Tamara Marwood: making & playing

The Idea of Perfection

2012-01-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

"The patchwork of her own that she had brought to show them was fingered doubtfully. It was the one she called Shearing Shed #5, with little triangles that did not quite match up together, and big odd trapezoid shapes in many shades of grey.

It was a feature of Harley Savage's fibre art, the way she made her seam-lines not quite line up. It was one of the things that held the surfaces in dynamic equilibrium and wittily subverted the form. This one, Shearing Shed #5, was one of a series she was quited pleased with, that took the big simple shapes of country sheds as a basis for lights and darks to fit against each other in interesting ways.

When you had been sewing as long as she had, it was actually quite hard, getting the seams not to line up exactly. But she already knew that many people, the ones who knew a lot about Log Cabin and Bear's Paw, only saw her patchwork as a series of mistakes. They could not see past the facts that the seams did not quite line up, and the way the stripes of the fabrics ran in different directions, and that the quilting was just done on the machine, and not even in proper straight lines."

The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville

How I cried when I read this passage!

A Glorious Invitation

2012-01-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

Sewing Girls a Drawing Series

2012-01-21T18:43:00.002-08:00

Glory Christmas

2012-01-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

Better late than never! This was from our Glory Box Christmas Party - way back on the 15th of December. Perhaps it has taken me so long to blog about our day because I ate far too much yummy food. It was a special feast as the Coptic Community fast in the lead up to Christmas, which for them is the 7th of January. Fasting means eating no meat or dairy. Although decadent chocolate cake was still on the menu cleverly made with soy!

Juliette kept our ambitions sewn together throughout the project and on this day she laid out the table cloth for which we had sewn a square each.

It was exciting and also sad, as our time sewing together has come to an end.

All our work will be soon be opening at an exhibition at The Hunt Club Community Arts Centre Deer Park. Along side this project has been a writing of a book, launched that night too, details to come soon.

Dirty Denim : a review

2012-01-15T00:50:00.000-08:00

Dirty Denim received a fantastic review in the Golden Art Net, a Central Victorian Arts Web site - check it out here.

Love the opening line -

This was an impressive show for a couple of key reasons. Firstly, the textile artworks of Tamara Marwood stand on their own as art, regardless of their material, process and use.

For those who didn't get to step into the space a little video by my darling brother of some of my family visiting the show last year.

Little Doggies

2012-01-13T23:11:00.000-08:00

This guy has a brother - two crafties I made as Christmas gifts this year. One boy lives in Melbourne the other in MacKay. Cousins to Pairie Dog and Clever Mr Fox. The pattern is from this book Sew Me, Love Me: Best Friends to Make.

My Dad took it touring with him while he was on holidays there recently!

Her is my darling London niece in her smock!

Other Christmas making can be found here

Christmas Sewing peek

2011-12-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Cute smock!

Pattern from Oliver + S Little Things to Sew & fabric from a local opshop a reclaimed table cloth!

Dirty Denim : some art works now on display

2011-12-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Dirty Denim is on at the La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre until Wednesday the 21st of December - all works are for sale and orders are also welcomed.

Level Landscape $450

Washed and Patached $450

Wanting to visit the show with the artist? Leave me a comment and happy to meet with you!

The Dirty Workshops

2011-12-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Had a fantastic week last week at the Dirty Denim exhibition opening & workshops. Here are some snaps from the workshop days - check out this full table of sewing dirty denim girls!

It was a joy to share my love of English Paper Piercing and even more exciting to witness other hand sewers enjoy the patchwork technique too. Verity is explaining screen printing processes here.

And here distressing the denim using bleach (although far from environmentally sustainable!)

This family making team brought along there own jeans to make two denim bags and create a skirt from the waist band!

Below are some finished works

Dirty Denim workshop

2011-11-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

Verity and I are hosting a series of Dirty Denim workshops. My first workshop is today with the Smart Arts group with St.Lukes - managed by the wonderful Robbie Buckman.

The aim of the workshops is to introduce play and hand sewing and print making skills to bring new life to reclaimed denim. I sewed up some denim bags as to make the play create functional items.

The pattern for this came from out of my head - although inspired by previous sewing from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. - Just wait until you see the fantastic bags Verity has in the Dirty Denim exhibition - they are gorgeous!

Last week Verity did some screen printing with the workshop women & also bleach dying - that took me back to year 8 as I spent hours bleaching my cut off jean's in Mum's laundry sink.

Looking forward to the workshop today - embellishing the denim.

Dirty Denim opens today at 6pm at La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre - Verity and I are hosting another workshop this Sunday, which unfortunately is booked out! However we are hosting a talk in Sustainable Textiles at 2pm on Sunday which you are welcome to come along and join in.

Transporting Dirty Denim

2011-11-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

Installation for Dirty Denim is happening this week - Paul the fantastic managing curator at La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre offered to pick up my work from my studio! I was a little surprised when he pulled up in his car.

But it all fitted Ok - Dirty Denim opens this Thursday evening at 6pm - see you then!

Dirty Denim an exhibition of reclaimed denim

2011-11-08T01:25:00.000-08:00

Opening the Thursday the 1st of December 6pm at La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 121 View Street Bendigo. New art works by myself and the wonderful Verity Lougoon. Have I revealed enough?

Social Confessional

2011-11-03T03:16:00.000-07:00

Image by Meredith Thomas

Come along to Social Confessional where I am showing some new drawings - opening tomorrow night at 6pm. Other artists include:

Dan Barclay
Rob Bartolo
Demet Divaroren
Meredith Thomas

Curated by Jo Ely
4 to 26 November 2011

Opening
Friday 4 November 2011 from 6pm

Opening night features a special series of
performance works, a Hostile Takeover of
the centre and its grounds.

Presented as part of Big West Festival 2011
Hunt Club Community Arts Centre
775 Ballarat Road, Deer Park VIC 3023

Open Monday-Thursday 9am-7.30pm
(4.30pm school hols), Friday 9am-4.30pm,
Saturday 9am-12.30pm

Pillow Stitching

2011-10-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

A trip to Deer Park tomorrow to meet up with the Glory Box women. I think we have only four more sessions until it is our Christmas break up. This thought brings sadness to my body - as I have really grown to love this project and also the women I share every second Thursday with. This has been one of the most challenging projects I have worked on for a few different reasons - and I think the women really had to hand in there to work with me too! But we made it through to the other side all together!

Look at us here busy planning and sewing one of akind pillow designs!

Some finished designs below

The women were asked to develop up designs that reflect their values and ideas of glory boxes and in turn also reflecting marriage and family life.

Also quietly working along side the project is a wonderful team of women Enza Gandolfo and Marty Grace, both Lecturers at Victoria University. They have been writing and documenting the Glory Box project and will be publishing a book in early next year! Can't wait - but this also means the end of the project...

Tomorrow I am feeling very excited about as we are starting lingerie and I am introducing the idea of working with paper to make the intimate items.

This week in the studio

2011-10-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

I had a glorious time in the studio this week with putting the finishing touches on a project for an exhibition opening next month at the Hunt Club, Deer Park for the Big West Festival. Nothing like getting an idea out that has been sitting around for a while.

These works below are trial paper lingerie works for my next Glory Box workshop at Deer Park next week. This project is coming to a close at the end of the year and I am hoping to move the group away from traditional textiles - now that we have spent ten months perfecting lost and forgotten stitching skills - I am a little nervous - I hope that they get into my idea and try stitching with paper and found lace and other odments.

I had heaps of fun putting these camisoles together.

Starting a new body of work

2011-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have been invited to put a new small body of work together for a festival in Melbourne called the Big West. It is a group show with the other artist who also have residencies at the Hunt Club Deer Park. - coming up very shortly - so these school holidays I am getting my skates on!

The area I am showing work on is great - a mantel and I am using it as a whole new opportunity to try out some ideas I have been thinking about for a while. Copying basically a drawing technique that Kd came up with some time ago that I just adore.

Below are some recent sketches.

This artist Cindy Ann Steiler has completely inspired me to get thinking

As well as Jazmin Berakha.

Looking forward to what arrives next!

