draped in fur

after some hours happily stitching inflight
and then a couple more spent chugging through the ranges
in the Red Terror [otherwise known as the Farm Ute]
i am home again
draped in welcoming cats and consuming quantities of honey-sweetened tea

having enjoyed eleven or so blessed days in paradise

all colours derived from locally gathered plant material - including windfalls, garden prunings and the dessicated contents of a vase

with grateful thanks to the keepers of this blessed garden.

queensland

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

space

it's nice when there's a little space to do things
in between work [eg visit the William Robinson exhibition in Brisbane]

also nice to have space between works
such as those in the image below
laid out on the pavement
at the conclusion of 'fieldwork' [Queensland]
the space between
adds something to the work

and then there are other spaces
that appear unexpectedly
two are now available in the 'mapping country' class
first week of November at Mansfield in Victoria [AUS]

some of the beautifully dyed and stitched pieces from 
the fieldwork class

drawing by William Robinson

there's something magical about his paintings
he paints the whirled the way it feels
sometimes wrapped entirely around you
other times as if you're standing on a curvy bit
and the rest is falling away...

valentino

on my last day in Brisbane i had the opportunity see the Valentino retrospective
at GOMA [Gallery of Modern Art]
photography absolutely verboten
images below thanks to the Brisbane Times

there was a lot to see
and much to marvel at, however i found myself wondering how the wearers of these clothes
ever sat down, or travelled in a car or
heaven forbid
answered a call of nature

i overheard a number of people expressing disappointment
that Mr Valentino had not travelled to Brisbane for the opening of the show
however
after viewing the video at the exhibition
showing the Great Man slinging a relatively detail-free sketch
that hinted at a red gown
with swishy bits
at his white-coated seamstresses
and then criticising their valiant efforts
[as one of them said, creating pleats on the bias is NOT an easy task]
while a nearly-naked model
was treated like an expendable piece of meat
and his gushing sycophant aides purred
"it's SOOO Valentino"

i would MUCH rather
they'd sent the seamstresses out for the opening
after all
they were the ones creating the garments
and making them look fabulous
ok
enough. think i'll go and pour myself another saucer of cream.

there and back again

Sophie Munns has kindly [again] filled in a few gaps
you can read her version of events here ...

and there are a few more details over the rainbow