Sumptuous Surfaces - Week 1 - Materials

I have signed up to do Sharon B's Sumptuous Surfaces course with Joggles. I have wanted to do this course for some time - but there has never been a good time. So I decided that it is now or never and signed up. I am very excited about doing the course and now just need to make some time to make the most of it.

We are starting off with a neutral pallet - so I have been through my stash and found quite a lot of "stuff". What I don't have much of is neutral coloured threads - I have wools and fancy threads, but not the basics - so I may have to shop for those. I don't have many beads either - I prefer buttons and found objects - so again , I may have to look out for some.

So I've started - now to work on a design...

Admiration

Here is my finished piece for January - Admiration.

It is based on a rangoli design from Mandana, Gujarat, India. From the book "Designs and Motifs from India" by Marty Noble.

A rangoli is a colourful design made on the floor near the entrance to a house to welcome guests. At Diwali, Hindus draw bright rangoli to encourage the goddess Lakshmi to enter their houses. Traditionally the floor painting is only done by women. Red sand and chalk powder are used to make the designs. They are also now found on block printed textiles.

This is my homage to the countless, nameless craftswomen in India who embroider our skirts, bags and cushion covers.

I am pleased that I kept to the colour scheme and have used a couple of TAST stitches from last year - pistil and arrowhead, with couching and beads. The background is fern green sheer over purple linen. It is 9x9 cms (3.5x3.5 inches)

I confess that this was to be the centrepiece in a larger piece - but life got in the way this month - and I have also signed up for Sharon B's Sumptuous Surfaces class (more in the next post) so this was as far as I got.

Still I am very pleased with the result and may use it as it is - or add it to the WISP pile - as part of my original design, when time permits!

I am looking forward to the February challenge.

Admiration: Take It Further Challenge

It is month 1 of Sharon B's new challenge: Take It Further. She has given us a choice of a colour pallet and a concept. It is a great combination - and one to make us all think!
The concept is: Who do you look up to and admire? Why? What is it that you admire about them? Interpret your design in fiber or paper.

When I saw the colour pallet I thought that I wouldn't have much. They aren't colours I normally use, but look what I found in my mixed media stash!!

I have interpreted the pallet loosely - purples, olive green, limey-yellow green, soft green and grey/silver.

As I do have all these lovely goodies I will try to use the pallet in my design. The colours to me are earthy and remind me of woodland shade - all mossy and cool, but also the shades in mother-of-pearl from seashell linings too. So I am going to call it woodland-pearl.

Now for the concept:

Who do I look up to and admire - lots of people - Nelson Mandela, Barbara Hepworth, Anita Roddick.... No-one person jumps out that I would like to do a piece of work about. So I am thinking generic - who do people look up to? Idols, gods/godesses. I went to a great art exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney last year about Indian godesses and have wanted to do a piece of work inspired by that for a while. My next leap of logic - is that I greatly admire the work of many nameless and very talented Indian textile artists and would enjoy doing a hommage to them. I admire their talent and skill, which is rarely recognised and often poorly rewarded.

So here is my theme... a mixed media piece using the woodland-pearl colour scheme to celebrate the work of Indian textile artists. Though I have no hope of achieving the quality of their work.

I want to use diverse stitches, varied materials and create patterns. I am not yet sure about size - a postcard doesn't feel big enough; A4 may be a little big. Perhaps a fabric book page, somewhere in between...

Here is a photo of some of my source inspirations:
This feels a huge challenge - but it will be a lot of fun.

Opulent - TAST wrapping up

Horray! Finished them all. Here are the last few...all those stitches I couldn't get the hang of and left until last!!
Cretan, Crested Chain, Lace Border, Chain Braid and Crossed buttonhole. The border is Chained Bar stitch over sari yarn.The background is trapped threads between orange sheer and a mesh for making hats (which I don't know the name of).

Inspired by those opulent hot colours and spices of India.

Now onto this year's challenge...

Watery waves: TAST 39-52

At last I have some time, so I am trying to catch up with all the TAST stitches within the year!! I am hoping to just creep in under the wire. This sampler is inspired by the coast and waves and is on a postcard sized piece of monoprinted paper that I made a while ago.
The stitches left to right are:
Reversed buttonhole bar, Berry, Spanish Zigzag Knotted, Pekinese, Thorn, French Knots, Pistil, Drizzle, Twisted Satin, Linked Double Chain, Spanish Feather, Knotted Cable Chain and Scroll stitches.
Again all were new to me, so I just tried to learn how to do the basic stitch. Maybe next year I can explore what else can be done with them and to push the boundaries a bit. I may do it as part of the Take it Further Challenge with Sharon B of In a Minute Ago.


This one shows a close up of pistil and drizzle stitches - they are great fun and for texture, so I will definately be using them again somewhere.

Below are a couple more close ups. This challenge has been so much fun and I am looking forward to next year too. I still have a few stitches I have skipped and will try to catch up with them before the year is up! 46 down: 6 to go!!

As usual, life is in the time of pre-Christmas holiday madness. I am really looking forward to time off and starting the new year with a new challenge.

Long ago I realised that new year's resolutions were not for me - I usually last until the 3rd week in January! But this year I am looking forward to replacing Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) with Take It Further , Sharon B's new challenge. This time it is a monthly themed design challenge with weekly reports of progress.

I've a few TAST stitches yet to post and it is week 50 (already?!). But I will finish them at some point soon!

The photo is of tree bark from Darwin Botanical Garden earlier this year. Just an amazing texture...

I'm still here...but look where I've been

Desert Oaks near Alice Springs.

Uluru (Ayr's Rock)

Red Centre landscape near Uluru.

View from the rim walk at Ormiston Gorge.

Wow! Is it really that long since I last wrote in this blog.

Life has taken over...a new job, a trip away and my Mum came to stay for 3 weeks - all ended up with me getting very distracted by life.


I was all set to photograph my recent TAST stitches at the weekend - only to find that my camera has died - I need to get it to the camera shop to find out if they can fix it. E18 apparently and some horrible clunking noises - the shutter won't open. Sigh....I feel as if I have lost a limb.


So I thought I'd pick something from my last trip away - to the Red Centre in October (Alice Springs and its surrounding area). What a beautiful, spectacular, spiritual place. I feel honoured to be able to visit. Obviously I took hundreds of photos ;-) , and this is just a taster. I'll include a few more in my next post and hopefully some TAST stitches too.

For the record I have now a sampler that includes: reversed buttonhole band, linked double chain, twisted satin stitch, zigzag spanish knotted stitch and pekinese. So I am there with you all, hanging on by the coat-tails as we come into the final few weeks!