A pillow case

2011-09-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last workshop session at the Deer Park Community Arts Centre for the Glory Box Project we completed our peasant girl tea towels and moved onto our next project - a pillow case. The pillow case the women have designed is unlike any pillow case I have know before - it is a very romantic pillow case - that it is especially made for two heads to sleep upon!

Traditionally it is made with red satin, lace and pure white cotton. We are putting a little twist on the traditional pillow case by embroidering an intimate design or story on the hidden underside of the pillow.

Below is a little mock up of the pillow. This is the front, revealed side of the pillow

And this is the underside of this little mock up pillow

A few weeks back the group of women spent some time creatively exploring words with Enza Gandolfo, a writer who is writing a book about the Glory Box project. Now we are sinking out teeth into pulling our designs together. Drawing and looking at images, thinking about text, choosing colours, cutting up fabrics and found embroidery textiles to re-use creatively. Lots of fun!

My dirty work

2011-09-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a little preview of the works I have been loving stitching together out of your old denim!

The show Dirty Denim will be open in December at the La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre - news about workshops Verity and I are hosting will be coming soon!

Sweet and Dirty

2011-09-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while about Dirty Denim - I have been stitching away in the studio making my denim patchworks. The plan is that my second large work will be finished this Friday! Stay tuned. The exhibition will be going up on the 1st of December - Verity and I are now putting together some sustainable textile workshops to take place later this year.

Verity has some show and tell teasers! She has been working on some gorgeous denim purses to sell. Completely handmade from reclaimed materials. She has used her distinctive and alluring screen printing design - I really love her design style.

The beauty of the everyday tea towl

2011-09-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

The glory girls and I are steadily getting our glory box together with the coming together of tea towels.
Aren't they sweet - with the cherry red thread and gingham ribbon! The towel itself is made from Egyptian cotton.

We found the pattern from these great site here. Each day of the week the hard working peasant girl has a chore - cleaning the floors, repairing clothes, washing clothes, going to Church, baking!

I especially love this hand seam stitching - little even red hand stitches peaking through!

My sewing portrait by my very special son

2011-08-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

Some New Drawings

2011-08-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Glorious Mud

2011-08-10T18:11:00.001-07:00

Remember that fantastic winter ending Sunday a few weeks back? I was playing in the mud all day with some kiddies celebrating National Tree Day.

It took a little bit to get some children's sleeves rolled up -but once they started it was impossible for them to stop - nothing lovelier than squeezing gooey squishy mud between your finger tips! Even Mums and Dads joined in the mucky sculpture making!

I loved the minimal impact of the project - all the materials came from the site and when we finished for the day they returned to the site. Here is a link to a fantastic kids land art site for more inspiration.

Photos by Liz Martin

The sewing girl

2011-07-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

As part of my residency at the Hunt Club for the Glory Box project I am to make art works that respond to the community who I am facilitating workshops.

Below is my first body of work - it has taken sometime for me to get a grasp on what the Glory Box means for the women I am working with and how it has featured in their lives and then work this into visual images or objects.

It is the romance and the wistfulness are the emotions that I most respond to from the group of women. I get swept up in power that is placed into the value of making of hand made and the messages the stitch can convey. I am also very romantic about the image of a young woman sewing and it is an image I have employed for previous projects.

What I have chosen to do is reproduce designs of works the women have brought in to share over the life of the project with water colours, with a drawing of a young woman stitching - framed in a oval frame, which I hope represents a frame for a ornate mirror.

Kinder costume making memories

2011-07-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

At kinder Hj is learning all about Australia and last week they had a dress up as something Australian!
Silly me thought we had agreed on making a kangaroo costume and after picking out fabric and patterns together I got to work behind the sewing machine.

I dropped her off at kinder in casual dress - a series of tables were lined up together to make a costume "cat walk" along the length of the kinder room - but she would not put the costume on... I thought perhaps she might put it on later in the day, once she go into the swing of things.

On picking her up I asked the kinder assistant TWICE, just to make sure I didn't hear what she said incorrectly - which was No Hj did not wear her costume today. Well Mummy's heart sank.

On the way home I recalled an Easter Bonnet parade at school, and a squashed Easter bonnet in my school bag that mum decorated for me with sewn pop corn all over it - Hj and I had a little giggle all the way home!

a recent drawing of two boys

2011-07-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

Some favourite drawings by Hj

2011-07-02T01:34:00.000-07:00

Sweet drawings - so jealous of her free hand!

A new little girl's outfit (you can't notice in this shot that I stuffed up the neck line!)

2011-06-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

A little outfit that I have been meaning to make for some years now - and it has happened because there really isn't any thing to watch on telly - so now I sew! ( I miss you Dr Who and the cheesy world of British Spooks)

The pattern is from autumn 4/2009 of Ottobre Design - a beaut little kids pattern magazine - as you can see I have been holding off doing this sewing for quite a while - luckily the sizes go up to size 12!

My next project I have drafted up a pattern for is a kangaroo costume for Australia dress up day at Hj's kinda - let's see how that one goes with a nice tight time frame of this coming Thursday. BAH who needs sleep when you can sew!

Dirty Denim Play

2011-06-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Verity and I are the Dirty Denim team - working creatively and steadily towards our first group show at the La Trobe Visual Arts Centre in December later this year.

Verity is a textile practitioner and is very much into experimenting and pushing the boundaries of fabric. While I like fabric to be apart of what I always do - such as my English paper piercing.

Verity has been experimenting turning the denim into strips to be knitted together. She is also collecting all those bits of annoying denim fluff created when you cut it to turn into denim paper!

Here is the sample knitted denim - very exciting! Thick and lovely texture to touch.

Found this extraordinary blog called DENIM - Denim is a material investigation into the use of denim in craft, art and design. It comprises an exhibition curated by Dell Stewart and an accompanying catalogue. Love it!

Recent Sewing - the red pinny dress

2011-06-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

Hj wearing her newest dress I stitched up last Saturday night.

Fabric is vintage fine red corduroy from House of Cloth (purchased in a moment of weakness at Knotty Ladies) and pattern from Pip Lincolne's See La Tea Do. Sizing for kids clothing in this book only goes up to size 3 so had to make a few alterations - but came out OK!

Last week at the Hunt Club

2011-06-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

At the Hunt Club we are working steadily towards an exhibition about Glory Boxes, as apart of the Christian Coptic tradition. The exhibition will be taking place in February - but as you know when you are hand sewing it always takes a long time to finish a piece.

Below are photos of works in progress for some final patches for our group linen table cloth. This coming Thursday I hope we will be starting to stitch it all together.

This design is of a mother and daughter, walking with a puppy and also a weeping willow - I wonder what the story is behind this imagery. Angi Russi is another artist working on the project. She is collecting the women's Glory Box stories and compiling transcripts.

Other items the women are interested in working on include towels, aprons and also tea towels. Making my way through the Internet I have found some fantastic tea towel embroidery designs - it looks like we will draw our inspiration from these ones below. These patterns can be found here.

I like the idea of using the days of the week and glorifying the montany of running a household, which is what really we are making glory box items for - to make a home with the presence of the woman of the house's handicrafts.

How do I feel about this? I like tradition and sewing - so kind of excited, but also free because it is my choice to make, one time girls were not given many options. I also feel some urgency to return to this way of making a home for sustainable reasons - making do and enjoying what you have.

Cross Stitch sourced from here

I have also been thinking about the journey through life to becoming a woman - stitching or preparing to run a household doesn't really play a role in this any more - rather education and getting a good job.

Listening to The Book Show this morning (one of my favourite things to do whilst working in the studio) there was a review of Bossypants by Tina Fey - a chapter is on becoming a woman - a story was retold of a workshop she once attended and all the participant were asked to write about the moment that they identified as a woman - and most described this moment as being abused by a man - which is a stomach curdling thought for a mother with a young daughter.

Plenty of dirt on this patch

2011-06-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

I do love sewing - although right now I am just not focused on getting things completed. More kinda like I am plodding over old ground and scrambling for some rainbow rays to hit me and light my way.

This work below is a shot of work in progress for Dirty Denim. Again using English Paper Piecing - usually I use Horse Hair - but for Dirty Denim I am using reclaimed denim! So many tones to play with.

