raiding the ragbag and sorting the stash

It was such a joy sharing with students from all over the planet in my first-ever online class (the Alchemist's Apron)  that I found myself dreaming up another one.

I know so many lovely dyers who simply cannot resist putting another morsel in the dyepot...and then    build up great mountains of delicious samples that rarely, if ever, see the light of day again. Which set me thinking.

It's time, my darlings.

Time to raid the ragbag for beloved discards from which you can harvest, and to sort out your stash and get ready to join pieces together to make fabulous frocks that are unique to YOU.

The class is called Conscious Clothing.  I'm literally dancing with excitement in my armchair about sharing my dressmaking tricks with y'all and I can't wait to see the gorgeous dresses that will be growing in the hands of makers around the whirled.

I've made the list of necessaries (and a wee video about dyeing while wandering) accessible to help you decide whether the class is for you. If you do dive in, the class is yours for life and there's also a Facebook sewing circle as extra support...the lovely thing is that you all bring so many skills to the table, and even though have a few reservations about FB, the fact remains that it is a very accessible means of connecting us all.

and as part of the first lesson, I've included a downloadable PDF of the wee pattern-cutting booklet I published (in a very limited edition of 100) some years ago. It contains the essence of how I make my clothes.

Will I see you there? I hope so.  At very least...do please click on the link above to read about the class. I'd love to know what you think of the idea.

gardens of the heart

staying at home for the summer has made so much sense.

it's given me the space (and grace) to play :: to make new work and to dream new ideas.

in January I made the wee book 'bagstories' and was stunned to find the welcome it received, and then delighted to see how the 'bagstories' group (on Facebook) so quickly became such a lovely supportive gathering of like-minded spirits.

that foray has led to me deciding that I should make a February project every year. Also, at long last, I will offer distance learning for those who suffer physical, geographical and/or economic difficulty in getting to a class.  more on that very soon.

but for now, let me tell you about 'gardens of the heart'...a  project in poetry and cloth that will culminate in an exhibition for the 2019 Adelaide Festival Fringe, that I am coordinating with the h.ART group who have been the backbone behind the establishment of an Artspace in the old Onkaparinga Woollen Mills in Lobethal, South Australia. You can sign up via the Facebook group, or (if you aren't on fb) leave me a comment below (or email me) and I will assign you a 'line number'. Why line numbers?

it's because 'gardens of the heart' is based on the three-line poetry that I have been sharing with students in recent years...which results in collaborative aleatory poetry...beautiful words gathered by chance from groups of (three) people.

each person stitches their line along a piece of cloth (450mm x 150mm  :: 18" x 6") together with the number of dots they've been assigned.

then all the pieces will be stitched together by me (and some friendly volunteers) next February to form three-line poems, which will be installed at the Woollen Mill Artspace in Lobethal, South Australia together with a cloud of suspended flowers.

are you in?

'gardens of the heart' group

the fabulous book I am reading right now

a link to the person who suggested reading it

email me to join the project (if you aren't in Facebook)

refuge

'lifeboat'

Lately there has been another tsunami of posts on the interpixies by various people operating in the creative arts whirled, complaining about copyists.

The funny thing is that many of them derive a living from having either copied someone else's work from a book, poached a successful business model (in one case, together with the email list!) from an associate or are directly teaching exactly what they have learned in a class.

I stopped giving printed handouts in the year 2000, when someone at the textile forum who had not actually been in my class, helped themselves to a copy and then advertised and presented the class (verbatim) a few months later.

Sometimes people still ask for them...and I can't help but raise an eyebrow when they add "because I've been asked to teach the class to   my quilt group/local school/in a workshop   next whenever.

I have been teaching creative classes of one sort or another since 1986 and have participated in many (over thirty) classes as a student, most recently one with the lovely Lorna Crane. Next year I'll be back at Shakerag...as a student. Will I be sharing directly what I have learned? No.

I choose to attend classes that will add to my practice, in a kind of personalised ongoing post-graduate professional development program. Sometimes I learn more about the practice of teaching than about a specific technique. Either way, the experience is invaluable and improves the way I present classes, but indirectly so.

That's because the experience is filtered through my life, not simply reproduced.

'landgarland'

So when people ask me outright to explain exactly how I make my personal work (which is what happened at the opening of my current exhibition 'refuge') I politely decline. There's enough information freely available about 'ecoprinting' online and I don't care if you are "just a painter and unlikely to use it" because I'm sorry but my bullshit detector redlined when I saw your partner's ears pricked and alert. I wouldn't have explained it anyway. To say that it's a contact print is enough.

