shakerag 2011

if i weren't already teaching elsewhere in June 2011
i think i would be signing up to this workshop
at Shakerag
home of dancing fireflies
and
prickly pears

desert dreaming

a brilliant new exhibition showing at the Art Gallery of South Australia
drawn entirely from their collection
charts the evolution of contemporary indigenous painting in Australia
some of the works can be viewed here
all of them are reproduced beautifully in the exhibition catalogue
the sort of publication that i wish i could
carry dozens of - in my travel bag
to give as gifts when i go wandering

visit if you can, it runs until January 26, 2011

what's in the water?

Lotta Helleberg over at inleaf posted some spectacular images of bundle-dyed cloth
in which it appears that the local water is acting as a mordant [surprisingly, the most intense colours
are being achieved on cellulose fibres]

the process of dyeing with plants
can sometimes reveal invisible things
we might not necessarily know WHAT is causing the magic
but we can hypothesize that SOMETHING is there
and then use other means [scientific analysis]
to find out what it is

Lotta says that her town is situated on a limestone basin
which may well have something to do with it

the legendary textile bush camps run by Edith Cowan University
were held in an area serviced by a calcium-rich well
often producing spectacular green dyes from local plants inlcuding
Quandong [Santalum acuminatum]

while i was looking for the link to the bush camp [worth visiting for the story by John Parkes]
i also found a link to the text of a lovely talk
given by Leigh Warren
at the opening of an exhibition some years ago
here it is

at the foot of the text, Leigh is simply described as "an Adelaide dancer"
...understatement of the year

england, america and possibly also australia

England and America are two countries separated by a common language.

George Bernard Shaw
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950

there was a comment made in regard to the previous post
that set me thinking

the words were
"what if you did?"

here in Oz, it could suggest that the subject of the remark
was of little interest
on the other hand it may have indicated an enquiry
who knows
and it really doesn't matter

however it made me google the quote [above] and now
forces me to acknowledge that i have been erroneously ascribing this gem to Oscar Wilde
[and sometimes in a weak moment, Winston Churchill]

so that's sorted. good.
here's a Sunday harvest
bouquets all round on a glorious day

drawing with a sewing machine

i wondered what would happen
if i cut along the seams of two shirts
and sewed them together
without removing any bits?

and quite liked the result

in love with a sunburnt country

followed that marmalade trail
north
into the wild
where flowers are blooming
that haven't been seen for 21 years
under stars
and over stones
into sacred places
shadow and light

marmalade

this fragment somehow reminds me of Paddington bear
who accidentally followed a trail of dried marmalade
on his map
i like to do that too

the Museum of Economic Botany

the Museum of Economic Botany [Adelaide Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium]
is possibly my favourite museum in the whirled
it holds seeds, fruits, timbers and dye samples

recently a friend showed me a new book
published by the Museum
it comprises a series of essays by various people who have worked there
and have been involved in exhibitions
or other things

rummaging through the pages i found my name together
with some information that i though needed correcting
the correction appears below

the funny thing is
that even though i have offered [in writing] no less than three times
to prepare a set of eucalyptus dye samples [free of charge]
for the Museum [and donate it to them]
i've never had a response
and so eucalyptus dyes are not represented in
the Museum of Economic Botany

sad, really, when you consider that eucalyptus dyes and wool are a
match made in heaven...

home sweet home

unusually tidy, for photo shoot...

two minutes

i have no idea who this person is
but
a snippet in an interview entitled
'two minutes with Gregory Ackland'
caught my eye
makes sense to me

how yer gonna keep em down on the farm?

paris

i'm still waiting for them to send me pictures of the exhibition
the image above is from an old paeony experiment...

home alone

today i decided i'd done enough stitching

[for the time being]

on the dress that is to embellish

the cover of my next book [all being well]

so i dropped it on the pavement

sprinkled it with a bit of slosh from that bottle

[not exactly what it says on the label]

then it sat for a bit

before I added carob leaves [Ceratonia siliqua]

and a few other things

suspect the onionshells will be less fun to remove

than they were to sprinkle on

bundled it all up

and now the pot is simmering

over a gentle fire

let's give it a few days

before we have a look