This will be a large quilt stuffed with dried grasses (rather than a man made quilt lining) - and where I am wanting to go now is to use a previous drawing from a sampler pattern and transpose it into a large wall piece using the larger squares.

Perhaps I have a rainbow now - top of the season winter weather here - not a rainbow in sight. Kinda like it is spring already.

Works in progress for a glorious table cloth

2011-06-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

It is only three hours every second Thursday we have together at the Deer Park Community Arts Centre. But we make sure that we use every second stitching - but the great thing about this is we can still chat and laugh!

We are working towards finishing our individual panels for a collaborative table cloth for our glory box. Techniques used include line drawing in journals then reworking them using running stitch on the fabric.

The panel below has copied traditional patterns found on the Internet, available to down load for free.

This one is using motifs from an old table cloth purchased from an op shop and worked into a new design.

Inspired by the chopped up table cloth this work below is made up of new crocheted motifs, using a variety of colours.

Drawing Girl

2011-05-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Glory Box workshop week 6

2011-05-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted about my preparation work for Workshop 6 for Glory Box. This project has been challenging for me to facilitate for a number of reasons - cultural, distance (the project is over 200km away from where I live) and also understanding what is shared between the women who want to make items about Glory Boxes.

At first I had assumed that the women participating had all made items for their own Glory Box or had access to items from their Mother's or Grandmother's Glory box - but this isn't the case at all - for a number of reasons - including the most tragic; war, and most excitingly; feminism. It is almost like this project is an opportunity for the women - who are mostly entering the autumn time in their lives to have time, space and support to make beautiful items of hope and joy for a glory box.

As mentioned previously we are working towards making a collaborative table cloth that is exploring the meaning of the table; the items that go on a table and also what the act of sitting around a table can mean. Above is the linen squares cut up and ready to be transformed.


The first hour or so of the session was spent researching imagery - sourced from books, and google images. Researching also the stitching and techniques to use to develop up a design.

Other women are also creating individual works - this work here is a traditional needle work method that I had never come across before called Milon - searching this term in wikipedia I wasn't able to find any more information - so hope to learn more.

I apologise for the quality of the photo - but had to include as this image is documenting a very special event - the cutting of the nightie - a very important item for all Glory Boxes!

We meet again next Thursday at the Hunt Club in Deer Park. The focus of our next session will be working further on our table cloth and individual projects that have started. As the artist in residence I am to respond to the activities and processes that the project is unravelling. I have started to do this by making a quilt from baking paper - no images yet - it is still very much in experimentation phase, but I will post about it when the right time comes to share.

A key collaboration

2011-04-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Over the years it has become a tradition for Kd and I to collaborate on making a key ring - here is our key ring for Grade 1.

Usually this work is completed before school goes back at term 1 - but I am ashamed to say I have only just recently finished this one. But still very excited the way it has turned out!

Here is Kds original design drawing.

Sewing up some Joy

2011-04-27T03:39:00.000-07:00

Here is some recent sewing for my children's Easter Gifts. And also a gift to me because as I stitched away my heart filled with joy.

This is Prairie Dog

And Clever Mr Fox - in his boat/bed my son made for him. (he tested out if the boat floated in the bath tonight - not with Mr Fox in it but 10 tissues that are heavier than Mr Fox!)

The pattern is from this book Sew Me, Love Me: Best Friends to Make. Available at our local library.

Getting ready for Glory Box workshops

2011-04-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

This morning I have been preparing for Workshop 6 for the Glory Box Project. A one year artist in residency I have at Deer Park working with a wonderful group of Coptic Women. Each fortnight I facilitate a workshop exploring the Glory Box tradition in their culture and it creative making processes

It has been a few weeks since I was last with the group, due to some big tragic changes in our family. And during my time away lots of exciting developments have been happening.

After spending a number of weeks getting to know one another, our skills and sharing glory box stories we have decided to work collaboratively to make items to be placed in a glory box. The first item being a table cloth.

Creating an item for the heart of the home, like a table cloth is very meaningful. It is upon this textile where family members and friends gather to eat and share their conversations.

Images will be embroidered, crotchet and appliqué on to the separate patches by each of the women participating in the project! (see table cloth design image above!)

This Thursday to get things going I will talk about some difference approaches to designing a table cloth square. Last year while I was artist in residence at the Kyneton Museum the signature tablecloth played a huge role in developing my new body of work. Like for this Glory Box table cloth it was produced by a group of women - the theme being names of local families - and the design aesthetics were very strong using white floss on white linen with white embroidered lace - beautiful!

Also free hand embroidery plays a big role in my practice and I will present on how this technique can be used - from previous works such as these:

We will also look at tracing designed embroidery works and I would like to try out this technique by At Swim Two Birds called building a design (she calls it a city) from paper trash)

Here is a shot of a table cloth by my Great grandmother, who passed away in 1996 - she was a fantastic stitcher, as is her sister.

I found this forum of young mum's discussing what they would like to organise and also make for their young daughters glory box - I found this very sweet and inspiring. It is my children's birthday's coming up in July and I am planning to make them both a small sewing box - I am hoping to include sewing items from various special women in their lives.

Recent pencil drawings

2011-03-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

Glory for one year

2011-03-25T04:32:00.000-07:00

These are some of the Glory women I am working with at the Hunt Club in Deer Park, where I am currently a community artist in resident.

We are working together on a project called the Glory Box - it is all about reconnecting with the tradition of the hand made for glory boxes. I have had four sessions with the group now and I would have to say despite sounding very romantic it would be one of the most challenging projects I have worked on.

Here is a picture of the community arts centre (right next to an 8 lane freeway!!)

One aspect of the project is inviting the women to bring in previous works they have made or family items that were once crafted to be apart of a Glory Box. Some samples are shown here.

As you can see they are very talented and skilled women, who have a long tradition of stitch that they are revisiting.

Also working on the project is an artist and community cultural development worker I deeply admire Angie Russi Angie undertakes interviews with the women about glory boxes and their story of the craft around making items for Glory Boxes.

I have a studio on sight that is looking very empty and sad, other than a rug and folding chair - one of the challenges is distance between my home and Deer Park (making for very early starts of a 5.15am train ride!) As well as the distance of language, culture and understanding of the process of making.

Like me they love to keep their hands busy, making things for others, things that are useful and beautiful. We are on the path to crossing community craft and creating into art - our canvas will a table cloth.

Do you understand the sadness of geography?

2011-03-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

Do you understand the sadness of geography? comprises a mixed media installation of fashion items and other personal effects made back in the 1950s by Italian girls for their glory boxes.

It is a lovely little exhibition that was on in Bendigo during March - which closed yesterday.

I fell for the wall of half finished samplers of a variety of stitches by Lella Caridi, I am guessing she stitched nearly 50 years ago. She calls them her "'unfinished melodies' because I didn't finish them and I didn't pursue it."

Despite not wanting to be a stitcher she kept these works - and I am so very glad she did. I just love how they are unfinished, wrinkled and stained - for me they are like hope hanging on and hanging on and hanging on.

Apologies in advance for the quality of the images - it is a tricky space to photograph in!

Super Mumma, it's her apron

2011-03-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

This is my sister, super mumma and in her arms is super Mads.

They are kindly modelling an apron that I made for my sister's birthday (back in November last year!)

I was very proud of myself when I made this piece and it was a bit of a milestone in my sewing - having finished some major commissions freeing up time just for my sewing and it was the most tricky pattern I had followed for nearly 15 years! I must be a super mumma too!

It is an Emmeline reversible apron - the pattern from here.

(doesn't their new London kitchen look nice!)

Writing about super mummas, my other sister Nj has a new darling bubba - who gave me the opportunity to make this softie, a pattern again from Meet me at Mikes

Sewing gifts

2011-02-07T02:31:00.000-08:00

Back to school now, for some reason I can now make time for my blog - time seems to move differently when life isn't so organised and nothing seems to be a priority - other than reading books and eating and watching films. Oh so very lazy.

Although I did manage to make quite a few Christmas and birthday gifts, thanks to a darling friend who loaned me her sewing machine as mine has completely packed it in now.