Also, I am now wise to the practice of inviting people to lunch to talk about the possibility of working with their firm...and then having your brains thoroughly picked. Lunch is not a sufficient payment for my time (and airfares). I prefer my own cooking most times anyway. In future, persons wanting to "consult" will need to substantiate that interest with appropriate reimbursement for my time and travel. Your lawyer isn't going to drop in for lunch to tell you exactly how to manage a situation either. The other thing I will not allow is prospective hosts to "sit in on a class" to see how it will "fit with their program".  I'm not so much green as I'm cabbage-looking.

On the sunny side, I do love teaching, and that is why sharing the class 'being (t)here' makes me so happy. It changes with each location, and grows as I dream up new techniques and practices to add. Each one is different from the next. The poetry writing, though it fills some with trepidation, has become a rich and fulfilling part of the event. Participants still learn how to print on cloth and paper, but also develop more confidence in drawing and writing. Many tell me that they come away from our time together with a deeper knowledge of themselves and with a clearer vision of where they want to take their own work.

Things like that fill me with a deep satisfaction, gratitude and the feeling that my time on this wondrous planet is not being entirely wasted.

Next year will take me to France, Canada, New Zealand, and Scotland

(look for an announcement soon about

"wayfinding between time in the outlands…" in Orkney)
 as well as (a little closer to home) Queensland and Western Australia.

Maybe I'll see you somewhere out there?

'Albertine' doing her thing

a tutorial (of sorts)

yesterday i received an email which said "tutorials, how natural color really stays on fabric, please". i'm pretty sure i've covered that topic (the 'why' as well as the 'how') comprehensively in 'Eco Colour', 'Second Skin' and 'The Bundle Book'

but i was still thinking about it in the shower this morning and then fell into a puddle of verbage. so, from the bear who (almost) never writes rhyming poetry, here is a tutorial. in verse. in my somewhat dodgy handwriting.

out (t)here

 New Year, New Ideas...

photo by Dorothy Caldwell

you may have heard that i have a new friend

photo by my Ma

already we are getting into the habit of doing things together.

i have a hefty overseas itinerary for this year [planned before Kubbi's surprise arrival in my life] but once we've weathered it, i will be shortening my foreign excursions and spending more time in the Deep South.

having a roadtrip companion opens new doors. sleeping out in the desert on my way home from Tamworth was lovely but it will be so much more delightful to be sharing supper and my swag [that's a bedroll for those of you not familiar with the term] with my dog.

how satisfying it is to be able to write that..."my dog". [who is snoozing beside me on the sofa as i write]

Kubbi will be joining me at dog-friendly places including the lovely Crockett Cottage Studio at Mansfield in November and on a journey to the Flinders Ranges, a region that has inspired many artists including Hans Heysen, Imants Tillers, Antony Hamilton, Kay Lawrence, Dorothy Caldwell, a host of 19th century explorers gifted with drawing skills...and of course yours truly.

Barbara and Warren Fargher, the owners of beautiful Wirrealpa Station have several times suggested that they'd be keen to host a workshop group and even floated the possibility of holding an exhibition of work derived from being "in place" there.

so between us we have come up with an idea.

a journey to the heartlands.

the adventure will begin at Port Augusta, South Australia, where participants will board a mini-bus for the spectacular drive to Wirrealpa where we shall be staying in the historic shearer's quarters [which means i will be up at dawn chopping wood for the donkey that heats the shower water].

during the week we will have time to wander; to stitch, paint and draw, to construct sculpture from found objects, to write and to take photographs. there'll be a dyepot or two going. you'll be well fed. the week won't have a formal workshop structure, but is planned more as a rich opportunity to be nourished by this remarkable region.

we will begin in the mornings with discussion about possibilities and then you'll be free to explore these at your own pace. in the evenings we will gather about the long table in the cookhouse with a glass of wine and share the doings of the day. there will be excursions to view ancient petroglyphs and also a spectacular ochre valley, both sites of great cultural significance.

i'm so excited to be able to share this beautiful country with you!

the dates will be around October 19-23, 2015 and i'm still working out the budget and other details [there are no local supermarkets...everything will need to be brought in with us] but i am taking expressions of interest. please drop me a line if you think this might be for you.

coming soon

i've been working on the booklet

promised to participants in the Second Skin classes

that will take place in lovely Mansfield, Victoria

in November this year

unlike The Bundle Book

which contains explicit step by step instructions

on how to print on cloth and paper with leaves

string me a story on shapeshifting

will be 32 pages of ideas

jumping off-points

sketches and photographs

i'm hoping Second Skin participants will add to their copies

by writing extra notes in the pages

perhaps even tipping in a few extra ones

adding their own drawings

the odd swatch

other inspirational images

so that it becomes a highly personal working tool

this will be a strictly limited edition

100 copies only

numbered and signed

testing the water for that other publishing idea

that i floated a while ago

and Sidnee?    i owe you a dress [as well as the first copy of the above]
...those pix i shot of you in Portland last year 

have been getting a hammering

also

i think we need to do another photo-shoot

with a real photographer

in New Orleans

now that would make a fabulous publication

just sayin, is all

adrift in a cloud of Aesop

 i think we can say it has been a mixed week

during which i discovered that a silk jacket

[pre-loved Liz Claiborne]

did not dye well.

