not all those who wander are lost

at a loose end on February 7th?

2012-01-30T17:38:00.000+10:30

if you happen to be in Goolwa [South Australia's geographic answer to New Orleans] next week, you might like to swing by...

simple folded paper bag

2012-01-28T13:11:00.001+10:30

sometimes you need a bag

and there isn't one handy in your pocket.
so

catch a passing piece of paper

fold the top down a bit

turn it over

fold [at right angle to original fold]

then fold in the other side

tuck one flap under the top collar of the other

turn it over again

fold it more or less in half

tuck the folded up bit into the collar

open out the bag

what you put in it is up to you

cos

you're on your own now.

i'm busy with my walnuts.

minded

2012-01-24T12:53:00.000+10:30

dipping my hands in blue the other day

reminded me of a place i haven't been in a while

and of another i've been in more recently

that has a similar feel at times

blue has magic and grace

as has Donna Watson at Layers

where she muses on the latter

cogitating on the coincidentality of confluence

2012-01-21T12:33:00.004+10:30

it was interesting to read Ronnie's thoughts over at 'art & ect' this morning
especially as i'd just participated in a workshop that centered on the premise of drawing from memory
and not just memory but specific memory
of a piece viewed in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia
[ie the first instruction being "draw a copy/your memory of a work by another artist"]

it was an intriguing and rigorous physical and intellectual exercise
and as the instructor [Christopher Orchard] very clearly pointed out
none of the pieces drawn by participants were "art"

and in fact, pieces made in workshops [of any kind]

should not be considered as part of a person's oevre

and certainly not exhibited as such

[regrettably something too often seen in the textile world]*

but continuing in the spirit of Ronnie's discussion
i thought it might be interesting to put some of my drawings up here
with a link or two to the original works

the visual information was gathered when i wandered into an exhibition at the AGSA titled "Terrain" and found this object by the late Rosalie Gascoigne, an artist whose work i have long admired [i even flew to Melbourne for a day a couple of years ago just to see a retrospective of her work]

i won't paste her image here [copyright issues] but you can follow the links

so my first image went like this

it then wandered on to

and then sanguine was introduced as a variant
but still using elements of the original image

followed by the instruction to call a figure to mind [again from the collection]
and bring it into the composition

the figure is rather less recognisable than the more graphic work, but was derived from Mortimer Menpes "alone in a shoe shop" and you can see that by this time [in the afternoon, some three hours after viewing the original painting] my memory of the figure is more than a little hazy [and drawing figures ain't my strength in any case]

one of the points our instructor made along the way is that it would be pretty difficult to draw/paint something free of anything you had previously seen. our imaginations are inevitably influenced by experience and memory [subject food for discussion with a good glass of red]

i had a fabulous few days working at drawing and was quite satisfied with the marks i made. but again i stress they are not art. they are perhaps wobbly stepping stones in a stream on my path to somewhere else. breadcrumbs in the forest.

i told a student in a class a couple of years ago in response to her announcing she wouldn't be stitching together the pieces during class as her intent was to frame all her samples and present them as her upcoming solo show, that no self-respecting artist would exhibit workshop samples unless they wished to lose all credibility. i won't be exhibiting these either or using them as the foundation for deriving "new" work.

but you may well spot some distilled essences of them somewhere in the future...a good friend has already been pointed out to me by that the drawings i made under Orchard's direction in class could be seen as being influenced by the weavings of Sandra Brownlee with whom i spent time in Halifax recently [even though they were drawn from Rosalie Gascoigne] . they might well be. i'd have to be a stone NOT to be influenced at all by her work.

then again
it might also have been influenced by Greg John's sculpture 'Fugue' on the banks of the River Torrens. [i had my lunch on the grass nearby]

where am i going with this? acknowledge your sources, ask people for permission [especially if you want to publish their work] and play nice. it's better karma and makes for a nicer whirled.
and now it's time for a cup of tea.

ps and before you ask, yes, i made that big word up.

* and before someone takes up the issue of exhibitions and textiles and calls my bluff on The Talisman Dress, let me state that exhibitions openly described as being the outcome of a workshop process are an entirely different matter...especially where the stated intent of the class is to collectively exhibit the work

chuckling quietly

2012-01-20T06:12:00.000+10:30

it's a funny thing when one of the places i'm least likely to be recognised when attending a class as a student is in the city nearest where i live

and i'm very grateful for this blessing
it means i can be anonymous in a wonderful drawing class
two days of blissful [and rigorous] work with charcoal and paper

the much used drawing board was a delight
before work even began

intangibly treasured

2012-01-18T07:39:00.000+10:30

at about 3.30 this morning

Morpheus kicked aside the covers

and went somewhere else

leaving me sleepless

so i dangled a hand over the edge of the bed

and fished up the nearest piece of reading material

which happened to be

an excellent text sent to me by

Janet de Boer

organiser of the Geelong Textile Forum

where Miyoko Kawahito will be teaching later this year

pootling through the pages i learned something new [several, really]

that in Japan, certain processes may be denoted Intangible Treasures. and then there are also Tangible Treasures.