How sweet are these ruffled halter neck tops I made for my nieces? The fabric I used from opshops or cut down a dress I also purchased at an op shop. The pattern is by oliver & s.

This bag is a Meet Me at Mikes pattern - for my sister in law her birthday falling at the end of Jan.

Hj's new kinder bag.

Aunty Sis's bag with matching note book.

Phew that machine is on fire & NO trips out shopping - love it.

beauty

2010-12-15T03:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday just passed I took the train to Melbourne to attend the opening of Places and Pieces - the show just looked fabulous - curated by Rebecca Jobson and furniture design by Erik North.
And this photo of the show is by Rochelle Marwood.

An article about the show is coming up in a local paper on Friday - looking forward to reading the text by Megan Spencer.

But before the opening spectacular I did some sticky beeking around the Nicholas Building - unfortunately a day late for the open studio event - although I did meet a wonderful woman, Robyn, and had a great chat in her studio Harold & Maude. Her work is all about found objects, recycling, remade and renewed. She works also with fabric and paper and pretty much anything. She does a lot of styling for events and has an amazing can do attitude which she celebrates - lovely.

Ever since moving into Melbourne back in the early 1990s (not 1900s) I have loved the city and loved this building.Here is a pic of a paper Christmas decoration she gave me on my departure - what joy and beauty!

Also opened up an world of pondering of how I might set a commerical studio up...

Embroidery hoop wall hangings for the Square Market this weekend

2010-12-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

I like these ones they are lovely and calm and make me think of late 1940s hats.

They are easy to hang on your wall and would make a great gift for someone who has everything!

You will find them at the Knotty Ladies stall at Bendigo's first handmade market The Square this Saturday. The Knotties are having a fund raiser for KIVA. Doors open at 10am at the Bendigo Town Hall - closing at 4pm.

I'll be there doing last minute Christmas shopping

We Want Your Pants!!

2010-12-13T15:33:00.000-08:00

Dirty Denim is a new project I am starting with a wonderful Bendigo based textile artist Verity Lougoon.

We have a show coming up next December at the La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre.
Along side the show will be textile workshops in green screen printing, hand sewing quilts and embroidery.

Want to learn more about denim and its tragic impact on the world check out this great video "From Crop to Swap". Video by Planet Ark

Image by Brendan McCathy

work in progress for Knotty Ladies

2010-11-22T02:43:00.000-08:00

Very busy - not sure what or why or how. But I have some very exciting projects cooking for 2011! and will share with you soon

Visited my sister and her son today - he is like a strawberrry - so sweet and lovely - I have to restrain myself from cuddling him all the time. She is announcing her new etsy store site soon and in ten weeks a new bubba.

Slowly getting new works made for the Knotty Lady's fundraising stall at The Square : Bendigo's Handmade Market.

Gorgeous image by imagesbygail.

Finally I am back in the studio

2010-11-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Well for a moment there I thought I was never going to pick up a needle again - I fluffed about cleaning up my studio, got the sewing machine serviced, cut out material and gathered patterns and put projects together in little bags - and now I have finally finished something!

I has been a very special making year for me with Places and Pieces, The Enlightenment Project, Easter in the Conservatory and some smaller commissions. Not forgetting Knotty Ladies came into being!

Right now I am enjoying making gifts for Christmas and sewing for my daughter.

The skirt above took about 15minutes using a tutorial by Oliver & S dead easy I am pleased to crow.

These are some flags for my nephew - he is turning two early December - easy and satisfying to bring them together. I have finished off some other gifts - but I can't post about just yet!

Recent Drawing: the pair

2010-11-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

Places and Pieces online

2010-11-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Last time I posted about this project we were in the studio, now thanks to the brilliant curators at Craft Victoria Places and Pieces is about to become an exibition. You can see some of the works online here!

This show is opening on Saturday the 11th of December - but will be up in the Encounter Window at Craft Victoria a week before this. Included will be works by students from Bendigo Senior Secondary College, Castlemaine Secondary College and from Karen women who are now residents of Bendigo.

It is exciting to have worked through from talking about a concept, responding through making and now to soon see all the works shown together - can't wait!

My studio

2010-10-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

I have been kinda having a rest from making stuff and haven't really spent much time in this space. I am gearing up to do a whole lotta making here as of next week - picked up my freshly serviced sewing machine for some major making.

It is interesting that most of the projects I am working on are machine stitched rather than hand sewing - which I usually do!

The basket in the foreground is all packed up for Knotty Ladies - which took place a few nights ago.

Gossling a new EP NOW AVAILABLE!

2010-10-18T03:13:00.000-07:00

I am blessed with a family who is very creative and the best part is often we collaborate on projects together.

My sister in-law is GOSSLING and she invited me to design the cover for her most recent album called Until Then.
Also involved was a designer I admire greatly Jaci Lowe.

It will be available on the 5th of November 2010 from JB Hi Fi

It is a beautiful melancholy album - whilst sketching and preparing for the design I was often weeping in my studio.

Moopy notebook cover

2010-10-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Ah another very late, yet hand made birthday present - for my sister. Pattern from Meet me at Mikes book.

Sewn up from Liberty fabric a gift from my mum for my last birthday -all the way from London.

Darling sewing machine is at the doctors getting a service - has been working very hard this year and needs some fine tuning before I get stuck into my Christmas gift sewing - have cut out a number of pieces on Monday night at the studio.

Did you know I was published in a quilting magazine!

2010-10-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Remember this yoyo quilt project from Easter? Well somehow it got a little write up in an Australian magazine called The Australian Quilters Companion - this happened some months ago - but it all got lost in the mess of crazy life that has been happening around here.
This is a work by Lori Kirk that was on at Craft Victoria earlier this year - just love it!

on horse back

2010-09-25T03:06:00.000-07:00

Felt works for Fathers Day stall

2010-09-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

Yes - its true Fathers Day was nearly a month ago - but I can still show off some felt badges I made for our local school's Father Days stall.

I have been distracted some what from the computer - preferring books (Northline : a novel / Willy Vlautin These is my words : the diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 : Arizona territories : a novel / Nancy E. Turner - both highly recommended) and and also falling heavily into the world of Ree Dummond.

These pins were inspired by Meet me at Mikes

Check out the moustache here - now that would make a fine father's day pin.

What was the Enlightenment

2010-09-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

The launch and also the closing of the Enlightenment Project took place last Sunday - launched and closed by the Victorian Arts Minister Peter Bachelor. I now have two fabric cubbies in my car port - not sure really what to do with them now. Any cubby lovers out there?

Here is the Minister & also a Councillor of the Macedon Ranges - wouldn't it been lovely if they hopped into the cubby and grinned from in there?

The day before was a Children's craft anoon hosted by the generous and hard working volunteer friends of the Kyneton Museum.

Speaking of brilliant cubbies and textiles work check out these ones below & for more information follow this link

I also love this perminant cubby made by children from the Melbourne University Early Learning Centre, souced from the blog Let the Children Play.

Young Places & Pieces Artist's new Works!

2010-09-15T17:10:00.001-07:00

Here is a proud little post of new art works by the young students I worked with at Bendigo Senior Secondary College whilst on residency there for a project called Places & Pieces.

This one is by Karly - it is called Felt Master Piece 2

A Piece of Lace by Akasha

This lovely ceramic braclet by Simone called Hope and Dreaming

Eve Lace and Night

A selection of my Places & Pieces Jewellery

2010-08-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a fantastic project called Places and Pieces, which has seen me as an artist in residence at the Bendigo Senior Secondary College. Tomorrow is my last day - it has been a memoriable and life changing experience and I hope I have the opportunity to work in a high school setting again. The students were wonderful and very inspiring.

These images are of works that I made in response to the Places and Pieces Theme; jewellery and body adornment pieces that reflect their place in a geographic, cultural and personal sense.

I made them back in May - for some nervous reason it has taken me sometime to post them.

Places and Pieces in the studio

2010-08-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I haven't posted for a while. I've just been managing to keep my head out of the water - life has been very busy with two comission contracts finishing up this month.

The following images are of some of the wonderful students I have been working with over the last four weeks from Bendigo Senior Secondary College for Places and Pieces, a found jewllery project.

Next week we will be finalising the works getting ready for our December exhibition!

