book Enough Challenge 2020 - September Theme, Weathered

My grandson Oscar and I have patiently waited for our finds to decay. A possum and a bird that we found on one of our walks, gathered up and carried to the railway line at the end of the street. It became part of our daily ritual to walk down to the railway line and look to see what was happening. Eventually, we had bones and a skeleton. I thought this a fitting interpretation for the challenge of Weathered.

A Book of Old Bones.

A simple signature style book with the signatures ‘fat’ enough to contain the bones without squashing them. The cardboard pages are easy for little fingers to turn.

Old bones stitched to black card and mounted onto old cardboard.

Possum skull

The tail

Some of the spine

Hands and claws

Bird leg

Think Inside the Box - Concept to Product

The workshop with Shelley Rhodes is over and I have flown home.  It was a great week away, the workshop was fabulous - lots to consider and busy. With papers and fabrics to prepare, boxes to be made and altered, the contents of the boxes to be considered and curated, it was a busy week.

My final product, a series of books, scrolls, both paper and fabric and my collection of heart shaped rocks, shells and coral piece from my recent trip to the Kimberley and Broome. 

Each group is asked to produce an item for auction on the last night. A light hearted event that raises money for the scholarship fund. Our group decided that we would each make a large tag/bookmark.

This is the one that I made.

We also made a small matchbox that formed a small group display.

This is mine, a collection that I referred to as  Bits from Broome

Although not part of the class I made these orbs, always a pleasure to learn a new skill from another participant.

And this card on behalf of the class. A small square from each of us and space for Shelley to add one of hers.

A little bit of fun. Each day Shelley gave us a quote and was known to say just one more thing as she added another technique or idea to our repertoire.

Some close ups of each  of the pieces in my collection. This box contains a book, three small scrolls and a selection of the heart shaped rocks.

This box contains a fabricscroll and three small concertina fold books.

This box contains a large concertina book that when unfolded is more than one metre long.

One of six small collages, each approximately five centimetres square.

And another.

Unusually, I had two friends in the class. This is Lariane’s work

And this is Gillian’s.

I began each day with a walk to a coffee shop, taking a slightly different route each time. On one of the days I came across this yellow climbing rose that covered a a pergola and carport. It brought back so many memories, my mother had one of these growing on a side fence.

These metal sculptures of a young girl called Marion were to be found along the historic walk around Marion.

Take a Peek

I thought you might like a little peek at what has been happening in my workshop.  The first two days Shelley had us preparing our papers and fabrics. The class is called Think Inside the Box, we were asked to bring a collection of objects and boxes that we would like to work with.

I collected a number of vaguely heart shaped stones, shells and leaves on a recent trip to the Kimberley and Broome.

We used our collections to create a colour palette 

And by looking closely at the objects to make drawings of parts of the objects

These drawings were also a starting point for making some simple blocks

We made some of tools for mark making

The beginning of a sheet of paper, several pieces joined, gessoed and coloured with a wash of coffee

Building up the layers with pastel, pencil, paint, stamps, text

Some inspiration of Shelley

And the book that made me want to do a workshop with her