suspect it has been coated with stain resisters

 

the lesson is not to purchase in a wild rush

but take time

do the drink bottle test

ie splash a tiny bit of water on the surface of suspect silk

if the damp silk has a whiff of gas station

or worse still if the water rolls off 

leave the item in the store

the lesson is, in fact, to s l o w down

and smell the flowers

it's spring

 just be careful with Geraldton Wax

they seem to harbour a lot of flies

 happily some other things yielded better results

 i have been wandering the paddocks

gathering up bones

that are the remnants of cattle and sheep 

who have shuffled off this mortal coil

mainly due to age and infirmity

 it is not as gruesome as it might appear

and is in a good cause

in a week or two i will be taking them to the 

Arid Lands Botanic Garden

where they will form a bonecairn 

anyway after my gathering

i tottered off to the Post Office

where a delightful parcel awaited me

         

thank you Aesop

for sending me a sample of your new perfume

it mingles bergamot and orange

jasmine, rose, clove and cardamon

and two things i had to look up

Fusianus spicatus [which turned out to be sandalwood

...i always think of Santalum album together with that common name]

and

Cananga odorata [ylang ylang]

     

it smells so much better than bleached bones

that it had me dreaming

of places and people faraway

in the way that certain fragrances do

and though i miss their old fragrance

which has been discontinued

i will say that this one is quite delightful

thank you, Aesop!

+

that scent makes me want to take a tent

to the far paddock

wrap myself in teasilk

and dig a natural swimming pool

happy [and dreaming of another roadtrip]

today is one of those days

on which i really really love my day job

doing what makes me happy

even if it does give me cracked hands

and appalling fingernails

the thing about my day job

is that it funds the indulgence of exhibiting

and

to a certain extent

my teaching

travel does not come cheaply

and workshop fees do not always

cover the spaces in between engagements

but [despite bringing me into disfavour in some quarters]

i love to wander

being

a wanderbear at heart

i had such plans to take a sabbatical

but teaching is fun

and

so is wandering
and wondering

and so is

patience with bundles

taking time to open

is rewarded

with slow magic

which leads me to think

that 

while i really love teaching four or five day retreat classes like 'being (t)here'

perhaps it is also time to offer some one-day workshops

because not everyone has the time

to take the time

and

as my friend John Parkes so beautifully writes

"strange that time is more uncertain than water"

+

so

i am considering offering a retreat

that would begin in the early afternoon

which would mean that

the dyeing has the benefit of a restful night

and

we can share a leisurely evening meal

which i will very happily prepare

also

the cocktail hour can be appropriately acknowledged

without having to rush back to work

and then

next morning

not too early

allowing for a lovely walk after breakfast

[and time for yoga]

we would gather again

to open the bundles

and wonder at their beauty

+

the benefits of this structure

would be many:

less rush to get to an early-start class

one night of retreat away from home

in the company of like-minded souls

not having to forage for supper in a strange place

and

going home with something beautiful to remember it all by

+

i can think of quite a few places i would like to take this...

among them

lovely Lopez Island, that magical wee house in Inverness (California)

Fort Bragg (in the same state), anywhere in New England in the fall 

riverside in New Orleans, outback Australia, an Oregon beach

Tayside in Scotland, on an island off Tasmania

somewhere up near Cairns (Australia)
as well as possibly

Germany, Austria (in which case the workshop language will be German)
and Japan (where the workshop language might have to be sign language)
oh and i'd love to visit Ireland too

and that is just the very tippity tip of the iceberg

but 

i would also be happy to hear from any kindly souls 

who would like to host this kind of retreat

 because

i think i feel another roadtrip coming on

+

did i mention that i have been working on a new cocktail too?
allow me to present my
'ginger bear'

ingredients :
gin [preferably that nice one from San Francisco that has a bear on the label]
ginger beer [in Australia, use Ginger Joe]
some fresh ruby grapefruit juice
and the zest of the fruit also
freshly grated ginger root
wild strawberries
  
method :
shake gin and ice and grapefruit juice
strain into well chilled glasses over more ice
dilute slightly with ginger beer 
garnish with grapefuit, freshly grated ginger and some slightly crushed wild strawberries

A hertz-felt thanks

I went west for a few days

after we had finished our class at Newburgh
and I had committed the Bundle Book to Blurb

I needed some thinking space

to sort a few things out

quiet time in wind and rain and sun to mull over things

to smell the heather

and to gaze into deep waters

and to rearrange small pieces of the whirled
while considering new ideas for classes
and pondering different ways of presenting

it was a splendid wandering : made even more enjoyable by Hertz who upgraded my very basic four-door reservation to this glorious chariot.  