Look at them all working away, very proud of them.

Recent works on paper

2010-07-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

Tired last night and couldn't think what to do with myself (as completed trashy novel the night before) and then I remembered DRAWING!!!

Here is what arrived:

On the peak

Camping in Balance

ABC Sampler Drawing

2010-07-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Winter Salon

2010-07-16T00:41:00.000-07:00

This is a new work that is accompanying Mem Fox to a wonderful little group show that I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in.

It is opening today (the 17th of July) at 12pm - 4pm at LOT 19 Castlemaine.

Unfortunately I am not sure if I will make the opening - Kd had a bad night with the beginnings of a sore throat - let's see what the day brings....

Recent Drawing inspired by the Dunkeld 2010 International Tree Drawing Competition

2010-07-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

Join in the Dunkeld Tree Drawing competition for National Tree Day

Yep they really need to be scanned before submitting - and remember it must be in black and white...

But these works are directly from a Sampler in the Kyneton Museum - by a young woman back in the 1800s.

Plently more drawing fun there and also stitching these works up for my Kyneton exhibition happening in September!

She has arrived!

2010-07-06T02:35:00.000-07:00

A little while a go I posted about a doll I started to make for Hj and I am proud to say that I have finished it - although the sewing is not the bestest of all bestest I love her & I hope Hj does too!

Here she is sitting in a doll crib that my Grandfather made for me & now Hj's Great Grandfather. I am also giving this to Hj for her fourth birthday. I made a little quilt for her and today I found some doll blankets that my Great Grandmother made for me!

Today she started playing with my old barbies - I am so glad Mum saved them. I would have thrown them out for sure. We spent quite a bit of time playing together today - didnt get any of my household chores done!

Observation of Design Elements

2010-07-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

I have to admit making jewellery is a new adventure for me and Places and Pieces is just the push I needed to try out this addictive form of making.

This post is a tutorial about using observation of design in landscape to create a body of work. It is aimed at year 11 students and is to be delivered as a hand out to complement class discussion.

In future posts I will provide tutorials on making paper jewllery using two techniques!

Selecting line, colour, tone, texture, shape, sound and form to create new jewellery that reflects place in a geographic, cultural and personal sense.

This is a native ground cover I discovered one day on my regular walk. I have been walking along this industrial path next to a factory and train line for nearly a year and never spotted this brave hardy plant before. It was a joy to discover in an area so dominated by industrial activity.
I was taken by the sweet, round petite shape of the leaves, the bending, yet reaching form of the braches and the mono, flat and blending tones of the bush. Picking a stork I popped it in some water and took some sketches. My drawing is dominated by line and shape.

As I worked drawing I reflected upon another artist’s work that I recently viewed, by David Neale. As I drew I thought about ways I could replicate these elements in 3D

I thought about using:
- small stones
- clay
- paper
- fabric and leather

I thought about these materials because they are familiar to me and I have a great deal of confidence and pleasure in using them.

The resulting works from my drawing and playing I will post in the coming days.

An Enlightment update

2010-06-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

My residency with the Kyneton Museum is kicking along and I would like to share with you the most recent fabric donations!

These donations are unfortunately anonymous. (thank you!) I am eagerly awaiting further pieces to come on in with recent local media activity.

These scraps are left over from my children's pinafores and some patchwork pieces that were never made. Anonymous Donator

Memories of a life when there was time to sew! Fabric from favourite times which never quite made it into a quilt, and some that did. lovely light and flowery fabrics from little girl's dresses made throughout the '70s and '80s for my friend's children. Hard to believe that I have held onto these scraps for so long! Anonymous Donator

Lace from my outfit when I became Godmother to a darling girl now 26 years old! Anonymous Donator

Online I have found some projects that I find inspiring and add a to the context of this project - I really like Craig Walsh's (Australian) project Digital Odyssey. Check out the patchwork screen that was made to show local stories from people who have donated items about the idea of home.

The second project is Passage Quilts by Sherri Lyn Wood (USA)who I think works on a commission basis to put together "grief quilts" and also within a community arts project.

Craig Walsh: Digital Odyssey, A Museum of Contemporary Touring Project is a two-year tour and artist residency, which brings internationally regarded Australian artist Craig Walsh’s distinctive artwork to locations throughout the country. For this innovative and ambitious project, Walsh is travelling around Australia in a mobile living and working environment, developing and presenting temporary or semi-permanent large-scale public projection works that are responsive to regional history, local stories and the surrounding landscape.

He is currently in Cairns, and we are inviting the local community to get involved in the construction of the collaborative screen for the Cairns installment of the HOME project.

Craig and Hiromi will be setting up in the artist run gallery Crate59, and we would love Cairns locals and visitors to visit the gallery to contribute materials and get involved in the making of the screen. Your participation could be as brief or as long as you want. You can even just drop in for a coffee to have a chat and find out more about the Digital Odyssey project.

Items donated can relate to what ‘a sense of home is’, or could be textiles and objects constructed specifically for the project. When the screen is complete, it will be hung and large-scale videos of people discussing what home means to them them will be projected onto its surface.

Passage Quilts : An active bereavement & transition process utilizing the clothing and materials of life by Sherri Lyn Wood

French Hand Sewing

2010-06-28T04:11:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended a great little morning stitching workshop at the Bendigo Art Gallery - all about French Hand Sewing.

I learnt how to pin tuck as above - I think I will be using this one quite a bit
fun, simple and effective.

I am hoping to get into sewing some pretty nighties for summer soon

Attended a fantastic show of drawings at La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre on the weekend by Philip Hunter

I love seeing drawings for joy, lines for love. I like also how his drawings are so silent and speechless. Inimate nothing - just like the place I came from and carry within me.

Philip Hunter
Untitled (Acheron) 1997 charcoal and conté on paper

tees on me and him and an Ep cover commission

2010-06-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

The famous Gossling presented me with her tee shirt yesterday - one for me and one for him!

Last year I helped Gossling aka my famous sister in law with her first album cover and lucky for me she has transformed the design into a t-shirt!

Dont' we look like chubby rockers!

Luckily for me she has asked me to do her second album and we have started tossing around ideas.

This image is by Birdy & Me

Image for Kate Vigo

I really like the work by Luci Everett

Somehow I am also thinking that the work of Alphonse Mucha will play apart in the concept development.

A doll

2010-06-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

This is a project I have wanted to start and complete for some time & that is to make a doll for my darling Hj. Nothing is more wonderful than having her along side me all day long. I cried myself to sleep the other night thinking that she will be going to school soon & we wont be together all the time.

Darn school - I really don't understand why they need to be there 5 days a week.

The doll pattern I purchased from Wee Wonderfuls. It is a cute and easy pattern (I am making Kit!) - although some of the drawings were not marked correctly and I had some trouble with sewing as the clothing is just so tiny!

But I hope it is the first of many dollies - did you know that I have four nieces now!

Project Patchwork

2010-06-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

Last month I was invited by Lizzy to participate in Project Patchwork. A little parcel of lovely fabric arrived in the post and away I went. I got most of it sewn up on the train last week to a workshop in Melbourne - just to find the venue was locked and I had to turn around and travel right back home again!

Project Patchwork is a collaborative quilt to raise funds for the Australian
Cambodia Foundation.

My job is to contribue throug designing a patch using swatch of fabric.

I hope to recieve some raffel tickets soon to sell to fund raise for the charity.

Here are some images of my work in progress.

Lizzy emailed to say he project will be featured on Michi Girl , The
Design Files, Sarah McNeil's blog and will also be promoted by Craft
Victoria.

But it is a great opportunity in the planning and organising of a group that I hope to get off the ground with the Bendigo Sustainability Group next month in Bendigo - Knotty Ladies - but more about that soon.

Ps the dancing girl at the top she is going to appear somewhere in my patch!

The next sampler step

2010-05-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

Goodness the wonderful world of blogging has lead me to this woman - At Swim Two Birds and her stitching.

She has given me colour and also play. A way forward with my samplers project and they gorgeous shapes and forms. Thank you!