and

that there is actually a proper Japanese descriptor for the process of beating leaves into cloth. Miyoko Kawahito calls it tataki-zome, whereas i gave it the label hapa-zome [back in 2006 when i sat in the green room of the Yamaguchi Performing Arts Centre, beating leaves from roadside weeds and cemetery prunings into a 6 metre x 6 metre floorcloth for a scene in "Wanderlust"]

the funny thing is that hapa-zome has become part of the dye vocabulary and i've even seen it referred to [in print] as "the ancient art of hapa-zome". the art may indeed be ancient but the appellation certainly isn't.

anyway, for the record

tataki means "beaten"

whereas hapa means "leaf"

Martha was busy digesting a mouse

and couldn't care less

land mark

2012-01-14T09:57:00.000+10:30

work installed at 'The Cedars'

- home of the painter Hans Heysen [1877-1968] and well worth a visit in its own right -

for the Heysen Sculpture Biennial

part of the Adelaide Fringe

materials : 9 stones, repurposed wool blanket, eucalyptus dyes, earth and

a very convenient tree stump

eco coloured northern wanderings - may 11,12,13 of 2012

2012-01-09T15:58:00.000+10:30

an adventure in bio regional dyeing

with some gentle stitching time

in the subtropics

we'll be working in the delightful 2.5 acre garden where the 2010 Fieldwork class was held. [it's on the north western outskirts of Brisbane approx 20 kms from the city centre]

covering an introduction to ecologically sustainable dyeing, the composition of the optimum eucalyptus dyebath and of course ecoprint bundle dyeing...

we'll gather windfalls and weeds, observe the effects of various found metals on colour outcomes and stitch together the samples as they dry to form a beautiful composite cloth which will offer possibilities for ongoing stitching and embellishment

this is a three-day intensive class suitable for all textile lovers; the only skill you really need is the ability to thread a needle.

dates : 11,12,13 May 2012

for more information or to reserve a place, please contact workshop host Roz Hawker

queensland

2012-01-08T18:44:00.001+10:30

might be back in Queensland

towards the end of the second week in May

for three days of play and discovery

in the same magical garden

where we stitched and dyed in 2010

more details soon

meanwhile
comments have been re-enabled
but
if you really feel the need to be personally critical
kindly drop me a line
because the blog ain't the place for it

on the other side

2012-01-06T10:13:00.000+10:30

it's been hot in the deep deep south and very tempting to emulate Felix

shown here looking as though he has raided Grandma's tequila bottle

but there is work to be done

pieces to be installed for the

2012 Heysen Sculpture Biennial

images will follow in a few days time

happy new every day of the year

2011-12-31T12:08:00.002+10:30

waking up breathing is a fine start to the day

everything else is a bonus [well, mostly]

make the most of each moment.

and thank you Sheila

for writing such nice things

about our meeting in May

on the beach

2011-12-29T09:29:00.002+10:30

while some people somewheres

may be making snow angels

here in the deep deep south

we're making drawings in the sand

putting it in writing

2011-12-26T22:59:00.000+10:30

the host of the Goolwa workshop [planned for early February 2012] and i have received some interesting mail lately.
it runs along the lines of "yes, we're interested in the riverstitch class but 2012 is pretty busy so we'll do it in 2013"
well, sorry to disillusion you folks, but just for the record
the riverstitch class will be my only South Australian workshop in 2012 [i won't be teaching in my home state at all in 2013]
and
i'll be scaling back the teaching whirlwind from the end of next year - looking for some space and time to develop and make new work

New York, New York

2011-12-23T15:10:00.000+10:30

if you're in New York next August...you'll have the chance to see my favourite dance company

Leigh Warren & Dancers

and with good luck and good management, i'll be in the audience too
reminding myself to breathe

playing the blues

2011-12-22T06:58:00.001+10:30

my rule for myself is not to use imported dyestuffs. but i love blue. so when i was in France earlier this year and was assured by Charlotte Kwan of Maiwa that their indigo comes from a sustainable source and that the grower receives proper recompense for their trouble, i permitted myself an indulgence. and bent that rule.

so now that i have the luxury of being at home for a time i'm playing the blues. in the dyepot, at the cocktail hour and on my tenor saxophone. redgum ash and reject honey [yes, there IS such a substance] are the reducing agents, in a local variant on Michel Garcia's indigo methods.

and next year we'll be deep in blue and deep in the woods at the same time.