I named him Wolfgang and the keys had to be prised from my fingers when we parted at Edinburgh airport. He purred along for over 400 miles on a scant half tank of diesel

I even managed to write a small poem.
it was a very productive time.
and thenI found that the Australian Embassy in Lisboa
kindly mentioned our exhibition
on their website
which pleased me very much

in which a small white rabbit peeps over the brim of the hat

what with the waiting list for the Second Skin class in March being considerably bigger than the class itself

and Sally Harvey letting me know that the proposed renovations at lovely Crockett Cottage will have been completed this year

i decided that it really was time to plan another retreat at Mansfield.  

here's what i am dreaming...

three days at Mansfield in Victoria’s beautiful High Country, making and dyeing a beautiful and versatile SilkyMerino  second skin to keep you warm while wandering, together with an exquisite hand-stitched bag in which to carry it when it isn't being worn.

spring in Mansfield is gorgeous

and i'm looking forward to the roadtrip there

please drop me a line through the contact page on my website if you'd like more information

 +

and what is a trampoline doing in the sea? i have no more idea than you do...

humming the blues with Happinez and in good company

yesterday there was some interesting mail

in fact, quite a lot had drifted in whilst i was

across the wild blue yonder

 some of it even had bears on it

i like bears

one of the parcels contained a lovely magazine from France

Happinez

it is not often that i see my name on the same page

as Albert Einstein

[even though he and my paternal grandfather were acquainted and 

Einstein's efforts on my grandfather's behalf in 1939 

contributed to our family's settling in South Australia, but that's another story ]

or

across from Jamie Oliver

or a scant 47 pages away from Paulo Coelho

but

what really made me happy

was that they had also published an image of my friend Roz's work

[they used mostly images that had appeared in Second Skin]

which brings me to the other bit of news

 Roz and i have dreamed up a new plan

[we had one earlier but the fates intervened]

we are calling it 

bower bird blues

and you can wear your blue jeans

if you want

+

thoughts?

 back in 2008, on the ides of January to be quite precise, I dipped my toes into the sometimes murky waters of the whirled of blogging for the very first time, posting a first experimental scrawl on the wall, just to see if [as I wrote then] the paint would stick and what sort of fish one might catch with it.

and I have to say that the fishing has been such fun. I’ve been frankly astonished that 1143 of you are swinging by regularly and delighted to meet quite a few of you out in the real whirled, at classes, exhibitions and the occasional conference.

 

The blog has given me a chance to share some roadpix, tell stories and sometimes rant a bit. [sigh. The latter isn’t really the most effective way to spend my remaining and precious days on the planet]

And when it comes to the crunch, reading a blog

involves scrolling down a screen. On a machine.

 

I’m a girl who likes turning pages, preferably with a delicious beverage in hand…whether that’s Bombay, Bourbon or simply a fragrant cup of Lady Grey tea [loose leaf, Twinings]…and while turning pages I also like to make marks on them. scribble in the margins. Underline. Maybe paste in something extra that I’ve found elsewhere. A smear of dark chocolate for fragrance [but only if the crumbs have fallen on the page, dark chocolate is meant to be eaten]

 

I like a book I can stuff into a small bag or a biggish pocket. Something I can build on in wanderings. Mutable, not fixed. Good paper stock. Something that makes me want to write and draw in it

 

So I am cooking a plan [y’all know how I LOVE to cook]. I’ll be launching it on the coming solstice [midsummer for those in the North, mid-winter if you’re in the South]

 

There will be actual pages. A good big handful of them.

They will arrive, beautifully bound, three times a year. There will be pictures

Stories from wanderings. Charms to murmur over the cauldron. [And in amongst the other treasures, those recipes you’ve been asking for…the ones for things to eat]

There may be

Precious pieces of ecoprint cloth and there will be patterns for things you will want to make and wear.

And of course other amusing [and useful] surprise presents because, frankly, presents are fun.

 

It means

You’ll be able to look over my shoulder while relaxing in your favourite armchair with a furry friend

or on a grassy hillside or while wriggling your toes in warm sand

or strapped into your seat while the captain is revving for take-off

But

Perhaps not while in the swimming pool.

 

The pages might get soggy.

So, what do you think? want to come along for the ride?