Knit knit knit patchwork dog drawing

2010-05-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

An embroidery of one of my most favourite drawings

2010-05-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

Recent Drawing

2010-05-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

Guache on water colour paper
Flags and castle

Sampler Love

2010-05-24T03:31:00.000-07:00

Following on my last post behind the ideas for the Enlightenment childhood and play also have a large role in this body of work. Whilst checking out the textile catalogues I found a number of works made by young women under the age of 14 years. On viewing they are quite extraordinary needlework pieces and all are items called "samplers".

Taken from wikipedia it defines a needlecraft sampler as "A (needlework) sampler is a piece of embroidery produced as a demonstration or test of skill in needlework. It often includes the alphabet, figures, motifs, decorative borders and sometimes the name of the person who embroidered it and the date. The word sampler is derived from the Latin ‘exemplum’ - an example."

Here is a link to make your own sampler and also a link to images of samplers

Below is a series of image from the Kyneton Museum Samplers.

Kyneton Museum 3143
Sheet of Handworked Samples c1880

Eight small samples of hand work, knitting, tapestry, button and buttonhole cross stitch and fancy work. Produced by L.Banks at Standard Level 4 in 1880

Kyneton Museum 215.00
Sampler c 1895
Childs sampler in shape of tiny apron including green waist straps decorated with green embroidery, various designs, leaf pattern, drawn thread work and 2 button holes

Kyneton Museum 3267.00
Sampler
Large embroidery sampler of alphabets and numbers with verse, animals, flowers, birds red, blue, green, orange, yellow, grey wool at the bottom the embroiders name "Emily Fracis Victoria Hamilton" Kyneton August 15 1891

(detail)

Kyneton Museum 5676.00
Child's Sampler
Child's sampler of stitches, white material with blue stitching, button hole, blanket, feather etc

The Story of the Signature Quilt at Kyneton Museum

2010-05-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

My role as an artist in the Enlightenment Project is to provide a more lively engagement (through interpretation) with stories triggered by significant objects and collections at the museum - as opposed to the use of text information panels.

Working mostly in textiles at the moment I was immediately attracted to their enmormous textile collection and also inspired by the wonderful show, The Presence of Things: sense, veneer and guise, curated by Stephen Gallenger way back in 2005. (sorry could only find awful links to this show!) In this show fourteen Australian artists and crafts practitioners created new contemporary art works response to the embroidery and lace collections of the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria. Simply new sunning works were made in response to selected pieces from the guild's collection and they were exhibited together - making for a sensory joy of possible links, leaps and relationships.

On my first visit to the Kyneton Museum on my residency I fell in love with the signature quilt - for its age, quality of stitch and it's story. The story of the signature quilt was shared with me by an extraordinary woman called Pat who has volunteered at the Museum for many years and knows the collection very well.

Way back in 1905 women from a local church decided to fund raise for a charity by making a quilt - not only were women involved who had extra ordinary stitching skills but locals were invited to participate through purchasing a quilt section and writing some text to be included on this leaving the donation and the message to be embroidered at the local milk bar. (I like this touch).

So the notion of community quilt is the direction I have taken this project - inviting community members to both donate fabric to be included in the quilts, to donate a patch or their time stitching them together. I will be posting soon the very first collection of fabric and quilt stories that have so far been donated.

Here is the twist in the project the final quilts will be shown on cubby - house like frames referencing the story of the museum how its form documents story of Kyneton. The museum being an icon architectural monument documenting the towns journey from a small settlement to a rich booming town with a large and grand bank being built.

I hope also to touch on an include sampler embroidery works I have recently had the pleasure of viewing at the museum last week - but more about these later in a future post.

More details about the signature quilt is detailed below.

346.00 Object Name : Table - Cloth

"AUTO GRAPHED TABLECLOTH"

Brief Description: Linen cloth embroidered with Kyneton local organisation symbols and the names/autographs/signatures of donors, by the congregational church ladies guild as a fundraiser for a mission to India in 1905. The cloth comprises seventeen sections stitched together with torchen lace insertions and edging. Bought by Mr Albert Young at a Dutch auction. Full list of transcriptions of names from the signature embroider is stored with card.

Length 2220mmm

Width 1610

Donated by the Kyneton Historical Society

The signature quilt

detail : torchen lace insertion

detail : embroidery patch

The resulting works will be on show during September during the annual Kyneton Daffodil Arts Festival. I hope through viewing these new works that the audience appreciate the historical relevance of stitch in community life. Also accessing objects/items from the museum that are rarely shown due to the challenges of showing textiles - their fragility and also sheer space that is required to show them.

Lastly I wanted to acknowledge here an artist who has worked a great deal with museum collections in Victoria Malcolm Mackinon

And from the UK a research project that is within a university, rather than a museum that collects clothing stories from the local project local communities and every day people.

And finally a note about a contemporary community fundraiser quilt project I have just been invited to participate in called Project Patch Work - but more about this later

Orange Scarf

2010-05-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

I am on the hand made - eco-friendly birthday gift roll for May - having completed a gift for an old uni girl friend whose birthday I simply can't forget as it is a few days after mine!

Although I have dabbled in the world of scarf making a little this one is much more ambitious and is inspired by the Ballarat based artist Nin Coutts-Slater. Year ago when I managed an artist run space she did a residency of stitching up found fabric into fantastic creations. I was very jealous but it has taken a few years to get around to having a play.

Proudly I took it home from the studio and my husband asked if I had cut it up from a table cloth - resulting in an instant sulky me .

2010-05-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Card board city - made by father and son
Image from the book called Heads On and We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are

Remember yonks ago I was carrying on about this cardboard city - that I saw in the film Where the Wild things Are - I dearly love this work for it sheer playfulness and joy in making - not to mention the colours.

Recent Stitching

2010-05-16T02:12:00.000-07:00

The Enlightenment Project Needs your enlightenment

2010-05-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

Taking place at the Kyneton Museum, Victoria, Australia the Enlightenment Project is about creating interpretive material to tell stories triggered by the museum site of the old bank building and significant collections and objects it holds.

Inspired by the abundant textiles collection of the Kyneton Museum I am seeking memorable fabric scraps; it could be a treasured t-shirts, jeans or perhaps a tea towel.

Donations will be patched worked into cubby play for the Kyneton Daffodil Arts Festival this September at the Museum.

Drop off your fabric, clothing item, or table-cloth/tea towel with a 20 word memory statement to the Kyneton Museum. Please note donations will not be returned to the owner!

I am also seeking some stitches to stitch their hearts warm doing some English Paper Piercing - please leave a comment or email me info(at)tamaramarwood.com

Places and Pieces

2010-05-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

Excitingly I have recently signed on a new commission initiated by Regional Arts Victoria in partnership with Craft Victoria called Places and Pieces.

Places and Pieces is a unique partnership between arts, education and emerging communities in Bendigo and Castlemaine. It aims to inspire artistic excellence in secondary school students through the making of jewellery and body adornment items using non-precious found materials.

For those of you who are curiously wondering how I got involved as I am not a jeweller - the brief also seeks new works to be created that that reflect their place in a geographic, cultural and personal sense. Which of course all my practice is about relationship to place.

My favourite bit is that new works are sought that are made from found materials, natural materials and reclaimed materials.

So to get myself into the mood for this project I have been doing a little bit of research, collecting images and links. Mostly thanks to the online commitment of Craft Victoria and the Melbourne based curator and writer Kevin Murray. Each of the artists I have drawn out elements that will start creating the scaffolding to build 5 weeks of workshops around for Year 11 students.

Taken directly from Kevin Murray's current curated show on in Perth Can jewellery function as an instrument of change? Includes the work of Melbourne jeweller Vicki Mason. This is her work depicted below:

"Her brooches are modelled on the wattle, rose and oregano plants, beautifully rendered in powder-coated silver and coiled ribbon. These plants are common features of suburban gardens in Australia, but Mason argues that they represent a common bounty, which she links to the elusive prospect of Australia becoming a republic".( Text taken from here by Kevin Murray)

Elements I will draw from her work include:

- form inspired by nature

- making contained within a structure - in this case a black edging

- texture

- bright colour use

Above is work by Julie Blyfield

"The natural materials chosen have the potential to be reduced to a jingoistic ‘green and gold’. However, in Blyfield’s hands, the subtle and limited colour palette of olive green, black, orange and blue/greys with occasional highlights of gold, reveals a much more sophisticated appreciation of our national flora." (text by Bin Dixon Ward)

Elements I will draw from her work include:

- form inspired by nature

- the monochromatic use of colour

From Little Fish Studios

Goodness I really like the combination of fabric, stitch (of course) and twigs/sticks - just lovely and very exciting

David Neale

I also like these words to describe his work: "Through the considered play of opposites such as flat vs deep, austere vs ostentatious, rough vs refined, previous vs poor, shiny vs sfumato, gravel vs gold and some vs none."

