leaf love and a month-long magical mystery tour

Would you like to join me for a workshop?

A long one that lasts a month?

Want to learn different ways of bundling to

let those lovely string marks shine on your work?

Want to know to bring saved dried leaves back to life?

Would you like to ease into a daily morning writing practice,

connect with a whirled-wide community and

dance your way through February?

Why February?

It might be the shortest month but in the North,

though we all know that the earth needs a rest before

the abundance of spring, the long hours of dark together

with driech weather can get to your soul.

And not in a good way.

Here in the South we just feel the roasting

heat of summer will never end.

So once again I have dreamed up an adventure

that can be enjoyed from wherever you are in the whirled.

It begins now, with a wee bit of prep, then goes to sleep

while you deal with whatever

the Festive Season is throwing at you 😉.

Late in January I'll send a wakey-wakey email

to remind you that the fun is about to begin,

and then every day in February

an email will fly in from me, with instructions

for the mystery project that we are making together. 

All I will tell you now is that it is both beautiful and useful,

and that we will be using cloth from your stash

and your ragbag along with whatever threads

you want to stitch with,

and all of the beads and buttons your heart desires.

You'll begin each day with quiet moments of grounding,

light a candle, do a little writing and then work on your project,

step by step until it all comes together

and you take it out into the light of day

at the end of the month.

And did I mention pie?

There will be pie.

Want to know more ?

Please click on the heart below.

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.

blue notes and life lessons

life lessons. 

learn to expect the unexpected. 

you'd think that by now i would have that firmly tattooed inside my left eyelid. 

I have to confess I was humbled by the indigo vat last week...which for the first time since 1991 (the year I first dabbled in the blues) decided to behave like a bit of princess and consequently was a little slow to reveal the magic. 

pale blue instead of brilliant blue.

With the wisdom of hindsight I should have put the freshly prepared vat to bed overnight wrapped in quilts and blankets but foolishly (possibly thinking hey, it's summer) left it out under the stars overnight. 

An extra 24 hours and a bit more warmth yielded truly lovely results, sadly too late for my forgiving students (and me) who had already dispersed with the four winds - but very happily for Judy (see blue hand below). It certainly reinforced the rules of indigo, which likes to be warm and wellfed, just like the rest of us. Didn't do a great deal for my self-esteem, but I'm sure the Dogs Above had their reasons. I sure hope they did. The inner bear took a bit of a pummelling.

At least all present were very happy with their metalwork (guided by Roz Hawker), received the magic of string (learned originally from Nalda Searles), loved the fabulous food (thank you Chloe Keylock), revelled in the gorgeous surroundings (thank you Michael and Judy Keylock) and enjoyed the dog therapy provided by the ever joyful Molly.

photo by Michael Keylock

I'm taking my lesson in the spirit of the wisdom below 

(thank you Michael for bringing it to my attention)

and have come home to more wise words from another Michael 

(image borrowed from the Michael Leunig appreciation page)

the teapot of constancy is filled with Lady Grey tea, 

the dog of sanity (who slept on my bed last night) is by my side. 

Admittedly the armchair of philosophy needs serious re-upholstering and the rug of constancy could do with a vacuum and possibly a good beating but the vase of tranquility is full of jasmine

and happily every day is a new beginning.

 

rhapsodies in blue

it was easy planning my clothes for this trip

all i had to do was throw anything blue into the suitcase

and then at the other end

take a daily lucky dip and wriggle into it

[too hot and steamy for boots]

packing the materials was another thing

handstitching indigo-dyed ecoprint bags

and stuffing them with selections from my cloth collection

was fun

[though i will say counting beads can be confusing for a bear]

and happily the baggage-mishandlers did not play football with my suitcase

because the blue-and-white teacups that were to stop the beads rolling off the tables all happily arrived intact.

Roz and i both brought fabrics from our homes and had a glorious time decorating the workroom on the afternoon before class

our wonderful host Tarla had grown all sorts of indigo-bearing plants

as well as madder [which is most useful in reducing an organic vat]

 you could almost think you were in Japan, with such fields

Tarla and her daughters prepared delicious food for us

with fresh ingredients sourced from the garden

where a Satin Bower Bird had busily gathered blues

from the surrounding district

 we looked at ways in which we could bring our blues together

sharing stories about the meaning of this beautiful colour

reading a little poetry

considering what the colour meant to us as individuals

 we stitched, experimented with fresh indigo

worked with the metals that Roz had brought

made string

and at the very end

overdyed the finished pieces in the gloriously rich vat

that Tarla had prepared earlier

thank you, all of you, for making it such a splendid three days

not yet saturated with the blues?

here are more stories

Roz's version

and

a few more links via our shared blue bower

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

nine years later

back in 2005 i had the absolute joy of undertaking my first [formal ie paid for] costume commission.
the production was 'petroglyphs - signs of life' and the company Leigh Warren + Dancers

i designed and made the costumes, twined a large ball of string that became a key prop and devised the poster image.

it was a wonderful experience.

working on 'petroglyphs' led [in 2007] to creating costumes for the West Australian Ballet production 'debris'...dancer Frances Rings [who had joined LW+D for 'petroglyphs'] had been commissioned to choreograph the show and requested to have me as costume designer

now nine years later i have the delight of working with Gala Moody and Michael Carter who were also members of LW+D back in 2005

both now live in Spain but have been in Adelaide this month working with Leigh Warren and State Opera on the Philip Glass Opera trilogy, Leigh's last production before he hands the dance company that he founded some twenty-five years ago to a new artistic director and heads for fresh fields

the morsels on their bodies were part of the blue series i began in New Orleans and continued in Portland [last year]

kicking myself that i skipped taking a photo of Michael in one of these shirt collar pieces

but am hoping that [sooner or later] a moving image will appear on Michael's website

&

my favourite production so far for  Leigh Warren + Dancers

two bodies dancing

about Frances Rings

lastly, clicking on the photo below will take you to a link with more images from Debris

photo above by Jenni Large, borrowed from the Artful management website for purposes of tempting readers toward the link

small wonder

this small patch of paradise in the Lud Valley

looks a good deal like Monet's Garden

without the hordes of tourists and the Japanese bridge

[but there are plans for a pond or two]

there are no snakes

[or foxes]

so i can wander about with bear/bare feet

as long as i am careful not to step on the friendly bees

[otherwise i might get a beefoot]

or

step in the cauldron

which would not be[e] a Good Plan

we work outside on the deck

scattered about the soft lawn

around the fire [for which we have a permit]

or under the trees

where birds sing constantly, continuously and melodiously 

we have been making string

sewing zero waste nightgowns [using every scrap of a 1m x 1.3m piece of cloth]

thinking of how we will want our shapeshifter dresses to make us feel

and stitching those words on morsels of cloth

taking time to be, in this good place

+

at intervals Chloe appears with wonderful food

[most of which has been grown here in the gardens]

and the day concludes with a sumptuous afternoon tea

small wonder

New Zealanders call their country godzone...

the weaver of grass

since coming to Newburgh i've hardly been able to tear myself away from the river

but i went to Perth for a day

to see an exhibition at the Perth Museum and Gallery

'the weaver of grass'

the work of Angus McPhee

whose sad history can be read here

the works speak for themselves

 

there was a "touchable" sample at the exhibition

made by Joanne B Kaar

whose own work is also fascinating

i'd also like to add a virtual bouquet for the kind gentleman on the desk at the museum who, when i tottered in and inquired about the exhibition practically took me by the hand to lead me thither. what a sweetie.