Thoughts from Kate Rhodes essay - Forest or the Bush What Jewellers tell us about Nature

Patricia Anderson Book Contemporary Jewellery: The Australian Experience 1977–1987 for its historical overview of jewellery and she writes:

Fifty thousand years ago hunting man wore the teeth and claws of animals to transfer their ferocity and strength to himself. By the time agricultural and urban communities were established throughout the Near East and around the Mediterranean, there was the belief that the … natural world could be controlled … by votive gifts of jewellery to the gods and the adornment of temple statues.1

Still looking at Anderson's historical text, in Australia during the 1970s and '80s saw jewellers who had predominately trained in art schools, rather than workshops, once again look at the natural world as a close source of inspiration. They produced specifically Australian works in an abstract mode. These designers used handmade paper, grass, bleached tree roots, feathers, stone and palm fronds, as well as gold and silver and other metals, to reproduce the Australian landscape, and often the Australian bush more specifically, in its textures, colours and forms.

And just for me here are some other late night thinking ideas

- collecting discarded metal (no plastic on the front) badges and drilling holes and then threading embroidery thread through/grasses etc - inspired by a logo for a really great cause I spotted on the front of my husbands soccer magazines that are taking over our home - never thought they would be any much use other than collecting dust!

- t-shirt inspired jewellery - bead making, foundation for sewing on beads etc

Links to tutorials here

t-shirt bangles

t-shirt necklace

recycled jewellery tutorial links

Some Good Stuff

2010-05-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

IvivaOlenick

a review/interview

new fabric store in Bendigo

world inspiration

envy

great quilt designs - simple and strong

Great sewing for girls

eco fashion and a helping out kit

Washed Up

2010-04-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

A little gift for a nice niece's third birthday - instant success and a request from a certain soon to be four year old for her birthday too!
Pattern Inspiration here.
Sustainably harvested wooden cooking set found here

Last night at the studio

2010-04-21T03:04:00.000-07:00

Last night continued on with my home made birthday gift challenge - goodness with a birthday nearly every week and it won't get any easier with an ever expanding family! But I do love making things - would do this any day - really can't stand shopping.

Here is my second scarf attempt and also a little handbag pouch for secrete note book writings or list making stationary - something ensures my hand bag is always heavy to lug around. Again these gifts are made out of fabric cut off that would have otherwise been thrown out or discovered in op-shops. (OK op-shopping I can manage)

Here is a another treasure sporting her Christmas gift.

New Baby - she is a gift - but so far away my heart cries

2010-04-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

How can I ever be as clever as my sister to make a precious beauty such as she?

Madeleine Joyce Whitty
3.36 kgs
Born 4.05 am 20th April

And a little passage I have been musing on from my current favourite author:

"She is the gift that carries our songs into the ocean where all stories mingle. Too soon many things will claim her - the man she loves, the children she bears, the tasks and the duties that bind her to life - and so a mother loves a daughter as something more precious than any love, because though we many love her with an infinite tenderness we much teacher to swim."

The River Wife by Heather Rose

Last night at the studio

2010-04-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Last night at my Tuesday night studio evening I finished off some packaging for a recent commission by the local government - possum costumes!

Then I did a bit of procrastination - from my last post you will see that I am starting a new project and just a bit reluctant to take that first big bite - come on MUMMA you can do it!

But I did turn my procrastination into something productive a little sewing project from a fantastic op shopped tea towel for me - covering my journal and my daily to do list book.

Other side projects I have on the go include sorting my business out and making business cards for my mum - check this fantastic sewing design idea for cards.

Here is my daughter's first sewing project I also mentioned in my last post - she is 3 and half - we did it next to the camp fire whilst camping last week - her brother did one - but his still is a work in progress - I made his a little more complicated. Wish I got some shots of them sewing - but really had to keep them focused and pour all of my attention onto them.

Gearing up for a new commission

2010-04-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

This isn't my work - but from rubycrownkinglette, whom I often admire on flickr

I am collecting some images, some works that are propelling me into my next commission - The Enlightenment Project.

What I am liking here is the use of found material, whimsy and joy. I like the out door-i-ness and the collection of material to become.

Other works of mine that are ticking over include this little collection of oddments (which really what a museum is all about is it not - oddments?) Like these lovely little bits of rolled up paper.

When watching Where the Wild Things Are I nearly passed out to see in the little boy's bed room a city structure of some sort made up out of rolled up cardboard - oh to have a still of that scene.

This Friday on my visit to the museum again I need to take some additional shots of the outside collection of machines and sheds - full of inventions for men to make order of agriculture. All rusting and mostly weighing a tonne - but I like the idea of these bits and bobs complementing the shadow houses.

Actually it was a camping boredom distraction activity that I planned for the kids that has also fueled my need to make stuffed things. More about these creatures soon...

Hand Bag Embroidery

2010-04-07T04:10:00.001-07:00

A special little find for me from a festival I put together a while back - this unknown child's drawing was stuck to the eco-cubby. When I saw this I wished and wished I could draw as wonderfully as this and at that moment I ripped it off the wall and stashed it to steal at a later date....

And this embroidery work is what arrived - another hand made gift for a family member - with pleasure time for me to kitch out.

Found another embroidery artist to admire this week - I especially like how she has commericalised herself!

Just quickly you can check out my Easter sewing efforts here. Thanks to Molly Chicken for her tutorial here. Although not sure if I will use again - receivers were a little confused - was it a bird or an egg?

Visit the yoyo dragon in Bendigo's Conservatory

2010-04-02T02:34:00.000-07:00

I don't think this dragon would make any grrs or grunts, just a plop plop plopping sound as he trotted along sniffing and enjoying autumn gardens. He has a pleasant dreaming nature and is always hopeful to find some wings to fly.

You can visit him now during the 2010 Bendigo Easter Festival at the Conservatory. He is on show with another artist Georgina Duckett.

This light-hearted work represents a mythical creature, transformed into life by imaginary play and joy. It’s soft decorative patchwork body is hand stitched from second hand fabrics using the patch work technique yo-yo.

Inspired by a yo-yo patchwork scrap a dear friend gave to me and I have had hanging in my studio for some time now. Other background information about the work can be found here.

Comically chair legs poke out from the bottom of the work, wearing tailor made frilly socks. Invoking creative childhood cubby play. Like Sun Loong’s ancestors, its physical form takes on the combination of many animals.

Stitching is apart of the stuff we do

2010-02-08T01:55:00.000-08:00

Kd is into his second week of school as a Grade One boy & also a new school. One of our "start-of-a-new-year" ritual is sewing key tags together. Here is 2008 and then 2009
This is the orginal image - I nearly passed out when Kd handed it over - as it is so detailed - but I think we did an Ok job! Kd stitched the black line around the outside of the design.

Below is an image my darling brother in law sent through of my sister soon to have her baby in April with her birthday scarf on. Her birthday was in Novemer, and I sent her gift to London via the ocean - I think she got it mid Jan! It includes french lace left over from my wedding gown, placed over some lovely velvet I found.
I have also fallen in love with this amazing paper sculpture that Kd created a few weeks back - completely brilliant

Oh when will I ever be brilliant? Speaking of embroidery brilliance check out these embroidered chairs.

More gifts

2010-02-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

Living up to my hand made pledge here is my next gift, placemats, for a certain sister in law - who also happens to be a super star. (can you iron out those wrinkles for me?) - pleased to note all made out of reclaimed fabric - aside from the threads.

Unfortunately this is not my creation - but that ruffle has most certainly stolen my heart - a bit of a fan of frills.

I would happly hand my soul to the devil for this table cloth - especially if it comes with a matching apron.

You can read more about the creative frill girls here.

zeitoun

2010-01-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday night in the bath I finished ready ZEITOUN by Dave Eggers. I chose to read this book as it is one of the books to be discussed on the ABC program the First Tuesday Book Club.

I would have NEVER chosen to read this book. At the moment I have a secrete fad on Scottish historical romances (which somehow in my early thirties I have started reading the same books as my mum that I swore I would never read)

I would have NEVER chosen to read this book as I find it hard to read hardships and tragedy. The imagery of awful things humans can do to one another tends to stay with me and although this can be good triggers to revoke feelings of thankfulness for the peace in my life they push the world and humanity into a deep bleakness.

However Zeitoun I am glad to have read - not for its writing quality, more for its revelation and power and frailty of modern human civilization. It is a true account of a Muslim families experience of Hurricane Katrina and then the hurricane of American authority and paranoia.

The power of compassion and respect for all life is the greatest gift you can give to any person you meet in your day or talk to on the phone.

Easter Art in the Conservatory

2010-01-23T03:28:00.000-08:00

Like this patchwork? I just love them. I discovered them in a library book I recently took out and was delighted the direction they provided me for my first 2010 commission with the City of Greater Bendigo - Easter Art in the Conservatory.

They are images soured from Quilting, patchwork & applique : a world guide by Caroline Crabtree and Christine Shaw.

The idea of the commission is to create an installation of new work that celebrates Easter Bendigo style with a Chinese influence - in this case coming through the use of the colour red.

The circle is a found piece of paper from a recent workshop my kids did at the local Chinese museum - but I believe the curved form plays a major role in Chinese culture.

Both patchworks are Chinese children's hat - the first being a three dimensions fierece tiger face to protect the child. The second being a festive hat; the red colour, the fish, the pomegranates, lotus and gilded toad are all auspicious symbols.

The work I have said I will make is a "decorative patchwork quilt featuring the colour red draped across 5 to 6 chairs in a row. The work will be playful and cubby like - invoking thoughts of handmade and creative childhood play and imagination."

The work represents a mythical creature, transformed into life by imaginary play and joy. Its soft decorative red dragon body is hand stitched (gee don't think I will be hand stitching any more!) fabrics using English Paper Piecing - actually I am thinking of machine sewing using a rectangle pattern that has flaps of curved shapes that I will hang tassels off.

I haven' drafted up the pattern yet - but have drawn up many times in my head.

So these patchwork masks at the top of the blog are the lanching point for the head of the creature I am making - I am yet to nut this out.

I have collected the fabric for the dragons body - this Wednesday evening I am taking the PLUNGE and starting.

Will keep you up to date.

Introducing the Enlightenment Project

2010-01-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

This year I am working as an artist on a variety of Central Victorian Projects, including the THE ENLIGHTENMENT PROJECT, with the Kyneton Museum and Macedon Ranges Shire Council

On Sunday I made my first visit to the museum and was taken by their amazing collecting of objects and also textiles. (not to mention the wonderful staff who I will really enjoy working with) This post documents the very beginning of my research and relationship with this venue.

The Enlightenment project is about creating interpretive material to tell stories triggered by the museum site of the old bank building and significant collections and objects it holds.

I was fortunate to be approached by another local artist Tara Gilbee to work on this project,.

Through collaboration between Kyneton Museum and the artist the Enlightenment Project 2009/2010 aims to;
• use multi-media to provide a more lively engagement with the museum site and its collections, rather than simply static artifact displays
• make Kyneton Museum collection and stories more accessible to the community
• increase Kynton Museums engagement with its local community

I think the staff at the Museum are doing a pretty good job engaging the local community - the day I attended the museum was very busy with lots of people of varying ages coming and also an exhibition taking place as well as a garden party. The collection is well displayed, with a variety of existing interpretation materials for adults and also children.

The first object that stole my heart was this lamp shade. I was taken by its whimsical shape and daring nature.

This shape has completely made me smitten and I can see it coming into another body of work I am creating at the moment for the City of Bendigo Art in the Conservatory Project - but more about this later.

My role is to create textile shelters and surfaces. I am hopeful that this form and method of construction might some how feed into this process. My sister gave me a book on making lamp shades from wire - I wonder if I still have it or did I pitch it in the move to our new home?

I am booking in more time to go through their catalogue cards for textiles, however I was fortunate to view their signature quilt, made back in 1905. This quilt is huge, perhaps 2m by 3m white thread on white linen with hand made lace. Completely breath taking, and I am looking forward to researching all the stitches used in this work. Stitching words, can seem to be very easy, but it isn't and I have always struggled with choice of stitch.

The signature quilt was made by the women on Kyneton as a fund raiser for children in India. Local families purchased squares of the quilt, then the women donated their time to make the work.

I think this method of representation, piecing of fabric together to make a whole is also something I would like to draw from as well. Interestingly the local milk bar facilitated the donating of money and documenting people's names to be embroidered.

A blind took my fancy too for its pattern and use of mono tone and shape through light play.

I liked also the picnic rugs and blankets in the cabinet about Picnics at Hanging Rock. I believe the final work will be exhibited outdoors in the evening - kinda nice idea of people sitting on textiles as well and also reflecting in the mystery around famous picnics at Hanging Rock.

The Handmade gift giving challenge 2010

2010-01-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

Waste.

As a mother I can't seem to stop creating it.

One way I thought, and a way also to enhance my skills as a maker, is to attempt to give all handmade gifts this year.

After a disasterious Christmas due to a extreme sporting (!) injury I simply didn't get half of the presents made that I would have really liked to have made. There are some bloggers out there who have really drilled into me the need for planning and scheduling. Especially when you are a working mother.

Some resources out there to help me get going include:

Balancing Everything: the Daily Stuff that Needs Doing
Planning with Kids explains why her Christmas Planning spreadsheet is completely essential

So I wonder - does more planning mean less waste?

Any howse in the fever of January making New Years promises last forever I have been planning gift making and some how achieving my modest goals. (although making a few minor short cuts here and there)

Baby gifts for Ariya

These gifts pattern and instructions starting points are from Bend the Rules Sewing, which is a fab book and I have called upon often. Resulting in large library fines.

home made christmas gifts

2010-01-08T23:19:00.000-08:00

My nature got the better of me today and in my hast to clean up our computer I deleted all my Christmas files and also all my files from 2008. PLEASE shoot me.

Here is a little of what remains from Christmas. My making gifts - jammies for Hj & Kd - unfortunately don't have a shot yet in them - as made cute jammie shorts too - Kd's t-shirt was made from scratch which was quite an achievement!

This is a recent embroidery I did as my Marwood Chris Kringle to my sister NJ - from a fabulous drawing by Kd - just love his drawing!

words written and to write about my work

2009-12-05T02:56:00.000-08:00

...an ecology of place ... explore relationship between European identity and Australian landscape ... Holly Story

I found this today - the artists work and her web site I am not so keen on.

Here is an article about my work - havent posted as made me kinda cringe. But reading again this evening not as bad

some baby gifts

2009-12-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

Recent studio follys.
Wont be driving on the machine for a while - managed to tear my calf - vey painful and stuck on the couch

Here is a link to a great tutorial to make a crayon roll or pencil holder, which is very similar to what I have made.

Advent Stockings

2009-12-02T03:08:00.000-08:00

Last night I hauled my husband off the couch when I got home from the studio to put up these blasted Christmas Advent Stockings that I have been working on FOREVER. See a post in July here and another in November here.

Unfortunately I did not plan this project very well - I ran out of space cross stitching the numbers on, I ran out of ribbon, now I have ran out of fabric and missing 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13!!!

So some are finished off without love and in mismatched I-thought-I-found-the-right- fabric from a op shop - oh well.

The kids loved them this morning and they are an excellent bribe to get pesty children off to sleep.

Here is a link to other advent making ideas for kids - much less elaborate than mine.

and here from sew mama green

Check out this cute advent pic and here

Best not to follow any of my advice.

Ps did you spy my Italian oven just sitting there - hoping that I may be cooking in this for Christmas lunch - my first attempt at a Pav.